Why so many mistyped or wannabee INTJs?

[Coriolis]

1- I find most people to lack self-awareness.
2- Because of #1, two things can occur. 1- they take the test with wishful thinking protocol enabled, 2- they get the correct type but second guess it after reading descriptions, and cherry picking that which they wish to be instead of are.
3- Humans as a whole all desire to be unique and different and special somehow. In high-school we showed it by dying our hair purple and getting a nose ring. On typology forums we show it by desiring to be what is perceived as rare and mysterious which with some people starts with desiring to be an N and with others it ends up with desiring to be a Ni-dom.
4- They do it because it works. I had a brief experimental stint where I put "ENTP" as my type, I had a crazy crone avatar, and I posted my most bizarre Ne-self. End result? People who know me on here still saw me the same, but new posters thought I was actually ENTP. I still get reps and the occasional PM from people asking how I went from ENTP to INFP.
5- They do it because they imagine it works.

1. Agreed.

2. I have seen this as well.

3. So it is mostly because Ni is perceived as rare?

4. What do you mean "it works"? Did you find you were happier, more productive, or experienced other positive results from your ENTP phase? Or do you just mean that if you claim to be a certain type, it will work in getting others to believe you are?

 

[Anew Leaf]

1. Agreed.

2. I have seen this as well.

3. So it is mostly because Ni is perceived as rare?

4. What do you mean "it works"? Did you find you were happier, more productive, or experienced other positive results from your ENTP phase? Or do you just mean that if you claim to be a certain type, it will work in getting others to believe you are?

3- I think it is that and also because if you aren't Ni, you honestly have no idea what it is. It's like someone is doing math problems without showing their work. It's just "here is the solution to this amazingly complicated equation." and I look and I see that they got the same answer as me, but while their paper is a pristine sea of snow, mine is tear streaked, the edges have been chewed, and that spot over there might be pizza.

4- I mean that if you claim a certain type, a lot of people will just go along with it. "well, you say you're xxxx so I will read your posts with that filter on them." For better or for worse, there is a boxing in effect when people see a type on a profile. "Oh, you're an ENTJ so you must be scary and rude, and are never nice." "Oh, you're an INFP, so you must bleed glitter and consume only moonbeams." etc. There is then a certain range of behavior that one can get away with within the box of their type, and that is what can work in someone's favor.

Edit: My ENTP experiment was conducted because I was curious to see if people would respond differently to me if they thought I was ENTP versus INFP. I had more fun with it over on a different site since I hadn't posted there much. It didn't really affect me personally other than I got annoyed after a fashion because *mumbles something about being Fi-dom* I wasn't being myself and that is distasteful.

 

[Coriolis]

4- I mean that if you claim a certain type, a lot of people will just go along with it. "well, you say you're xxxx so I will read your posts with that filter on them." For better or for worse, there is a boxing in effect when people see a type on a profile. "Oh, you're an ENTJ so you must be scary and rude, and are never nice." "Oh, you're an INFP, so you must bleed glitter and consume only moonbeams." etc. There is then a certain range of behavior that one can get away with within the box of their type, and that is what can work in someone's favor.

Edit: My ENTP experiment was conducted because I was curious to see if people would respond differently to me if they thought I was ENTP versus INFP. I had more fun with it over on a different site since I hadn't posted there much. It didn't really affect me personally other than I got annoyed after a fashion because *mumbles something about being Fi-dom* I wasn't being myself and that is distasteful.

Fascinating. I am one of those who go along with people's stated type, but more in the sense that I tend not to openly contradict it unless asked, or it is related to the thread. This is mostly because I don't consider myself that good a judge of type, especially online, and prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. I sometimes will feel some of their behavior contradicts that type, but type isn't everything, and there is much variation within each type. I generally don't make assumptions based on type, and try to judge people by what they actually say and do (and one of those judgments might be that they are mistyped, but I keep that to myself for the reasons above).

 

[Anew Leaf]

Fascinating. I am one of those who go along with people's stated type, but more in the sense that I tend not to openly contradict it unless asked, or it is related to the thread. This is mostly because I don't consider myself that good a judge of type, especially online, and prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. I sometimes will feel some of their behavior contradicts that type, but type isn't everything, and there is much variation within each type. I generally don't make assumptions based on type, and try to judge people by what they actually say and do (and one of those judgments might be that they are mistyped, but I keep that to myself for the reasons above).

And your reasoning is exactly why it works for people to have a different type displayed. (Which, I would like to add, is quite similar to my thoughts on the subject as well.)

I also thought to add the idea of 'the grass is greener' effect. INTJs have a gift for looking very calm and collected and self contained and forever in control. Meanwhile I know every emotion I feel is etched across my face, and that I have a hard time deciding on a course of action, and that I get insanely enthusiastic about everything. I was talking about this very idea with a long time INTJ friend of mine a few months ago, and after going on about how awesome he is in a crisis and how I wish I was more like him... He cut me off with a "And you don't think I envy your ability to befriend people easily and delight in being silly?" Things that I guess come so easily to me, I don't even realize their value.

So perhaps at times people see a type that they wish they were more akin to, and they pop it on like trying on a new coat... hoping that some wool fibers stick to their vest after they take it off.

 

[Ginkgo]

Some of the profile descriptions for INTJ denote them as being "ahead of the evolutionary curve" or something like that, which might serve as compensatory for one's perceived shortcomings. Even if someone isn't an INTJ, they may still see themselves as such regardless of who they wish themselves to be. Many of the online profiles are more indicative of INXX than anything else. All it really takes is a bit of mental gymnastics to hop over the intended meaning of what it is to be an INTJ, given, of course, that meaning is even grasped. The NT Temperament descriptions probably distinguish them even more than function theory.

I feel like this thread was intended to distinguish the OP as an INTJ...

 

[Spartacuss]

Sometimes the mistyping is so glaring that it must take a shitload of gymnastics. I'd wager some 4/5 of new self-styled "INTPs" are not even close. No wonder there are supposedly so many "INTPs" here.

 

[SilkRoad]

I think that some people use INTJ as shorthand for "bad social skills and proud of it, and also thinks they're infallible". For that matter, some use INFJ as "misunderstood special snowflake who thinks they're infallible and isn't self-aware enough to realise how annoying they actually are."

But I don't know, I suspect that I'm getting a bit disillusioned with MBTI or at least many people's application of it.

 

[Coriolis]

And your reasoning is exactly why it works for people to have a different type displayed. (Which, I would like to add, is quite similar to my thoughts on the subject as well.)

It doesn't work for me as you describe, though. I will see your listed type as INFP and perhaps think your behavior is consistent with that. If you then change type to ENTP, I will think, "she still seems like an INFP, but perhaps she is exploring, or uncertain, or just comes across as INFP on the forum". If you listed ENTP first, I might think, "OK, but she often acts like an INFP. Either I don't know her well, or perhaps she is confused." This is also how I would phrase a type challenge: not "you aren't/don't seem ENTP", but rather "this specific behavior seems atypical for an ENTP".

I also thought to add the idea of 'the grass is greener' effect. INTJs have a gift for looking very calm and collected and self contained and forever in control. Meanwhile I know every emotion I feel is etched across my face, and that I have a hard time deciding on a course of action, and that I get insanely enthusiastic about everything. I was talking about this very idea with a long time INTJ friend of mine a few months ago, and after going on about how awesome he is in a crisis and how I wish I was more like him... He cut me off with a "And you don't think I envy your ability to befriend people easily and delight in being silly?" Things that I guess come so easily to me, I don't even realize their value.

So perhaps at times people see a type that they wish they were more akin to, and they pop it on like trying on a new coat... hoping that some wool fibers stick to their vest after they take it off.

The highlighted is the point I was trying to make in one of my earlier posts. Also, people overlook some of the more negative INTJ type descriptions, like this one from Similarminds:

loner, more interested in intellectual pursuits than relationships or family, not very altruistic, not very complimentary, would rather be friendless than jobless, observer, values solitude, perfectionist, detached, private, not much fun, hidden, skeptical, does not tend to like most people, socially uncomfortable, not physically affectionate, unhappy, does not talk about feelings, hard to impress, analytical, likes esoteric things, tends to be pessimistic, not spontaneous, prone to discontentment, guarded, does not think they are weird but others do, responsible, can be insensitive or ambivalent to the misfortunes of others, orderly, clean, organized, familiar with darkside, tends not to value organized religion, suspicious of others, can be lonely, rarely shows anger, punctual, finisher, prepared

I think some non-INTJs see our type with rose-colored glasses, in the spirit of your "grass-is-greener" observation.

I feel like this thread was intended to distinguish the OP as an INTJ...

I did not think that was necessary.

 

[RaptorWizard]

Sometimes the mistyping is so glaring that it must take a shitload of gymnastics. I'd wager some 4/5 of new self-styled "INTPs" are not even close. No wonder there are supposedly so many "INTPs" here.

So why should we believe you are INTP, or that I am inTP, or that anyone here is INTP? Surely there is some way to empirically discover the secret.

 

[Coriolis]

Sometimes the mistyping is so glaring that it must take a shitload of gymnastics. I'd wager some 4/5 of new self-styled "INTPs" are not even close. No wonder there are supposedly so many "INTPs" here.

To extend the OP, then, why do you suppose so many people mistype as INTP here?

 

[Ginkgo]

So why should we believe you are INTP, or that I am inTP, or that anyone here is INTP? Surely there is some way to empirically discover the secret.

There is no way to empirically discover the secret. If there was, it wouldn't be a secret. That's why people on this website, as [MENTION=13402]Saturned[/MENTION] alluded to, tend to put faith in others' "MBTI status". Those that don't also don't really give a damn about the opinions of the people they are typing unless those opinions give weight to their own reasoning.

If I had to guess, I would say the most well liked type in the states is ENFJ, while the most admired type is ENTJ. Psychologically, INTJs aren't a far cry from ENTJs, but they lack the qualities that make the ENTJs on par with ENFJs in terms of how "good" they are. They tend to come across as melancholic because they either retreat from the world or silently navigate it if it is agreeable to them. Developing or accepting a code of honor is (I would guess) key to them finding their circumstances negotiable and ultimately satisfactory on some level.

As far as "the grass is greener" thing, the only things I've been praised as by NTs is being "psychic", "funny", or "charismatic". On the other hand, they also give me a lot of shit because I try to be "okay" with everything while also participating in everything. It can be a recipe for disaster unless feelings of envy, on my part, are dealt with properly.

 

[prplchknz]

I ike the well rounded intjs, but the one sided ones not so much, i think maybe thats true for all types, and i often wonder if the one-sided ones are mistyped and trying too hard to live up to the description

 

[Coriolis]

There is no way to empirically discover the secret. If there was, it wouldn't be a secret. That's why people on this website, as [MENTION=13402]Saturned[/MENTION] alluded to, tend to put faith in others' "MBTI status". Those that don't also don't really give a damn about the opinions of the people they are typing unless those opinions give weight to their own reasoning.

But we put faith in all sorts of other self-assessments people issue: that they are good cooks, or a bit clumsy, have a dry sense of humor, are loyal to their friends, etc. We often cannot tell the validity of these claims from a member's online behavior. Personality type is a bit more comprehensive, but not always that easy to discern. That is why it makes sense to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I ike the well rounded intjs, but the one sided ones not so much, i think maybe thats true for all types, and i often wonder if the one-sided ones are mistyped and trying too hard to live up to the description

What is your definition of a "well-rounded INTJ"?

 

[Ginkgo]

But we put faith in all sorts of other self-assessments people issue: that they are good cooks, or a bit clumsy, have a dry sense of humor, are loyal to their friends, etc. We often cannot tell the validity of these claims from a member's online behavior. Personality type is a bit more comprehensive, but not always that easy to discern. That is why it makes sense to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I agree.

 

[prplchknz]

But we put faith in all sorts of other self-assessments people issue: that they are good cooks, or a bit clumsy, have a dry sense of humor, are loyal to their friends, etc. We often cannot tell the validity of these claims from a member's online behavior. Personality type is a bit more comprehensive, but not always that easy to discern. That is why it makes sense to give people the benefit of the doubt.


What is your definition of a "well-rounded INTJ"?

someone that can hold their own with out becoming a whiney bitch. someone who when realizes he or she might be wrong doesn't twist the other person's words around. not annoying [MENTION=8936]highlander[/MENTION] is a good example of a well rounded INTJ

 

[Anew Leaf]

It doesn't work for me as you describe, though. I will see your listed type as INFP and perhaps think your behavior is consistent with that. If you then change type to ENTP, I will think, "she still seems like an INFP, but perhaps she is exploring, or uncertain, or just comes across as INFP on the forum". If you listed ENTP first, I might think, "OK, but she often acts like an INFP. Either I don't know her well, or perhaps she is confused." This is also how I would phrase a type challenge: not "you aren't/don't seem ENTP", but rather "this specific behavior seems atypical for an ENTP".

Oh, ok. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for clarifying. Much more systematic than my hop scotch attempts at such things.

The highlighted is the point I was trying to make in one of my earlier posts. Also, people overlook some of the more negative INTJ type descriptions, like this one from Similarminds:

Yes. Your tribe is pretty unflinching when it comes to seeing your own negative qualities.

I think some non-INTJs see our type with rose-colored glasses, in the spirit of your "grass-is-greener" observation.

Yes. My friend has spent a long time trying to get me to come down from my clouds and be more pragmatic, and I have proven rather resilient to such things. I think an element of pragmatism and seeing things as they are is good, but there isn't anything wrong in emphasizing the positives. It's all a balancing act.

 

[Eugene Watson VIII]

Because some people don't see 'INTJ' and just identify with all the sweet parts (then become INTJ ). Some others just havn't given typology a chance, but others just want to be...

INTJ and INTP actually sounds pretty cool. Say it and listen to the way the letters leap to one another...ahhh. Satisfying.

 

[garbage]

I honestly don't care, except to say that you shouldn't bitch about others types unless you're 101% sure of yours

+10000

(I seriously don't think that the OP is guilty of this herself, but) we see a lot of assertions that such-and-such a person is reaalllly type xxxx, only to change their own type to something else the next day.

How can you 'accurately' type if you don't have a solid frame of reference?

 

[uumlau]

Most NFs mistype as INTJs because they think that because they're academically motivated and logical that they are in the "T" camp. Some also may be hardened from their experiences, so they'll withhold their "F" traits to appear tougher and more in command/control, hence taking on an INTJ face. It makes them feel stronger about themselves, that nobody is going to hurt them again if they take on an NT guise. INFJs that have been hardened and more cynical about the world may mistype as INTJ. Goes with the thought of , "why not cling onto T-traits as a backup plan, logic doesn't hurt your feelings, whereas other people do."

"But I like books and learning!"...can be any type in this case, wisdom expands throughout all types.

Also erroneous thinking that because you're rational and organize your external environment it means you automatically have Te. Fe organizes things as well as Te. It can appear Te-like in a commanding environment. So some people that are like this may type themselves as INTJ. Even those interested in systems may mistype as INTJ.

It pretty much is the type that fits like a suit of armor for people to protect their most vulnerable aspects of their psyche. Whatever their personal experiences are.

Because some people don't see 'INTJ' and just identify with all the sweet parts (then become INTJ ). Some others just havn't given typology a chance, but others just want to be...

INTJ and INTP actually sounds pretty cool. Say it and listen to the way the letters leap to one another...ahhh. Satisfying.

I see both of these tendencies, especially the latter.

I see lots of people who are just simply nerdy (shy, essentially lives online, enjoys intellectual stuff) will type as INTJ and INTP. There is some glamor to the types (all the various celebrity types, which can spark some very silly arguments), but it's really just that the stereotypes match their self image.

I see INTJs occasionally mistyping as INTPs, because they don't feel like they have the orderliness of a J.
I see ISTJs occasionally mistyping as INTJs, because they're intellectual and rather smart.
I see INFJs occasionally mistyping as INTJs, because (as CF mentioned) they've developed a hard, cynical edge.
I see ISTPs occasionally mistyping as INTJs, because they're more practical than INTPs.

I usually don't think it's because of the "coolness factor", though. Just an overall misconception of what the type means. If one thinks of type in a "result-oriented" way, then one is one's type because one fits the stereotype. If one thinks of type in a process-oriented way (as I do), then one is one's type because of how one thinks and processes information and ideas.

 

[Metamorphosis]

I could reasonably see anyone that is socially awkward/intelligent/ambitious/insecure thinking that they are INTJ. If you decide on your type just from one online test or from reading a cookie cutter description, then it's easy to pick out a few key lines that identify you and discard the parts that don't. Also, most online descriptions make INTJs seem good at all of the things that traditionally make people seem successful.

MBTI can often be a way for people to sweep their problems under the rug and feel like they're awesome just because their type is normally good at something. You see it all the time in INTJs, or people that think they are INTJs...excusing themselves from learning/practicing social skill because of their type, like everyone should just understand that they're an INTJ and deal with it. The funny thing is, the same INTJs/posers that act that way seem to be to be the ones that suck at the traditional INTJ strong points, as well (career/power/money/academic success/etc.) because they think that they should be naturally good at it so it must not require additional work. It's easy for an INTJ to be cocky just because they're an INTJ even when they have nothing to substantiate it, and I think that possibility is attractive to people who feel powerless.

Really, though, I'm not very convinced that there are that many INTJ posers, except for the people that are openly unsure of their type. I think that there are just a lot of immature INTJs that no one wants to claim and those tend to be the people that proclaim their INTJness the loudest.