# Did you have difficulty finding your type?



## Ardielley (Aug 4, 2013)

I created this thread because I was interested to see how one's type and the difficulty of finding it correlate. I already have some predictions, but I'm intrigued to see whether they'll ring true in this poll.

In my case, it's interesting because it seems like you're not _supposed_ to get your type right immediately, especially if you're only using dichotomies to type yourself, but I've typed as INFP from the beginning and never tried on another label. Sure, I've analyzed myself from all sorts of angles to see if any other types fit as well, and at times I've found myself relating to them, but I've ultimately always found myself relating to INFP the most since I match up with it in both dichotomies and functions.


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## StunnedFox (Dec 20, 2013)

"Ti Dom - Yes, it was difficult." I think, though, this question does considerably depend on what you count as having "found" your type - even now, I'll only go so far as to say I'm "relatively confident" in my type, but INTP seems to fit, for the most part, better than the other fifteen do, so does that count as "finding my type", or am I not there yet? I can't imagine "completely sure" ever describing my position on my type accurately...

I found the process took some time for me because, really, there's a lot more to it than just finding type - it's a holistic thing, in a way, in that type alone lacks meaning without a theoretical construct behind it, and there are substantial questions and potential issues with most of those constructs, so that needs considering as part of the typing process. It took a number of months of consideration to come to something resembling a conclusion - and, of course, the question remains open - so I think that can properly be described as a "difficult" process resulting in having "found my type", or at least gotten about as close as I can probably expect to get to having found it.


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## Mair (Feb 17, 2014)

At first I though I was something like INTP or INTJ . The ISTJ descriptions I found online simply didn't seem to fit my personality.


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## Ixim (Jun 19, 2013)

I had trouble, but not because of MBTI or anything like that. If it were up to that, it'd have been easy(I am an FiSe after all!). But! Enneatype 6! GG


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## Son of Mercury (Aug 12, 2014)

Ni Dominant. It was staring me right in the face but my rebellious nature made me deny and deny, until it was undeniable. 


So yes, INTJ here.


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## JTHearts (Aug 6, 2013)

Fe dominant and yes, because I'm a very confused person in general.


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## Gurpy (Aug 8, 2014)

Yes


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## Ardielley (Aug 4, 2013)

Ixim said:


> I had trouble, but not because of MBTI or anything like that. If it were up to that, it'd have been easy(I am an FiSe after all!). But! Enneatype 6! GG


This thread isn't really focused on Enneagram (although I guess I should've specified that in the OP). That's why I asked for people's dominant function in the poll.


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## Cosmic Hobo (Feb 7, 2013)

I'm going to say difficult. Ne dom was fairly obvious, but I wasn't sure which one (despite everyone saying ENTP). And I found it hard to choose one type. How do you know that I'm not an INTP with really strong Ne, or that I'm a F who's developed Ne as a defence mechanism, or maybe an SP, or...?! Sssh!


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## Ixim (Jun 19, 2013)

Ardielley said:


> This thread isn't really focused on Enneagram (although I guess I should've specified that in the OP). That's why I asked for people's dominant function in the poll.


Yeah, but it influences no matter what you focus on. You could say "how hard was it to determine your mbti and what's your class{as in monetary class}" and no matter what, enneagram will still jump in. Because it's what you do.


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## Rice (Apr 27, 2014)

I suppose. I actually had it narrowed down between INTP and ISTP from the beginning, but I was unsure, leaning toward INTP, for quite a while after that.


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## nO_d3N1AL (Apr 25, 2014)

For me it was easy to find my type but difficult to confirm whether I was INTJ or INTP


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## johnnyyukon (Nov 8, 2013)

No, ENTP and never looked back.


Sent from my undisclosed underground bunker using Tapatalk


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## Ominously (Dec 7, 2014)

Yep, and I'm still doubting my type! :laughing:


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## Beetle (Oct 2, 2014)

My friend made me take the test a few years back, got ISTP. Read about it and it was on point. Took different tests and still got ISTP. Read about the other types to make sure and ISTP fits me best, almost too scary how accurate it is to me haha.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

I've read about all of the types and there were aspects of each of them that sounded like me. This summer, I did a test with a group at church. Well, did the test at home. Then we discussed the results in our discovering your own gifts workshop. I came up with EXFP. After I heard the descriptions of ESFP and ENFP, I decided, along with everyone else, that ESFP fit me better than ENFP. But am I sure of my type?
Um.
No.
I'm never sure of anything...


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## Darkbloom (Aug 11, 2013)

ENFJ,yes,it was,because I'm pretty much a full time actress XD
And I had wrong function definitions stucked inside my head for a long time.
Plus,apparently my Se is stronger than average so I always looked like either ESTP or ESFx and Se being strong means my Ni is sometimes overshadowed by it and it makes typing very hard,I know because it got easier immediately when I got a bit healthier,now my Se is still strong and looks very strong but I can feel the difference,I can feel Ni is most definitely there and stronger than Se.


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## Tetsuo Shima (Nov 24, 2014)

Ti-dom yet almost completely oblivious to the very existence of introverted functions. Yes, it was hard, mostly because I don't have the same enneagram as most stereotypical INTPs.


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## Kingdom Crusader (Jan 4, 2012)

I took some MBTI-like test in general psychology class eight years ago, and came out as ENFJ. Then I took another one three years ago and came out INTJ. However, when I went through the descriptions of the types online and in print material, the only one that I could possibly fit was the INTP type. Later on I started looking into the cognitive functions and it only reaffirmed my being INTP.

Oh yeah, I found it pretty easy going by descriptions and cognitive functions, but not by testing.


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## Katie Koopa (Jun 25, 2014)

Ti-dom/INTP, yes it was a little difficult. Back when I was going by dichotomies introvert was the only one I was absolutely sure of and I thought I was an INTJ for a while, but once I learned about the functions it was a little easier.


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## mushr00m (May 23, 2011)

Im doubting it later on actually.


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## Im FiNe (Oct 17, 2013)

First tested in 1984 (when 19), then in 1994, then in 2006, and then in 2013. Most of the instances pointed to INFJ. I seem to be a J/P dichotomy ambivert. I have since the end of 2013 come to believe that INFP is my best fit type.


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## tangosthenes (Oct 29, 2011)

I wouldn't say I've found my type, just that whenever I consider everything, there only seems to be one option.


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## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

I've always tested as INFP, and reading the descriptions, it always seemed very obvious to me that it fit me better than any of the other possibilities. The moment I first heard of it, I was certain of my type, and I have never been uncertain about it.

Enneagram is another story. I thought I was a 4 for a while, because all of the tests seemed to associate being a type 1 with having SJ qualities I couldn't relate to.


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## L'Enfant Terrible (Jun 8, 2014)

I was sure for a long time that I were the opposite of my actual type, so INTP. That is because I went through a couple years of clinical depression and when I'm depressed I am a perfect INTP. However, when I'm fine I'm as ENTJ (balanced one) as can be. Also, depressed enneagram is 5w4 (very INTP) while regular one is 8w7-3w4-7w8.


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## Ardielley (Aug 4, 2013)

Interesting correlations already seem to be emerging, but I'd love even more votes to see what happens.


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## Notus Asphodelus (Jan 20, 2015)

It's very difficult for me to determined my type because the bridge between F and T is not to far apart and the distance between my S and N is also not too vast.


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## aendern (Dec 28, 2013)

Mair said:


> At first I though I was something like INTP or INTJ . The ISTJ descriptions I found online simply didn't seem to fit my personality.


What made you realize that INTP/INTJ just weren't quite right?



snail said:


> I thought I was a 4 for a while, because all of the tests seemed to associate being a type 1 with having SJ qualities I couldn't relate to.


Yes, exactly. So what made you change your mind?


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## Fuzzystorm (Jun 18, 2014)

My first result on a Myers-Briggs test (going by dichotomies) was INFJ. The description was scarily accurate, so I stuck with it. Later I began testing as INTJ, and I jumped back and forth between those two for about six years.

I only discovered the cognitive functions for the first time about a year ago; upon reading up, I was certain I was INFP, no question.

However I now have a much better understanding of the how the functions work, and I realized that privatized emotions does not necessarily equal Fi-dom or even that I have Fi in my function stack. I could never truly differentiate between Fi and Fe, as I seemed to have characteristics of both, while Ti over Te was always obvious. And now that I do understand the functions better, inferior Fe makes so much more sense than inferior Te.

I'm pretty certain of INTP, at least for now. Maybe in the future I'll sling back to a period of uncertainty for a while before I'm reassured again. Honestly, I don't even read type descriptions anymore because I'll always find something in all four INxx descriptions to relate to.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

No, I took a paper-and-pencil MBTI Step 1 test about 20 years ago and it pegged me as an ENTP straight away.


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## olonny (Jun 9, 2014)

Ne Dom. From the very first moment I learned about MBTI I knew I was an ENTP all along


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## Malandro (Jul 17, 2014)

It was easy because I never struggled. I got ENFP and accepted it until I searched up MBTI types for certain characters and thought 'Hang on a sec! ESFP? But we're _exactly_ alike? How the Hell?' and started realising what functions were. Not the best way to re-type myself, but it worked 

(And I changed my icon from Daisuke to Mimi. Daisuke isn't even an ENFP, but I'm not going to get into that now)


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## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

emberfly said:


> What made you realize that INTP/INTJ just weren't quite right?
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, exactly. So what made you change your mind?


It was brought to my attention by a couple of other members who felt that I was mistyped when I was listing myself as a 4. They made a strong case, and am now pretty sure they were correct. 4 didn't cover the most important aspects of my identity. Looking into tritypes made it very clear that I could still have some of the 4 qualities that are less vital to my sense of self while actually defining myself by the things that were central to my essence. Ever since I started looking into what it means to be an NF type 1, I don't have a lot of doubts about it. 

http://personalitycafe.com/enneagra...itype-archetype-descriptions.html#post1808345

The 1-4-6 tritype fits me better than anything else.



> 146: The Philosopher
> Archetype: They are “diligent, intuitive, and inquisitive. You want to be ethical, original and certain. Morally focused, you have strong emotions and are inclined to voice your feelings and intuitions. You care deeply and want to help others improve their lives and the expectations they have of themselves.”
> 
> Core Triggers: Feeling wrong, inadequate and/or uncertain.
> ...


It seems obvious now. Ask pretty much anyone here. Others tend to see me as moralistic and stubborn to a fault because my primary concern is trying to discover and encourage the ultimate ethical truth. This gets perceived as my being arrogant, self-righteous, or excessively critical, because I get picky about socially accepted evils that others usually don't recognize as wrong. 

I get really uncomfortable over ethically ambiguous scenarios, when I can't tell what is right. That doesn't happen often, and when it does, I do a lot of reading and brainstorming until I can figure things out. I am unable to rest until I have an answer.

My bookmark bar is organized into categories based on things I argue about frequently. The "social justice" folder has sub-folders for "LGBT equality," "Children's rights" "Feminism," "Class equality," "Animal rights," "Fat activism," and other topics I have researched thoroughly and am completely certain about. I suppose a 4 might do that about one specific interest, but it seems more likely that a 1 would go to such an extreme with it. 

My nightmares throughout my life have mostly been about demonic possession, where I have turned evil and have lost myself. Lately they are more direct. In the last two nightmares, I found myself in awkward social situations where I ate meat in order to avoid seeming rude, which disgusted me even though I knew it wasn't real, and as a consequence of each failing, I was rejected by my husband, who held me accountable for straying from my vegan ethics. I doubt he would reject me for that in real life, but then, I wouldn't eat meat just to fit in, either, so it doesn't matter. 

Anyhow, 4 fits my fun side, the part of me that draws monsters that start as scribbles, and the part that wears rainbow clothes and fairy wings. I express myself like a typical 4, but my internal struggles and sense of self are more closely tied to the 1.


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## GoosePeelings (Nov 10, 2013)

T-dom, I started having doubts about whether I'm ISTP or INTP some time after I thought I was ISTP, now I'm in between.


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## Helweh18 (Jul 30, 2013)

L'Enfant Terrible said:


> I was sure for a long time that I were the opposite of my actual type, so INTP. That is because I went through a couple years of clinical depression and when I'm depressed I am a perfect INTP. However, when I'm fine I'm as ENTJ (balanced one) as can be. Also, depressed enneagram is 5w4 (very INTP) while regular one is 8w7-3w4-7w8.


The same thing happens to me when I am stressed out with work. I am typically ENTJ 8w7. When I become stressed/depressed I become introverted and act more like a 5 which is totally out of character for me.


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## Helweh18 (Jul 30, 2013)

It was difficult for me to type myself initially until my business partner read the descriptions and immediately said I was an ENTJ. After a lot of researching I am confident I am an ENTJ. The online tests were not accurate for me, I had to focus on the type descriptions and functions in order to be confident. I think I was initially giving answers of what I thought I should answer instead of how I actually think/behave.


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## TwinAnthos (Aug 11, 2014)

I'm an ISTP but I have a more common enneagram tri type for IXTJ's. So it was kind of hard deciding. I have beem almost every type, but I'm settled on this one.


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## Copper North (Mar 18, 2015)

I leaned towards INFP in high school, and have been INFJ ever since (with stronger numbers for J each time I've tested).

Perhaps one day, I'll hit my head really hard and wake up as an ESTP, be fluent in French, and go out with friends three nights per week.


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## Helweh18 (Jul 30, 2013)

L'Enfant Terrible said:


> I was sure for a long time that I were the opposite of my actual type, so INTP. That is because I went through a couple years of clinical depression and when I'm depressed I am a perfect INTP. However, when I'm fine I'm as ENTJ (balanced one) as can be. Also, depressed enneagram is 5w4 (very INTP) while regular one is 8w7-3w4-7w8.


I* just did a cognitive function test. I have been stressed out from work and these were my results
*
Your Cognitive Development Profile
The forty-eight questions you rated earlier tap into the eight cognitive processes. Some questions tapped into basic or developed use of a process used by itself, while other questions tapped into use of multiple processes at once. The profile below is based on your responses. The number of squares indicate strength of response. The equivalent numeric is shown in parentheses along with likely level of development.

Cognitive Process	Level of Development (Preference, Skill and Frequency of Use)
extraverted Sensing (Se) ***************************** (29.9)
average use
introverted Sensing (Si) ***************** (17.6)
limited use
extraverted Intuiting (Ne) ****************************************** (42.3)
excellent use
introverted Intuiting (Ni) ************************** (26.9)
average use
extraverted Thinking (Te) ************************************************ (48.3)
excellent use
introverted Thinking (Ti) *************************************** (39.1)
excellent use
extraverted Feeling (Fe) (-2.8)
unused
introverted Feeling (Fi) *************************************** (39.1)
excellent use
Summary Analysis of Profile
By focusing on the strongest configuration of cognitive processes, your pattern of responses most closely matches individuals of this type: INTP

*I tested as an INTP... LOL* :wink:


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## SmartasJoe (Jan 16, 2014)

Ni dom was pretty obvious to me once I was aware of it.


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## starwars (Sep 5, 2014)

I first got entp a few times, now I go back and forth, but I have been leaning to INTP. How social can intps get?


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## Ardielley (Aug 4, 2013)

Interesting... even though the sample size isn't large enough to come to any real conclusions, I'm definitely noticing some trends. Of course, this isn't perfect (because of the small size/potential mistypes), but here are my thoughts on the results so far:

*Fe* - 4 have voted so far, all of whom have said finding their type was difficult. I'm not surprised by this at all since I expected this to be the function that struggles the most with self-perception.
*Fi* - 10 have voted, 6 have said finding their type wasn't difficult. Again, I definitely expected more "easy" than "difficult" votes here because of Fi's intense self-focus, but I find it interesting that the results are so split down the middle. Maybe that'll change with more votes.
*Ne* - 10 have voted, 7 of whom didn't have much difficulty finding their type. I'm actually a bit surprised by this one because I thought it would be the other way around. From what I've noticed here, a lot of individuals who end up being Ne users struggle very much with finding their types, but it may just be their other functions that make it murky for them.
*Ni *- 15 voters, 11 found their types easily. No surprises here since Ni-doms are typically intensely self-aware.
*Se *- 7 voters, 4 had difficulty finding their type. This one is split pretty evenly down the middle which I suppose doesn't surprise me all that much.
*Si/Te* - Sample size is too small at the moment to even try picking up trends. More of you guys need to vote!
*Ti *- 15 voters, 10 of whom struggled with finding out their type. This was another one I was surprised by initially, but it makes sense now that I think about it. It's very likely that Ti's sense of subjective logic conflicts with the system as a whole because it is really more Te-based (observable evidence is a huge part of the system, for instance).


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

I'm like you @Ardielley, from the very first time I read through a number of type descriptions I related the most to INFP and over many years of learning more and analysing myself I've never felt serious doubt. Sure there are some things I can relate to with certain other types, but on the whole it's always felt pretty clear, and I've consistently tested as INFP on all sorts of variations of meyers-briggs and kiersey tests. I don't necessarily relate to everything in various INFP descriptions, but that's to be expected as we're all individuals. I certainly think it's the best fit for me. It was such an amazing sense of 'I'm not alone!' when I first read about the INFP type, my strong sense of identification with INFP was almost instant. And then 'things make so much more sense now!' when I read about other types in contrast and I could recognize the traits and other perspectives described in certain people I knew. Perhaps this could be because I've always been introspective and known myself well so when I read about personality types it's more finding new terms for things I've already observed about myself and I don't have to do a whole lot of questioning 'am I like this?'

I think something that contributes to how easy or hard someone finds it is their approach to the system. Some people take it with a rather large grain of salt and are content with seeing a fair amount of similarities between themselves and the type description or other people of the type, and freely dismissing whatever doesn't work for them personally. While others seem to get more hung up on details and wanting things to line up perfectly so every discrepancy brings up doubts and frustration, they seem to not be stepping back and viewing the whole as much and thus sometimes giving too much weight to certain details that they are currently focusing on, but when they come across a different detail to focus on it could once again send them in a different direction.


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## benoticed (Nov 14, 2012)

Ti dom here


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## gardengnome (Dec 12, 2014)

I got INFP on the first test but considered ENFP and NTP and from the beginning, mainly because I didn't fit the oversensitive & creepily nice stereotype and I definitely like to be social. But my INFP tendencies tend to outweigh the others.


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## Sygma (Dec 19, 2014)

I still dont know what my type is :> between enfp / enfj / esfp and estp. like duh.


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## Ninjaws (Jul 10, 2014)

You have no idea lol. Took me months and a lot of help to find my type.


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## wolfofthedark (May 6, 2015)

Nope, no trouble. I took 3 different tests and even tried to answer the questions I was unsure on rather differently each time I took it, but still always got INTP. And the description fits almost exactly. I thought maybe INTJ could describe me as well, but after more extensive reading I understand the differences between the two and am definitely INTP


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## TTIOTBSAL (May 26, 2014)

Ni-dom, yes it was hard, but not about the Ni-dom. I think INTJ, Fi over Fe.


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## AdroElectro (Oct 28, 2014)

I took the 16 personalities test and got INFP, but the I was like 8% or something. So I intuitively knew that it was possible I was just a depressed E. I took a bunch of other online tests, most give me INFP low I, a few ENFP, sometimes even INTP. I can identify somewhat with all NP descriptions, but it didn't take me too long to conclude I'm not an xNTP. I then spent ~the next two days studying the differences between I and E, and decided I'm just a depressed E. Especially when comparing myself to previous iterations, when I used to resemble someone on crack. Upon joining this forum, and befriending some INFPs in real life, my confidence in being ENFP has only increased.


tl;dr It took me ~two days to determine my type. I don't consider that to be a very long time.


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## piscesfish (Nov 30, 2013)

Ni dom and easy for me. 90% of the online tests I took marked me as INFJ, and after reading the descriptions and learning more about MBTI, it was easy to confirm. I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones then ;P


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## Highway Nights (Nov 26, 2014)

Yeah. Still not dead sure about it, but I think ESTP is right. Thought I was ENTP, but began to doubt it the more I learned about Ne. Than I went to ENTJ because I have a lot of qualities associated with Te and usually score as it on dichotomy tests, but I use Fe pretty strongly and an INFJ acquaintance said that she thought I was probably an ESTP and I ended up reading about how people trying to choose between ENTP and ENTJ are often ESTPs since they share qualities from both those types. The more I read about Se, the more I realized how much I actually use it.


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## Ausserirdische (May 2, 2015)

Yes, I did. Actually, I'm still struggling with it. My T and F are very balanced, so I'm indecise whether I am an INTP or an INFP.


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## dracula (Apr 5, 2015)

It was very fast for me to realize I'm ENTP although I did go for INTP at first. Still of the same opinion and I'm very confident that it's not about to change.


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## AyumiFey (Apr 21, 2015)

I'm still searching for it. While the tests online seem pretty much give me the same answer every time, and the descriptions do fit me somehow, I still am unsure if I should identify as it or not. 

I suppose I joined here to search for me. Maybe real people, with understanding of it all, might clear all my doubts or push me into another direction. 

Though I have fun with trying to find my type, all the possibilities and the way it could go. Sometimes when I got a few possible types from one test, I would try to get into that type and see if I fit it or not. What feels right and what feels wrong. 

Maybe this site one day will help me to finally find my type once and for all.


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