I’ve known my type for a while now, but the whole idea of personality fascinates me, so I thought it might be a good topic for discussion.
INFJ stands for Introverted INtuitive Feeling Judging, the terms used in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). More on MBTI here and INFJ here.
Rather than post the whole bit about what each letter means (and boring you all to death), I think it will be more fun to relate how well what I “test as” compares to who I feel I am. Also, there are a lot more traits I could pass on, but your curiosity will be best served by checking out the links above.
INFJ personalities are considered the rarest of all the sixteen MBTI types (approximately 1% of the population, even less for men). We are known for having an almost psychic ability to read the emotions of people. We are also a sensitive lot, and spend a lot of time on “self-perfection”, especially when scorned by someone whose opinion we value. Just because that I is there doesn’t mean we live in a cave in the middle of the desert; on the contrary, INFJ personalities tend to cultivate a small group of special, loyal friends rather than a large of group of intermittent acquaintances. Romantically, we tend to gravitate toward ENFP and ENTP personalities (with the idea that opposites with similar modes of thinking attract).
In day to day life we are most fulfilled when helping others, though we will quickly detach ourselves from those who take advantage. We are serious about our committments, and will go to great lengths to maintain our integrity. We are also very interested in making everyone feel happy and loved (again, the exception being when someone hurts us deeply).
Our weaknesses stem from our strengths, unfortunately; our inward looking gaze will sometimes make us come off as “distant” or “reserved” (I prefer “mysterious” myself). We rarely give all of what’s inside unless we have absolute trust in the person to whom we give. We can be quick to dismiss people we do not find “worthy” of our attention, though this typically stems from our intuitive grasp of human emotions. Sometimes the drudgery of day-to-day life is “below” us, and we can quickly find that all those little errands have piled up while we were thinking of the “big picture”. We also do not deal with conflict and criticism, and have a tendancy to dwell on problems. This is partly due to our extremely high expectations of ourselves; we feel that we could have done better, even if the issue isn’t our fault. INFJs also have a deep faith, though it may not center around any one organized religion.
Personally, I feel as though I identify with all of these traits. I’m fiercely loyal to my friends, especially those who accept me as I am without trying to change me. I’ve been committed to those around me–both in friendship and romance–and can’t even fathom betrayal (partly because I’ve been betrayed so much in my life). I’m a big fan of working things out to everyone’s contentment rather than engaging in a pointless fight that is only going to end up with all parties bleeding. I’m most attracted to fun, extroverted personalities, but especially to those who have a lot of depth and love to offer (the NF characteristic, or basically “Idealists” in general terms). I pick up on emotions almost instantaneously, and find that I am the confidant to many of my friends during hard times (which is ironic, as one slang term for an INFJ is “The Counselor”). My faith runs pretty deep, too, though I have to admit that I cannot identify with mainstream religion. I do tend to worry about problems more than I should, but I have to say that the older I get, the easier this is to get through.
So I’d say the INFJ assesment is fairly accurate. Should you want to take this test and find out what you are, you can click this link and take a test online. While no one personality can be lumped into just sixteen types, you may be surprised how much you say “Yeah, that’s me!”
