Change of MBTI Personailty and Masking

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I’ve been retaking many MBTI tests online, various different ones and I’m testing as INTJ instead of INFJ.

Reason I bring this up is because of how much has changed about my sense of identity over the past couple of months. I discovered that I’d been masking for decades and hadn’t a clue of who I really was. After counselling, lots of research (tests, other people’s own experiences etc) and coming to the conclusion I’m on the spectrum, I decided to retake these tests and found myself answering more honestly about me and how I care about other people. With masking I had become selfless, doing whatever others wanted. I can only stem this back to not fitting in at school and wanting friends, even though there were few people on my wavelength. I was bullied and up until puberty, didn’t really care what others thought of me, how I dressed and what I liked.

I know the general consensus is that MBTI isn’t very accurate and that the big five is more relevant... I usually check cognitive stacks for each type to try and get a more accurate result.

In all honesty, it sounds harsh but I don’t care about others as much as I used to pretend to (from masking). I try to be myself more but also not be harsh and blunt to others. It’s a fine balancing act of putting my own needs more in the forefront whilst not needlessly upsetting people.

Has anybody else had a similar experience with masking and personality type changes? Just curious really.

I have been evaluated as an INTP and then years later as an INTJ. It is a good combination. I have the ability to switch between these two types of personality traits. I think of INTP as the characteristic called INTELLIGENCE, and INTJ as the characteristic called WISDOM. My INTJ protects my INTP personality. Wisdom steps in when all logic fails. So it has been a good combination for me.

I also experienced severe bullying when I was in school. Most individuals transition along the stages of childhood development until they become adults. But bullying can stop that transition. So in a way I am in the "Pleasing 4" stage of childhood development. I am like a child. My personality has not been frozen into concrete like an adult. It is more moldable like clay. So having two personalities at the same time is a gift. I simple use the best one suited for the purpose.

Interestingly enough, I am an ENTJ. Although I tend to avoid most people I deem unimportant and I never intentionally seek friends, those that get close to me are surprised by my explosion of personality once I get talking. I look like an introvert until people get into my circle.

I've gotten drastically different responses. By this point the mask is a defense mechanism for me, not just something I wear when communicating, but existing in general.

I was naturally a very bubbly and emotional person, sensitive, caring, supportive, philosophical, but at the same time analytical and introspective. This world sort of changed that and I buried all of that under a fortress of cold rationality and aggression, and I'm now trapped inside my fortress for good. I can't be emotional and bubbly, I can't be sensitive. I haven't cried in years, I haven't said "I love you" to someone, I haven't felt true positive emotion for decades. I'm just a computer now, and will never again experience human attachment, but I guess it doesn't matter.

The MBTI is a spectrum and any trait could be signified as, for example, T/F - showing that the trait is more centred than at either extremity.

I have found it useful for myself but I wouldn't force it on anybody. For whatever reason, either it fits or it doesn't. It's certainly not a label.