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Help me find my type: INFJ? INTP?

kav2330

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Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
10
Okay, I know these types aren't extremely close, but I'm finding myself stuck between INFJ and INTP and it's been driving me absolutely crazy.

Some ideas that might help get started (I've tried to read as much as I could about this online, and will be picking up some books on my next trip to the library, so I'm not sure how relevant this information is):

-I enjoy socializing with a very small, very close group of friends with whom I connect very well and to whom I'm fiercely loyal

-I trust very, very few people with feelings and secrets, though I find that a lot of people are comfortable coming to me with them

-I'm meticulous about how I express myself. You have no idea how many times I've edited and reedited this post

-Around friends, I am always cracking jokes, usually based on sarcasm and pranks, but around new people I tend to put a lid on this because people I don't know well tend to take what I say seriously or misunderstand my humor.

-I really enjoy and generally succeed at competitive games based on social interaction (Balderdash, Taboo, Cranium), and any word game (Boggle, Scrabble, crossword puzzles).

-I feel like I can read people relatively well, and communicate with them a lot without directly saying things (looks, faces, body language, etc.)

-When I get excited about an idea or something I've read or seen or something, I tend to completely fixate on it. If I'm into a book I will do nothing else but read until it's done. I'll recommend it to all my friends, and though I'm usually relatively quiet and reserved, if someone else is into one of my obsessions, I could talk to them about it excitedly for hours.

-I see a lot of people as fake and/or pretentious, and I have no patience or tolerance for it. I sometimes make these judgments quicker than I should about people I don't know. I get easily frustrated by total strangers.

-In some ways I'm self-confident, but I can rarely bring myself to stand up to people I don't know well unless I'm pushed pretty hard or unless something serious is at stake

-People look to me as a strong "moral compass". I don't aspire to lead, but I find that in groups where a question of right and wrong is at hand, people look to me to make the decision

-I consult others before making personal decisions, but I find that I only do it as a means of clarifying my own thoughts, and don't necessarily change my mind

-I can be very stubborn and will never give up a point in an argument

-After getting into a fight, I almost always believe I was right, and if I apologize, it's not because I felt my argument was wrong, but because I don't want to be on bad terms with the person. I rarely regret the decisions I make, nor am I apologetic for the opinions I have.

-I have no patience for things I perceive to be red tape or bureaucracy

-In some ways I can be idealistic myself, but I try to be reasonable about it and get frustrated with people I see as blindly idealistic without considering practical limitations

I guess right now I'm leaning towards INTP, though the type just sounds too.... lacking in compassion. I do need people in my life, and I do crave extremely close relationships that I feel I benefit from... but I also enjoy people who have similar interests so I have someone to analyze things with. For what it's worth, I've most often tested INFJ. But I'm studying Linguistics and Computer Science.

If anyone bothered to read all of this and if it helps at all, any thoughts? INFJ? INTP? Something totally different? Insane asylum? Thanks in advance for any insight or ideas!

(Also, I don't know much about enneagrams. Does this correlate to MBTI? Could it help solve my confusion, or at least lessen it?)
 
Last edited:

Skyward

Badoom~
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
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1,084
MBTI Type
infj
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9w1
:yes: I can really see that its close to the wire. And people cant really pigeonhole into type, either.

Though I'm thinking INFP, and if I tried to explain it I would confuse myself and mess up the whole meaning :blush:
 
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
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ENTP
INFJ sounds right to me.

I don't know how someone could get INFJ and INTP confused.
 

INTJMom

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If it's just between those two choices, I choose INFJ,
because you have a lot of personal connection to people.
 

INTJMom

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When you go to the library, I highly recommend Do What You Are by Barron and Tieger.

In the meantime, they have a simple test that helps you decide what your type is.
Maybe that would help you. (click the link)
After you take a look at the four dichotomies E/I S/N T/F P/J
come back and let us know which ones you still are unsure of and we'll help you. :)
 

kav2330

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Nov 10, 2008
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10
It looks like a good book; I've added it to my list, thanks!

I took their test, and struggled with the same things I did before: deciding between T/F is especially killing me, and J/P to a lesser extent.

With T/F:

-I think some of my problem is with the use of the word "values". Using values and emotion as a basis for decision making is listed under F, but I feel like when I make decisions I ultimately have to make the decision that I feel is fair, just, and right, even if it can have negative emotional impact for the people it affects... which seems more T to me.

-I also feel like I obsessively need to understand people: what motivates them, how they operate, what makes them do the things they do, and how they feel about what happens to them. When I encounter someone I can't readily "understand", I tend to become very intrigued and determined to make some kind of sense out of their behavior. I'm not sure where on the T/F spectrum this attribute falls either. It seems analytical T, but also emotionally relating to others.

For what it's worth, I showed the lists from that site to a couple close friends who both pegged me as Ts.

J/P:

-As far as decision-making goes, I tend to need to think a lot before I make one (do research, consult with others, think objectively about all aspects of the situation) (P?), but once I make them I stand firmly by them and need them to be relatively final (J?).

-I find that I work best under pressure and tend to save projects until the last minute. If I start a paper early and try to come back to it a week later, I have trouble getting back in the groove, so to speak. I usually need to get this sort of thing done in one sitting or I lose my voice or train of thought. (I also never do outlines) (P?)

-This isn't to say though that I don't have long-term goals and visions (J?), so I don't know what to think.

One final thought: I'm also somewhat convinced that if I'm really T, I can't be J, because I've read the INTJ profile and I don't think that fits at all (I have a good friend who's INTJ and I can see it clearly with her; I just don't think I share those traits).
 
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iwakar

crush the fences
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
4,877
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Okay, I know these types aren't extremely close, but I'm finding myself stuck between INFJ and INTP and it's been driving me absolutely crazy.

Some ideas that might help get started (I've tried to read as much as I could about this online, and will be picking up some books on my next trip to the library, so I'm not sure how relevant this information is):

-I enjoy socializing with a very small, very close group of friends with whom I connect very well and to whom I'm fiercely loyal

-I trust very, very few people with feelings and secrets, though I find that a lot of people are comfortable coming to me with them

-I love books and movies and TV shows with dark tones and epic stories of good vs evil (e.g., The Stand, The Dark Tower), but also ones with moral ambiguity and ethical dilemmas (24, The Shield, Battlestar Galactica)

-I love pretty much anything by Cormac McCarthy or David Lynch

-I'm meticulous about how I express myself. You have no idea how many times I've edited and reedited this post

-Around friends, I am always cracking jokes, usually based on sarcasm and pranks, but around new people I tend to put a lid on this because people I don't know well tend to take what I say seriously or misunderstand my humor.

-I really enjoy and generally succeed at competitive games based on social interaction (Balderdash, Taboo, Cranium), and any word game (Boggle, Scrabble, crossword puzzles).

-I feel like I can read people relatively well, and communicate with them a lot without directly saying things (looks, faces, body language, etc.)

-When I get excited about an idea or something I've read or seen or something, I tend to completely fixate on it. If I'm into a book I will do nothing else but read until it's done. I'll recommend it to all my friends, and though I'm usually relatively quiet and reserved, if someone else is into one of my obsessions, I could talk to them about it excitedly for hours.

-I see a lot of people as fake and/or pretentious, and I have no patience or tolerance for it. I sometimes make these judgments quicker than I should about people I don't know. I get easily frustrated by total strangers.

-In some ways I'm self-confident, but I can rarely bring myself to stand up to people I don't know well unless I'm pushed pretty hard or unless something serious is at stake

-People look to me as a strong "moral compass". I don't aspire to lead, but I find that in groups where a question of right and wrong is at hand, people look to me to make the decision

-I consult others before making personal decisions, but I find that I only do it as a means of clarifying my own thoughts, and don't necessarily change my mind

-I can be very stubborn and will never give up a point in an argument

-After getting into a fight, I almost always believe I was right, and if I apologize, it's not because I felt my argument was wrong, but because I don't want to be on bad terms with the person. I rarely regret the decisions I make, nor am I apologetic for the opinions I have.

-I have no patience for things I perceive to be red tape or bureaucracy

-In some ways I can be idealistic myself, but I try to be reasonable about it and get frustrated with people I see as blindly idealistic without considering practical limitations

I guess right now I'm leaning towards INTP, though the type just sounds too.... lacking in compassion. I do need people in my life, and I do crave extremely close relationships that I feel I benefit from... but I also enjoy people who have similar interests so I have someone to analyze things with. For what it's worth, I've most often tested INFJ. But I'm studying Linguistics and Computer Science.

If anyone bothered to read all of this and if it helps at all, any thoughts? INFJ? INTP? Something totally different? Insane asylum? Thanks in advance for any insight or ideas!

(Also, I don't know much about enneagrams. Does this correlate to MBTI? Could it help solve my confusion, or at least lessen it?)


Based on all that? INFJ. Takes one to know one.
 

Colors

The Destroyer
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Apr 24, 2007
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1,276
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ISTP
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so/sx
Out of INFJ, INTP, INFP and INTJ: INFP
Out of INFJ and INTP: INFJ
Out of all 16 types: *shrug*
 

Neo Genesis

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Oct 7, 2008
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InFp
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4w5
That sounds just like me, so I'm going to go ahead and say INFX, whereas I lean slightly more to P, you could lean more to J.


J/P:

-As far as decision-making goes, I tend to need to think a lot before I make one (do research, consult with others, think objectively about all aspects of the situation) (P?), but once I make them I stand firmly by them and need them to be relatively final (J?).

-I find that I work best under pressure and tend to save projects until the last minute. If I start a paper early and try to come back to it a week later, I have trouble getting back in the groove, so to speak. I usually need to get this sort of thing done in one sitting or I lose my voice or train of thought. (I also never do outlines) (P?)

You're sounding more like an INFP to me.

-This isn't to say though that I don't have long-term goals and visions (J?), so I don't know what to think.

How definite are your deadlines for these goals? Would you be open to postponing them, or tweaking them as you go along?
 

kav2330

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Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
10
You're sounding more like an INFP to me.



How definite are your deadlines for these goals? Would you be open to postponing them, or tweaking them as you go along?

Oh, no. I've done some more reading and now I do see that INFP is a possibility too. Yeesh. :p

I don't think I really have deadlines for long-term goals. Maybe that comes down on the P-side.

A couple things I kind of want to throw out there: I feel like I'm comfortable (and often have to) be spontaneous with things that I'm in control of... as in, if I'm making a presentation or, as I mentioned, writing a paper, I almost have to do it with minimal notes or outlines or rehearsal; I actually come off as a lot more natural and organized when I wing things like that. When it comes to things like that, I'm very quick on my feet. Is this P-heavy?

As a "both", I seem physically disorganized to people: I can have a messy workspace, but at the same time it makes sense to me, and if I need to find something I will usually know where in the madness that something is when I need it... if that makes any sense.

Finally, the case for "J": when it comes to things that involve circumstances out of my control, I do get much more uncomfortable not having a plan. If I'm going to go somewhere, I need to have some idea of specifically what's going to happen, how long I can expect to be gone, etc. Even when planning outings/day trips with friends, I'm usually the one fighting to set a specific time and meeting place, say, whereas other people want to just have much more lax plans and figure it out as we go along. I also find myself having to organize practical things like that within a group: carpools, some kind of timetable, calling everyone to make sure they're up to speed and reminding them what they need to bring, etc. I feel that oftentimes if I don't do this, things will get screwed up and we'll lose time or, worse, miss whatever we're planning to do. (E.g., if we're going to see a movie, I'm not comfortable showing up at the theatre two minutes before it's scheduled to start).

I hope this is making sense. To reiterate but rephrase: I almost feel like I'm P with myself but J with other people? I tend to enforce a lot of the J stuff less if I'm doing something myself, and maybe this stems from a general distrust, who knows.
 

INTJMom

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...
Finally, the case for "J": when it comes to things that involve circumstances out of my control, I do get much more uncomfortable not having a plan. If I'm going to go somewhere, I need to have some idea of specifically what's going to happen, how long I can expect to be gone, etc. Even when planning outings/day trips with friends, I'm usually the one fighting to set a specific time and meeting place, say, whereas other people want to just have much more lax plans and figure it out as we go along. I also find myself having to organize practical things like that within a group: carpools, some kind of timetable, calling everyone to make sure they're up to speed and reminding them what they need to bring, etc. I feel that oftentimes if I don't do this, things will get screwed up and we'll lose time or, worse, miss whatever we're planning to do. (E.g., if we're going to see a movie, I'm not comfortable showing up at the theatre two minutes before it's scheduled to start).
....


This sounds like J behavior, but did you always feel this way? Were you this way between the ages of 8 and 20 or were you different from this? Because our type is most easily discernible when we are school-aged. After that, we begin developing our other traits and it can muddy the water.
 

INTJMom

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As far as your friends thinking you might be T.
First of all, if you were INTJ, you wouldn't HAVE any friends :newwink:
and secondly, not all Fs are as diplomatic as that list makes them out to be.
Some can seem downright tiger-like when you've crossed them.
 

kav2330

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This sounds like J behavior, but did you always feel this way? Were you this way between the ages of 8 and 20 or were you different from this? Because our type is most easily discernible when we are school-aged. After that, we begin developing our other traits and it can muddy the water.

The more I think about it, the more I think that these J elements did appear later. When I was in school, I think I exhibited a lot of P traits that I mentioned before: things like studying, traditional note-taking and memorizing, and outlining papers of presentations would really throw me off and actually make me do worse.

I think I've falsely misinterpreted P to be very... I guess laid-back, but maybe more in a lazy sense? I'm very determined and hard-working when I set my mind to something and it's something I care about, and I can be stubborn beyond reason. The more I read though, the less these things seem J to me after all.

Now I'm actually leaning really heavily towards INFP, haha. Maybe my indecisiveness on this is indicative of a P nature? :blush: Also, would that help explain identifying a bit with both INFJ and INTP? Maybe?

What you said about focusing on younger life is interesting... what does that mean in terms of types? Do people change types throughout their life, or do they just get more balanced and strengthen their "weaker" functions?

(Thanks so much for all the insight; I really appreciate it)
 
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Neo Genesis

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Also, would that help explain identifying a bit with both INFJ and INTP? Maybe?

Yes. From what I've read here, INFPs can relate with many other type descriptions, and will believe they are actually a different type. For example, right now I'm still toying with the notion that I might be INFJ, ISFJ or ISFP even though I know that I fit the INFP profile better.
 
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-I also feel like I obsessively need to understand people: what motivates them, how they operate, what makes them do the things they do, and how they feel about what happens to them. When I encounter someone I can't readily "understand", I tend to become very intrigued and determined to make some kind of sense out of their behavior. I'm not sure where on the T/F spectrum this attribute falls either. It seems analytical T, but also emotionally relating to others.

Analysis is breaking up something complex into smaller, simpler parts. It's not really possible to do that by observing someone's behavior unless you try to get scientific. But what you're doing is extrapolating or inferring motivation. That's NF.
 

Kora

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Have you tried cognitive functions? You may be relating to both INFJ and INTP due to Ti and a developed Fe.
 

iwakar

crush the fences
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I'm thinking that Kav's well-developed T is confusing him/her, I've experienced this myself having been surrounded by Ts growing up and learning to develop my weakness.

Now unless I'm a completely fringe representation of INFJs, which I doubt, I can agree with 99.9% of her post as being self-identifying. Therefore, it stands to reason...
 

ajblaise

Minister of Propagandhi
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INFJ.

Emotions...values....strong morals.... doesn't sound like you're really on my team. Sorry, I bet you had your hopes up.
 
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