Determining type by stress behaviour?

[brainfog]

I am not sure of my type yet (for reasons that will soon be explained) but I think perhaps reactions to stress might help clarify it.

Although I am pretty sure I am some combination of S and L, I still don't know which one.
When stressed out I have noticed that I tend to engage in certain activities, some which calm me down and some which just makes it worse.
Reading about, and trying to understand personality type is something I typically do when stressed (or bored - which equals stress to me) but this activity and similar ones does NOT seem to calm me down. In fact in makes me more stressed, mainly because I seem unable to really understand the theory behind personality types.

I am not stupid, trust me, but for some reason this type of information makes my brain go all "foggy", its like I instantly become stupid, I can remember and repeat most of the theory, but I just cant make sense of it. This makes me try to understand it even harder, which in turn makes me understand it even less. And thus I have no clear idea of my type. I have the same problem if I try long term planning, like where is my career headed, or where will I be in five years time. Instant brain fog and total confusion.

This makes me think it must be inferior Ne or Ni ?

On the other hand - if I am really stressed and sit down and do something like going through my finances, even if it turns out to be pretty bleak, it seems to calm me down.
This is true even if my initial stress is due to my financial situation, knowing the exact numbers always helps!
Cleaning the bathroom (although I hate cleaning) also helps, it helps me achieve something concrete in the real world and that calms me down. Making lists help, cleaning out the closet helps, throwing stuff out (decluttering) helps, drinking helps, exercising especially out in nature helps,etc.

I also have an easy time understanding all information related to practical theory, like the theory of marketing etc. I have NO interest in detailed technical explanations unless I see a direct practical need for it. If I have a question about what temperature to roast a steak I only want the answer, not a long explanation to as why the meat should be cooked at such and such temperature. Such long winded explanations with no immediately practical use just irritates me and I have no qualms about showing that it irritates me.

So - even though I have tried (believe me) to get a fix on my type - I am unable to due to instant brain fog. Anyone here want to take a guess? Preferably an educated one explained in simple" to-the-point" terms that I can grasp.

I will be happy to answer any questions you might have - any help is appreciated.

Cheers H,

[Reuben]

Long-winded explanations with no practical use sounds like an application of Ti-creative, or Ti-seeking. Since you disdain it, you may be some Fi/Te type.

Doing concrete stuff related to the numbers, making lists, cleaning stuff is related to Te. Doing them to calm down could imply you are Te-seeking, meaning Fi-ego.

Easy time understanding theory might imply creative Ne. Impression = INFj

Instant brain fog and total confusion may be due to the career stressing you, you not being suitable to the career although you desire yourself to be perhaps due to social/financial pressure, or other stress related factors that cloud future judgment. These are all assumptions so please do not take it personally, I'm just throwing out possibilities to show that brain fog/confusion does not immediately imply poor Ne/Ni as it could just be reaction to stress. IMO and IME, I believe Ne operates better when under less stress (Si positive environment) while Ni operates better when under more stress (Se positive environment). This is just an intuitive wording on things, so don't take it too technically. It just fits with the concept that you may have Ne in your ego block.

Reaction to stress tends to reveal more about super-ego block and super-id block than ego I feel. You'd tend to avoid elements in your super-ego block and nest yourself in elements related to the super-id block (in your case, Te and Si stuff like sorting things out and nature respectively).

[mu4]

Sounds like it could be Ti polr

(vulnerable to introverted logic)

You could be SEE

http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin...ry/34-SEE-ESFp

[Absurd]

So - even though I have tried (believe me) to get a fix on my type - I am unable to due to instant brain fog. Anyone here want to take a guess? Preferably an educated one explained in simple" to-the-point" terms that I can grasp.

Write more, already have something, but not 100% yet. Just taking precautions for 16types.info is serious business.

[The Ineffable]

I am not stupid, trust me, but for some reason this type of information makes my brain go all "foggy", its like I instantly become stupid, I can remember and repeat most of the theory, but I just cant make sense of it.

Typing aside, you wear the mark. That means you are one of the few people who are actually capable to understand the theory. If your interest persists, you will likely ditch the floor ruminating all of these, but insights will eventually shed light on different parts, sometimes unexpectedly, when the echos of your study will match your daily experience. The fog is IMO not due to a confuse mind of yours, on the contrary, I think it's to the fact that you are a very objective person dealing with confusing information.

I often stumble upon people of an inferior intellect, to whom complex theories make immediate "sense"; I suppose you know what I mean, would you prefer to be like that? Then I recommend you a book, "30-Second Theories" by Paul Parsons. Overview:

Chaos Theory, Unification, the Thoery of Relativity? Schrödinger's Cat, and the Laws of Motion? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you've certainly heard of all of them. But do you know enough about them to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the bar with your knowledge?

30-Second Theories takes a revolutionary approach to understanding the 50 most significant and intriguing scientific theories. It challenges leading scientific experts to abandon their beloved jargon and explain the most complex of theories in half a minute—using nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and a picture. Time might well be relative, but it's also precious in a world that seems to spin even faster, and here, in one unique volume, you have the chance to pick the potted brains of our leading scientists and understand the key notes of our harmonious universe in less time than it takes to scratch your head.

My point is: most people don't understand complex and abstract theories like Socionics, but we can separate them in two categories, those who know they don't understand and those who don't. Only the former can transcend this state of ignorance, just it doesn't happen overnight, like it appears to be the case of the latter. I would be happy if I were you.

[The Ineffable]

On the other hand - if I am really stressed and sit down and do something like going through my finances, even if it turns out to be pretty bleak, it seems to calm me down.
This is true even if my initial stress is due to my financial situation, knowing the exact numbers always helps!
Cleaning the bathroom (although I hate cleaning) also helps, it helps me achieve something concrete in the real world and that calms me down. Making lists help, cleaning out the closet helps, throwing stuff out (decluttering) helps, drinking helps, exercising especially out in nature helps,etc.

In my opinion this is all about not losing control, or the feeling that you regain it. You want things clear, neat, sensible, predictable. I am somewhat convinced you are a Logical type.

[ashlesha]

In my opinion this is all about not losing control, or the feeling that you regain it. You want things clear, neat, sensible, predictable. I am somewhat convinced you are a Logical type.

lol this was the part of the post i related to the most.

anyway, idk

lungs Today 12:27 PM
that brainfog person seems pretty normal doubt they'll post again

[The Ineffable]

lol this was the part of the post i related to the most.

anyway, idk

lungs Today 12:27 PM
that brainfog person seems pretty normal doubt they'll post again

What is your point?

[ashlesha]

What is your point?

you type me Ti polr.

[The Ineffable]

you type me Ti polr.

I know, but what is your point, what is your conclusion?

[ashlesha]

I know, but what is your point, what is your conclusion?

lol, are you playing with me? my point is that if you type somebody logical on that basis then your typing of me is incorrect. i wouldn't say that points to logical anyways, but whatever. i've started making the thread about me and its kind of embarrassing so if this matters to you pm me or something.

[The Ineffable]

lol, are you playing with me? my point is that if you type somebody logical on that basis then your typing of me is incorrect. i wouldn't say that points to logical anyways, but whatever. i've started making the thread about me and its kind of embarrassing so if this matters to you pm me or something.

So you found contradictory that I type you and this person differently, one Logical, the other Ethical Irrational, although you claim to relate to that particular fragment. My hypothesis is based on the whole description, that was just to point out what that behavior reveals to me in the context. I would not think the same about you, for example you are not taking the Socionics theory seriously - mocking it with several occasions - and are not trying harder to understand, like the OP describes. So I would indeed interpret that differently in your case, there may be other reasons for doing that - for example I could see a Rational or a Sensory doing the same thing, just for different reasons. It is true that it is counter intuitive to type you IEE and find that behavior plausible, however I don't trust your statements sufficiently because I perceive you as a deceitful user, based on our history, so I can't form an opinion on that single part whether it is type-related or not out of this single information.

What embarrassment and what thread are you talking about? I don't see a connection with what is being discussed... (if anything, please answer this question and the above paragraph separately)

[ashlesha]

never mind. if I'm deceitful it doesn't matter how I respond anyway.

[brainfog]

Thank you for the feedback.
I have re read the descriptions of ESPF, INFJ and ISFJ.
Of the three ESFP is the only possible match, but still not convinced that it is the right match.

Some more info:

I can not be described as gentle, graceful or elegant.
When I walk I stomp, I thrust my heels into the ground with force, I rarely wear high heels but when I do you can hear me a mile away.
All my movements are marked by a bit too much force - I tend to yank things open and slam them shut.
I don't swing my arms when I walk, I like to let them just hang by my side like heavy weights.
Still - I have always been good at working with my hands, arts and crafts, drawing, sewing etc.

I don't care about fashion but I do care about what I wear. I like straight lines, solid colors, simple well cut clothes mainly kept in neutral colors supplemented by a few items in my favourite color red.
Typical outfit would be dark blue jeans (straight leg, no fuss), dark blue top with white stripes, red jacket and red shoes. I don't care much for prints - I wear very little makeup and jewellery, usually just simple earrings and a bracelet. No rings, necklaces, etc.
Clothes MUST be comfortable, shoes especially. I cut my hair regularly, I keep it short and edgy, I like a haircut with a bit of personality but it must be easy to style, 5 minutes tops!

As a kid I was good in aggressive action sports such as field hockey, karate, cannonball.
I can be a bit of a sadist - and LOVED throwing the ball as hard as possible at the wimps hiding in the back when playing cannonball.


I am not very cuddly, not even as a child.
When I pet my dog or cuddle my kid is more on the rough side - I don't have much of a gentle touch.

I am impatient - I usually want things to go quickly and be efficient.
I am also selfish, If I have two pieces of cake and one is slightly better than the other one, I will take the best one and serve the other one to my friend. If the cakes are very different however I will give the best one to my friend, because I don't want my selfishness to be too apparent.

I have a bit of a temper and flare up in anger from time to time. Usually when very stressed and things don't go as planned - I will flare up and aggressively complain about it. Usually just a short mad-as-hell rant to relieve pressure before I can move on.

Apart from anger I sincerely dislike public displays of emotions. I cringe when people cry on television, I literally yell "don't cry on TV!". I find such behaviour painfully embarrassing to watch. If you are going to cry on TV you'd better have a damned good reason for it, death of your family or similar. Don't cry because you made it into the top 20 list of "So you think you can dance".

This does not mean that I don't have feelings, I have a lot of feelings I just don't like it when people run around flaunting their emotions like it's some kind of badge of honour.

I like to comment on logical flaws in movies, plot holes, unlikely character development and similar. I can usually predict the outcome of most movies, and ruined "The sixth sense " for my friends when I pointed out quite early in the movie that the main character played by Bruce Willies was in fact dead himself.

I thought it was pretty apparent, nobody except the kid ever spoke to him - not very likely. I tend to notice small details.
Horror movies with logical flaws also loose their ability to scare me - I can buy into all sorts of scenarios, sci-fi, ghost, vampires etc, but its got to be logical and coherent within the given scenario.

I am detail oriented, I can sometimes have trouble managing my time at work because I get stuck on some detail and spend too much time on it loosing track of the big picture.

I get stressed out by unclear expectations, goals that keeps changing, not having control over my own time, looking at the "big picture". I instantly think of all the details in the "big picture" and worry about the practical l implementation of it all.

I console upset friends by giving practical advice and logical arguments. When a friend broke down in tears after having to send her kids by plane to visit their father (she is very afraid of flying and wanted them to go by car) I consoled her by arguing that the likelihood of them dying in a plane crash was far less than the chances of them perishing in a car crash. I then patted her clumsily on the back (no hugging - I hate that) and reminded her of her belief in destiny and the fact that she had two choices, lock them up and never let them out of the house in the hopes of protecting them from all the evils in the world and thus ruining both their and her own life, or accept the fact that life is filled with danger and don't think too much about it but focus on living it instead.
And then I suggested we'd go for a drink!

What do you think? Still SEE - ESFP?

[Beautiful sky]

Reading about personality theory calms me down, which is quite the opposite of you. Rearranging things to make them more organized, better functional and fit in spaces, stresses the daylights out of me because I can't see how things fit and because I don't want to be in control of my own life and don't want help rather that someone should just do things for me, it becomes a Te seeking rather than Te mobilizing. I just don't have the kind of energy for a Te mobilizing function because both Te mobilizers are extraverts and can expand quite a bit of physical energy in achievement of things. I complain quite a bit about my lack of physical and psychological will...hence weak Se.

[Reuben]

Just reacting to everything you said up there, I'm going for INTp.

My strongest case:

This does not mean that I don't have feelings, I have a lot of feelings I just don't like it when people run around flaunting their emotions like it's some kind of badge of honour.

Sounds like Fe-PoLR.

Another:

I like to comment on logical flaws in movies, plot holes, unlikely character development and similar. I can usually predict the outcome of most movies, and ruined "The sixth sense " for my friends when I pointed out quite early in the movie that the main character played by Bruce Willies was in fact dead himself.

Something ILI's might do.

I console upset friends by giving practical advice and logical arguments...I then patted her clumsily on the back (no hugging - I hate that)

Fits with ILI.

I can be a bit of a sadist - and LOVED throwing the ball as hard as possible at the wimps hiding in the back when playing cannonball.

Fits with Se valuing.


And for consistency, you definitely do not seem to value Ti. It's still apparent here.

I am detail oriented.

ILI's at work are sometimes known for being pedantic.

I...worry about the practical implementation of it all

in the entire context of the post this suggests more Te-creative than Te-seeking, although out of context both are plausible.

I get stressed out by unclear expectations, goals that keeps changing, not having control over my own time, looking at the "big picture".

It sounds like this type description: "ILIs are also very indecisive. They may lack the ability to make important decisions, especially regarding their own future. ILIs do not always know what they want out of life and may have difficulty setting or achieving long term goals. In order to act, the ILI needs a clear, tangible signal from somebody who is well grounded in external reality and knows exactly what must be done in a certain situation. "

I know it sounds very negative but it does correlate with what you're saying. By gut feel, ILI.

[Radio]

stereotypically you fit the profile of an ST type, maybe ISTp, but beyond that i don't know.

i initially had a hunch for ISFj because you claimed to have trouble with the over-generalized nature of socionics -- which is stereotypically more Alpha NT -- but if you are like how you describe yourself in your last post, you would be closer to ST > SF.

oh yeah, i would eliminate ESTj for you. so that leaves ISTp, ISTj and ESTp in decreasing order of likelihood (imho).

[FoxOnStilts]

I like ISTp for you.

[psychosis]

no comment

[Ryan]

He already said he is sure he is some LS/SL type.

My guess is SLI or LSE.

[Beautiful sky]

Yeah, sorry

I would guess the SL's too

like LSI, LSE, SLE or SLI , least likely would be the later two.

[Reuben]

Does everyone automatically assume S-type due to brainfog and worrying about future?

[Absurd]

Does everyone automatically assume S-type due to brainfog and worrying about future?

I thought it was you who dealt in assumptions. I'm "S-type and I do not worry about future" whatever that means.

[The Ineffable]

Does everyone automatically assume S-type due to brainfog and worrying about future?

I think ST works very well just not automatically based on that. In fact I kinda ignore it, I don't know very well where to qualify it. And this is mostly due to the double meaning the self-descriptions can have (at least in this case) - for example maybe she believes so assuming that most people can have the future more clearly in their minds than her, though in reality she sees the things clearer than them, except she cannot make those leaps of faith the others do because of a high objectivity.

I'm going with SLI for now. Oh BTW any pictures, brainfog? Sometimes they are insightful.

(I assume it is a "she" because brainfog talked about not wearing makeup & stuff - that would have been pointless in case of a male)

[Beautiful sky]

I just want a VI

[Reuben]

I thought it was you who dealt in assumptions. I'm "S-type and I do not worry about future" whatever that means.

I do not know what that means either good sir. Neither the statement nor its opposite have to be true. Assuming as well aren't you Mr. Absurd.

I don't know very well where to qualify it

Essentially that's where I stand as well. But I'm thinking why ST, and SLI in particular. I know an SLI in real life who hates predicting movies because it spoils the show. He's like "just sit back and enjoy it as it goes, stop trying to predict where it will go!" That's like a Si-mantra when it comes to media-consumption lol.

Furthermore

All my movements are marked by a bit too much force - I tend to yank things open and slam them shut.

Cannot imagine Si-base being like that characteristically. Usually they would have better estimation of force because Se is technically strong, just ignored... well maybe she doesn't care about being gentle so SLI could be fair enough.

Finally

I don't care about fashion but I do care about what I wear. I like straight lines, solid colors, simple well cut clothes mainly kept in neutral colors supplemented by a few items in my favourite color red.
Typical outfit would be dark blue jeans (straight leg, no fuss), dark blue top with white stripes, red jacket and red shoes. I don't care much for prints - I wear very little makeup and jewellery, usually just simple earrings and a bracelet. No rings, necklaces, etc.
Clothes MUST be comfortable, shoes especially. I cut my hair regularly, I keep it short and edgy, I like a haircut with a bit of personality but it must be easy to style, 5 minutes tops!

My gut instinct tells me that it could be indicative of Si-role due to having very simple but almost rigid preferences of this nature, but then these heuristics are easily arguable for SLI as well; the no-fuss, convenient and comfortable aspect of it.

Still - I have always been good at working with my hands, arts and crafts, drawing, sewing etc.

Sounds SLI, but depends on whether these skills are "run in the family" etc. or naturally developed. If the former, then no real conclusions can be drawn from the statement.

When I pet my dog or cuddle my kid is more on the rough side - I don't have much of a gentle touch.
...
I am impatient - I usually want things to go quickly and be efficient.

Goes against the grain of Si-base. But then again this is based on gut-feel/heuristics, where an Si-base would usually be gentle, and would not self-label as impatient. I could be completely wrong as well due to a bunch of over-simplifications. I'm just saying that it does not intuitively sound like any clear SLI stereotype.

So ok fair enough, I do see how SLI may fit into her description although there are also other parts that do not fit so well. Non-posed, candid pictures would definitely be insightful.

[Absurd]

I do not know what that means either good sir. Neither the statement nor its opposite have to be true. Assuming as well aren't you Mr. Absurd.

No hablo espanol.

So ok fair enough, I do see how SLI may fit into her description although there are also other parts that do not fit so well. Non-posed, candid pictures would definitely be insightful.

Ye, a pic of your neck is going to suffice.

[Reuben]

Ye, a pic of your neck is going to suffice.

You clandestine apple.