To successfully determine the socionic type, it is enough to comply with the three rules and have patience. These rules apply to self-typing and to typing other people.
Rule 1. Observation
Watch your reactions and actions in different life situations. Observation should be impartial and objective, without presets and interpretations.
When observing, note: yeah, now I’m bored; and now - it’s very interesting and I want to develop the topic; now I'm at a loss; and in this situation I clearly know what to do, I feel confident; when they asked me to do such and such, I gladly responded and immediately took such and such actions; others in this way reacted to my actions; when I encountered such a problem, I fell into a stupor and confusion. And so on.
Surveillance should be direct, online. Do not confuse observation with the idea of how you would behave in certain situations. Observation is carried out directly in the process of life, when you do something, communicate with someone, and react to something. Only then will it be less subjective.
Rule 2. Comparison
For accurate typing, it is necessary to compare people in the same situations. It may seem to you that everything is fine with logic: you know a lot, pour in the facts and argue your opinion. However, do not rush to conclusions. Compare how the same thing (the volume and quality of knowledge, presentation of facts, argumentation of opinion) occurs in other people in similar situations. It is advisable to compare yourself not with one person, but with several, with different people.
Comparison is necessary to distinguish between weak and strong functions. It may seem to you that some function works well for you. But if this function is weak in your sociotype, then your ideas about its good and bad manifestations are erroneous. Comparison is needed.
The more you compare, the more objective your judgments about the work of your socionic functions become.