Haphazard
Don't Judge Me!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
- 6,704
- MBTI Type
- ENFJ
Okay, I've been here for a little while now, and this question has been bothering me for a long time. And that question is exactly what it says on the tin -- erm, thread title.
There are a lot of INTJs on MBTIc. Or, at least, there are a lot of people who claim to be INTJ. Now, if we go on the premise that there are not very many INTJs, one would assume that there are just a disproportionate number of INTJs who are interested in MBTI -- which may be true. Along with that, though, are a lot of theories that many people typed INTJ are not INTJs but rather another type, and there are lots of plausible, valid reasons for this mistyping. Some of the types that are likely to be mistyped as INTJs are apparently:
INTP
INFP
INFJ
ISTP
ISFP
ISTJ
So, if somebody claims to be an INTJ, they may actually be one of seven different types -- and this list includes all of the intuitive introverts, half of the artisans, and even one guardian, which according to some theory is supposed to be opposite of rationals.
And it doesn't help that this forum is riddled with anecdotal evidence, which potentially confuses the issue even more, because INTJs are apparently so damned hard to identify. Of course there are websites on theory, but even those have their fair share of anecdotal evidence and conflicting information.
Typology is a completely invented system, I know, so asking this question is likely asking for trouble, because on top of anecdotal evidence I'll receive I'll get a lot of replies asking 'why do you care?' and saying it's not important and not even possible to differentiate because of all the confirmation bias and other things that could easily rip application of theory to pieces.
But I'm young and naïve so I'm going to ask anyway. What the hell is an INTJ, and what makes an INTJ not these other six types?
There are a lot of INTJs on MBTIc. Or, at least, there are a lot of people who claim to be INTJ. Now, if we go on the premise that there are not very many INTJs, one would assume that there are just a disproportionate number of INTJs who are interested in MBTI -- which may be true. Along with that, though, are a lot of theories that many people typed INTJ are not INTJs but rather another type, and there are lots of plausible, valid reasons for this mistyping. Some of the types that are likely to be mistyped as INTJs are apparently:
INTP
INFP
INFJ
ISTP
ISFP
ISTJ
So, if somebody claims to be an INTJ, they may actually be one of seven different types -- and this list includes all of the intuitive introverts, half of the artisans, and even one guardian, which according to some theory is supposed to be opposite of rationals.
And it doesn't help that this forum is riddled with anecdotal evidence, which potentially confuses the issue even more, because INTJs are apparently so damned hard to identify. Of course there are websites on theory, but even those have their fair share of anecdotal evidence and conflicting information.
Typology is a completely invented system, I know, so asking this question is likely asking for trouble, because on top of anecdotal evidence I'll receive I'll get a lot of replies asking 'why do you care?' and saying it's not important and not even possible to differentiate because of all the confirmation bias and other things that could easily rip application of theory to pieces.
But I'm young and naïve so I'm going to ask anyway. What the hell is an INTJ, and what makes an INTJ not these other six types?