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[INTJ] Can an INTJ doubt themselves?

goodgrief

New member
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
480
MBTI Type
INTJ
I consistently score INTJ, and I match the description mostly, but from that description and others it seems if you are an INTJ you are always confident in your ability, able to keep at something and never second guess themselves. But I do a lot. i have social anxiety and often feel down about my own ability to achieve both socially and academically, and I sometimes have so little motivation to do anything. Is this normal or at least an occasional occurence for an INTJ? All the INTJs on here seem a lot mentally stronger than me.
 

tcda

psicobolche
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,292
MBTI Type
intp
Enneagram
5
An INTJ I know is one of the most self-doubting people I know.
 

Craft

Probably Most Brilliant
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
1,221
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w7
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
"Can an INTJ doubt themselves"?


Hm,..let me think.....well ...no. :)
 

Oaky

Travelling mind
Joined
Jan 15, 2009
Messages
6,180
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
Hmmm, yes. INTJs are human, no?
 

Jeremy77

New member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
6
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5x4
I certainly doubt myself in the realm of of personal relationships and interpersonal skills.
 

ceecee

Coolatta® Enjoyer
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
15,908
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
8w9
Yes, they can. Perfectionists are hard on themselves.

I was just coming in to say this. No one can be as hard on us as we are on ourselves. Self-doubt, over-analyzing, second guessing anything relationship related. Not that these things can't be lessened. They can and it takes time but they're always there for us. There are areas I'm supremely confident in and always have been. There are areas I had to put a lot of effort into changing too.
 

Oddly Refined

New member
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
230
Enneagram
5
I was just coming in to say this. No one can be as hard on us as we are on ourselves. Self-doubt, over-analyzing, second guessing anything relationship related. Not that these things can't be lessened. They can and it takes time but they're always there for us. There are areas I'm supremely confident in and always have been. There are areas I had to put a lot of effort into changing too.

I couldn't agree more.:D
 

Litvyak

No Cigar
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
1,822
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
*headdesk*

No, they can't. Superhuman people don't do that.
They fly around, stop meteors, solve the mysteries of the universe during lunchbreak, but self-doubt? Nah.
 

Aleksei

Yeah, I can fly.
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
3,626
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
INTJs are introspective perfectionists, so I would think they second-guess themselves all the time. I have an INTJ friend who does second-guess himself often.

The type least likely to second-guess themselves are probably ESTPs, followed by ENTPs. I for one am most likely to hold an attitude of invincibility, unless experience has bitch-slapped me repeatedly. I do however have a tendency to become nervous and wonder if I chose wrong when I have to make a decision and commit to it.
 

highlander

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
26,562
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Pride goes before a fall. Confidence is good. Overconfidence is not. It is a balance. Personally, I always have doubts. That's what the contingencies are for and the excessive effort to think forward on the things that might go wrong so you can plan to avoid them.

Hubris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is a strong will, independence and confidence with an INTJ usually. This can also go horribly wrong. Jeffrey Skilling at Enron was probably an INTJ. A more recent example might be Greenspan and deregulation.
 

Jwill

New member
Joined
Jan 6, 2009
Messages
85
MBTI Type
INTJ
The key thing about INTJs is that they know what they know and know what they don't know. If I am working in a field that I know a lot about, I very rarely second-guess myself. When I was younger and more socially immature, I second-guessed my relationships and social interactions all the time. Eventually, it got so taxing that I just...stopped. Maybe I put up a mental block about second-guessing social stuff because I got so sick of it...

But no, generally I don't do a lot of self-doubting. I've tried to find ways of coping with the few areas of my personality that I tend to over-criticize. But then, unlike some of the posters on this thread, I'm usually not that hard on myself. It would be like constantly criticizing my best friend. I can't stand putting myself down too often.
 

Fecal McAngry

New member
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Messages
976
I consistently score INTJ, and I match the description mostly, but from that description and others it seems if you are an INTJ you are always confident in your ability, able to keep at something and never second guess themselves. But I do a lot. i have social anxiety and often feel down about my own ability to achieve both socially and academically, and I sometimes have so little motivation to do anything. Is this normal or at least an occasional occurence for an INTJ? All the INTJs on here seem a lot mentally stronger than me.

INTJs "doubt," yes. But more than "doubting," INTJs can be some of the most self-critical, self-flagellating souls around. This is where an INFP comes in hand as an emotional fluffer;)

Here's INTJ David Letterman interviewed by INFJ Charlie Rose:

Charlie Rose - An interview with David Letterman
 

forzen

New member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
547
MBTI Type
INTJ
If anybody can honestly say that he/she hasn't had any doubt then I recommend that person to check his/her pulse because he/she might as well be a robot...


oh wait...
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
In some ways Ni doms doubt themselves (and everything) more than any other types.

INTJs are very good at showing a strong, confident exterior--in fact, they want you to think they rarely (if ever) doubt themselves. They like having that image.

When it comes to things they've prepared for and done their homework on, they are extremely confident, but when they're in an uncomfortable/unfamiliar situation they tend to use silence to their advantage. They're not going to let you know how much they do or don't know about the situation, and they know that this often leads people to assume they know a lot more than they do...which they can use to their advantage, of course.

So INTJs are often not as confident as they seem; they just choose not to reveal it when they don't know what's going on.
 
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