MBTI Terms vs Conventional Meaning
One of the main problems with MBTI is that this theory uses rather common words to indicate types, but these MBTI “jargon” actually have completely different meanings from their conventional usage. This leads to misunderstandings of what the actual MBTI theory is about.
Moreover, most MBTI tests give you results based on percentages of I vs E, S vs N, T vs F, and J vs P. This creates a misunderstanding that the theory is based on the dichotomies between each letter pair, and that someone can be half J and half P, for example.
Let’s explore what MBTI terms really mean, and how they differ from the conventional meanings of these words, and the misinterpreted stereotypical/dichotomous “MBTI” meanings.
Introvert (conventional & stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Someone who likes to spend time alone, preferring to be in their own room reading books
Someone who dislikes parties or any kinds of social gatherings
Probably shy and doesn’t talk much, may have social anxiety
Has few close friends, or, no real life friends
Having a dominant introverted function (Ti, Fi, Ni, or Si)
A preference for focusing their energy inward e.g. tending to their own thoughts alone, analyzing themselves and their environment
A preference for formulating complete thoughts or theories on their own first before sharing them with other people
An MBTI introvert can be outgoing and sociable, but they still feel more at home being with their own thoughts and get worn out faster when interacting with people than extraverts
Extravert (conventional & stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Someone who’s outgoing and a social butterfly
Has a large group of friends and large network of acquaintances
Great at networking and making new friends
Talkative and socially confident
Having a dominant extraverted function (Te, Fe, Ne, or Se)
A preference for focusing their energy outward e.g. interacting with the outside world by talking to others or taking actions and interacting with their surroundings
A preference for formulating their thoughts as they talk out loud to other people without having completely polished thoughts beforehand
An MBTI extravert can have social anxiety and dislike spending time with a large group of people, but they still have a preference of interacting with the outside world. An MBTI extravert may only prefer spending time with their few close friends, but they need to interact with those few close friends a lot to feel fulfilled and balanced.
Someone who has both qualities of the conventional introvert and the conventional extravert in moderate amount
i.e. pretty much everyone on earth
Ambivert (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Someone who gets 50% E and 50% I on MBTI tests
This is a trick. It doesn’t exist in this theory.
Why? Because of each type’s thought process works based on 4 cognitive functions (out of 8). You can’t be half this type and half the other type because you’d have conflicting cognitive functions - i.e. constant cognitive dissonance with every single living thought, so you’d not be a functioning human (get the pun?).
For the more advanced MBTI enthusiasts: Yes, introverts and extraverts with the same last 3 letters have the same functions (e.g. INTP and ENTP), but you still can’t really be half-half because Ti-Ne and Ne-Ti approach the world differently. They experience different problems and stress factors (Ti-Si loop and Fe grip v.s. Ne-Fe loop and Si-grip).
If you don’t know what cognitive functions are, start with this.
Knowing something to be true without conscious reasoning or the need to go through information
Having an almost psychic ability to “get” people
Fluid intelligence (e.g. an intuitive learner)
Intuitive (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
An intelligent, interesting person who gets all the funny jokes and subtle hints that people give
Imaginative, creative, artistic, explorative
Someone who prefers to use interpretations of information they receive from the 5 senses - e.g. possibilities of what these things could be, their theoretical usage, and what they relate to (Ne), or what these things symbolically represent and will become in the future (Ni)
A preference for discussing theoretical, abstract, symbolic topics
A preference to understand the global, overall picture before getting into details
Being an Intuitive does not equate being intelligent. There are plenty of boring Intuitives around. It depends on how you develop yourself.
Quite similar to the conventional meaning of intuition - having a feeling that there’s something going on beneath the surface (e.g. “I’m sensing something wrong here”)
Perceiving or becoming aware of something
Sensor (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
An unintelligent, boring person who always misses hints and has no sense of humor
Bland, boring, dull, mediocre
Someone who prefers to use direct information they receive from the 5 senses - e.g. what these things are and what I can use them for right now (Se), or what these things are and how they have been used effectively in the past (Si)
A preference for discussing practical, applicable, immediately relevant topics
A preference for learning details first, then build those details up to an overall picture
Sensors can be intelligent, creative, and artistic (yes, even SJs)
The process of considering or reasoning about something
Directing one’s mind towards something or someone
Thinking (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Making decisions based on logic and rationality
Someone who is calm and intelligent
Someone who is robotic and stoic, and doesn’t have any emotions
Someone who is doing something technical like hard sciences and maths
A preference for making decisions based on facts, truth and logical analysis (Ti), rationality and empirical evidence (Te)
MBTI Thinkers can learn to be considerate and not offensive to others, especially if their feeling function is in the tertiary position.
MBTI Thinkers have emotions, and can act emotionally/irrationally, especially in times of stress or if immature
MBTI Thinkers are not automatically good at science and math, and may not even like those subjects. They can be amazing artists and musicians.
An emotional state or reaction
Experiencing an emotion or sensation
Feeling (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Someone who feels a lot and doesn’t think a lot
Making decisions based on emotions
An emotional person; someone who’s dramatic, may be animated, sweet, and nice
Most likely unintelligent, not academic, and incapable of logical thinking
Someone who is doing something involving arts, languages, or humanities
Like a stereotypical woman
A preference for making decisions based on what is morally just, personal ethics (Fi) or keeping social harmony (Fe)
MBTI Feelers can be logical, think empirically, good at science and math, and does not act emotional
MBTI Feelers can be bashful and inconsiderate, especially if immature or under stress
Forming an opinion or conclusion about something
Being judgmental; determining whether qualities someone or something has are correct or desirable
Judging (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Someone who is organized, responsible, structured, neat, clean, tidy
Someone who is always on time
Someone who loves schedules and needs to plan ahead
Having a dominant (if extraverted) or auxiliary (if introverted) extraverted judging functions (Je) - Te, Fe
Judgers can be messy, spontaneous, and always late (especially in leisure). These are learned behaviors/habits. Their external behaviors do not dictate their MBTI (i.e. thought process).
Perceiving (conventional)
The way the brain processes external information through the 5 senses
Becoming aware of something
Interpreting something in a particular way
Perceiving (stereotypical/dichotomous MBTI)
Someone who is messy, scattered, disorganized, lazy, unreliable
Someone who is always late
Someone who is easy going and always go with the flow
Someone who is spontaneous and loves surprises
Having a dominant (if extraverted) or auxiliary (if introverted) extraverted perceiving functions (Pe) - Ne, Se
Perceivers can be outwardly organized, tidy, and always on time (especially in the work place or if they grew up in that environment). These are learned behaviors/habits. Their external behaviors do not dictate their MBTI (i.e. thought process).
If you want to know more about MBTI, visit MBTI Resources - a compilation of the well-written, informative, and accurate articles on the web.
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