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[ENTP] ENTPs - full of hidden insecurities?

leejz

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As a high school student, I've had some ENTP teachers who all seemed very confident and proud, but turned out to be quite insecure.

The first was a history teacher who was 'full of himself'. He constantly talked about his material possessions (e.g. cars, branded goods), about how he knew lots of important people, how busy he was etc. He also cryptically avoided questions about his marital status. Either that or he would say he had a wife and kid in in some faraway land, but when we visited his home, we found no trace of any family (no clothes, no photos, nothing). And he would often try to groom 'favorite students' (but refuse to hand out a single A, trying to emphasize how difficult it was to succeed in his class). He would also call up students randomly and chat about his own life. He was definitely an ENTP though, very extroverted and thinking, couldn't organize his classes for nuts, and used fanciful and pretentious language only an N could muster.

The second was an English teacher. Definite ENTP - very E, very N, and very P. Couldn't organize a single lesson plan at all, spent the whole lesson talking about himself, and talked how he spent ages coming up with models and theories on how to write good essays and live life. Also loved to talk about his own life - e.g. his stint in the army (of course, he was in a secret vocation he couldn't talk about), his big motorbike, how objective and fair he was, how reasoned he could be, etc etc. Also remained very cryptic about his marital status. But on the other hand he can text some of his favorite students consistently everyday - talking about even the most random things, and almost confide in them. And he consistently sought reassurance about his teaching, his fairness, etc nearly every lesson.

Is this behavior typical of ENTPs - that they like to project a pumped-up image of themselves to hide the insecurities they may have?
 

Antimony

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I don't not act like this in any manner. I say sometimes that I like to be objective, but I don't go on about it.

These two people both seem rather unbalanced in my opinion.
 

Fluffywolf

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People always try to hide insecurities by using their most prominent cognitive functions in overdrive. Any type can be insecure, every type acts differently. These entp's may have been insecure but the type entp is not insecure by standard.
 

Qre:us

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What kind of school is this where teachers invite students to their houses and text messages over phones?

WTF?!! :thelook:
 

Fluffywolf

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Aren't we all?

To some level ofcourse. I'm not certain of anything myself either. But I don't let my insecurities get in the way of work or relations. It is when insecurities go past that imaginary line that they may become a nuisance.

But funny fact, I think only an ENTP could honestly say they are 100% secure. Getting people to agree with him/her will be hard though. ;)
 

substitute

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As a high school student, I've had some ENTP teachers who all seemed very confident and proud, but turned out to be quite insecure.

Gosh, this must be SUCH a revelation! /sarcasm

It's what I've tried to tell people for years, people who say they "can't" socialize or whatever the way I do because they're not as confident as me and blah blah blah, and I try to tell them that actually, I'm not at all confident and that pretty much every time I say anything I'm wondering if I'll get heckled or thinking it sounds stupid and I leave most encounters feeling sure I've made an utter fool of myself. Just because I press through those feelings and fight and override them through willpower, doesn't mean I don't have them.

But they just look blankly at me and repeat, "yeah, but I don't have the confidence to do that".

:dry:

edit - I've also had the "full of yourself" accusation levelled at me, almost exclusively by introverts, who think that my self-exposure is all about ego, rather than, as most extraverts correctly read it, me sharing bits of myself and my experiences with others, hoping to encourage them to do the same back, hoping they'll be interested in me and tell me about themselves because I'm interested in them. And also, because I figure maybe an experience of mine is pertinent to what they're talking about and maybe they could benefit from the mistakes or successes I've had, and maybe I can learn from them similarly. It only doesn't work when the other person sits there like a wall with a face, not saying anything, judging me (I can tell) but not caring to offer any constructive feedback.
 
G

garbage

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People always try to hide insecurities by using their most prominent cognitive functions in overdrive. Any type can be insecure, every type acts differently. These entp's may have been insecure but the type entp is not insecure by standard.

I see where this could make sense.

When we're insecure about our weaknesses, we'll just compensate by focusing solely on our strengths.

All types do this, as you say. For example, insecure Fe-users love to help people as a way to ignore their own problems.
 

leejz

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What kind of school is this where teachers invite students to their houses and text messages over phones?

WTF?!!

for the house - it was sort of a celebration after the end of a long project which the teacher supervised. one off thing.

for the smsing - exchange of phone numbers was supposed to facilitate communication during a project...but ended up becoming otherwise, haha.

i guess the thing to me is, yes all the types can be insecure...but it seems that the entp (so far from my limited experience though, observing teachers) likes to especially stress that they are not "insecure" in that sense (e.g. the english teacher also keeps saying how he is fine with people disagreeing with him when he feels he is right and he even "gets a kick out of it")...but it seems completely otherwise!

no offense to anyone.
 

Qre:us

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for the house - it was sort of a celebration after the end of a long project which the teacher supervised. one off thing.

for the smsing - exchange of phone numbers was supposed to facilitate communication during a project...but ended up becoming otherwise, haha.

Then it's not a question of ENTP but individual maturity. If these individuals don't understand what professional boundaries are as a teacher...I think understanding their 'hidden insecurities' are the least of their problems. They are unbalanced as individuals to start with, how can you comment on any personality traits of theirs arising from "ENTP"?
 

ajblaise

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They can definitely have their histrionic streaks.
 

Qre:us

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But funny fact, I think only an ENTP could honestly say they are 100% secure. Getting people to agree with him/her will be hard though. ;)

:laugh: Sad/funny but true. I don't think anyone else affects my self-confidence like I do. But, I love how others get irked trying to disprove it.

Me: I'm a superstar, yo!
Bf: No, you're not! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!
Me: :yes: Yes, I am.
Bf: What about you possibly makes you reach the realm of superstardom?
Me: I think therefore I am
Bf: :steam: Well, I can think I'm a flying space monkey, it doesn't make me so!
Me: Why you would choose to be a flying space monkey over a superstar is the very reason you can never BE a superstar!
Bf: AGGGGGGH!! I refuse to entertain you any further!

*huffs away*

:D
 

Siúil a Rúin

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I wouldn't project that behavior onto a category of people.

There are some serious boundary issues going on with those teachers.
 

Synarch

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I can be pretty insecure. Mostly because my self is so diffuse sometimes. I feel like everything beneath the cover is Chaos and things that I am not comfortable digging into. Sometimes I don't even feel as if I really exist except in relation to other things, other people.
 

thisGuy

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i can be insecure but usually only when trying out new areas of life

i once heard someone say 'never do anything that embarrasses you'
i recently realize that i made it into 'never getting embarrassed over anything i do'
 

jenocyde

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Is this behavior typical of ENTPs - that they like to project a pumped-up image of themselves to hide the insecurities they may have?

This is the opposite of me.


I can be pretty insecure. Mostly because my self is so diffuse sometimes. I feel like everything beneath the cover is Chaos and things that I am not comfortable digging into. Sometimes I don't even feel as if I really exist except in relation to other things, other people.

This is me.

Most of my closest friends have no idea of all my achievements, accolades, degrees, the countries I've lived in, the languages I speak, nothing. I will talk about most things except concrete achievements because it feels boastful and unnecessary, almost embarrassing. I don't hide anything, I just never think to speak of myself in that way. What I did never matters, because it's already done and forgotten about - what matters is what I'm doing next. And I do such a wide range of things that I don't even know who I am, really.

Don't get me wrong, I genuinely like myself and love who I am, but I never expect anyone else to. I'm fearless and have ultimate faith in myself and in my abilities. But I'm always very shocked when someone likes me, even as a friend. I always think I'm invisible and only identified by what I'm working on. And it doesn't matter because I don't put much thought into what people think of me, which is why it shocks me when people do. So, I guess I'm kind of insecure, but not in the traditional way.
 

sculpting

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ENTPs come in many flavors. Some are utterly beautiful and I adore them. They are very complex and multifaceted. They are my favorite friends of all.

However, I have seen the ones you describe OP. I have three to balance at the moment-out of about eight entps total. they are over 40, males. They are tearing apart my workplace and my teams with thier insecurities.

The insecurity issues seem most focused on thier ideas-they want them to be respected and cannot accept that they may be flawed. They lie, deceive, play politics, screw over hundreds of other folks, just to protect the integrity of thier idea. They hurt our teams and the people I care about.

Perhaps other NTs have these same insecurities but since the ENTPs are so good socially, charming and convincing, they have large amounts of influence and thus can cause organizational chaos. They create massive drama.

However-as I said-this seems to be a small percentage of entps, so it is not in anyway universal to all.

As for the other comments, my entp best friend and I are convinced we are both nuts. she told me the other day:

"You complete me. Between the two of us, we make at least three of us"

Ne is fucking special.
 

Laurie

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I don't get this from my ENTP friend at all. She probably has normal insecurities but really, she is sort of removed from all that. She likes to have fun and has to be careful she doesnt hurt people's feelings, but she doesn't have some huge vat of insecurity under the surface. Maybe I'm lucky and found a healthy entp?
 

jenocyde

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The insecurity issues seem most focused on thier ideas-they want them to be respected and cannot accept that they may be flawed. They lie, deceive, play politics, screw over hundreds of other folks, just to protect the integrity of thier idea. They hurt our teams and the people I care about.

Perhaps other NTs have these same insecurities but since the ENTPs are so good socially, charming and convincing, they have large amounts of influence and thus can cause organizational chaos. They create massive drama.

I can picture ENTP gone wild, for sure. I know how simple it is to see where someone's weaknesses are and how difficult it is to stay on the straight and narrow path. I find myself making decisions not to manipulate every single day. Or not to strike as hard. Or to kill them with kindness first, before showing my claws. I could easily be a very good supervillian if I had a lesser sense of ethics or a more developed attention span. I don't see that behavior as a manifestation of insecurity, though. From what you describe, I see it more as them trying to confirm all the things they actually believe about themselves. The total opposite of insecurity. But again, I don't know the whole story.

I don't get this from my ENTP friend at all. She probably has normal insecurities but really, she is sort of removed from all that. She likes to have fun and has to be careful she doesnt hurt people's feelings, but she doesn't have some huge vat of insecurity under the surface. Maybe I'm lucky and found a healthy entp?

I believe even healthy people have insecurities. I mean, I am the same way as your friend and am not insecure in that traditional sense. It's like Synarch said - being unsure that you are even real, a distinct entity. No one would ever know though, probably like your friend - you should ask her.
 
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