Reddit reviews Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type

You have the first step by being aware there's bias everywhere and it takes many forms. Now you just have to recognize when you're reading something that's laced with it and take everything with a grain of salt.

If you haven't, try reading recommended books on MBTI. Going back to the source material like Gifts Differing by Myers herself. For free internet stuff, MBTI Notes is really good and even talks about type bias.

Gifts Differing
and

Personality Type: An Owner's Manual

Gifts Differing is shorter, and a better introduction than Personality Type but the latter goes into more detail giving each function around 30 pages or more (I think). I recommend reading them both in that order. They both really, really useful reads.

Aside from the book I'm writing? ;)

Yeah, there are a couple. The problem is that even though these books talk about the cognitive processes in depth, the way they're written seems to confuse people for some reason. I've know people that read both of these and STILL had no idea what the functions are or how to use them. Despite that, these are two of the best:

Personality Type, an Owner's Manual by Lenore Thomson This is the most in depth and accurate coverage of the functions currently out there. A bit complicated (there is actually an entire wiki out there devoted to trying to understand what Lenore was talking about), but very good. I've picked up more from this than any other comparable book.

Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs-Myers - Aside from Psychological Types, this is the book that got it all started. Great book.

Also you can check out the website of my partner and I: PersonalityHacker.com This isn't nearly as complete as it will be soon, but it's getting there.

I'm Camronn, by the way.

Si, at its most basic, is comparing current situations to previously experienced ones. It involves storing data from the past and comparing to the present. So, that function tends to focus on the past.

Ni is difficult to explain, but I refer to it as "finding patterns from chaos". It's that Ah-ha! moment when something suddenly clicks and you comprehend the Big Picture, a non-linear thought process where everything is interconnected (in a way that can be difficult to explain). It focuses not on what was, but what can be, and is therefore future-orientated.

For a more in-depth analysis, Gifts Differing is a good resource.

Psychological Types, C.G. Jung

Gifts Differing, Isabel Briggs Myers

In my opinion the most essential readings on MBTI. The one flows into the other quite well, contrary to the popular belief that MBTI grew far away from Jung; Myers adapted his work pretty faithfully, it's the recent stuff that strays.

The eight function models are a branch of the original model. Any four function model doesn't necessarily reject the 8-fcts, but the latter is just redundant and imo confusing. The essential reason for this, as I see it, is that the latter sees the e/i movement of energy as momentary while the former, 4-fct, sees it as typical. If Ti, for example, is Thinking typically drawn inwards, then it makes no sense that the same person sometimes typically goes outwards.

I'm pretty sure it was this one, written by Myers and Briggs who MBTI is named after

https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Differing-Understanding-Personality-Type/dp/089106074X

I would recommend looking into the cognitive functions. The cognitive function stack for INTPs is Ti - Ne - Si - Fe and the stack for ESFP is Se - Fi - Te - Ni. The first function is your strongest one, and as you go down the stack they essentially get weaker until you get to the fourth one which is your weakest. Depending on whether you're introverted or extroverted (cognitively), your first function has an introverted or extroverted orientation. So for INTPs you would have introverted thinking (Ti) first and the rest of your stack fills out to always have one introverted and one extroverted function next to each other. Because your first function is introverted, your last function is extroverted, and for INTPs that's extraverted feeling. And then it goes the other way around for extroverts, they have an extroverted first function and an introverted last function.

mbti-notes goes really in depth with the cognitive functions, describing them as they appear in each position. Your first function = dominant, second = auxiliary, third = tertiary, and fourth = inferior. You can also check out Gifts Differing if you seek something more simplified and don't want to be overwhelmed with a too much information, xD. They can definitely go further and explain it better than I am lol

To sum it up, your dominant function (in your case, Se or Ti) is usually unconscious and it's like your default state so you can't always tell you're using it right away and others can usually see it better than you. Your auxiliary function (Fi or Ne) is something that helps guide your dominant function and you typically notice it more and that's the root of most E/I confusion. Your tertiary function is something you're pretty bad at, but you still sometimes use it as relief because it's the same extroverted/introverted orientation , but you risk looking and "skipping over" your aux function and not introspecting enough (for extroverts) or not directing enough attention outward (for introverts) and that isn't healthy. Your inferior function is basically your fatal flaw, the Achilles' heel of your type. And every type has one, so there's no such thing as "one type has it all" or "certain types are better than others." INTP and ESFP are insanely different, so if those are the two you're confused over it should be fairly easy to tell especially if you start looking for signs of your lower functions first. The page I linked above includes descriptions of "gripping" in your inferior function, which is basically when you're under extreme amounts of stress and your inferior function starts taking over in extremely disorienting ways. Check out Ni grip vs Fe grip and see which one sounds more like you.

There's a lot of things I haven't covered lol, mbti-notes has a lot more that can help. Things can get really messy when you get into this stuff. I'd avoid the E I S N F T J P dichotomies because they're very surface level and consequently the type descriptions can be very surface level too, like no ESFPs are not all drama queens. What makes someone an ESFP is by their function stacking and cognition, not the number of parties they attend every weekend, lmao.

Another thing to keep in mind is look at the motivation of why you're doing things, not just the things itself. Like, right now as I'm typing this out, I'm at the near back of my classroom with my face in the computer. Most people would probably look at me and say, "Oh she looks really introverted!" and I'd probably get typed as I a lot by people who just learned about myers briggs 2 seconds ago. But what that approach fails to consider is my actual cognition behind it. Like, I sit in the back of all my classrooms because that's where all the electrical outlets are and my computer dies quickly, plus it prevents people from looking at my screen and picking up my discord username, not because I seek a calmer environment from the classroom. Maybe I sit on my phone at the table sometimes not because I want to get away from it all and process my thoughts, but because the people actually present are already in their own clique and don't really welcome me that much, or I'm in the middle of a texting conversation, or there's just some really spicy memes on my feed lmao. E/I isn't how chatty you are or how many friends you have, it's simply where you'd rather direct your energy, either internally or externally. You can be sitting at home watching Netflix and still be directing energy outward by focusing on the screen and the story and not really going into your own thoughts, and vice versa, you can be out in the field playing baseball and still be directing energy inward by introspecting/reflecting/daydreaming within yourself. You just need to dig deeper and try not to focus on what you do, but why you do it.

I hope this helped! And by the way, if you do turn out to be an ESFPor INTP, there's nothing wrong with that! Like I said, every type has their own weaknesses. And consequently, they have their own strengths. They're different, not better/worse. Be proud of your type! 😄

Haha, yea I had the hardest time putting you in either the I or E camp. I actually edited it a few times, back and forth. The best way to tell if you are one group or the other is to look at what you like to do to "recharge." Do you find doing things in large groups of individuals energizing, or draining? Do you find time/doing things alone replenishes you, or saps you?

Of course we all have times where we crave social interaction. We're social creatures. Leaning more towards one or the other is usually the best way to see it.

If you find either situation equally beneficial, you may be an "ambivert", a very rare quality.

As for taking a test without paying for it, I've always kinda found the tests to be a bit... shallow? Often times the individual who designed the test puts the spin of their own personality type on the test without realizing it.

Plus, personalities are tricky things with lots of subtlety. For instance, in 'real life' I'm very strongly an introvert, but get me (or most introverts) started on a passion topic and I will talk you ear off (as some of my silly text-wall posts can attest to.) In addition, I can be more "ambiverted" online, because I am free to compose my thoughts before releasing them. I can also choose to be invisible, or participate. So, environment and situation can play a huge part in understanding your personality type, and a poorly phrased question may send you off on a tangent.

There are free tests out there; the key terms to plug into a search engine would be "personality test" and "Meyers Brigs." There are other adaptations too, such as one that is typically used in businesses that assigns colors to the types, and simplifies things a bit.

Then there are learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) on top of personality types. If you can get a handle on both personality type and learning style, you can very quickly understand what matters to an individual (even if that individual is yourself), and the best way to spin ideas you are trying to convey or learn.

If you are interested in this, I would personally recommend either reading Gifts Differing (written by the Isabel Briggs Myers) or Type Talk (another excellent book on the subject). Both books are fantastic resources, and I count the information in them among the top five most valuable things I have ever learned about anything. It's basically a very practical, applied psychology, without all the BS and theoretical stuff that I will never need to know. Both books are fairly short, while still getting their point across. They are also really interesting, without being "heady."

Reading the books gives a more holistic picture of personality typing, and do a lot better job pinning down subtleties that often get glossed over in a simple test.

Start at the source:

Psychological Types by C. G. Jung

Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers

75% of the world is extroverted, and the tendency is to believe introversion is a flaw. You and your mom should read a book about Myers-Briggs personality type theory. You can take a shortcut by searching for "MBTI" (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), but reading a book on the subject will likely help more. You'll need to take a quick test (70 questions, two answers each, no wrong answers) to get a quick map of your personality traits.

Book 1
Book 2

Have you read https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Differing-Understanding-Personality-Type/dp/089106074X ? If not, I would, as this is where "it all started", might as well get the story from the horse's mouth...

See also:

https://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/isabel-myers.htm