Does your type describe you or do you conform to it?

[muir]

The first time I read a type description for an INFJ, I was amazed by how accurately it described me. No joke.

Same

I took a test online that told me i was something called an 'infj'. I looked into it further and read descriptions which i found were uncannily accurate.

I was aware of the barnum effect used in newspaper horoscopes and thought perhaps the same effect was being used so i read the descriptions of all the other types objectively trying to match them to me. None of them matched.

I found the process quite emotional; it made a lot of sense of some things i had done in my life and some hard times i had been through

I followed a link to the infj forums out of curiosity and found many threads on subjects close to my heart

The descriptions i have read have been accurate about some really random things. I am usually fairly wary of things initially but MBTI really resonated with me

 

[Ecton]

Awesome thread. I love it and all the posts.

This may seem odd, but in a way I have welcomed the shaping that labeling has done. I am using it as a tool.

The reason is that I come from a nuclear family of all Introverts, where all of the INs were Ts (INTJs), and all of the Fs where ISs. (ISFPs). So I was actually raised to see INF as a weakness that I had to overcome. I spent years pushing to be an INTJ. So much so that I ran away from an INFJ classification many years ago.

Now, I am doing something much more healthy, using the label to actively pursue my proclivities as the embodiment of a healthy, heroic type.
Role-playing a justified self has been enormously beneficial for my emotional health.

I'm very thankful to Jung, Meirs, Briggs, and others.

I agree, though, that at some point this exercise will not be necessary. That point will come when I feel more comfortable with my cognitive preferences, which is rapidly approaching. Yay!