MBTI Topics

Canonical INxJ Friendships

Arvid Walton 13 Comments

Anonymouslemer asked: “Are there any canonical examples of an INTJ/INFJ friendship?”

Look no further than House M.D. House and Wilson are a perfect example of a relationship between unhealthy INxJs. Let’s just say they’re the type of friend-pair that will feel perfectly comfortable sitting and problem solving in a room with a random comatose grandpa that they’ve never met. They both toss around Ni, understanding each other’s deepest motivations and secrets without having to ask. Both of them are gifted at figuring out other people’s deepest secrets, but House does i Continue reading →

Se-users: Do you talk with your Hands?

Arvid Walton 29 Comments

ComradeJocasta asked: Is it possible that upper-Se users might be more likely to gesture a lot when they speak?

I haven’t actually found much research on this topic. However, I’ve given it a bit of thought, and I’d like to hear everyone else’s thoughts as well.

My ESFP sibling definitely is NOT a hand talker. However, he does have a strong need for touch and physical contact with people he’s comfortable around. Same goes for my ISFP roommate.

Out of anyone in my family or friend group, I’m actually the one who talks most via my hands. However, I don’t necessarily attribute this to my Se function so much as to the fact that I’m relatively fluent in Sign Language. Before I learned Sign Language, I didn’t gesture at all when I spoke, but now talking and gesturing practically go hand in hand for me (wow, that was a terrible pun).

It’s the same with any language. As soon as you’re fluent in more than one language, and especially if you know more than two, it’s hard to force yourself not to blend the elements of each. At the same time, you also keep many elements very separate as well (for instance, I swear a lot more in German than I do in English).

Upper Se-users. Now is your time to talk! I’m interested to hear whether you talk with your hands.

INTJs: Uncomfortable with your Inferior Function?

Arvid Walton 24 Comments

Pasa Fino asked: I have a question which regards Se in a social setting. (I am an INTJ btw). This and the other Se post were helpful in a general sense, but here is a problem I personally encounter.

Whenever I am around people I don’t know well or consider as a friend, I behave in the way I am most comfortable with: distant, observant, serious, quiet, etc.. but when I am with the few people I consider my friends my Se seems to take over my brain in a most distressing manner. I begin to goof off, talk loudly, I become quirky and playful, and overall, much unlike myself. I go home feeling like a total fool. The worst thing about it is that I have little to no control over this while it is happening.

Otherwise, I integrate my Se via art, music, karate, and watching comedies on YouTube, and can control it decently well when I am in my normal environment or interacting with friends over the internet.

I am in my late teens, so I am hoping that in my twenties my Se will be somewhat tamer. Has anyone else encountered this problem? If so, is there a solution for an immediate solution for it?

#1 Yes, many INTJs experiences this:

In order to illustrate to you and others, that discomfort with the Se function is not something that any of us are alone on, I’m going to share an experience that is deeply personal to me. This is not just for you, Pasa Fino (though it is for you), but for all the people out there who may be struggling to connect with the more frightening, more human parts of themselves. Continue reading →

N-types are not better than S-types.

Arvid Walton 42 Comments

Shubham (ENTP) asked: I have observed that some of my friends who are S types retake the MBTI test again and again to get a N type.eg- one of my ISTJ friend took the test almost 5 times and got INTJ once. Now whenever he meets someone he claims to be an INTJ, although he is completely an ISTJ.

I have observed this behaviour with many of my S type friends (specially ISTPs and ISFPs who sometimes claim to be ENFPs.). I personally think that there is no reason one should change their personality type or start behaving like some other type. I think that this is a result of stereotyping of Ns being better than Ss.

Have you observed a similar behaviour anytime? What is your hypothesis on why some Ss want to be typed as Ns.

Yes. Yes, I have.

The internet, and many fandoms seem to have convinced themselves that INTJs are…for some reason…the best MBTI type ever. There is no logical reason to believe that INTJs are somehow better than other types, and there are even fewer logical reasons to try to become an INTJ if you are not one. Continue reading →

Is it possible to have 2 Personalities?

Arvid Walton 8 Comments

Izzat asked: Based on your research, Is it possible to have 2 personality types?

Are you familiar with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)? How about…Multiple Personality Disorder? The answer is yes, but not under normal circumstances.

Unless you have gone through massive levels of trauma– the answer to your question is no.

Continue reading →

Anakin Skywalker: ESFP

Guest Writer 9 Comments

Guest post by Andrew, ENTJ

Star Wars

Anakin Skywalker ESFP | Star Wars #MBTI #ESFP

Extroverted Sensing (Se): Anakin shows a knack for piloting from a very young age.  Whether he’s at the controls of a podracer, a starfighter, an airspeeder, or a heavily damaged enemy battle cruiser, Anakin can dodge obstacles and dart through firefights, and fire the kill shot to boot.  He has an excellent aim whenever flying an armed vessel; he saves Obi-Wan’s life by blasting diminutive circuit-wrecking droids off his fighter in the middle of an attack run.  Anakin tends to charge into fights without thinking, and once even abandons an assigned post to rescue his captured mother.  He also has a strong taste for aesthetics, almost letting Obi-Wan die fighting a bounty hunter while he chooses just the right speeder to give chase.  Anakin notices small things about his environment which tend to make a great deal of difference; he notices a speeder of which he’d lost the trail re-emerge many feet below him, as well as Qui-Gon’s lightsaber when the Jedi Master is in disguise.  Anakin reacts quickly and effectively to sudden changes; when his podracer catches fire in the middle of a race, he stays cool, salvaging both the vehicle and the victory. Continue reading →

INTJs: How to develop your Se function

Arvid Walton 24 Comments

Bryony asked: I am an INTJ with an unhealthy Se function. Out of curiosity, is it possible to change this?

Yes it is.

I had a very unhealthy Se function at one point in my life –so unhealthy in fact, that I wasn’t using it at all (I’ll let your imagination fill in the connotations of that happenstance). Here are some tips for developing an unhealthy Se function. Continue reading →

More INTP vs INTJ

Arvid Walton 3 Comments

Ameya Ravindra Nadkarni asked: How to tell apart between an INTP and INTJ?

I have always been a analytical person, who can see a particular job done in a better way . But always procrastinate it due to even a minor flaw in the plan or method. Though I learn new things to be used for practical purposes, I may never use that knowledge unless I gain complete understanding and mastery over that subject. I have been given sometimes INTP as a result  of my personality tests and been given quite times INTJ as result with a slight preference of judging over perceiving. I am confused and hoping for your advice. Sorry for violating the rule for asking a personal question and for my grammatically improper English but I really need some advice.

If you haven’t yet, review my other INTP vs INTJ post. It’s much more detailed than this one.

I think, for the most part I understand your question –if I translated wrong, don’t hesitate to correct me. Fortunately for you, this isn’t the type of personal question that’s against the rules.

There is a strong possibility that you’re prone to locking into your shadow functions. In terms of how to tell which type you are, these are the questions you need to be asking.

Am I goal-oriented? When I set out to accomplish a goal, do I plan out all the steps and pursue them intricately (NiTe)? Or do I go about it through improv and plan steps as they come (NeTi)? Do I focus on my dreams as fixed realities that I am responsible for making happen (NiTe)? Or do I look at my dreams as grand possibilities that I could, and would like to make happen (NeTi)?

Am I efficient in practice or in theory (Te vs Ti)? When I see something that could be improved, do I ask myself whether its necessary before setting out to change it (Te)? Are my improvements more innovative (NeTi), or are they more practical (NiTe)? Do I tend to theorise about improving things without ever doing anything to fulfil those visions (Ti)?

Do I procrastinate because my plan must be over-perfect before I proceed? Or because I literally don’t know where to start with carrying it out (Ti)? (Be objective when you ask yourself this).

Also, I would suggest taking a look at my INTP vs INTJ post. (The search bar is there for a reason).

xNTP vs xNTJ Writing

Arvid Walton 6 Comments

Morally Relative Midnight asked: As someone who engages in creative writing frequently, how would you differentiate between INTJ and INTP writing styles? How would an INTJ’s tertiary Fi and an INTP’s tertiary Fe manifest themselves in a creative writing assignment or just any writing project in general?

Now that’s what I call a question.

Best examples of INTJ writing I can think of off the top of my head are Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Flannery O’Connor and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Some good examples of INTP writing include Edgar Allan Poe, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Continue reading →

How to Test Accurately

Arvid Walton 8 Comments

MMR asked: The whole Myer-Briggs Theory is interesting but how does one know if it is accurate. I have taken the test multiple times over the past year to be sure of my type. I was typed each time as an INTJ; I however am afraid I am being biased, trying to be original, or just answering the same way from memory. In reading the other types it is easy to find small traits to identify with in all INxx types. I strongly agree with most typing a for INTJ and feel, if I can say that, that it is my personality type. Wanting to be sure, my question to you is, how does one know if they are being biased when typing themselves?

That’s a good question, and one that I can’t teach you the answer to. I can however, give you a starting place to learn from.

  • Do your answers to the questions match up with your behaviour?
  • In other words, are you answering questions about who you are, rather than who you’d like to be?
  • Do you fully understand the question that is being asked?
  • Are you answering ‘yes’ on questions that only occasionally apply to you?

In general –and I have stressed this time and time again– I suggest not trusting the test as your guide to MBTI. READ. LEARN. INTROSPECT. That is the only way to know yourself.

Do I relate to INFPs?

Arvid Walton 18 Comments

Elise Ann asked: How do you relate to INFPs? you must find us exhausting

I do find you exhausting. You burst out with seemingly random topic changes while I’m still philosophically analysing something you said two hours ago. Also, your emotions…dear me, they are everywhere…

But yes, there are a few ways that I relate to INFPs (not drastic ways, just subtle ones).

The main way that I relate to INFPs in the persistent Fi desire to do the right thing. Of course, we go about it vastly differently, but the goal is the same.

Secondly, there is the often frequent drive for creativity –which, as a writer, artist and Ni user, I relate to regardless of whether the creativity stems from an Ni or Ne function. Both types of intuition can be vastly creative, just in different ways. Many make the mistake of assuming that only Ne is creative, and that Ni is merely a goal setting function –this is based on a limited understanding of MBTI.

Ni presents more of a focused and vision oriented creativity while Ne presents an unexpected and possibility based creativity.

How INTJs cope with Trauma

Arvid Walton 69 Comments

How INTJs cope with Trauma

There is no defined route traveled by every traumatized individual, and variations range so widely even within the INTJ realm that all we can really observe are the patterns. Continue reading →