Child Type Development
Fascinating and Unpredictable
By LisaFairhurst on 05-31-2008
Children can give us some of the purest examples of type. They haven’t yet learned to mask their natural tendencies with social niceties. All the same, children can be rather unformed, giving misleading information about who they truly are.
My husband’s nephew was extremely orderly as a child. He would line things up in uncanny perfection. He lined everything up, from his toy cars to his mother’s lipsticks. He disliked changes to his schedule, throwing fits when things changed. His behavior indicated that he was likely to be a Guardian. If he wasn’t a Guardian, you’d expect that he’d at least be a J. He’s in his twenties now, and is a Rational Inventor (ENTP), not a type associated with order or schedules. His love is directing – documentaries, movies, shorts, etc.
My oldest child was very extraverted as a toddler and preschooler. Now he’s quite introverted. He says that he is a loner and proud of it.
As a child, my mother was a very good girl. She did what she was told to do, and helped around the house. She was meticulous in dressing. The lines on her socks had to be just so. She was the delight of her teachers, always doing her homework and working hard. She remained consistent to her childhood behaviors and is much the same way as an adult. She is a Guardian Inspector (ISTJ).
Vince was extremely active even before he was born. After birth, he was non-stop movement. Labeled ADHD before he was 3 due to an inability to slow down enough to learn to talk or even sit for 30 seconds to play, he continued his high-energy behavior throughout school. His mother referred to him as an accident looking for a place to land since they ended up in the emergency room so often. Now in college, Vince is a classic Artisan Promoter (ESTP).
Have you noticed that certain people when they were children behaved in ways that were consistent or inconsistent with the type you now believe they are? Tell me your stories. I think child development is fascinating, in part because of its unpredictability.
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Posted by JackDermody on Jun 3, 2008
I think the Character part of Temperament and Character is HUGE. As kids, we adapt our natural personality to everything and everyone that hits us in life and, therefore, may end up quite a different creature than nature may have “programmed.” I too was a neat freak of a child. As an adult, I’ve found the effort to be highly organized and orderly painful to the marrow of my bones. I often wonder about it and have concluded thus: (1) I eventually equated orderliness with my mom’s worldview which, to me, reeked of hypocrisy, denial, ignorance, and a general dislike for everybody on the planet. (2) I perceived that none of the peers I wanted to emulate in my teen years and early adulthood thought orderliness was cool; in fact, sloppiness and free expression were de rigueur. HOWEVER, I have paid a heavy price in my life for neglecting the discipline of thorough learning, attention to detail, care about the big picture, and so forth. All this being said, I still have to wonder if I allowed outsiders to influence me or if I really was NOT the STJ I imagine myself to be at birth, but was—at birth—the NFP I struggle with today. |
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Posted by LisaFairhurst on Jun 5, 2008
The interactions between children and those around them are often not predictable. How those interactions change children is even less well understood, but it's a subject which fascinates me. I find myself wondering if I'm helping my children grow straight or if I'm twisting them and trying to force them to be something they aren't. ................ Broccolimama, your daughter could be an Artisan. As I mentioned above, Vince is regularly in the hospital. |
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Posted by DavidMKeirsey on Jun 5, 2008
I couldn't figure out my boys temperaments, and I am still watching as they are in their 20's. Obviously besides reading Please Understand Me II, I heartily recommend The Nuture Assumption by Judith Harris. |
When I was first introduced to temperament theory, I came up as a particular type on the test. This type fit in some ways, but not in others. It was going back to my childhood and remembering how I was then (and not how I "should be" now in my role in life) that helped me to get my type right. I'm definitely an INFJ, but I originally tested as a guardian. As I watch my own daughter now, it's interesting to see so many different aspects of type showing up in her personality....not a particular type, but little pieces of all of them. I am assuming this is what I have read about kids "trying on" different types. She is eleven years old. When she was little, I thought she was an artisan. I still think she might be, except she's very clumsy and hurts herself a lot, which, from what I've read, wouldn't strike me as being typical of an artisan.