Varied Identities

[Hmm]

I wonder, are you pretending to be something that is not real or are you just experiencing different moods?

[nolla]

Originally Posted by Hmm

I wonder, are you pretending to be something that is not real or are you just experiencing different moods?

Me?

It isn't moods I can tell you that. I just don't feel like I can be myself if there are lots of new people around, and with some people the feeling doesn't go away even when I get to know them better. For some of these people, there can be a sudden change so that I can feel to be connected to them in way I wasn't before. But this I think comes from growing up. It is either me who has changed or it is them. It happens very rarely though. Usually if I don't connect with someone, I never will. But maybe I don't give them the change to prove me wrong. I don't know...

[Dwigie]

Originally Posted by nolla

Me?

It isn't moods I can tell you that. I just don't feel like I can be myself if there are lots of new people around, and with some people the feeling doesn't go away even when I get to know them better. For some of these people, there can be a sudden change so that I can feel to be connected to them in way I wasn't before. But this I think comes from growing up. It is either me who has changed or it is them. It happens very rarely though. Usually if I don't connect with someone, I never will. But maybe I don't give them the change to prove me wrong. I don't know...

Same here but to create a bond I share some personal info to encourage them to do like-wise.Plus sharing a same experience links people together..even witnessing each other experience something can create a bond.

[Hmm]

Originally Posted by nolla

Me?

It isn't moods I can tell you that. I just don't feel like I can be myself if there are lots of new people around, and with some people the feeling doesn't go away even when I get to know them better. For some of these people, there can be a sudden change so that I can feel to be connected to them in way I wasn't before. But this I think comes from growing up. It is either me who has changed or it is them. It happens very rarely though. Usually if I don't connect with someone, I never will. But maybe I don't give them the change to prove me wrong. I don't know...

That was to the OP but I don't mind if other people answer it too.

[cascademn]

This is something I sometimes struggle with. 'Struggle' isn't exactly the right word, but it's all I can come up with right now.

I just feel like I have many different sides of my personality (well, I suppose everyone does, so it's not like I'm unique in this respect), and in any one situation or with any one person, in any one moment, it's simply an impossibility, or unrealistic, or unnecessary, for all sides to surface -- because not all sides pertain to that given situation or moment in time. I've never viewed it as being many versions of myself, but sometimes I do feel like a chameleon. Part of it might be due to my desire to reach common ground with others, and so I build upon similarities. So the stuff we have in common may be the only thing that shows up for quite a long time, and then the other person might learn of another side of me and then they'll get confused or something, or think I'm a mass of contradictions, or think I've been fake(it's happened before), which I haven't been. It's just not possible for all sides to emerge all at once.

This is where I sometimes worry that it would be impossible for any one person to accept everything about me -- because at some point, some side is going to emerge that they just don't understand or cannot accept.

Edit: So to loop back to the OP, I don't really ever see myself as 'pretending'. I think all of it's the real me, but I do get confused at times (and imagine others might as well) due to the fact that I have these different sides that may not emerge all that often, because there's no 'place' for them in a situation, no context...

[Apollanaut]

I subscribe to the theory that we all have multiple personalities. For healthy people, there is a relatively seamless transition from one personality to another, which requires active observation to notice. Under stress, the extremes of our different "selves" become more noticable. In some very unhealthy people, the personalities have become disassociated from the core Self - this is what is commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

There is a school of thought in the MBTI community that each of our eight type functions is intimately linked to a specific internal Jungian archetype. According to this school, it is impossible to use a function without invoking its associated archetype. Therefore every person has at least eight different "personalities", since we generally have to use all 8 functions in our lives (some more than others, of course). The archetypes and functions are as follows:

Primary Processes
We can consciously control these through development and use.

1. Dominant/Hero/Heroine/Leading - organizes adaptation; initiates individuation; has our complete trust. Can become overbearing and domineering if over-used. We have the most conscious control over this function and energy costs for using this function are low.

2. Auxiliary/Father/Mother/Supporting - Supports and nurtures dominant function; sets standard of perfection; how we are helpful to ourselves and others. Can be overprotective and smothering. More energy costs than the dominant function, but still relatively low.

3. Tertiary/Puer/Puella/Relief - the playful and vulnerable child; moderates the purposefulness of the dominant and auxiliary functions allowing the person to lighten up and relax; how we express our creativity and improvisational skills; unsettling to others; high energy costs.

4. Inferior/Anima/Animus/Aspirational - gateway to the unconscious; last function we have conscious control over; source of ideals that are difficult to live up to; sense of purpose, inspiration, and change; likely to look immature when using this function; high energy costs.

Shadow Processes
These are usually experienced negatively and are beyond our conscious control. All have high energy costs.

5. Opposing - defends by offending, seducing, or avoiding, provides self-critiquing; refuses to play by the rules; serves as a passive or aggressive adversary to the Hero/Heroine of other people; can provide backup for one's own Hero/Heroine.

6. Critical Parent/Witch/Senex - finds weak spots in ourselves and others; appears under extreme duress; seeks to discourage, cast doubt, set limits, and belittles; is authoritarian and stern; can be the source of new discoveries.

7. Deceiving/Trickster - mischievous, wreaks havoc, circumvents obstacles, petulant; is not trustworthy when seen in other people; fools us into thinking something is important to do or pay attention to; compensates for the trust of the puer/puella and insulates against the cruelties of the world; is often the source of our sense of humour.

8. Devilish/Demon/Daimon - destructive to ourselves and others, undermines, often erupts violently; distorts trust in relationships, promotes chaos; can be powerfully transformative.

As an INFJ, the order of my functions according to this hypothesis is:

1. Ni
2. Fe
3. Ti
4. Se
5. Ne
6. Fi
7. Te
8. Si

My personal experiences with my own processes, as well as those of people whose type I know very well, has convinced me that this is an accurate description of how the functions operate in at least some people. Each archetype may be personified in our dreams, and some of its traits may come to the surface when we are using a function. For example, the Anima is the female aspect of a man. Under stress, a man's voice may become more feminine (eg. rising noticably in pitch - I certainly do this!). This is supposedly a sign that the Anima has been invoked. Females may do the opposite - a throaty deep-pitched growl as their masculine Animus rises to the surface.

See this thread for more info:

http://www.typologycentral.com/forum...functions.html

[burkeus]

Originally Posted by Apollanaut

There is a school of thought in the MBTI community that each of our eight type functions is intimately linked to a specific internal Jungian archetype. According to this school, it is impossible to use a function without invoking its associated archetype.

Thank you. This is so much more helpful to me (working with archetypes rather than trying to learn MBTI type/function stuff which I couldn't really get into, not did I try.) So Harrison, what was the name of that book about archetypes and scriptwriting, do you remember?

[Jack Flak]

Victor rules.

[Apollanaut]

Originally Posted by burkeus

Thank you. This is so much more helpful to me (working with archetypes rather than trying to learn MBTI type/function stuff which I couldn't really get into, not did I try.) So Harrison, what was the name of that book about archetypes and scriptwriting, do you remember?

You may be interested to know that the originator of this idea, the Jungian analyst Dr John Beebe, is himself an ENTP.

[gloomy-optimist]

Originally Posted by Apollanaut

I subscribe to the theory that we all have multiple personalities. For healthy people, there is a relatively seamless transition from one personality to another, which requires active observation to notice. Under stress, the extremes of our different "selves" become more noticable. In some very unhealthy people, the personalities have become disassociated from the core Self - this is what is commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

There is a school of thought in the MBTI community that each of our eight type functions is intimately linked to a specific internal Jungian archetype. According to this school, it is impossible to use a function without invoking its associated archetype. Therefore every person has at least eight different "personalities", since we generally have to use all 8 functions in our lives (some more than others, of course). The archetypes and functions are as follows:...

That's interesting! I could see that in my own experiences a bit, as well Although I would be a bit nit-picky in pointing out that Multiple Personality Disorder goes beyond just disassociating from Self to actually seeming as if there are completely different entities within oneself.
I would agree overall according to the descriptions you've assigned (I'm not so good with identifying functions yet, but I see myself in the descriptions >.>).


On a personal rather than technical basis, I do have different faces for different situations. I don't really like to go so far as to call them personalities normally...to me, they're like different pieces to the overall puzzle. I don't consciously hide things from people; it's a very natural process, but it is kind of annoying sometimes. Especially because I find it very difficult to connect to someone on a really intimate basis; it's just hard for me to believe that people "know" me.
I don't know. It's difficult to explain. It all depends on the mood, situation, and how judgemental the person is.