Tips for Determining Your Personality Type

No assessment style or method for determining someone’s personality type is 100% accurate, for multiple reasons. People criticize personality theory all the time for being “pseudoscience”, but the fact of the matter is that interpreting or determining your personality type is a subjective process. We all have our own unique perspectives. I might interpret you one way, while someone else interprets you completely differently. Meanwhile, you see yourself as something far different from everyone else does. So, who’s right and who’s wrong? How do you actually determine your personality type?

I see people struggling to type themselves all the time. Perhaps they don’t understand the system well, or perhaps they don’t understand themselves. Some people are looking to fit 100%, but just can’t. The fact of the matter is that people are too complex or nuanced. We all have multiple facets to our personality, and we call on different facets depending on the situation. That’s not being two-faced or insincere; it can simply mean summoning specific strengths when they are needed.

I’ve been mulling over this for a while, and what I’m going to try to do is lay out some practical tips, prompts, or suggestions that might help point you in the right direction. If something I say specifically stands out to you, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments!

How To Determine Your Personality Type

Many people choose to rely on typology experts to determine their personality type. Of course, I’m not going to discourage getting the perspective of a credible authority, someone who knows the theory well. However, it’s important to realize that they can profile you wrong. It’s impossible to assess everyone perfectly 100% of the time after only a brief interaction with them. Ultimately, you are in charge of determining which personality type fits you best, and you will never be able to fully accept your personality type until you’ve made an informed decision on it. You need to do your own self-assessment and be completely comfortable with the result.

Self-Assessment Process for Determining Your Personality Type

Classic Myers-Briggs relies on the dichotomies as a simplistic way to self-assess and build your four letter type. For those who may not know what that means, the dichotomies are Introversion vs Extraversion, Intuition vs Sensing, Thinking vs Feeling, and Judging vs Perceiving. Personally, I can respect putting forward a version of the theory that is easy to digest, rather than drowning people in the cognitive functions right off the bat. However, that way of grouping it has never seemed accurate to me. So, I’m going to present an alternate approach that I believe is more accurate to Jung’s original theory.

1. Identify Your Preferred Function Group

Put the dichotomies from your mind, and any cognitive function biases you may have. When Jung put forth his eight cognitive functions, he described for groups, with two functions in each. Your first step is to determine which groups you relate to the most. Theoretically, you may relate heavily to two of the groups, one for each of your top two cognitive functions. You need to determine which is ruling your life, in order to find the one that your dominant function likely belongs too.

Remember: Since people are nuanced, they’ll rarely slot into their best-fit category 100%, and they may relate to aspects of each.

Introverted Perceiving
Introverted Perceiving (Pi) types form subjective impressions of events in order to perceive future implications. Current happenings are filtered through their database of impressions, to aid in accurate interpretation or prediction. The Pi types prefer life to be predictable and planned out. As a result, they often think things out well in advance to avoid last minute risks or unknowns. These types emphasize caution, preparation, forethought, and calculated action. They can come across as rigid or hyper-fixated on their chosen perception of events.

Introverted Judging
Introverted Judging (Ji) types are primarily concerned with forming an internal framework by which to judge the world. These types are ultimately “judgers” but that preference is turned inward, in many cases hidden from those around them. They’ll form clear internal standards, which will supercede any contradicting external standards. Until those standards are triggered, the Ji types often appear flexible and go with the flow. They emphasize autonomy, individuality, personal judgements, staying true to yourself or your thoughts, the internal impact of decisions, and introspection. All of these things may be at the expense of the group, causing these types to be perceived as selfish or self-centered.

Extraverted Perceiving
Extraverted Perceiving (Pe) types are oriented towards new, external perceptions. In other words, they possess an openness for new experiences that is typically unmatched by the other types. They desire to live a flexible and spontaneous lifestyle. As a result, the Pe types prefer to keep their options open whenever possible, which may result in them putting off their decisions in hopes that new information will surface. They value being adaptable, and continually looking out for new opportunities or ideas. These types can come across as unprepared, scattered, easily bored, and/or impulsive.

Extraverted Judging
Extraverted Judging (Je) types are oriented toward objective standards and structure. They naturally adjust themselves to the external expectations, often as a way to provide value to the group or contribute to shared goals. As a result, the Je types focus specfically on the external impact of decisions. They are naturally attuned to hierarchy, and excel at adapting to their chosen group. They value closure, planning, and an orderly environment. They may devalue individuality, in themselves (via adapting too much to external standards) or others (via forcing others to conform).

2. Identify Your Dominant Function

Visit the following links for more information on your chosen/potential function group, and to read overviews of the two functions that belong to that group. Under each, there should be a link to an in-depth analysis of each function. (If there isn’t, there will be soon. As of writing this article, seven articles out of eight have been published, and the rest are on their way.)

If you chose Introverted Judging, visit Introverted Judging Functions (Ti/Fi).
If you chose Introverted Perceiving, visit Introverted Perceiving Functions (Si/Ni).
For Extraverted Perceiving, visit Extraverted Perceiving Function (Se/Ne).
For Extraverted Judging, visit Extraverted Judging Functions (Fe/Te).

3. Choose Your Best-Fit Type

Once you’ve identified your dominant function, you’ve narrowed your options down to two personality types. In case you don’t know what those are, I’ll list them out below, with links to individual personality type descriptions. Read up on both to figure out which fits you better. Of course, you could always read the in-depth information associated with your second, or auxiliary function to further verify your personality type.

Dominant Ti mean you either have the ISTP Personality Type or the INTP Personality Type
Dominant Fi mean you either have the ISFP Personality Type or the INFP Personality Type
Dominant Si mean you either have the ISTJ Personality Type or the ISFJ Personality Type
Dominant Ni mean you either have the INTJ Personality Type or the INFJ Personality Type
Dominant Se mean you either have the ESTP Personality Type or the ESFP Personality Type
Dominant Ne mean you either have the ENTP Personality Type or the ENFP Personality Type
Dominant Fe mean you either have the ESFJ Personality Type or the ENFJ Personality Type
Dominant Te mean you either have the ESTJ Personality Type or the ENTJ Personality Type

Practical Considerations when Determining Your Personality Type

If you’re struggling, here are some things you could consider.

1. What do you do naturally, with little effort?

We all play varying roles throughout our lives, which can require us to develop aspects of ourselves that we don’t typically prefer. For instance, an extraverted perceiver may come across as more structured when dealing with their children. Outside influences such as employment, family, or culture may require us to act in ways that deviate from the typical way our personality type manifests. You need to figure out what is your most preferred, or natural way of being, when all outside influences have been eliminated.

2. What are you bad at or causes you stress?

Does too much structure or planning make you feel restricted, smothered, or anxious? Does the lack of a plan make you feel apprehensive or fearful? Do you struggle with understanding emotional impact? Etcetera. You may learn to be good at your lower functions, but they will still be draining to use or even stressful.

3. Which cognitive function can you not shut off?

If you’ve identified your top two functions but aren’t sure which is dominant, consider which you can imagine living without. Your dominant function should be a way of life, something you can’t give up.

4. Get some third party perspectives

Ask someone else what you do naturally or are best at, to get an objective perspective. Obviously, this has to be someone who knows you well enough to make an observation like that. Remember that your relationship with that person may affect what they specifically notice or call out. Co-workers may notice certain strengths/weaknesses, while family members may notice others.

5. How were you as a teenager or young adult?

Most people like to say that you can’t determine your personality type until you are a fully mature adult, because prior to that point, you are still developing your personality. On the contrary, in my experience, people in their teens or early twenties frequently manifest their personality type in a more stereotypical way, because they’re leaning heavily on their top two functions. Development of the third and fourth functions bring balance, which is obviously a good thing, but it can make it tricky to determine your default preferences.

6. What’s your current health state, emotionally or mentally? What are you like when healthy or not healthy?

When trying to determine your personality type, it’s important to recognize if you’re currently in a good, mental state. If you’re not, then your personality type is probably manifesting in an unnatural way. Of course, you could read up on grip states and loops. However, it may be useful to consider a time when you were healthy, and type the person that you were then.