What were you all like as teens? I’m pretty positive my teen daughter is ISTP. I’m ENFP and we really struggle to see eye to eye.

What were your teen years like? Help me understand.

I’m an ENFJ and my long term partner is an ISTP, we get along amazingly, I read this subreddit a lot and a lot of the ISTP traits seem to be widely shared by you guys. Is there anything you think people misunderstand about you?

ISFP here, just wondering

Hi fellow ISTPs! I’ve got a question for y’all and I’d love to hear about your personal experiences.

This is something I know I’ve always struggled with, but I am curious if the way I correlate it with being Ti dominant is accurate or not.

I’ve always struggled with flow when it comes to things like martial arts, video games, sports, just… anything hands-on, especially if it’s a form of play. It makes sense when you think about it. If Ti is your “hero” function, then that means you think it is the right tool for every situation and the solution to every problem. But then what if that undermines your auxiliary function?

It feels like if I am not consciously thinking through every action, I am not in control at all. I’ve always been clumsy because it takes a pretty high level of stress for me to react without thinking about it first. Only really got better with that this past year.

A lot of times ‘overthinking’ is associated with Ti-Ni loops, but I’m not entirely convinced that Ni has anything to do with it, partially because the person who has helped me the most is Ni dominant, and partially because in the rare high-stress situations when I do just react, my Se and Ni can work in tandem.

Ultimately I do just think it’s my Ti being so full of itself that it can’t stand not being in control even for a second.

Not looking for advice. Rather, I am curious if anyone else has experienced this and if so, what did it look like for you personally? Also give me your enneagram if you know it please

elaborate! give me examples!

if we look at the cognitive function, ISTPs weakest function is Fe.. yeah, i get it, but is it true? based on your experience?

I didn't know exactly what I thought it would be like, but I didn't expect it to be a love/sex/dating channel. lol

Our horny cousins are down the street (r/estp)! lol

I’m curious how often ISTP’s in long term relationships have sex? My theory was that Se and being hands on types - that you’d do this more than other types.

It also seems that the P factor makes you a bit more laid back and easier to lean into enjoying life.

Have noticed many feeler type women really need to be talked up emotionally to want to have sex at all.

Just a curious ESTJ here.

I’ve been really into Hyperpop like overtonight, but my current favorite song is probably hurt, but the cover by Johnny cash.
Also does anyone listen to emotional songs and pretend to feel what the song is talking abt? Like I like more blunt and depressing songs, but if it’s like an actual sad and emotional song I feel silly listening to it.

I dont know if this is a universal thing but ive never understood why some people are so easily able to ask anyone regardless of relationship to constantly run their little tasks for them. myself being so independent it just comes off as pure laziness sometimes

I love how mbti people create these boundaries for themselves. “Well, i’m such and such type so i’m the complete opposite to you and won’t understand you” like dude, that’s nonsense.

Mbti is a tool imo, a tool to become aware of how your brain might process things and therefore you can spot blind spots and work with them accordingly. It isn’t some sort of concrete personality checklist. “Here’s what ISTPs are and arent”.

I see posts all the time saying, “I’ve known a (type) for said years and this is what (type) is like”, clearly from reading all the comments, no one acts like that one stranger being described and so it becomes a weird personality checklist. “You’re not edgy, blunt or into cars?! You don’t sound like an ISTP to me!” the same applies to the rest of the mbtis. It’s becoming some sort of astrology gimmick, rather than an actual psychological evaluation of one’s functions.

I’m aware there’s a social aspect to the mbti community and it’s not all serious research environment, and i enjoy discussing things, but i see its something unrooted in actual functions and relying on generalising stereotypes so we can say, “You’re (type)? well i’ve read about that type and therefore this is my judgment on how you must behave.”

I’m curious about how ISTPs handle this.

When I’m going through a difficult time with someone, I might want to distance myself from them completely. But once I’ve processed things and feel okay in my own life again, I find myself wanting to reconnect not necessarily because I want anything romantic, but because I don’t want to lose the connection entirely.
It’s like I can accept that things didn’t work out romantically and still want us to be on friendly terms. I don’t necessarily want to erase someone from my life just because the relationship didn’t become what I hoped it would.
Do ISTPs experience this? Or, once you decide to move on from someone, do you prefer to keep that distance regardless of how you feel later?

We're getting cloned, guys.

For the past few months I've been working on 16Selves, a free Jungian cognitive functions test. I've posted it here a couple of times before, and a lot of the current version exists because people pushed back on the wording, spotted inconsistencies, or told me their results felt off. So thanks for that. It's given me plenty to rethink.

The thing I've struggled with most is telling someone's natural preferences apart from things they've just learned to do. That's come up in a few different ways, so here's where I've got to.

Preference vs. learned behaviour

If you spend your whole working day organising people, making decisions or managing other people's feelings, you'll probably get good at it. But being good at something because your job demands it doesn't make it your natural way of thinking. It's hard to write questions that pick up the difference.

My attempt at this is adaptive follow-ups. Everyone answers the same 48 statements first, covering all eight functions. The test then picks out your two strongest functions and asks 16 more questions about them and their introverted/extraverted counterparts. These try to find out whether something happens automatically, whether it's been consistent over time, whether it takes conscious effort, or whether it mostly shows up when circumstances require it.

I don't know yet if this actually improves accuracy. I'm also not convinced the line between preference and adaptation is always as clean as we'd like.

Questions that measure the wrong thing

A statement can sound like a perfect example of a function and still not tell you much. Say someone would rather watch a physical activity than join in. That could be about how they process sensory information. Or they might be shy, tired, physically limited, or just not into that particular activity. The same problem crops up with questions about organisation, relationships, decision-making and planning.

I've added optional examples for each statement showing how it might look at work, at home or socially. The idea is to get people thinking across different settings instead of answering based on whatever situation pops into their head first. But examples can backfire too. They might clarify things, or they might nudge people towards a reading I didn't intend. I'd like to hear whether people find them helpful or limiting.

Some statements are just easier to agree with

Each function has six statements. Three are about what you tend to notice, prioritise or respond to, and three are phrased the opposite way. That helps with people's general tendency to agree with things, but only up to a point. If one function's statements sound nicer, more familiar or more socially acceptable than another's, that will still skew the scores.

The test also hasn't been standardised against a reference sample. So there's no real basis yet for saying a high score on one function means the same as a high score on another. That's on my list.

Your top function doesn't automatically decide your type

All eight functions are scored separately. Then the overall pattern is compared against the function stacks for all 16 types. The test doesn't just take your highest function, and it doesn't work out the four letters independently. You get the closest fit within the model.

You can see how the other types compare too. But the percentages show relative fit within the scoring model. They're not the probability that a given type is right.

What to do when the result isn't clear

This is the part I've gone back and forth on most. If two types score almost the same, should the test just pick one? And what if changing a couple of answers flips the result?

Right now it re-scores your answers 200 times, each time randomly moving individual answers by up to one point on the seven-point scale. That shows how often the leading type stays on top. If it keeps changing, or the top two are really close, you get a two-way shortlist instead of a single type. There's also a separate outcome for when several types are basically tied.

A stable result can still be wrong, though. The simulations don't prove accuracy or tell you how likely your type is to be correct. They just show how sensitive the ranking is to small changes in your answers. I'd still rather show that uncertainty than give someone one type without saying how close the alternatives were.

Still plenty to figure out

16Selves hasn't been empirically validated. The adaptive questions, balanced wording, stack comparisons and stability checks are all things I'm trying out, and I don't know yet how much they help. There are still problems with the underlying questions and scoring that I need to look into. That's a big part of why I'm posting.

Two things I'd especially like input on:

- How would you tell someone's natural cognitive preferences apart from behaviours they've picked up through work, upbringing or experience? What would you actually ask?

- How do you write questions about cognitive functions without accidentally measuring unrelated traits or circumstances?

Also, do you find a shortlist of possible types more useful than a single answer, especially when your responses don't clearly separate them?

If you want to try it, just search 16Selves. It's free and you don't need an account. Everything is processed in your browser and your progress is saved on your device. Nothing gets sent unless you choose to submit feedback and results. There's separate cookieless analytics for site usage, but it doesn't collect individual answers or scores.

Whether you tried an earlier version or this is your first time seeing it, I'd love to hear what you think. Specific examples help most: a question that was hard to answer, an example that seemed misleading, or a result that didn't seem to match your answers. Most of the changes so far have come from people taking the time to explain exactly where things went wrong for them.

Just found my limit after going to bunch of gathering the day before and reaching my limit after going through a big crowd on the streets. By that point, I am both emotionally and physically exhausted.

I don't know whether the amount of people affect the drains but yeah, first time I actually feeling exhausted from socializing (which surprisingly kinda rare for me in the past).

wich test is better mickeal corse or sakuranova?

idk if i'm istp or estp

Just wanted to share because I’m literally in tears laughing my ass off at this.

So I (INTJ, F) am dating an ISTP. And usually we’re like good. But every once in awhile, my woman like tendencies pop up and I want to vent and feel emotionally understood / validated. He’s always struggled with knowing what to say and I’ve struggled to explain what I’m looking for.

Ten minutes ago, I was complaining about unemployment and my boyfriend goes “wow that’s so annoying, those idiots” and I immediately got happy and I was like omg you did it! And I gave him a big hug and he looked so confused and skeptical.

Well, it turns out that he was mocking me 😂 but hey, whatever works.

Context in the OG post

Romantically btw

I think having a certain sense of ego is just in my nature. I'm quite humble, and I'm fully aware that there are people better than me, but that doesn't stop me from holding myself in high regard. I'm not afraid to put myself on a pedestal or claim I'm better in certain situations, not to belittle anyone, but because I'm aware of my own capabilities and potential. Once I became conscious of this part of myself, I didn't try to suppress it. I just learned to embrace it more deliberately, while holding myself accountable to the confidence I project. If I'm going to put myself on such a high horse, I should at least be able to back it up.

Ofc when my inf Fe acts up that all goes outta the window 🚶‍➡️, weirdest mix ever.

I was wondering if there's a pattern among fellow ISTPs, considering they are portrayed as such. Anyone?

Ok so I feel like internally I’m a pretty dark person (sounds cringey ik) but like in terms of how I think/react to things bc I don’t really feel a ton of emotion, and I have a lot of edgy(?) interests ig. Anyways. I’m an introvert like crazy amounts, but also i do like talking to people in class ig, like sometimes. But there’s been several people now who have described me as a “ball of sunshine” and have said that I seem happy all the time. I was described as a “chipper guy” yesterday. ANYWAYS. Was wondering if other istps get described like this? Like ik im supposed to be non-chalant but im really chalant lol. I’m have adhd so im especially hyper and more talkative off my meds, but like im a depressed person so its always really weird to me when people describe me as happy go lucky.

Most of Ti Dom either train their Fe or they let their Fe stay as it is. Is it possible that some Ti Dom (specifically ISTPs) that throw their Fe away for whatever reason?