I had to look this up…
My inital thoughts are that it sounds like it could be describing many aspects of many different things: PTSD, panic or anxiety disorders, Migraine, overly developed Si, introversion (and very introverted extraverts), autism* and highly developed F functions, to name a few.
On the other hand, HSP seems to be describing a specific kind of overreactive nervous system, so possibly they have something there? I just think there isn’t a specific mbti type to associate.
doesn’t linger for too long. The INFJ anger/irritation triggers you
mentioned are true, I think, and it takes a long time for them to work
out negative feelings. I have also on occasion responded the INFP way
around people that know me well, which is interesting, because I don’t
think I operate in Ne.
It’s usually only when we can’t get away from the situation for a prolonged period of time in which no one else is helping, either, that our anger tends to present as I described.
From the outside, INFP and INFJ emotional meltdowns do not look the same. With the INFP, after the initial explosion you get a sense of “oh no, we’ve cracked them,” and “ it looks like they haven’t raised their voice in years, I hope they don’t hurt their vocal chords!” followed by lots of tip-toeing around. With INFJ (and every other Fe type, to be honest) you get a sense of implosion – of being dragged into a black hole and overwhelmed by despair.
I was trying to figure out this morning… I think I took an MBTI test for the first time in 2005, but I didn’t start trying to type anyone until the next year. That is 9 actual years of failing at this for the most part while I figured out what I was doing. I’ve also spent a while typing by committee (dragged the INFJ, INTJ and ENFJ sisters into it, also for 9 years) because my area of people I knew and understood well was limited.
All that to say: if you can tell the difference between introverts and extraverts, that is pretty good. I am still having problems with this in S-types, sometimes.
As for functions… I’ve always kind of thought Si doms would be excellent at typing people, if they were into doing so. My ISFJ mom is obnoxiously accurate in her judgments of people such that I can practically type people by how she feels about them. I see that in JK Rowling when I read Harry Potter as well. It isn’t how I’d think of people, but it is consistent.
I don’t think that it’s really one function, though, to be honest. I use all of mine while typing – Fi or Si are the instinctive ones, if I’ve already got a pattern in place to recognize. If I don’t know, it’s Ne, considering possibilities and Te hashing out each letter. The Ne is usually okay at spotting connections and at the “but why?” portion of understanding new things, but it’s terrible if I let it run amok. That’s usually when I give up for the day. Probably Te dom is better at typing than Te inf, but since I’m using it for letter vs. letter, I would miss when people are using functions strangely and appearing a different type. I tend to run through my type tags later and let my Fi override anything I’ve come up with before, anyway (mostly accurately, often not).
I don’t know how the other four functions work for this, but I’m assuming well, since the other sisters are at least as good at this as I am.
Okay… I’ll start this with Princess Diana, since she’s the first one I changed for this reason. I think she’s usually typed as an ISFP or an INFP, but I could tell she wasn’t an N, so I went with ISFP. The problem is, she doesn’t have ISFP body language (or INFP), and I had the *not right!* thing every time I went by her. She’s kind of athletic and slightly physically awkward (but not?) in the same way as an ESTJ I know, wears the same kind of clothes, same kind of hair, has the same kind of drive. In light of that, her body language and speech patterns started making more sense. For Diana, shadow functions look like being quiet and super aware of her own feelings, but having none of the other characteristics of an Fi-dom.
With the INFJs… there’s always been something weird INFJ-wise about Charles Schulz and Chelsea Clinton, which I thought had to do with them being famous and INFJ. I guess that operating completely in shadow functions would make them ISFJs, but as with Diana, I could tell they were Ns, not Ss, (and that both had Fe). When originally typing them, I kept going back and forth on whether they were I or E (Chelsea) and F or T (Charles). Later I added Devyani Saltzman and Joanna Philbin as INFJs based on my typing of Chelsea and Charles. After finding a couple more INFJs who were easily typed as INFJs, it was clear that I had two separate patterns going. Even the comments I was getting back – there was more identification with INFJs who were definitely INFJs. I think watching Chelsea and Charles, they seem anxious, which is pretty normal for ENTPs, but going through the motions of trying to project calm – INFJs are great at projecting calm, as Fe is their dominant function, and no one knows if they’re anxious or not. Very clear, intellectual discourse (Chelsea and Devyani), and very quick with the snappy comebacks (all), which isn’t an especially INFJ trait.
To sum that up, I guess people who strongly resemble the characteristics of a type but not… well? Naturally? Completely? Kind of like two people are making the choices for one person – the conscious decisions are rooted in inferior functions, the subconscious decisions in dominant functions. You still end up with patterns from their actual type coming through.
Other than introvert, I’m not sure. I can’t find any interview footage of her except for short clips when she’s quite old.
(Con’d) don’t speak loudly in normal conversation. It’s almost like
physically it’s difficult. Maybe it’s an introvert thing. I thought this
might be helpful 🙂 Enjoy your weekend.
The physical difficulty is a some introverts thing, myself included. A number of ISTJ men I’ve met are boomingly loud.
I doubt that there are many people out there who can identify with every person of the same type. It’s hard to try imagining yourself from the outside, especially if you’re a rare type and don’t know other people like you.
Oh my gosh. ♥ I hope it’s OK if I comment.
ENFJs mistyping as INFJs are probably early twenties or younger and don’t realize that they are sociable yet – their day-to-day activities aren’t helping them reflect accurate results. Try this. Go have a conversation with someone. When you stop talking does your brain kind of hibernate? ENFJs brains are crazy active when interacting with people and then not so much when not.
My personal experience is that my mind _is_ very active in social situations but more in like a panicked all-systems-go way under a very calm gentle exterior. Then when it’s over I’m super exhausted.
Yeah, no, you’re not an INFJ.
Okay, being brutally honest with yourself, are you angry, upset, shocked or otherwise unhappy with me? Stop and think about it. Does having your identity denied give you an emotional reaction? Do you feel the need to defend yourself?
If so, you really aren’t an INFJ. I would look at ISFJ, ENFP, or ESFP, which are three types I see mistaking themselves for INFJs most often. Also maybe INFP and ISFP. The thing that gets hurt at being questioned is Fi, and it is not a significant part of the INFJ personality. (ISFJs don’t have Fi either, but they do get similarly threatened by what they perceive as a personal attack.) I think a lot of these types enjoy that INFJ is a rare type, and they also enjoy the “psychic” description. If that’s part of why you think you’re an INFJ, you need to re-evaluate. INFJs aren’t happy to be rare – they know they are; they’re not happy to be psychic – they know they aren’t. Stop here, go look at some other profiles, Sorry about the emotional manipulation.
If, however, your response to my statement was to wonder why I’d think that you weren’t an INFJ and what that says about me, you might actually be an INFJ. INFJs have Ni as their dominant function – they are analytical first.
ENFJs mistyping as INFJs are probably early twenties or younger and don’t realize that they are sociable yet – their day-to-day activities aren’t helping them reflect accurate results. Try this. Go have a conversation with someone. When you stop talking does your brain kind of hibernate? ENFJs brains are crazy active when interacting with people and then not so much when not.
I haven’t really seen any INTJs testing as INFJs, although they have the most similar body language. I guess it probably happens. Take a look in your closet: are all the clothes organized by season and colour? Are all the hangers pointing the same direction? Are your bookshelves similarly hyper-organized? Does this give you tremendous satisfaction? You might be an INTJ, not an INFJ.
There are probably other types who commonly mistype as INFJ (maybe the odd ENTP – quick, are you having an existential crisis?), but those are the ones I’ve seen on youtube.
All this to say, I don’t know enough about the available tests to rank their effectiveness. Personally, I took the humanmetrics test, and it was right the first time about me and three of my family members, but wrong about the other two the first couple of times they took it (the descriptions never fit very well). Not the greatest odds, but it got there eventually. If you read through this post without any creeping doubts, then you probably are an INFJ.
Take a look in your closet: are all the clothes organized by season and colour? Are all the hangers pointing the same direction? Are your bookshelves similarly hyper-organized? Does this give you tremendous satisfaction? You might be an INTJ, not an INFJ.
This might be an Ni thing. My wardrobe is grouped into season, colour and textile and my library is in the DDC I’m so embarrassed.
Yes please do! All my information is second-hand, obviously 🙂
I think the ENFJ thing was that they’re still in conversation, just not talking and their brain still shuts down a bit. I was talking to enfjpuppettheatre about this, and I got kind of worried about what it’s doing when she’s not using it. The way she described it was really shocking to me (like being confronted by the reality of the vast emptiness of space shocking). I think with dominant introverted functions, you get a more or less steady stream of moderately active thought, and that doesn’t seem to be the case for dominant extraverted functions.
Re: your organizational prowess, I don’t think the INTJs are feeling any shame about it, though.
Ah, no. Sorry, I know I kind of took a 180 from the actual question you asked – that was totally not your fault! It was a simple question, to which I have no answer. My brain’s solution: to try to make something to test your INFJliness instead. I was not in any way feeling criticized, that was more of an Ne brain-splat.
Yeah, no, you’re not an INFJ.
Okay, being brutally honest with yourself, are you angry, upset, shocked or otherwise unhappy with me? Stop and think about it. Does having your identity denied give you an emotional reaction? Do you feel the need to defend yourself?
If so, you really aren’t an INFJ. I would look at ISFJ, ENFP, or ESFP, which are three types I see mistaking themselves for INFJs most often. Also maybe INFP and ISFP. The thing that gets hurt at being questioned is Fi, and it is not a significant part of the INFJ personality. (ISFJs don’t have Fi either, but they do get similarly threatened by what they perceive as a personal attack.) I think a lot of these types enjoy that INFJ is a rare type, and they also enjoy the “psychic” description. If that’s part of why you think you’re an INFJ, you need to re-evaluate. INFJs aren’t happy to be rare – they know they are; they’re not happy to be psychic – they know they aren’t. Stop here, go look at some other profiles, Sorry about the emotional manipulation.
If, however, your response to my statement was to wonder why I’d think that you weren’t an INFJ and what that says about me, you might actually be an INFJ. INFJs have Ni as their dominant function – they are analytical first.
ENFJs mistyping as INFJs are probably early twenties or younger and don’t realize that they are sociable yet – their day-to-day activities aren’t helping them reflect accurate results. Try this. Go have a conversation with someone. When you stop talking does your brain kind of hibernate? ENFJs brains are crazy active when interacting with people and then not so much when not.
I haven’t really seen any INTJs testing as INFJs, although they have the most similar body language. I guess it probably happens. Take a look in your closet: are all the clothes organized by season and colour? Are all the hangers pointing the same direction? Are your bookshelves similarly hyper-organized? Does this give you tremendous satisfaction? You might be an INTJ, not an INFJ.
There are probably other types who commonly mistype as INFJ (maybe the odd ENTP – quick, are you having an existential crisis?), but those are the ones I’ve seen on youtube.
All this to say, I don’t know enough about the available tests to rank their effectiveness. Personally, I took the humanmetrics test, and it was right the first time about me and three of my family members, but wrong about the other two the first couple of times they took it (the descriptions never fit very well). Not the greatest odds, but it got there eventually. If you read through this post without any creeping doubts, then you probably are an INFJ.
mbti_sorted 