Category: not a typing post

Wow, so I’ve just been going through all of your typing stuff– and it’s really fascinating. In a number of posts, you talk about looking to a person’s body language and general presentation in interviews to determine their types.. Anyway, I was wondering what kind of behaviors/mannerisms you often find INTJs exhibit (in conversation, etc). Also, are they similar to INTPs in that respect? (ik these are sort of loaded questions, so thanks for reading).

I tend to find that INTJ body language is more similar to INFJs than INTPs, and sorry to cheap out on this answer, but probably the best thing to do to see the differences and similarities is to watch a bunch of video in a row of one type and then the other.

I like your INFJ characteristic list but wondering why INFJ wouldn’t be good at multiple choice? Is that applicable to INFJ only or also to INTJ?

I’m going to try to muscle my way through this explanation, but all my information is very second-hand and so, disclaimer: I don’t really get what is going on in the INFJ brain.

First, the easy part: this definitely does not apply to INTJs.  

It also only applies to some multiple choice tests, mostly depending on the clarity of the test writer.  Having Ti means that the INFJ will pick apart the language of the answers – they can easily justify multiple answers and are frustrated by having to pick whatever someone thinks of as the ‘most right’ one (something Ne excels at, btw).  It is generally less time consuming for them to write out the correct answer than to pick it from a list.

INFJs learn best when they are given the theory first, and all the details later.  If they have a teacher who goes in the opposite direction (or never teach the theory at all), they don’t necessarily take in all the details – there’s nothing to ground why any of them should be important.  If they learn the theory finally the day before the test, they have a day to figure out which details were actually important to know and try to cram them in.

With the INTJs, while they’d probably also appreciate being taught the theory first, Te is good at picking up on important facts, at storing them short-term, and being able to recall them on demand later, so even if the material only makes complete sense the night before the test, they still remember what was important to know or have decent notes to study.  This in conjunction with Se, which – spatial memory is the most accurate, so I hear – if you can neatly organize your information into an internal landscape, you’re probably going to have no trouble remembering anything you set your mind to. 

(Seriously, though, Se.  Landscapes in your head!  When I heard about memory palaces, I actually did the whole “sounds fake, but ok,” thing, but I understand that this is basically what is naturally happening in the INTJ mind.  Apparently this is not… quite how it looks inside the INFJ mind?  I never got a really good understanding of why not.) 

I was reading something really interesting the other day (can’t remember the source). Someone pointed out that everyone that helped develop type-theory (Freud, Meyer Briggs and um, the other guy) was an N type and that, it led to confusion/misinformation about S types. It really got me wondering if I understand sensors. How do you interpret the difference between S and N types?

I have been thinking about this for weeks – and what I can tell you is that I don’t have just one answer.  I don’t even have just one answer when I narrow it down to being in regards to how I think about S and N while typing (which I’m going to do, because otherwise this is going to turn into an essay).

The truth is, I prefer not to bring S vs N into typing wherever possible – if I can type someone based on their voice or the way they walk or the muscle tension in their face when they smile – does that specific thing map directly on to someone I’ve already typed? – I’d take that any day.

It is useful, though, when I don’t have enough people to compare to, to be able to reduce to S-ish and N-ish stereotypes – are you a jock or a nerd?  Or maybe historically, are you a warrior or an intellectual?

Unsurprisingly, this has huge limitations.  There are people who comfortably fit both, and people who fit neither.  People I type this way tend to be tentative until I can find enough people who are like them to tie them more firmly to the tag.

The stereotyping tends to make things go particularly awry when you get to people who are shadow-functioning (which amongst other things can mean that they aren’t comfortably fitting into S or N).  Everyone’s got the potential to use both their N and S functions well, so since I can’t actually mind read for thoughts and motivations, I try to look for the things that are untrained, or are harder to change  – body language, muscle tension, speech patterns, etc..  You can teach yourself academic lingo, you can train your body in any number of athletic pursuits, you can learn to give speeches and how to project your voice, you can figure out how to effectively dress yourself.  The trick, I guess, is trying to figure out what is learned (or thrust on you) and what is a default setting.  Sometimes people grow more out of their type, and sometimes they grow more into it.

Thankfully, I have not only stereotypes, but my own experience of Ns and Ss to draw on – I think sometimes it can be easier to tell in person, just because of the way you bounce off each other.  And then there’s the fun and exciting  benefit of being able to ask leading questions.

I think maybe the best way to think of S or N (for typing purposes, anyway) is as a starting point, or maybe as a balance tipped more in one direction.

(…bar graph?  ….pie chart?).

Thank you for typing Jack O’Connell and Takamasa Ishihara! I actually did guess correctly about them :-). O’Connell played a character in a movie I watched recently that, to me, seemed like an ISTP in the way he approached different situations. I watched a couple of videos of him awhile back, in which he was kind of quiet, almost somber, and intentional about the topic. Ishihara real life persona and professions made me think ESFP. I may actually be getting better at typing :-)

I kept getting confused about them because of their relationship to Angelina Jolie. Recently switched her to ESTP, though- I got suspicious after changing Brad Pitt to ISFJ and watched her with her father (who I think is the ISTP, not her) – and Jack and Takamasa made more sense.

I just realized ESFJ Ben Affleck dated two other ESFJ: Jenifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow. I wonder if Jen Garner is another ESFJ. Ben should try dating a different type next time.

I forgot about Gwyneth, although I had noticed this with JLo. I’m not entirely certain of where to draw the line between ISFJ and ESFJ at the moment, so it’s possible they’re both really extraverted ISFJs. It’s the first instance I’ve identified of longish-term relationships within type if they’re all ESFJs, so I’m a little reluctant to commit to the idea.

In any case, you’re right that Ben could probably stand to branch out a little.

I can agree with ENTJ for Letterman, just got lots of those comments from SJs (T and F)when I took a yr off before going to uni. NJs care but more hands off. I sorta feel Dave pushes the school thing as a caring adult thing to say, just to cover all bases. He comes off tongue in cheek but that’s also just him, isnt it…

Except it’s not just him, it’s a lot of ENTJs I’ve known. I don’t really get it from ESTJs at all, but that could just be my relationship with them is different to yours.