Why is everyone an INFJ nowadays?

[á´…eparted]

If it makes you feel better; once upon a time I thought I was INFJ (for 9 years).

 

[LadyLazarus]

If it makes you feel better; once upon a time I thought I was INFJ (for 9 years).

Yet you snapped out of it eventually,this gives me hope for all those delusional fuckers.

 

[LadyLazarus]

Of course, I'm now too ashamed of wearing this badge. Who wants to be the slut type that everyone wants to fuck?

ISFJ.(screaming it so loudly even I can hear it).

 

[cafe]

Bear in mind that INFJs are so people-centric they often mistype as extroverts. And I mean extreme extroverts.

Also important is that INFPs feel strange to themselves, but INFJs appear strange to others. They're an anomaly. They're really rare. And they don't fit into any real modern social archetype. They're there, they're in the crowd of people, they dress like them, but there's something different about them. Not even different so much as unbelievable.

And ISFPs are hardly introverts in the sense that INs are. They're more the archetype of a cutesy "I just wanna be alone" girl in new multi-colored fashion clothing. Or something.

So does that mean if I dress relatively normally, am chatty, and sometimes I think I'm not saying anything out of the ordinary when someone gives me a look like I just sprouted five heads, it's possible? I don't know if I fit an archetype. Some ways I do. Some ways I don't. I'm fairly well educated, semi-respectable white trash. I'm a fiscally and socially liberal/feminist white American Evangelical Christian. I don't think there is much else all that unusual about me, though. Other than being kind of geeky/nerdy depending on your definition.

Edit: Not remotely psychic. Have had a disappointing lack of any kind of paranormal/supernatural/metaphysical experiences for someone of my religion. It makes me feel like God doesn't like me sometimes. Sometimes I'm a good guesser about what's going to happen, but that's because people usually keep doing the same stuff over and over.

 

[OrangeAppled]

In all seriousness though,I am highly skeptical of the blatantly unrealistic number of INFJ's on this website,that is to say,there's just no way everyone of those people is an INFJ;I believe they are mostly INFP's who want to be the special snowflake of MBTI,or very confused ISFJ's.

Not this propaganda again.

INFJs ARE the ones obsessed with being "rare". Check out INFJ forums - at any given time there is some very active thread discussing who really is or is not an INFJ. They do witch hunts where they declare everyone but themselves & Jesus Christ to be fake INFJs. There is a total lack of Fi among these people...and what kind of Fi-dom are you not to notice that? . If they're mistyped, odds are they are still FJs (IMO, likely ISFJ or ENFJ). I can barely stand an INFJ forum for 5 minutes. The Ni arrogance combined with IxFJ passive-aggressiveness in bulk is grating to an INFP.

Visit an INFP forum...you will not see that. No one cares much if you're mistyped. We're more interested in creating an open & understanding environment, not beating out chests about how rare we are that we don't actually exist. There are no threads where rarity is discussed or where suspicions are heavily debated on whether half the forum is mistyped or not.

It doesn't align with reality then. The guy in the video makes no sense either. INFPs are dominant rationals. When you discuss typing with an INFP, you will discover they have heavily analyzed & introspected on the matter; the people he describes do not sound INFP.

INFJs aren't so wonderful & special that everyone wants to be them anyway. They're arrogant enough as is; stop feeding it.

And INFPs aren't so defective & undesirable that nobody wants to type as one either. How condescending....
I don't see why we're the catch-all for mistyped people either. Suddenly EVERYONE is INFP nowadays.

 

[á´…eparted]

Not this propaganda again.

INFJs ARE the ones obsessed with being "rare". Check out INFJ forums - at any given time there is some very active thread discussing who really is or is not an INFJ. They do witch hunts where they declare everyone but themselves & Jesus Christ to be fake INFJs. There is a total lack of Fi among these people...and what kind of Fi-dom are you not to notice that? . If they're mistyped, odds are they are still FJs (IMO, likely ISFJ or ENFJ). I can barely stand an INFJ forum for 5 minutes. The Ni arrogance combined with IxFJ passive-aggressiveness in bulk is grating to an INFP.

Visit an INFP forum...you will not see that. No one cares much if you're mistyped. We're more interested in creating an open & understanding environment, not beating out chests about how rare we are that we don't actually exist. There are no threads where rarity is discussed or where suspicions are heavily debated on whether half the forum is mistyped or not.

It doesn't align with reality then. The guy in the video makes no sense either. INFPs are dominant rationals. When you discuss typing with an INFP, you will discover they have heavily analyzed & introspected on the matter; the people he describes do not sound INFP.

INFJs aren't so wonderful & special that everyone wants to be them anyway. They're arrogant enough as is; stop feeding it.

And INFPs aren't so defective & undesirable that nobody wants to type as one either. How condescending....
I don't see why we're the catch-all for mistyped people either. Suddenly EVERYONE is INFP nowadays.

Once upon a time I was an admin over on the INFJ forums. I can sum it up as this: A forum full of mostly F types can be the most insufferable experience you can ever have. I was there for a looooooong time, and there was a minority of members who indeed were INFP's (a number later "converted") who saw themselves as INFJ's. It's not so much a problem that is unique to INFP's INFJ's, or any of those types. It's a product of enneagram 4's. The very nature of that enneagram is going to drive that in a number of individuals. E4's were (and I suspect are; I left in 2011) extremely common there, and are the majority enneatype.

That, and INFJ's and INFP's as a gorup really do not mix. Like, at all. Put a group of both of them together and you will get wars going that will never stop.

 

[OrangeAppled]

Once upon a time I was an admin over on the INFJ forums. I can sum it up as this: A forum full of mostly F types can be the most insufferable experience you can ever have. I was there for a looooooong time, and there was a minority of members who indeed were INFP's (a number later "converted") who saw themselves as INFJ's. It's not so much a problem that is unique to INFP's INFJ's, or any of those types. It's a product of enneagram 4's. The very nature of that enneagram is going to drive that in a number of individuals. E4's were (and I suspect are; I left in 2011) extremely common there, and are the majority enneatype.

That, and INFJ's and INFP's as a gorup really do not mix. Like, at all. Put a group of both of them together and you will get wars going that will never stop.

4s are the majority enneatype of INFPs on the INFP forums, and again, the obsession with rarity doesn't exist. Neither does it exist in the same way on 4 forums. Feeling misunderstood, alienated, strange as an individual, etc, yes, but not obsession with their type being rare.

 

[digesthisickness]

So, wait, is it INFJs who are supposedly obsessed with being rare, or SJs who think they're INFJs who are obsessed with being rare?

 

[á´…eparted]

4s are the majority enneatype of INFPs on the INFP forums, and again, the obsession with rarity doesn't exist. Neither does it exist in the same way on 4 forums. Feeling misunderstood, alienated, strange as an individual, etc, yes, but not obsession with their type being rare.

The reason it comes up on the INFJ forums is because they are supposably the rarest type (I wholly disagree with that, but that's another matter). It's also based on a single study and shouldn't me taken at face value. It's the nature of what an INFJ is that causes it to be brought up as a topic of discussion. "Oh, hey, look at this, we're rare! Let's talk about it!". INFP's are middle of the road according to the publicly known stats, so it just doesn't get mentioned much; it wouldn't be relavant.

I wouldn't call it an obsession either. It's meerly a topic that gains attention when brought up because it's alienating to some.

 

[Starry]

I don't see why we're the catch-all for mistyped people either. Suddenly EVERYONE is INFP nowadays.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I know of a close relative of yours that has it a teeny tiny bit worse.

It's sad when actual ENFPs... are the only individuals that doubt they're ENFPs.

 

[OrangeAppled]

The reason it comes up on the INFJ forums is because they are supposably the rarest type (I wholly disagree with that, but that's another matter). It's also based on a single study and shouldn't me taken at face value. It's the nature of what an INFJ is that causes it to be brought up as a topic of discussion. "Oh, hey, look at this, we're rare! Let's talk about it!". INFP's are middle of the road according to the publicly known stats, so it just doesn't get mentioned much; it wouldn't be relavant.

I wouldn't call it an obsession either. It's meerly a topic that gains attention when brought up because it's alienating to some.

No, what comes up is not topics on type percentages & rarity itself....but trying to weed out who is mistyped, which stems from the idea the type is so rare. They're very intent on pointing out what does or does not make for a "real" INFJ. INFPs don't bother with trying to identify mistyped people (and a type does not need to be rare to have mistypings). We're not hung up "specialness", period. There is no evidence to assign that trait to INFPs & plenty of reason to assign it to INFJs.

INTJs are supposedly rare also - I don't see them doing this (and gasp! they are tertiary Fi!).

I would & DO call it an obsession on INFJ forums...at any given moment there's at least one active thread about it & often another one stickied. Inside these topics, people take great pride in their rarity & seek to distinguish themselves from others. They make disparaging remarks about the "fake INFJs". It's pretty ridiculous.

As usual, people refuse to see a negative trait in this over-rated type, but choose to pin it on some other type when all indicators say otherwise. Maybe the INFJ forum has special snowflake syndrome because INFJs often have it?

 

[OrangeAppled]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I know of a close relative of yours that has it a teeny tiny bit worse.

It's sad when actual ENFPs... are the only individuals that doubt they're ENFPs.

Oh you're totally right. ENFPs are the true catch-all. Especially if someone is unsure of their type & changes type a few times - must be ENFP!

 

[Starry]

Oh you're totally right. ENFPs are the true catch-all. Especially if someone is unsure of their type & changes type a few times - must be ENFP!

Well...a good number of them actual ENFPs are signing up for the...INFP 4w5 spots so...

 

[á´…eparted]

No, what comes up is not topics on type percentages & rarity itself....but trying to weed out who is mistyped, which stems from the idea the type is so rare. They're very intent on pointing out what does or does not make for a "real" INFJ. INFPs don't bother with trying to identify mistyped people (and a type does not need to be rare to have mistypings). We're not hung up "specialness", period. There is no evidence to assign that trait to INFPs & plenty of reason to assign it to INFJs.

INTJs are supposedly rare also - I don't see them doing this (and gasp! they are tertiary Fi!).

I would & DO call it an obsession on INFJ forums...at any given moment there's at least one active thread about it & often another one stickied. Inside these topics, people take great pride in their rarity & seek to distinguish themselves from others. They make disparaging remarks about the "fake INFJs". It's pretty ridiculous.

As usual, people refuse to see a negative trait in this over-rated type, but choose to pin it on some other type when all indicators say otherwise. Maybe the INFJ forum has special snowflake syndrome because INFJs often have it?

Jesus you are showing a lot of hatred towards INFJ's. Goddamn.

I was on INFJ's for 2.5 years. I would not call it an obsession at all (with respect to rarity). It was a topic that came up every couple of months, and newbies would mention it when they "learned it" in their intro posts, and it would stop. That's about it. We're going to have to agree to disagree on that point.

You're also applying this to all INFJ's (at least with how you're wording it). I would contest that this applies to unhealthy and a minority of INFJ's. By and large, they are usually fairly status oriented as a group. They want groups, and they want harmony, but only people that fit into their idea of what a group should be. A huge reason why it often came up on there, was a drive to have a correct idea of what an INFJ is. Which included using individuals as examples/templates. It's hard to define Ni, and a lot of it came from that (again I was on there for 2.5 years and very very active so I was extremely aware of what went on). When there were witch hunts, it was often after members who were seen as undesirable, and many assumed because they were undesirable, it was because they weren't INFJ. A false assumption that proved to be wrong the majority of the time. That forum has had social problems since it's inception, much of it intractable (it's 1/2 of why I eventually left).

With all of the truly labeled "trouble makers" on there that caused serious problem, or got banned, I'd estimate 75% of them were not INFJ (and nearly all of them labeled themselves as such).

Anyway, I'm getting away from the initial premise of this. I still say E4 is the main driver of this, and less the nature of INFJ's. The very nature of E4 types can, and will drive individuals to act in this way, where they must be "special" though only poorly adapted, or undeveloped ones.

I will however, agree with you that INFJ's are often protrayed by many typing info websites as being these magical mystical creatures that are super special above and beyond the other types. That type of wording is terrible, and wrong. It feeds egos and does no good whatsoever. It's a symptom of what the type is. I seriously believe that if INFJ's were not the "rarest" type, and another type was, the exact same sort of pattern would emerge for a different type. The special type would talk about it, and it would be a thing. It's simply human nature to separate ourselves into groups, and everyone wants to feel important, special, or unique in some regard.

It's just like a spoiled child. Tell them "you're a special little princess!" they're going to start acting like one.

 

[SD45T-2]

Not this propaganda again.

"It can be hard for those of us with SAT scores exceeding our golf handicaps to remember that ignorance is a renewable resource." - P. J. O'Rourke in Sex With Dr. Ruth

 

[Starry]

Jesus you are showing a lot of hatred towards INFJ's. Goddamn.

With all due respect, Hard, while you have just informed us of your unprecedented experience with INFJs...unless you have been lurking in the shadows for some time...your experience here... is limited. I would do more research before formulating such opinions.

With all of the truly labeled "trouble makers" on there that caused serious problem, or got banned, I'd estimate 75% of them were not INFJ (and nearly all of them labeled themselves as such).

Oh I would love for you to meet my sister. I'm quite certain she would fall into your 75%.

 

[á´…eparted]

With all due respect, Hard, while you have just informed us of your unprecedented experience with INFJs...unless you have been lurking in the shadows for some time...your experience here... is limited. I would do more research before formulating such opinions.

It's not an opinion? Her post shows a really negative impression towards INFJ's. I was quite taken aback with how strongly it was worded, so I felt compelled to acknowledge it (the post itself).

Oh I would love for you to meet my sister. I'm quite certain she would fall into your 75%.

ok?

 

[Society]

So, wait, is it INFJs who are supposedly obsessed with being rare, or SJs who think they're INFJs who are obsessed with being rare?

...either way, its not likely to include people who object to being called rare, at least not in online communities.

i am curious though, what if instead of rare it would have said "the most abnormal & unusual type to be" or something like that? still means the same - an uncommon type - but a very different connotation. would we still have as many self proclaimed INFJs in online communities?

FYI
come to think of it, if i remember right a research someone posted, ENTPs are supposed to be the most common NT.. why doesn't it say that in any of the ENTP descriptions? i can't think of any other type that has its statistics written right in the first few words of every description, which doesn't really make sense to do anyway, it doesn't really tell you much about what people of that type are like.

 

[yeghor]

No, what comes up is not topics on type percentages & rarity itself....but trying to weed out who is mistyped, which stems from the idea the type is so rare. They're very intent on pointing out what does or does not make for a "real" INFJ. INFPs don't bother with trying to identify mistyped people (and a type does not need to be rare to have mistypings). We're not hung up "specialness", period. There is no evidence to assign that trait to INFPs & plenty of reason to assign it to INFJs.

INTJs are supposedly rare also - I don't see them doing this (and gasp! they are tertiary Fi!).

I would & DO call it an obsession on INFJ forums...at any given moment there's at least one active thread about it & often another one stickied. Inside these topics, people take great pride in their rarity & seek to distinguish themselves from others. They make disparaging remarks about the "fake INFJs". It's pretty ridiculous.

As usual, people refuse to see a negative trait in this over-rated type, but choose to pin it on some other type when all indicators say otherwise. Maybe the INFJ forum has special snowflake syndrome because INFJs often have it?

Pointing out that people may be mistyped is not necessarily restricted to cases where the other is mistyped as INFJ or the pointing out is done by an INFJ...not to mention that this is a "typology" forum...

I sometimes point out to people (usually privately) that they may be mistyped...I do this more frequently when the other is typed as INFJ and when there's a striking difference in what and how the other INFJ puts his/her ideas forward simply because the type I know best is "my own"...assuming that I am correctly typed myself...I do this from a Fe and Ti point of view...Ti because if the other person is mistyped as INFJ, whatever he/she shares in relation to INFJs will end up as misinformation/disinformation and hinder a true understanding of the type itself and the accompanying functions...and Fe because other people will end up drawing up misconclusions based on an incorrect starting point/premise/information...

Claiming that INFJs do this to maintain their specialty/superiority/eliteness as the (supposedly) rarest type is over-simplification and/or over-generalization...(and sounds like a Fi thing...not to imply that INFJs are perfect or above such actions)

We (all types/people) are all inclined to assume that other people also act with the same motivations we have...so you may be analyzing what's been happening from a Fi point of view...

One INTJ in the forum, for instance, publicly mentioned that I came across as an ENFP...I simply discussed why I disagree with her/him...And I learned something more in the process...(that I have a shadow/repressed ENFP inside of me...)...This may also mean INFPs have a repressed ENFJ inside by the way...could that be our inner child, how he/she (or us we) feels deep inside?

Anyway, assigning ulterior motives to such discussions is counter-productive...Perhaps it's best to focus on what can be learned in the process...

Other types/people are attacking INFPs using this angle (that they yearn to be INFJs)...and I do not condone it...the problem in that is this is creating an animosity in (some?) INFPs towards INFJs even though INFJs are not the real offender in that scenario...So the blame/anger seems to have been shifted somehow...

That scenario reminds of the dynamic between Thor and Loki...which the belowgiven article may explain:

It's very common for Narcissistic Mothers to have a Golden Child / Scapegoat dynamic going on.

In short, one child in the family is the Golden Child, and one or more is the Scapegoat.

The Golden Child, as the name suggests, is the best and most wonderful - at least in the eyes of the Narcissistic Mother. It seems to be that the Narcissistic Mother picks the Golden Child to be an extension of herself, onto whom she projects all her own supposed wonderfulness.

The Golden Child can do no wrong. He or she gets given the best of everything - even apartments or houses bought for them. Their most minor achievements are celebrated and held up for admiration.

The Scapegoat on the other hand is, also as the name suggests, the person on whom all the ills of the family are projected. They can do no right. Their major achievements are dismissed. Any money spent on them is the bare minimum and is spent begrudgingly.

Growing up the Scapegoat can understandably feel very jealous of the Golden Child.

This, of course, leads to friction between the children, which suits the Narcissistic Mother. Divide and conquer and all that, and lots of opportunities for Triangulation. Indeed, the Golden Child can be encouraged, either overtly or tacitly, by the Narcissistic Mother, to bully the Scapegoat which adds to the friction.

I'd go so far as to venture that, if you're reading this, you were more likely to have been the Scapegoat than the Golden Child.

This is because, contrary to the way it felt growing up, the Scapegoat is actually the lucky one! (I mrean relatively lucky, of course. No child of a narcissistic mother can be ever described as being lucky.)

The Golden Child can end up very engulfed by the Narcissistic Mother, and her life can end up being emmeshed in hers too. She may well grow without proper boundaries and proper self-identity. She is likely to remain, either forever or for a long time, as a puppet of the Narcissistic Mother.

The Scapegoat on the other hand, is the independent one. She's the one who's driven to seek answers and who may well realise about NPD. She's the one who can break free from the unhealthy dynamics of the family and create a healthy life.

She really is the lucky one at the end.

 

[Starry]

It's not an opinion? Her post shows a really negative impression towards INFJ's. I was quite taken aback with how strongly it was worded, so I felt compelled to acknowledge it (the post itself).

What I was getting at was could there be a reason for it? Or are all INFJs angels? Your response was scolding and rang as if her sentiments were uncalled for. Am I incorrect in this? Frankly, though I don't give a shit. I'm tired and can tell we have differing understandings of this type (the OP is onto something in that the mistypes may be confusing things.) Sweet INFJ dreams.