Personality Changes?

So it's been a good 14 years since I last took the famed Myers-Briggs personality test, as far as I remember. Because I don't have anything better to do (you know, like read the Bible and good literature, spend time with Max, my family and friends, exercise, etc.) I took it again on Facebook and the results: INFJ, whereas they used to be ENFP.

The I (introvert) instead of E (extrovert), I understood. While I am outgoing and friendly, I knew enough to know in psycho-babble that is not the same as being extroverted. Extroverts are those who are energized by people while introverts need time to themselves for energy. Introverts are more comfortable with a few, intimate relationships while extroverts like to meet and make as many types of "friends" as possible (though I wonder what kind of intimacy these friendships hone, if any).

The P to J, I was a little wary of... p is for perceiver and j is for judger. I would like to think of myself as aware of others' feelings (my definition of perceptive) and fairly non-judgmental, believing people should have freedom in their life's choices (though I am also a strong advocate of personal responsibility and the interests of those around you when making said choices). I did look it up, though, and I am perceptive by my definition in that I am still an F (feeler) versus T for thinker. The biggest thing for a judger is she looks at things from a futuristic perspective rather than a perceiver who looks at things from a "here and now" perspective.

WHOA! Now I have no idea how I ever scored a P in the first place... I was, literally, the girl who told everyone I handed my yearbook to in high school that they better not swear in their note to me, because my kids would read it someday.

But it is still interesting to me that I wasn't always an "I." Even as a kid, I needed time to myself, but I think maybe I could have gone either way in college, I guess.

The big question here that I'm wondering is, "Can personality really change, and if so, is it always due to major circumstances?" Considering I had some major life-hauling experiences in college (the first year and part of the second I did not have a single true friend there) and thereafter (hello, divorce and single-parenthood!), I totally get why my personality has "changed" and maybe this is who I truly am and always was, and I just didn't accept that and so "cheated" on the survey freshman year in college, which I really don't think I did, but who knows? Or maybe, is it possible, to have a circumstantial personality? Like, I work with a talkaholic boss and am on the phone and emails all day, then I go home to my parents and son and we are a family of yappers and so, of course, I'm emotionally exhausted from all these conversations and the me-time and God-time renew me but if I didn't have to be the emotional caretaker for others then I would be more into lots of people... I know for a fact when I first moved to NJ and then later when I first had Max I CRAVED adult interaction with someone more than just my husband because I was used to having many people to rely on, not just one, and that is just the opposite of now, where I have many people to rely on, but need alone time more than anything else... And because my life did NOT turn out the way I had planned, I'm always hoping and looking toward the future with careful consideration but not necessarily living in the moment unless I've thought that moment through very carefully, esp. when it comes to my son's future, but once I can take a breather, like when I'm 60 and he's 35, I will be able to be a "P" then?

What are your thoughts?