Category: ISFJ (Page 1 of 2)

Give a Little Personality: A Gift Guide by Type

 

Give a Little Personality
A Gift Guide by Type

Merry Christmas everyone!  Or whatever you celebrate 😉  Better late than never and as requested, we have a handy little guide for giving gifts according to personality!

Rather than a specific list of individual items, we thought it would be of more value to share with you the principles of what motivates each type and the trends we’ve noticed about what each personality enjoys!  So then this will be useful all year round and not just two days before Christmas 😛

This is our first hybrid post (woo-hoo!) with both a video and written portion (mid-term flashback *shiver*).  Watch the video for our full in-depth versions of what we think each type would like and why (with the option to skip forward 😉 It’s a pretty long video), and check out the summaries and full-sized pics below for each type at-a-glance!

 

Continue reading

Type Specializations: What Makes *My* Type Special?

There’s an age-old outlook, put blatantly by Syndrome of The Incredibles in his Moriarty Fear, that if everyone is special, then *no one* will be.  To this longstanding catch-22, I offer the following rebuttal:  What if everyone is special in a way that is both utterly unique and utterly essential?

What if, like colors, genders or flavors, Personality Types create a beautiful cornucopia of complexity and balance, where each member contributes to the whole, an equal and necessary component, without which there would be a gaping hole?  And what if becoming special is simply a matter of owning who you are and choosing to pursue the very thing *you* love most?

These are Type Specializations.

This topic is one of my very favorite things about personality typing because it’s so wrapped up in what every type *is* and not only what every type specializes in, but what *drives* every type.  It’s easy to focus on cursory traits that may or may not come with a certain type – yes, ISTJs are usually fond of rules and yes, ENTPs often like taking risks; yes, INFPs spend a lot of time exploring inside their own heads and yes, ESFJs can often be found being great hosts and hostesses – but why?  What is that common thread that laces itself through a personality type?  What means the world to *your* personality?

Type Specializations are made up of two components, Scope and Objective. Continue reading

What Do All These Letters Mean Anyway?

So, once upon a time, you stumbled upon a really cool website.  It had interesting pictures combining all your favorite characters in ways you weren’t sure made sense, but it was also pretty cool to read, even if the girl who wrote it liked to use lame phrases like “Rock-awesome,” used too many ellipses and was a little too fascinated by crossdressing.  Despite her obvious strangeness though, the things she had to say made pretty good sense and you found yourself pulled in by her unique approach to humanity, obvious geekishness and adorable stick figures 😉

But, whether you were completely new to this personality stuff and wondering what the heck she was talking about, throwing letters around willy-nilly, or if you’re an absolute pro who has been studying this stuff since you and Jung were eating bratwurst together, you need to know what I mean when I throw out a four variable combination, whether it’s ENTP or Unicorn-Daisy-Tomato-Orange.  Personality Typing means squat if you have an incomplete or inaccurate understanding of what the variables mean in the first place.

And so here, boys and girls, is where I define my terms… in no uncertain terms 😉
Continue reading

Comment Response: Of INFJs, Principles of Typing and Characters that *POP*

The other day, I got a fantastic comment on Type Heroes: INFJ – The Paladin by a cool INFJ named Match.  In addition to comments about liking the blog in general, he brought up some great questions about why I typed some of the characters in the INFJ collage the way I did.  Because it was a fantastic and well thought out comment, I thought it deserved a well thought out response.  I started typing and this behemoth came out.  Rather than try and fit it into like 50 comments all broken up, which would end up feeling like I was spamming everyone on my own blog -_-, I decided to turn it into a post that might set the precedent for future response posts that deserve this kind of care and attention.

I hope you really wanted that reply you asked for, Match 😀

Intro and Principles of Typing 

Okay, important things first: Match is a really cool name!  Can I just say that?

Also, I’m *so* happy you’re enjoying the blog!  The things you said about Hercules Syndrome and the stick figure post make me feel giddy 😀  This is exactly why I write and it thrills me to know it’s working and that I’m touching individual people.  That’s really my purpose as an ENTP, helping people see their own individual potential and know how to reach for it; helping people be awesome in their own unique ways 🙂

You brought up really excellent points about those individual characters.  I also *loved* what you said about people making personality typing about cut-and-paste horoscopes!  I couldn’t agree more.  I think the one principle I’d like to bring up before going into specific character typings is that, while you’re obviously looking past the surface of types and I can tell you don’t type shallowly at all, it’s important to remember that personality types are a measure of the way a person *thinks* which ends up resulting in their actions, but *isn’t* their actions.  I know you know that principle, but it’s easy to forget that when other people are judging by the surface.  It’s easy to forget that two people may make the *exact same* decision for *entirely* different reasons.  Make sense?
Continue reading

The Cognition Process in Stick Figures

Though I write often about cognition patterns and how thought processes differ between each of the sixteen types, I feel like I haven’t really gotten across in full what I mean.  And is there any way better to get across concepts simply and efficiently than pictures?  I think there is not.

Now, I can’t make stick people like the greats, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m trying.  This is just literally the best I can draw 😛  Well, pretty much…  {On an interesting side-note about XKCD, I’ve noticed webcomic writers are often IP’s, especially INP’s (the author of XKCD being very classically INP).  It makes sense to me that they would enjoy that format since IP’s focus on and love details; webcomics give them an opportunity to savor each moment and detail, rather than needing to get to the end of a plot arch, the way a J especially might.  I could also go off about IP’s liking “Magnetic Poetry” titles such as “XKCD” or “Death Cab for Cutie” but maybe some other time…}

Everyone thinks :O  It’s kind of a necessary part of being conscious.  But we don’t all do it in the same way or in the same order.  These differences in thought processes are what eventually translate into personality types.  So here, step-by-step in pictures, is the cognition process and how it works for each type. 🙂

 

Continue reading

aLBoP Personality Tips #3-5: Introverts

 

 Introverts, whether Introverted Perceivers or Introverted Judgers, naturally excel at the parts of the cognitive process that require inside-their-heads, solitary thought.  Whether this is IP’s understanding and coming to Conclusions about Data and situational details based on either thoughts or feelings inside their heads (Ti or Fi), or IJ’s understanding of how Principles apply to the world at large based on either applying their intuition or their senses inside their heads (Ni or Si), introverts are quite comfortable working things out within their own minds.

Because Introverts prioritize those inside-their-head steps, they naturally feel confident making decisions without external input.  Even an Introvert struggling with self-confidence issues is unlikely to feel like they need others to help make their decisions.  Even when an Introvert regrets or feels inadequate in their decisions, they’ll still feel like they alone have to make the decision.

 
Because Introverts specialize at being inside their own heads, sometimes they can get a little *too* inside their own heads and fail to take outside forces, especially the actions of others, into account in their planning.  This in no way has to be a self-centered gesture and it doesn’t mean Introverts don’t consider the *effect* their plans will have on others.  IF’s especially think in terms of what effect their actions will have on others.  But a well-intentioned Introvert may fail to fully understand the ramifications of others’ actions in affecting their plans.
 
For more information on what all the letters mean, click here, and stay tuned for more aLBoP (a Little Bit of Personality) Personality Tips 😀

How to Make Good Decisions While Still Being You: Part 1 – Optimism, Pessimism and What We Do About It

In order to understand how people make good decisions, we need to explore *why* they make the decisions they do.  Namely, *why* do the different types have the specializations and focuses they do; how do each of us see the world and people and how do we choose to affect the world the way no one else can?

How we view the world is based on how our cognition interacts with our experiences.  Based on our cognitive patterns, two different types will interpret the same experiences quite differently.  Through those experiences, each type tends toward a different worldview.  Now I’m not talking about who you voted for or where you choose to spend your Sundays, though those choices are certainly based on your worldview and personal experiences.  No, I’m talking about optimism, pessimism and our intentions of world and self change.  I have to note that *each* of these, when healthy,  are valid and necessary ways of viewing the world so that as a society we don’t miss anything or go off wildly half-cocked.  In fact you can be sure that a broken culture is the result of one or many of the types’ unique strengths being ignored in favor of a few select types.  More on that later though.

Not just for the sake of tooting my own horn (though, as an ENTP, you know I love to 😉 ), I want to point out that you’re not going to find this information anywhere else.  I see the patterns and I share them; I don’t get them from anywhere “official” because those individual human beings who are just people too, haven’t discovered them yet.  Sometimes Tony Stark is better at inventing something in a cave than researchers in a million dollar lab with their heads up their booties could ever be.  If the “experts” want to tell the “amateurs” they’re wrong, feel free… they should just prepare to have said butts handed back to them.

Here are the graphs, because I <3 pretty graphs!

The two graphs correspond, the second being a “flipping” of the first, with each type’s place in the first graph corresponding to its place in the second. 🙂

The graph on the top is about the way each type tends to view people.

  • I’s, whose primary functions are inside their own heads, concentrate their focus on people on the whole, while E’s, whose primary functions are through taking things in from the world outside themselves, concentrate their focus on individuals.
  • F’s, who focus on the meaning of people and things, tend to be more optimistic about people.  T’s, who focus on the use of people and things, tend to be more pessimistic about people.
  • Idealistic — IF’s tend to think people on the whole are good and meaningful.  When they do feel cynical, it tends to be about individuals failing.  (“People rock!”)
  • Optimistic — EF’s tend to think individuals are good and meaningful.  When they do feel cynical, it tends to be about people on the whole failing.  (“You rock!”)
  • Pessimistic — IT’s tend to think people on the whole are bad and useless.  When they do feel optimistic, it tends to be about individuals who matter to them.  (“People suck!”)
  • Skeptical — ET’s tend to think individuals are bad and useless.  When they do feel optimistic, it tends to be about people on the whole who matter to them.  (“You suck!”)

The graph on the bottom is about what each type chooses to do about how they view people.

  • S’s, who take in the world in a linear, literal, on-the-ground way, care especially about keeping things the same and protecting what is already there, while N’s, who take in the world in a conceptual, non-linear, far-reaching way, care especially about changing things to reach their full potential.
  • J’s, who focus on the relationship between actions, consequences and principles of the way things work, specialize in the direction the world and groups are headed in.  P’s, who focus on the relationship between data, the way things are, and the motivations of individuals, specialize in exploring the world and people.
  • Game Changers — NJ’s focus on changing the world.
  • Motivators — NP’s focus on changing individuals, starting with themselves.
  • World Protectors — SJ’s focus on keeping the world the same.
  • Individualists — SP’s focus on keeping individuals the same, starting with themselves.
When we combine the two graphs, we get a unique result for each type:
  • INFJ — The Idealistic Game Changers — tend to think people on the whole are good, so they believe it’s possible to change the bad parts of the world.  (The Paladin)
  • INFP — The Idealistic Motivators — tend to think people on the whole are good, so they believe it’s possible to change the bad parts of individuals, starting with themselves.  (The Ranger)
  • ISFJ — The Idealistic World Protectors — tend to think people on the whole are good, so they desire to protect the parts of the world they love.  (The Knight)
  • ISFP — The Idealistic Individualists — tend to think people on the whole are good, so they desire to keep the parts of people they love the same.  (The Explorer)
  • ENFJ — The Optimistic Game Changers — tend to think individuals are good, so they believe it’s possible to change the bad parts of the world.  (The Veteran)
  • ENFP — The Optimistic Motivators — tend to think individuals are good, so they believe it’s possible to change the bad parts of individuals, starting with themselves.  (The Standard-Bearer)
  • ESFJ — The Optimistic World Protectors — tend to think individuals are good, so they desire to protect the parts of the world they love.  (The Cavalry)
  • ESFP — The Optimistic Individualists — tend to think individuals are good, so they desire to keep the parts of people they love the same.  (The Morale Officer)
  • INTJ — The Pessimistic Game Changers — tend to think people on the whole are bad, so they try and change the bad parts of the world.  (The Dragon)
  • INTP — The Pessimistic Motivators — tend to think people on the whole are badso they try and change the bad parts of individuals, starting with themselves.  (The Alchemist)
  • ISTJ — The Pessimistic World Protectors — tend to think people on the whole are badso they try and protect the parts of the world they love.  (The Sentinel)
  • ISTP — The Pessimistic Individualists — tend to think people on the whole are badso they try and keep the parts of people they love the same.  (The Weapons Specialist)
  • ENTJ — The Skeptical Game Changers — tend to think individuals are bad, so they try and change the bad parts of the world.  (The Crusader)
  • ENTP — The Skeptical Motivators — tend to think individuals are badso they try and change the bad parts of individuals, starting with themselves.  (The Swashbuckler)
  • ESTJ — The Skeptical World Protectors — tend to think individuals are badso they try and protect the parts of the world they love.  (The Cannon)
  • ESTP — The Skeptical Individualists — tend to think individuals are badso they try and keep the parts of people they love the same.  (The Spartan)

Each of these are healthy and necessary ways of viewing the world; it’s when a person oversimplifies people as all bad or all good on both an individual and collective level, that they start making errors in judgment.  When a person either believes that everything is fine or there is nothing worth saving, they lose perspective and become unhealthy, even if just temporarily.

As people, we do this when we are afraid that the area we specialize in and uniquely bring to the table, is in jeopardy.  Whether it’s IJ’s trying to protect what they want the world to be, EJ’s fearing their group will come to naught, IP’s feeling like the area they specialize in is meaningless or EP’s terror that who they are doesn’t matter, when we feel like everything that made our lives and the world matter to us is in danger of being lost, we hold on to extremes in positive or negative judgments to try and maintain our sanity.

As an ENTP, for example, my specialization is Individual Potential.  As I interact with the world, my cognitive functions demonstrate to me conceptually just what people can be (which suggests to me that people on the whole are good), but I also excel at character judgments, which demonstrates to me that people rarely live up to that potential (that’s where the “individuals suck” part comes in), so I figure, even though I can’t change what other people do, I can start with myself and try to be as awesome as I possibly can (try and change the bad parts of myself).

All that is good and how I’m supposed to function.  I get into trouble, however, when (usually because an individual disappoints me) I fear that everything I’ve tried to achieve of my own individual potential is all going to come to naught.  I start fearing that not only are a lot of individuals bad, but maybe there isn’t anyone in the whole world who will ever see my potential or apply what I say to themselves.  I fear I am of no use (a very T way of thinking of it) and get grumpy, mean and start making terrible decisions.

So how can we snap out of it, overcome fear and return to sanity?  How can we know what decisions to make when we’re scared?  I’ll explain in Part 2 – Playing to Your Strengths 😀

Costuming with Personality

{Update 5-29-14:  I mentioned in the first Q&A that this post had incorrect typings that I needed to fix (though none of the ones that had been questioned thus far).  I was really rushed last Semptember to get this post out, so I messed up a handful of typings.  Mostly one-offs.  Well, I finally went through the arduous task of meticulously combing through *all* the typings in this post 😛  I’m relieved to say this post is finally up to the quality standard of the rest of the blog, and I am very proud of the results!  Enjoy and happy costuming!
<3 Calise}

It’s that time of year again; the time of year when stores put out Halloween decorations ridiculously early and you know their Christmas decorations are just around the corner.  I swear they start marketing this stuff earlier every year.  All the same, if you want an attractive and complex costume for Halloween (or wherever else you might wear a costume) you need time to prepare.  Too many Halloweens I ended up trying to pick something to wear on the 31st and was bummed out when it didn’t come out as planned or no one knew what I was.  While I think it’s worth it to go for the 1% who know what you’re dressed as, you want enough time so that *you* are happy and feel good about yourself.

In that vein, I love the idea of wearing a costume that matches your personality type or Paradoxitype!  For Dragoncon this year, I dressed up as a steampunked version of Meg from Disney’s Hercules, with my INFJ dressed as a hydraulically powered Herc.  We put the cosplays together last minute and had some armor issues.  We didn’t end up getting *any* pictures together, which really bummed me out (though a bunch of strangers have pictures of us, wherever they are 😉 ).  imho, they looked better in person, but with our little budget, they came out pretty great.  Rocket-pack Pegasus is my favorite feature, along with Herc’s working arm pumps that pushed air into tubes every time he moved without limiting his range of motion very much.  I’m also insanely proud of my guns, Pain and Panic, which started out as dollar store neon plastic and ended up with a torched steel effect.  It’s the little details that make it special, even if other people never see it.
Continue reading

Type Heroes: ISFJ – The Knight

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour 😀 So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

ISFJ
The Knight

“Because the one thing I know…
some things are just worth fighting for.”

Jim Raynor, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

The ISFJ Knight is the flagship of dependability.  Noble, loyal and chivalrous are words that describe these on-the-ground captains.  They have the world perspective to understand why the people and ideals they serve are so important and are great at seeing in the moment plans of action.  They live to serve something greater than themselves in a straight-forward, get-it-done sort of way.  They don’t usually mind getting a little dirt on their hands because they don’t think they’re special enough to be looked to as an example anyway.  And though they don’t expect to be thanked, they’ll get touchy when it’s suggested they weren’t doing their all.
Continue reading

A.I. Typed: Robots and Their Personality

Androids, computers, robots; call them what you will, they’re all A.I., artificial intelligence.  Though the messages their stories tell may vary, throughout the years bots have won our hearts, made us laugh, made us think and freaked the crap out of us.  Their quest to be a little more human represents humanity’s quest to be even more than that.  This is a salute to both A.I. and humanity in all its varied hues.
Continue reading

« Older posts