Yesterday I had a meeting at school and our Myers-Briggs type was brought up. I was told that I was rare so this peaked my curiosity and I looked it up (since its been awhile)...I was surprised how fitting it was. (For those of you that don't know the Myers-Briggs is a personality type indicator.) Feel free to read what it has to say...
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
GENERAL PROFILE
INTJ
Personality
INTJs are the most self-confident of all types, having “self-power” awareness. Found in about 1 per centof the general population, INTJs live in an introspective reality, focusing on possibilities, using thinking
in the form of empirical logic, and preferring that events and people serve some positive use. Decisions
come naturally to INTJs; once a decision is made, INTJs are at rest. INTJs look to the future rather than
the past, and a word, which captures the essence of INTJs, is builder – a builder of systems and the
applier of theoretical models.
To INTJs authority based on position, rank, title, or publication has absolutely no force. This type is not
likely to succumb to the magic of slogans, watchwords, or shibboleths. If an idea or position makes sense
to an INTJ, it will be adopted; if it doesn’t, it won’t, regardless of who took the position or generated the
idea. As with the INTP, authority per se does not impress the INTJ.
INTJs do, however, tend to conform to rules if they are useful, not because they believe in them, or
because they make sense, but because of their unique view of reality. They are the supreme pragmatists,
who see reality as something which is quite arbitrary and made up. Thus it can be used as a tool – or
ignored. Reality is quite malleable and can be changed, conquered, or brought to heel. Reality is a
crucible for the refining of ideas, and in this sense, INTJs are the most theoretical of all the types. Where
an ESTP sees ideas as the pawn of reality, an INTJ sees reality as the pawn of ideas: No idea is too farfetched
to be entertained. INTJs are natural brainstormers, always open to new concepts and, in fact,
aggressively seeking them.
INTJs manipulate the world of theory as if on a gigantic chessboard, always seeking strategies and tactics
that have high payoff. In their penchant for logic, the INTJs resemble the INTPs. The logic of an INTP,
however, is not confined to the expressible logical. Unlike INTPs, INTJs need only to have a vague,
intuitive impression of the unexpressed logic of a system to continue surely on their way. Things need
only seem logical; this is entirely sufficient. Moreover, they always have a keen eye for the consequence
of the application of new ideas or positions. They can be quite ruthless in the implementation of systems,
seldom counting personal cost in terms of time and energy. Theories, which cannot be made to work, are
quickly discarded by the INTJs.
To understand INTJs, their way of dealing with ideas should be observed closely. Their conscious
thought is extraverted and empirical. Hence, they are better at generalizing, classifying, summarizing,
adducing evidence, proving, and demonstrating than are the INTPs. The INTJs are somewhat less at
home with pure reason, that is, systemic logic, where principles are explicit. In this respect they resemble
the ENTJs. The INTJs, rather than using deductive logic, use their intuition to grasp coherence.
Career
INTJs can be very single-minded at times; this can be either a weakness or a strength in their careers, forthey can ignore the points of view and wishes of others. INTJs usually rise to positions of responsibility,
for they work long and hard and are steady in their pursuit of goals, sparing neither time nor effort on
their part or that of their colleagues and employees.
INTJs live to see systems translated into substance; an INTP, by way of contrast, is content to design the
system. In both these types, however, coherence is the master. Both internal and external consistency
are important, and if an INTJ finds that he or she is in a working situation where overlapping functions,
duplication of effort, inefficient paper flow, and waste of human and material resources abound, the
INTJ cannot rest until an effort is made to correct the situation. Cost-effectiveness is a concept, which
has a strong imperative for INTJs, who frequently select occupations in engineering, particularly human
engineering. They also can be found in the physical sciences, in roles, which require development, such
as curriculum building, and, in general, any job which requires the creation and application of
technology to complex areas.
Fellow workers of INTJs often feel as if the INTJ can see right through them, and often believe that the
INTJ finds them wanting. This tendency of people to feel transparent in the presence of the INTJ often
results in relationships, which have psychological distance. Thus colleagues find the INTJ apparently
unemotional and, at times, cold and dispassionate. Because of their tendency to drive others as hard as
they do themselves, INTJs often seem demanding and difficult to satisfy. INTJs are high achievers in
school and on the job. On the job, they take the goals of an institution seriously and continually strive to
respond to these goals. They make dedicated, loyal employees whose loyalties are directed toward the
system, rather than toward individuals within the system. So as they people of an institution come and go
the INTJs have little difficulty –unlike the NFs, who have their loyalties involved more with persons than
offices. INTJs tend, ordinarily, to verbalize the positive and eschew comments of a negative nature; they
are more intereste d in moving an institution forward than commiserating about mistakes of the past.
Home
As mates, INTJs want harmony and order in the home and in relationships. They are the mostindependent of all types. They will their intuitions about others when making choices of friends and
mates, even in the face of contradictory evidence and pressures applied by others. The emotions of an
INTJ are hard to read, and neither male nor female INTJ is apt to express emotional reactions. At times,
both will seem cold, reserved, and unresponsive, while in fact INTJs are almost hypersensitive to signals
of rejection from those for whom they care. In social situations, INTJs may also be unresponsive and
may neglect to observe small rituals designed to put others at their ease. For example, INTJs may
communicate that time is wasted if used for idle dialogue, and thus people receive a sense of hurry form
an INTJ, which is not always intended. In their interpersonal recreational situations, they do not enjoy
physical contact except with a chosen few.
As parents, INTJs are dedicated and single minded in their devotion; their children are a major focus in
life. They are supportive of their children and tend to allow them to develop in directions of their own
choosing. INTJs usually are firm and consistent in their discipline and rarely care to repeat directions
given to children… or others. Being the most independent of all the types, they have a strong need for
autonomy; indifference or criticism from people in general does not particularly bother INTJs, if they
believe that they are right. They also have a strong need for privacy.
The most important preference of an INTJ is intuition, but this is seldom seen. Rather, the function of
thinking is used to deal with the world and with people. INTJs are vulnerable in the emotional area and
may make serious mistakes here.
