INTJ Self-Actualization

[SquirrelTao]

INTJs, do you feel self-actualized or as if you are in the process of becoming self-actualized?

If yes, what kinds of things blocked you, either externally or internally, that you had to unblock?

If no, what do you feel is holding you back, either externally or internally?

[DigitalMethod]

This is deep, I need some time to think about it...
I think I'm more of in-between on this issue.

[Haphazard]

Can somebody do me a favor and define 'self-actualized'?

[01011010]

Do you mean knowing the full self? If so, I guess I am. I had a long convo with my ISFP friend last night. He told me he understand my emotional aloofness or general lack of feeling and tried to equate it to when he was a drug user and numbed himself. Some personality types tend to think that a person that doesn't operate with feeling as a dominant function are somehow not full people yet. I know that's not true.

I just am this way. I'm not trying to inhibit my emotional side. I have feelings. They just aren't expressed in very dramatic ways. I also don't apply emotions to every little activity of my daily life.

[SquirrelTao]

Can somebody do me a favor and define 'self-actualized'?

Sure, sorry. I shouldn't have assumed everybody would be familiar with Abraham Maslow's psychological concepts.

Essentially, it is defined by what chiefly motivates you. If you need to focus on your survival, you are motivated to eat, but probably not to make art.

Maslow defined a hierarchy of needs with self-actualization at the top of the pyramid. He believed that as each need was met, the one above would then become the motivator for a person. He thought few people achieved self-actualization. He thought most didn't get farther than the "esteem" level.

An example of somebody at the esteem level would be a writer who was motivated to write only to impress others, become famous or make money, or something like that.

A writer who was operating at the self-actualized level would be writing for the joy of being creative or the thrill of intellectual curiosity, or something like that.

Here is a brief summary of the hierarchy of needs:

Physiological: food, shelter, etc

Safety: Health, employment, security of property, etc

Love/Belonging: Friendship, family

Esteem: Self-esteem, respect from others

Self-actualizion: Creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving

[SquirrelTao]

Do you mean knowing the full self? If so, I guess I am. I had a long convo with my ISFP friend last night. He told me he understand my emotional aloofness or general lack of feeling and tried to equate it to when he was a drug user and numbed himself. Some personality types tend to think that a person that doesn't operate with feeling as a dominant function are somehow not full people yet. I know that's not true.

I just am this way. I'm not trying to inhibit my emotional side. I have feelings. They just aren't expressed in very dramatic ways. I also don't apply emotions to every little activity of my daily life.

Maybe he suspects that there is an "emotional ketchup burst" bottled up inside of you, he he. I didn't mean to imply by "self-actualized" that INTJs would become more like feeling types.

[Haphazard]

I dunno if the order of the last three would necessarily be the same.

Love/belonging seems like it'd be last... it's not exactly something that comes easily, while however it's pretty easy for me to feel creativity just for the sake of it. Some of those are much easier to fulfill than others.

[Koanashi]

I don't think of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs as being ordered in 'difficulty'... more, you really need to obtain those lower down in order to actively seek out the other ones comfortably. You're more likely to be looking for 'love and belonging' than opportunities to be creative if they are both unfulfilled, though you might just have so many opportunities handed to you to be creative that you just take, see? Of course, that's the theory behind it. Theories rarely apply universally.
Also, for different types, things like 'Loving and Belonging' will probably mean different things. For some, it may mean fitting in with the general status quo. Others, like most INTJs, probably only one or two people who understand them, and they can comfortably bounce ideas off.

I think that I personally do have a tendency towards self actualizing, though would never really say I've had a true Peak Experience. This is probably due to the fact that I'm incredibly self critical and although may be satisfied with something, it's never quite enough, because I know I can do better.

[DigitalMethod]

I dunno, I feel uncomfortable saying if I am on this 'last step' or not. Personally, I don't see life that way. As in, steps and such. I just see it as a path with a general goal at the end.

I don't like this pyramid theory, because it makes me uncomfortable to put me in any of the 'steps'. I think I can relate to all the steps somewhat, and that is why I am confused.

Physiological: food, shelter, etc
Well, duh, 100% on this step. Wait, are they numbered by percents? Hmm...

Safety: Health, employment, security of property, etc
I'm healthy, I'm a student, and.. I live with my parents? I have no clue what percent that would be.

Love/Belonging: Friendship, family
Family is okay I guess... could be a little better, but my friendship level sucks.

Esteem: Self-esteem, respect from others
It seems odd to place self-esteem as the second highest rank, that's sorta narcissistic no? Hmm I respect others generally well I think, maybe, or do I not? I think most INTJs have generally good self-esteem when the subject is something they know, but other times, they self-doubt themselves way to much.

Self-actualizion: Creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving
This is what gets me, I know this is the 'last' step, but I can relate to all of these things in the last step, and not all the things in the previous steps, what gives?

[DigitalMethod]

Sorry, SquirrelTao, you came here looking for some insight into INTJs, and you presented a system for them to give you the insight, but in the end I think we just over analyzed the system and made you even more confused. Or at least, I think I did.