
Originally Posted by
Begoner
I believe that both type and subtype can change, although the former is more stable than the latter. After all, personality is far too fluid and malleable a concept to submit itself to strict confines. If you are put in an environment that rewards and encourages the use of a particular function, you will become more adept at using that function and will consequently regard it as more valuable. Most tests of psychological variation over time reveal that the younger an individual is, the more volatile his personality; as he ages, however, he becomes more set in his ways. However (if I remember correctly), since correlations of people's personalities over time rarely exceed 0.85, change is possible at all ages. Insofar as subtypes are concerned, this represents merely a small shift and can easily occur; insofar as types are concerned, this represents a more fundamental change, and it is not easy to effect.