Hi everyone,

From out of nowhere, I decided to return to Socionics after a two year hiatus. Very soon after getting back into all this material, it suddenly dawned upon me that I have been potentially wrong all along about the type that I am, and want to see if I might be more on the right track.

Last time I was here, my big debate was EII vs. EIE. I now think that I am actually neither of those types. More likely, I actually think that SEI is actually right.

The main basis that I used to determine SEI is the fact that far and away, I can relate the most to the alpha quadra (above delta, beta, or even gamma). There is something about the innocent way of relating to others in a friendly, passionate, warm, and positive way in the manner that alpha is described that makes me think that it fits me better than the alternative quadra options.

Looking at the quadra values, the type of receptive warmth (in sort of a buddy-like style) that represents happens to be right on for me. I can rule out ESE since I don't have nearly as much proactive, giver/caretaker energy, but rather my comes out in a friendly, open, not wanting to offend type of manner that appears to be classic for an SEI.

Additionally, I am a Ph.D. level scientist who is in a career transition to become a science teacher (since I want to make a positive impact on others through my scientific knowledge/background). I can live in the world of the without necessarily being the greatest at generating theories and testing their validity. Yet, I love thinking like a scientist (by theorizing about interesting ideas). So I feel that I can complement the world of scientific ideas, and I love to delve in that information.

More than anything else, I am very sensitive to being criticized or rejected by others. So I try to generally be the friendly, nice guy (in a positive sense) so that I am not generally rubbing anyone the wrong way. More than being dominantly , this type of receptive friendliness to me smacks of the dynamic. For a while, I would have never given any room to the possibility that I might be an S type. However, now, I think that it can totally work. I love an ease and flow of everyday interactions, and I love to live in a pleasurable world where everything is truly kick-back and relaxed. I am way more favoring an / dynamic than a / dynamic. I think that for this reason, beta and gamma simply don't fit in my case.
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OK...so I have just mentioned my rationale for SEI. Here is my question:

Did I use a plausible typing method to determine my type? Obviously, I started off with seeing myself fitting well in the alpha quadra (more than delta [assuming EII] or beta [assuming EIE]), and I looked amongst the four alpha types to determine which one (with its set of functions, including PoLR, HA, etc.) fits me the best. From those four, SEI solidly wins. (By the way, I can totally relate to the -PoLR of having considerable trouble with being organized, efficient, pragmatic...Can also relate to the -HA of seeking to understand and to logically build concepts from the ground-up).

So, to restate my question, is determining my type through the path of 'quadra values' a legit way to determine/confirm my own type as well as others' type? Or should I look again for suitable NF types in the manner that I previously thought fit me?

I am becoming more and more able to see myself as an alpha-SF, and I'm glad that I have been able to 'free my mind' just enough to allow this possibility to emerge.

Thanks for listening, and any feedback you have about this question (or my type determination), I would definitely appreciate it!

Glad to be back!