# Does personality type change?



## nixunat (Mar 9, 2010)

I've been trying to figure out my type for a while and I don't think I'm getting anywhere. I honestly think I'm whatever I want to be at the moment. If something sounds appealing to me at the time, I'll take the personality test and somehow manage to get that type, only for it to change again a few days later. How often does personality type change if at all? Does my flexibility hint at a type that I might be?


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## Grey (Oct 10, 2009)

Type typically does not change at all unless a traumatic or life-changing event happens to a person - it's not so simple as changing your answers on a test. I don't think your answers changing dramatically will hint at your being any other type, but for your answers being as they are actually: situational. I suggest study over tests.


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## Mike Ice (Mar 13, 2010)

take the test before you know your personality.


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## Apollo Celestio (Mar 10, 2010)

You do not change type, but you certainly grow.


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## Ungweliante (Feb 26, 2009)

Think of a person's personality as the sum of their inherent (genetic) as well as environmentally affected characteristics. As we interact, our thoughts and way of being is affected. However, as I understand Jungian psychology, the archetypes depict major qualities of our personalities. Thus, they would not easily change...unless there is an environmental event capable of profoundly affecting the core of our beings.

I have seen some people, who have been very carefree and "shallow" earlier, start thinking deeply about the world and their place in it. Former introverts have become extroverts and vice versa. Some people grow more patient as they age, some more judgemental. Such changes can be caused by any kind of a major life-event, e.g. the death of a loved one, losing one's job, etc. Any major change in things which are most important to us, really. Yet sometimes, the change can be very gradual...the result of time passing and the world and ourselves changing slightly with it.


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## mylifemyradio (Jan 24, 2010)

Ungweliante said:


> Think of a person's personality as the sum of their inherent (genetic) as well as environmentally affected characteristics. As we interact, our thoughts and way of being is affected. However, as I understand Jungian psychology, the archetypes depict major qualities of our personalities. Thus, they would not easily change...unless there is an environmental event capable of profoundly affecting the core of our beings.
> 
> *I have seen some people, who have been very carefree and "shallow" earlier, start thinking deeply about the world and their place in it.* Former introverts have become extroverts and vice versa. Some people grow more patient as they age, some more judgemental. Such changes can be caused by any kind of a major life-event, e.g. the death of a loved one, losing one's job, etc. Any major change in things which are most important to us, really. Yet sometimes, the change can be very gradual...the result of time passing and the world and ourselves changing slightly with it.


Yeah, that's an example of myself.

It can happen.


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## Happy (Oct 10, 2008)

Professional psychologist suggest that you are already born with a personality trait and that you develop it as you progress. Basically personality development is a combination of both nature and nurture but your personality will always remain the same as you were a kid.


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## Ungweliante (Feb 26, 2009)

Happy said:


> Professional psychologist suggest that you are already born with a personality trait and that you develop it as you progress.


Can you elaborate further?



Happy said:


> Basically personality development is a combination of both nature and nurture but your personality will always remain the same as you were a kid.


I agree about this. Our childhood has a vast effect on us.


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## Linesky (Dec 10, 2008)

I was sitting on my train again the other day and realized I've been through all "facades" of the personality types throughout my short life. What does this mean? We're extremely perceptive and adaptable beings and so we tend to grow together with our environment to some extent (combined with our intrinsic qualities of course). It doesn't mean that my "true personality type" is changing though...

It'll be a journey of discovery for you when searching for your type. I suggest to look around on other forums and see what is said on each type and what you relate to. You'll probably start out with a big list but after a while it'll start to narrow down. 

Remember there's always an exception to the rule so it could be that you are fond of or good at applying functions that aren't part of your natural type configuration. I suggest returning to the principles/definitions of each function after every time you contemplate and/or consider it to see how much your interpretation of it aligns with the actual criteria of the MBTI. (There are of course other systems with different interpretations, but you seem to be interested in the MBTI primarily.)

Having said that, I'd also like to note some people are more complex to type than others as they may not represent a typical stereotype or they're developed as an individual. Certain factors can cause us to become diverse in our being but the type usually returns back to principles which could probably be found in childhood already. I suggest reading about this as well; you can google or try to find books.


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## nixunat (Mar 9, 2010)

Ok thanks guys, I definitely think I'm one of those complex ones due to life experiences that have forced me to adapt. I've been reading around a lot and think I have it narrowed down to a few. So far down to ESTP, ENFP, or ENTP...I think. Maybe I could post some of my traits here and see what you guys think. 

I tend to be off in my own world when I'm alone. So much so that someone could ask me to do something and I won't even hear it. 

I can read peoples expressions very easily

I'll think about things all of the time

I'm very dedicated to my values. E.g I'm 16 years old and am an extreme health and exercise nut despite friends criticism. No one in my family was until I motivated them to.

Don't argue often, but when I do I don't lose

Like being friendly

Procrastinate all the time

Love being outside, and am very daring

Like to outwit and out play people (physical activities)

Get bored easily

As a child I would be shy around new people but would quickly warm up, especially if there was something to do, such as a sport or game. Also had mother separation anxiety. 

Yeah these are the general traits. I take the test and I'll get something new all the time, depends on my mood or thought process that day. What do you guys think?


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## Grey (Oct 10, 2009)

From the small description, I would say ESTP or ENTP seem more likely than ENFP at this point, but it's still limited. Hope you find your type.


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## Proteus (Mar 5, 2010)

Based on observations of people I've known a long time and what others more knowledgeable on the topic than myself have said, I think your type is fairly static (unless there's a function you're very even on) but how well you use different functions (especially the auxiliary ones) can change over time.


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## TransparentMe (Feb 26, 2010)

Ungweliante said:


> Think of a person's personality as the sum of their inherent (genetic) as well as environmentally affected characteristics. As we interact, our thoughts and way of being is affected. However, as I understand Jungian psychology, the archetypes depict major qualities of our personalities. Thus, they would not easily change...unless there is an environmental event capable of profoundly affecting the core of our beings.
> 
> I have seen some people, who have been very carefree and "shallow" earlier, start thinking deeply about the world and their place in it. Former introverts have become extroverts and vice versa. Some people grow more patient as they age, some more judgemental. Such changes can be caused by any kind of a major life-event, e.g. the death of a loved one, losing one's job, etc. Any major change in things which are most important to us, really. Yet sometimes, the change can be very gradual...the result of time passing and the world and ourselves changing slightly with it.


 
Oooooh yes, we "moderate." 

Another way to put it might be to say that we mature.

25 years ago I was solidly in one camp, and damned proud of it. I was quite happy to blame anybody not liking me on them just not "getting" me and my uniqueness. I see people like my former self here, saying something like, 'I can't help it; it's just who I am. You can take it or leave it." (And then complaining of being alone, unliked, not respected. Been there!)

Some wisdom settled in, and every single one of the four traits now has "moderated" tacked on at the end, and one has swings. 

Not on a daily basis, but on a situational basis. Is that what you mean by "change?"


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## nixunat (Mar 9, 2010)

Yeah, I mean both. One day I'll take the test and it'll say one thing while another day it'll say something else. I also have been trying to find my personality when I was younger since temperament doesn't change. I'm starting to lean toward ENTP but I think I may have been F when I was younger.


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## TransparentMe (Feb 26, 2010)

nixunat said:


> Yeah, I mean both. One day I'll take the test and it'll say one thing while another day it'll say something else. I also have been trying to find my personality when I was younger since temperament doesn't change. I'm starting to lean toward ENTP but I think I may have been F when I was younger.


THe test says different things about me on different months, too, so I think that makes me an INxJ. Is it just one trait that kind of swings around a bit, like mine?

But no matter what the test says, the REAL test is, "Is what I'm doing working for me?" Moderation in all things, you know!


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## Linesky (Dec 10, 2008)

_You sound like a potential ENTP to me._

I want to elaborate on some of my observations in order to avoid certain stereotypes that could inhibit you from thinking you're this or that type:

ENTPs aren't heartless just because they're NT's. They're actually quite giving aside from their apparent 'egocentrism' that comes from (analytical, logical) reasoning. They are also really broad dreamers and so they may have a lot of whimsical but deep running adventures and ideas to offer. 

ENTP's are still "people people", despite being more of an outcast than the typical ExFx socializer. They get energized by company in their own way and mostly use their intuition when dealing with the outer world, making them flexible and receptive.

... The reason you might've felt more like an F in your early years is because at that stage people are mostly a representative of their "temperament" (= not the same kind of temperament as Keirsey's as it's Jungian which the MBTI is somewhat or supposedly based on), which is ENxP in your case.

The second function (Ti), third (Fe) and fourth (Si) develop sequentially in life.

You're 16 now so that means your Ne is already developed, exercised and adapted & that you should be exercising that Ti in the back of your mind while slowly picking up on hints of an Fe 'mentality'. Si is probably still a baby unless you've picked up on that during life. Then again we pick up on all functions during life, just because life's that way, hehe.


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## lammas (Feb 21, 2010)

You sound very ENTP-ish


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## nixunat (Mar 9, 2010)

Thanks for your help guys. I'm definitely starting to go towards ENTP because of some things I've read about them. Mercurius you helped clear up a few stereotype types that bothered me about this type. I think there were a few stereotypes that didn't describe me for every personality which is why I had trouble deciding. So your saying that I could be a personality and not be most of the common stereotypes?


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## Linesky (Dec 10, 2008)

nixunat said:


> Thanks for your help guys. I'm definitely starting to go towards ENTP because of some things I've read about them. Mercurius you helped clear up a few stereotype types that bothered me about this type. I think there were a few stereotypes that didn't describe me for every personality which is why I had trouble deciding. *So your saying that I could be a personality and not be most of the common stereotypes?*


Yes.

Stereotypes are just hunches at certain tendencies that could stand out but not everyone has the same evocative level or it may fluctuate or be spread.


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## Functianalyst (Jul 23, 2009)

nixunat said:


> I've been trying to figure out my type for a while and I don't think I'm getting anywhere. I honestly think I'm whatever I want to be at the moment. If something sounds appealing to me at the time, I'll take the personality test and somehow manage to get that type, only for it to change again a few days later. How often does personality type change if at all? Does my flexibility hint at a type that I might be?


No it does not change. What does change is your use of whichever cognitive functions preferred. Most people see functions the same way they see results from MB type assessments (E/I, S/N, T/F, J/P or forced dilemma/dichotomy). Those are merely results of the assessment, not to be mistaken for how you use functions in the real world. When you do attempt to use those results, what you are experiencing will most likely occur because the personality is not a forced choice between one dichotomy or another. Instead it's a fluid change from one or two cognitive functions to others. 

Since all eight functions are at our disposal, we use the ones that help us adapt to any given circumstance. For example although as ISTP, my hierarchy goes Ti-Se-Ni-Fe-Te-Si-Ne-Fi, I can use Ti and/Ni when not interacting with my immediate environment. If I am interacting, I may use a combination of Ti-Se, Se-Ni, Ti-Fe, etc. Clearly since the last four cognitive functions of my hierarchy are generally my least developed, my usage of them takes a more conscious effort. So, I can appear ISTP(Ti-S), ESTP (Se-Ti), INTJ (Ni-Te), even arguably up to ESFP (Se-Fi) or ISFP (Fi-Se) although other factors such as my interaction style gives me a quick realization that any appearance is superficial. The same goes for the former examples since I prefer the Chart the Course interaction style and the SP (Improviser) temperament.

Again, your inquiry generally comes from looking at how cognitive functions work in the real world, too rigidly based on forced dichotomies. As for ideas on how to determine your type in lieu of just testing, I have made numerous posts on what I argue is the best means by also eliminating as much as possible our own subjectivity.


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## 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 (Nov 22, 2009)

For the most part, no your personality does not change. However, you may initially use unnatural functions which may make you seem like another type while you are still developing. This could be influenced by things such as cultural pressure against male Fs.

I do think there are circumstances when personality may change do to accident or medical condition (see Phineas Gage) but these are rare.


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## JesusSuperStars (Oct 31, 2009)

I would even go as far to say that your FINAL personality type does not change based on traumatic events.

I think I was always an ENTP, I read all the "ENTP as a child" article and they sound like most my youth.

I did have traumatic events and they DID change me. I believe that MBTI is a house, and that each personality type is its own room. My favorite room (preference) is the one labeled: ENTP. Now as my life has progressed, I had to enter other rooms and take on other preferences to get me through a certain time of my life. I look back and it seems to have progressed like so:

Born to 10: ENTP
10 to 12: INTP
12 to 13: ENTP
13 to 17: ENTJ
17 to 19: ENTP
19 to 21: xNTJ
21 to now: ENTP

Each one of those changes had a traumatic or just life changing event involved; including, watching my best friend get murdered, parents divorce, my dad's suicide, starting my first company, depositing my first 100k, etc

I always came back to the ENTP room, and each time it was renovated. I had new pieces from the other rooms that I took to place on the shelves in my ENTP room. Hell, I might of put a hole in the wall between ENTP and ENTJ so that I could walk back and forth easier.

Ultimately, the ENTP room is my sanctuary.


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## Functianalyst (Jul 23, 2009)

Limitx3m said:


> I would even go as far to say that your FINAL personality type does not change based on traumatic events.
> 
> I think I was always an ENTP, I read all the "ENTP as a child" article and they sound like most my youth.
> 
> ...


Yes and no, we do adapt to circumstances so a traumatic experience would definitely be a reason to adapt or at least attempt to, which could result in appearing a different type. However your type does not change, simply your use of functions. So yes you are and always was an ENTP if this is your confirmed type, but on occasion you can appear INTP or any other cognitive functions that you are attempting to use.


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## Zhawq (Mar 29, 2010)

Mercurius said:


> _You sound like a potential ENTP to me._
> 
> I want to elaborate on some of my observations in order to avoid certain stereotypes that could inhibit you from thinking you're this or that type:
> 
> ...


Mercurius,

that's pretty interesting you should say this, and to a different person at that.

I used to get INFJ when I was younger. Now I can see how much that was a result of Choices on my part and not only a result of what I "was".
I always had a feeling it wasn't the final thing, but at the time I liked what it said about INFJs being such good people for the greater causes of humanity. I still like it, but now I'm more content with being what I actually am. And there's absolutely no doubt about that thing: I'm INTJ, and I don't really care that much anymore about us having word for being cold and selfish and what not. I know differently... or there's more to it anyway.
(Excuse me for coming across as somewhat naive. I'm not native english, and I'm tired ).


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## Functianalyst (Jul 23, 2009)

Grey said:


> Type typically does not change at all unless a traumatic or life-changing event happens to a person - it's not so simple as changing your answers on a test. I don't think your answers changing dramatically will hint at your being any other type, but for your answers being as they are actually: situational. I suggest study over tests.


Yet even traumatic and life changing events don't necessarily change your type, you're simply adapting to the circumstances by using other functions. I would think that if a person notices that it appears their type changed then they should be able to indicate which functions they are using. 

Since yesterday evening I have been in a melancholy state. I am still an ISTP, but could appear to be behaving like an INFJ since I am using my Ni-Fe.


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## asdfghjkl (Apr 2, 2010)

Happy said:


> Professional psychologist suggest that you are already born with a personality trait and that you develop it as you progress. *Basically personality development is a combination of both nature and nurture but your personality will always remain the same as you were a kid.*


I don't know what my "type" is yet, but I do know that I'm the same person I was when I was very small, give or take height/weight/reproductive cycles/metabolism, life experiences, wisdom and maturity.


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## Zhawq (Mar 29, 2010)

I feel very much as the same person I always was.

But I think there's no doubt that life changing events can create changes in a person which may show in a personality test. In fact I can understand my own changes when I see it from this perspective.

Also, the changes I have in mind are not profound changes such as changing from being an ESFP to being an INTJ.

In my own case, f.ex., I used to get INFJ, and now I get INTJ. And where as I can see why I would get INFJ, I still think INTJ is more to the point.
Also, the change from F to T is understandable when I know my T percentage isn't very high ... it makes it more likely that it could have turned out as something else at an earlier time.

And I do in fact tend more towards Thinking now, where I ten years back would in some regards have been more Feeling.

*******

But I have been wondering ... there're many among the members here at PersonalityCafe who don't "know" their personality type. 
... I guess you must've taken the Myers/Briggs test, yes? Was it that you felt the result was too far from how you feel about it? And if so, was there nothing about the result that clings true?


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## nowyouareazombie (Apr 9, 2010)

I heard that your Type won't change, or that if it does change it will only change in a tiny amount. But, there must be an exception. at 15 we had the entire high school tested, I was tested as INTJ... more recently in college I retested as ESTP... both fell accurate... but that's a dramatic shift. A PHd friend of ours explained there's a L score attached to the test to determine inconsistencies, or "lies" in the testing... ask about your L score...


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## OmarFW (Apr 8, 2010)

I'm quite certain I used to be an INFJ when I was younger, since I used to keep EVERYTHING organized.

Then I had some pretty serious events happen in my life, and I started to recognize that I was keeping my room messy but in an "organized chaos" type of way, but I was okay with it. So that tells me that I then became an INFP over time.

I agree that trauma or life changing events like having a kid can change your type.

also keep in mind that you can indeed be in the middle on some key typing points. you may very well be an intj (example) during the day and an intp at night. I know somebody who changes type preference based on day/night cycles rather blatantly. and she's tested as both types she switches between.


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## lantern (Feb 15, 2010)

I think as a whole, personality type doesn't change, I believe that when/if we learn to be more aware of ourselves and the way we behave and through a process of self-actualisation we learn to improve/communicate better according to different environments. The important thing is to remember when completing any psychometric assessment is to ensure you tick the choices which you usually do and is your 'first' preference and what you are most 'comfortable' with, INSTEAD/AS OPPOSED to what you 'think' you should do/behave.

Thinking back when I was pre-25 I believe I was more INTJ (I am actually borderline on the E&S) - I still resonate with some of the NT preferences esp in social situations, then and some of the times now, this is just from remembering how I perceived and process info, and making decisions. 

I have learnt from life experiences that in order for people to understand me better I need to make the changes in how I communicate/how I come across - and possibly a large part of me that has influenced me in leaning slightly more to being an ES(TJ) is because of the quite large effect of certain life experiences - but not a huge change. I've just come to accept that I am not exclusively one personality type. So actually YES I think that if your sensitivity level is high and if you have low confidence then the risk is higher that traumatic experiences could have an affect on your personality type.


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## Functianalyst (Jul 23, 2009)

You folks that think your types change may really want to grow in learning type and move away from defining yourself by the use of codes (E/I, S/N, T/F and especially J/P). Your type does not change, your use of the functions change in adapting to given circumstances. When people refer to when they were younger indicates the obvious that they may have been born with a tabula rasa. So you were no particular type and your environment influenced the outcome of your type. This theory is plausible and is based on Myers. Jung says differently that type is inborn and does not change. Even if parents and our environment attempts to make us a certain way then at some point our true type will show. I follow the latter since we all can give experiences of how our environments influenced us, but we changed.


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