dogman6126
Community Member
- MBTI
- ENFJ-wasINFJ
Hello everyone.
So I've been here a few days, and read a few threads, and I have had this idea I wanted to test in my head for a while. Basically, I just want to understand better how childhood experiences influence who you are today (your personality type specifically) and if there are any general commonalities/patterns that can be discerned.
If those who are INFJ (and other personality types are more than welcome to join in as well) would be willing to share what there childhood was like, that would be great! To get the ball rolling (and to give some ideas of what to talk about) I'll go first.
*side note, if you know or suspect what it is that caused you to develop in the way you have, please make note of that specifically, that would be most beneficial*
I will start my story when I moved to my school where I mostly grew up. So this story starts in 3rd grade. Basically for me, I started out obsessed with doing what was seen as right. Unfortunately this caused me also to expect the same from others. This meant that whenever someone else did something I thought was wrong or something they shouldn't do, I made them and the authority figure present aware of the transgression (Basically a sugar coated way of me saying I was a classic tattle-tale). This of course caused much friction between myself and most all of my peers. Being good at the sciences did not help of course, so I was quickly labeled as the annoying smart kid of the class. I was never physically bullied (I may have been the annoying smart kid, but I was also one of the faster and stronger kids in my grade thanks to some good genetics from my father), but the verbal bullying would get rather severe. I would never allow myself to hit another student, so that was never an option to me. The one "friend" that I did have mostly just tolerated me, and in 8th grade became such a bad person (drinking/smoking and being very rude) that I could not tolerate him at all. I never had a best friend or someone (other than my parents) that I could just talk to until sophomore/junior year of high school (who is still my best friend). Because of the constant harassment of my peers, I think this is what caused me to be introverted. Now I just don't like large groups of people.
I think that this experience also caused me to be the feeling type. I went so long without anyone caring about me (except parents, but at that age it feels like they have to) that I learned the value of having that attachment with another person. Because of this, my best friend and I are very close (we can literally talk about anything (he's an ENFJ)) and another good friend (just met in college (He's an INTP)) are becoming close friends very quickly. I am very protective of any bond I have with another person and do what ever I can to be the best friend I can be (because I went without that). This experience also made me very caring about other people/things because I know what it feels like to not be cared about or to be teased all the time, and I would absolutely hate if that happened to someone else. I don't think anyone deserves to go through that. This also means I absolutely hate when I'm annoying to other people in general because I put so much emphasis on not being annoying any more (although I know sometimes I still am, nobody's perfect I suppose :/).
I also think this experience explains why I'm the judging type and have developed a strong Ti secondary function. Basically whenever people would pick on me or make me feel bad when I did things, I would constantly consider and reconsider the things I was doing to see if I was right or wrong in what I did. Specifically trying to see it from their perspective. Whenever I did anything wrong, I would feel very bad. This caused me to be very careful about the things I did, and took special care that the things I did were the best I could do. That way I knew that their picking was without cause. For this, it is important to note that I started doing this around 6th grade, and this is also when I started to stop telling on people all the time (took until 8th grade before I stopped completely, and took my peers until junior year of high school to realize that I no longer did that). This also likely caused the Ti secondary function to develop because I was constantly considering and reconsidering what was right and wrong, and how I could possibly do better. This often led me into very abstract lines of thought (later to hear similar ideas in my philosophy class) so that required me to learn to think logically.
As for intuitive, that I think came much earlier, possibly as a result of my own natural curiosity of the world around me. As a kid I was often intrigued by the many things around me.
I want to make note that I do realize that I caused those experiences (mostly, there are certain things obviously out of my control), and I have accepted them. This is not me complaining about my past, in fact I'm happy for my past. I do not believe I would be the person I am today without those experiences.
So that's why I think I developed into the type that I am today. INFJ. I am mostly curious to see if other INFJ types had similar experiences, and if not then what they think caused them to develop into this personality type. Please share and be honest! I'm sure no one here will be a jerk about who you were in the past as that is not who you are now!
Thank you in advance for sharing
So I've been here a few days, and read a few threads, and I have had this idea I wanted to test in my head for a while. Basically, I just want to understand better how childhood experiences influence who you are today (your personality type specifically) and if there are any general commonalities/patterns that can be discerned.
If those who are INFJ (and other personality types are more than welcome to join in as well) would be willing to share what there childhood was like, that would be great! To get the ball rolling (and to give some ideas of what to talk about) I'll go first.
*side note, if you know or suspect what it is that caused you to develop in the way you have, please make note of that specifically, that would be most beneficial*
I will start my story when I moved to my school where I mostly grew up. So this story starts in 3rd grade. Basically for me, I started out obsessed with doing what was seen as right. Unfortunately this caused me also to expect the same from others. This meant that whenever someone else did something I thought was wrong or something they shouldn't do, I made them and the authority figure present aware of the transgression (Basically a sugar coated way of me saying I was a classic tattle-tale). This of course caused much friction between myself and most all of my peers. Being good at the sciences did not help of course, so I was quickly labeled as the annoying smart kid of the class. I was never physically bullied (I may have been the annoying smart kid, but I was also one of the faster and stronger kids in my grade thanks to some good genetics from my father), but the verbal bullying would get rather severe. I would never allow myself to hit another student, so that was never an option to me. The one "friend" that I did have mostly just tolerated me, and in 8th grade became such a bad person (drinking/smoking and being very rude) that I could not tolerate him at all. I never had a best friend or someone (other than my parents) that I could just talk to until sophomore/junior year of high school (who is still my best friend). Because of the constant harassment of my peers, I think this is what caused me to be introverted. Now I just don't like large groups of people.
I think that this experience also caused me to be the feeling type. I went so long without anyone caring about me (except parents, but at that age it feels like they have to) that I learned the value of having that attachment with another person. Because of this, my best friend and I are very close (we can literally talk about anything (he's an ENFJ)) and another good friend (just met in college (He's an INTP)) are becoming close friends very quickly. I am very protective of any bond I have with another person and do what ever I can to be the best friend I can be (because I went without that). This experience also made me very caring about other people/things because I know what it feels like to not be cared about or to be teased all the time, and I would absolutely hate if that happened to someone else. I don't think anyone deserves to go through that. This also means I absolutely hate when I'm annoying to other people in general because I put so much emphasis on not being annoying any more (although I know sometimes I still am, nobody's perfect I suppose :/).
I also think this experience explains why I'm the judging type and have developed a strong Ti secondary function. Basically whenever people would pick on me or make me feel bad when I did things, I would constantly consider and reconsider the things I was doing to see if I was right or wrong in what I did. Specifically trying to see it from their perspective. Whenever I did anything wrong, I would feel very bad. This caused me to be very careful about the things I did, and took special care that the things I did were the best I could do. That way I knew that their picking was without cause. For this, it is important to note that I started doing this around 6th grade, and this is also when I started to stop telling on people all the time (took until 8th grade before I stopped completely, and took my peers until junior year of high school to realize that I no longer did that). This also likely caused the Ti secondary function to develop because I was constantly considering and reconsidering what was right and wrong, and how I could possibly do better. This often led me into very abstract lines of thought (later to hear similar ideas in my philosophy class) so that required me to learn to think logically.
As for intuitive, that I think came much earlier, possibly as a result of my own natural curiosity of the world around me. As a kid I was often intrigued by the many things around me.
I want to make note that I do realize that I caused those experiences (mostly, there are certain things obviously out of my control), and I have accepted them. This is not me complaining about my past, in fact I'm happy for my past. I do not believe I would be the person I am today without those experiences.
So that's why I think I developed into the type that I am today. INFJ. I am mostly curious to see if other INFJ types had similar experiences, and if not then what they think caused them to develop into this personality type. Please share and be honest! I'm sure no one here will be a jerk about who you were in the past as that is not who you are now!
Thank you in advance for sharing
