[INFJ] Am I INFJ or Hollow?

[amprod]

Hello,

I am fairly new to this whole 16 personality thing and have found it to be very helpful in understanding myself.

But I got stuck...

When I took the test initially (being ignorant to the way the system works) I was given ISTJ. Then I did some research, found that ISTJ things were pretty much exactly what other people thought of me. Although mostly all the characteristics in ISTJ fit me almost perfectly, it only seemed to reflect one side of my personality.

When I am on the job, when I deal with pretty much anybody who I don't trust (which is basically everyone on the surface of the earth, save one or two), and when I feel pressure, I am extremely logical, callous, cold, and unfeeling. That is the main reason I relate to ISTJ so much. Also the whole responsibility thing, but not so much rules and structure.

But that is only me on the outside when my sheilds are up. When there isn't any threat of the wrong people seeing who I am on the inside, I am actually the complete opposite. (And if anyone who I know reads this, just a fair warning, I will want to kill you if I find out.)

Then I watched Frozen (this is where people who know me should stop reading) and found that I relate extremely well with Elsa. So I found out that she was INFJ, did some research into INFJ and started seeing that hidden side of my personality with much more clarity through the INFJ page.

I realized that there have been many times when I could sense intense emotion just radiating from other people when no one else seemed to feel or notice anything. Also, I am incredibly good at acting. I don't see it as acting though because I can so easily feel what the characters are feeling and make their pains and joys my own pains and joys. Finally, although I've never realized this before, I'm pretty sure I've had a history being able to predict things long in advance without hardly any details (for example, when there were still 7 people on the Republican stage (think recent American politics, for any non-americans here), I had absolutely no doubt that Trump would end up defeating Hillary. The entire country up until voting day afternoon was positive I was wrong. But I was right. I can't tell you how I knew exactly, but I do know that it has something do do with my subconscious mind seeing patterns.)

I feel most accomplished when I am leading others, and my points of greatest inspiration have all been when helping other people (on forums, when training them, and when listening to their problems.)

SO I'm pretty sure that means I'm a definate INFJ (and if anybody doubts, I have plenty more deeper layers that further support INFJ), but my question for everyone is, why do I keep testing as ISTJ? Is it possible for someone to switch between two personality types at will? Are ISTJ's capable of being INFJ's? Or is INFJ the only one that can seem to be both?

Although my shell allows me to be almost a perfect ISTJ, there's a ton more to me than what's on the ISTJ page. Things that true ISTJ's shouldn't be able to relate to. Like being a really good actor. Like always becoming an instant diplomat whenever conflict arises between people.

Can somebody please assure me that I'm INFJ?

And why am I the only INFJ online who is so close ISTJ?

(Yes, there is tons more I could tell you about myself, but I am hoping I have already said enough.)

 

[Elis]

Hello and welcome to the forum @amprod !

I can't give you any definite answers, but being tied betwee INFJ and ISTJ is a rather unusual split I think. If you delve into underlying functions in the model of MBTI you'll see that the two types share no common functions. Basically, one types main functions is the other ones supposed weakest. But then the fact that they are both I__J types maybe makes them at least similar in some regards.

It's just a tool though, to better understand ourselves, so don't force yourself into a specific type if you feel like you're in-between. We're all a bit in-between if you ask me, even if MBTI might say otherwise.

 

[Kaotiklysm]

Haha, on polling day I was talking to someone and said "When Trump wins the election... sorry I mean if Trump wins the election..." , I was pretty certain of it too, but it's a 50/50 thing really.

What are the traits of yours which you see as sensor traits? Are you highly attuned to the physical environment, or averse to theoretical constructs?

 

[the]

Hello,

I am fairly new to this whole 16 personality thing and have found it to be very helpful in understanding myself.

But I got stuck...

When I took the test initially (being ignorant to the way the system works) I was given ISTJ. Then I did some research, found that ISTJ things were pretty much exactly what other people thought of me. Although mostly all the characteristics in ISTJ fit me almost perfectly, it only seemed to reflect one side of my personality.

When I am on the job, when I deal with pretty much anybody who I don't trust (which is basically everyone on the surface of the earth, save one or two), and when I feel pressure, I am extremely logical, callous, cold, and unfeeling. That is the main reason I relate to ISTJ so much. Also the whole responsibility thing, but not so much rules and structure.

But that is only me on the outside when my sheilds are up. When there isn't any threat of the wrong people seeing who I am on the inside, I am actually the complete opposite. (And if anyone who I know reads this, just a fair warning, I will want to kill you if I find out.)

Then I watched Frozen (this is where people who know me should stop reading) and found that I relate extremely well with Elsa. So I found out that she was INFJ, did some research into INFJ and started seeing that hidden side of my personality with much more clarity through the INFJ page.

I realized that there have been many times when I could sense intense emotion just radiating from other people when no one else seemed to feel or notice anything. Also, I am incredibly good at acting. I don't see it as acting though because I can so easily feel what the characters are feeling and make their pains and joys my own pains and joys. Finally, although I've never realized this before, I'm pretty sure I've had a history being able to predict things long in advance without hardly any details (for example, when there were still 7 people on the Republican stage (think recent American politics, for any non-americans here), I had absolutely no doubt that Trump would end up defeating Hillary. The entire country up until voting day afternoon was positive I was wrong. But I was right. I can't tell you how I knew exactly, but I do know that it has something do do with my subconscious mind seeing patterns.)

I feel most accomplished when I am leading others, and my points of greatest inspiration have all been when helping other people (on forums, when training them, and when listening to their problems.)

SO I'm pretty sure that means I'm a definate INFJ (and if anybody doubts, I have plenty more deeper layers that further support INFJ), but my question for everyone is, why do I keep testing as ISTJ? Is it possible for someone to switch between two personality types at will? Are ISTJ's capable of being INFJ's? Or is INFJ the only one that can seem to be both?

Although my shell allows me to be almost a perfect ISTJ, there's a ton more to me than what's on the ISTJ page. Things that true ISTJ's shouldn't be able to relate to. Like being a really good actor. Like always becoming an instant diplomat whenever conflict arises between people.

Can somebody please assure me that I'm INFJ?

And why am I the only INFJ online who is so close ISTJ?

(Yes, there is tons more I could tell you about myself, but I am hoping I have already said enough.)

Seems like a spot on ISTJ to me. As an ISTJ you only relate so closely to INFJ because you consider them to be the ubermensch.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

Hello,

I am fairly new to this whole 16 personality thing and have found it to be very helpful in understanding myself.

But I got stuck...

When I took the test initially (being ignorant to the way the system works) I was given ISTJ. Then I did some research, found that ISTJ things were pretty much exactly what other people thought of me. Although mostly all the characteristics in ISTJ fit me almost perfectly, it only seemed to reflect one side of my personality.

When I am on the job, when I deal with pretty much anybody who I don't trust (which is basically everyone on the surface of the earth, save one or two), and when I feel pressure, I am extremely logical, callous, cold, and unfeeling. That is the main reason I relate to ISTJ so much. Also the whole responsibility thing, but not so much rules and structure.

But that is only me on the outside when my sheilds are up. When there isn't any threat of the wrong people seeing who I am on the inside, I am actually the complete opposite. (And if anyone who I know reads this, just a fair warning, I will want to kill you if I find out.)

Then I watched Frozen (this is where people who know me should stop reading) and found that I relate extremely well with Elsa. So I found out that she was INFJ, did some research into INFJ and started seeing that hidden side of my personality with much more clarity through the INFJ page.

I realized that there have been many times when I could sense intense emotion just radiating from other people when no one else seemed to feel or notice anything. Also, I am incredibly good at acting. I don't see it as acting though because I can so easily feel what the characters are feeling and make their pains and joys my own pains and joys. Finally, although I've never realized this before, I'm pretty sure I've had a history being able to predict things long in advance without hardly any details (for example, when there were still 7 people on the Republican stage (think recent American politics, for any non-americans here), I had absolutely no doubt that Trump would end up defeating Hillary. The entire country up until voting day afternoon was positive I was wrong. But I was right. I can't tell you how I knew exactly, but I do know that it has something do do with my subconscious mind seeing patterns.)

I feel most accomplished when I am leading others, and my points of greatest inspiration have all been when helping other people (on forums, when training them, and when listening to their problems.)

SO I'm pretty sure that means I'm a definate INFJ (and if anybody doubts, I have plenty more deeper layers that further support INFJ), but my question for everyone is, why do I keep testing as ISTJ? Is it possible for someone to switch between two personality types at will? Are ISTJ's capable of being INFJ's? Or is INFJ the only one that can seem to be both?

Although my shell allows me to be almost a perfect ISTJ, there's a ton more to me than what's on the ISTJ page. Things that true ISTJ's shouldn't be able to relate to. Like being a really good actor. Like always becoming an instant diplomat whenever conflict arises between people.

Can somebody please assure me that I'm INFJ?

And why am I the only INFJ online who is so close ISTJ?

(Yes, there is tons more I could tell you about myself, but I am hoping I have already said enough.)

When you take the MBTI questionnaire, don't answer in terms of what you think is the right answer... you have to answer in terms of your honest preference.

I tested as an INFJ initially, for Pete's sake... which is a hoot looking back... because the questions are sometimes asked "would you rather...", instead of, "Do you usually..."

 

[amprod]

What are the traits of yours which you see as sensor traits? Are you highly attuned to the physical environment, or averse to theoretical constructs?

I did some research and found this, which I believe is relevant to what you are asking: "In order to understand ISTJs, one must first understand their dominant function, Introverted Sensing (Si) , which compels them to preserve and protect past ways of doing things. Their Si characteristics led David Keirsey to rightly describe them as “guardians.” ISTJs guard and defend traditions and conventions, particularly those they have significant personal experience and familiarity with (e.g., their childhood religion)."

So, to answer your first question, if what I found above rightly describes the S part, then I definitely don't have the S, because I constantly strive to innovate, challenge, and re-root everything that isn't absolutely perfect the way it is, including technology systems, ideals, organization systems, etc.

And in answer to your latter question, I'm not really sure what you're asking. I'm definitely not averse to theoretical constructs, but I'm not terribly in tune with my surroundings either, as I don't need small details to make decisions, but rather hunches, intuition, and feelings. Is this for the third letter or the second?

I am looking at the "Our Theory" page at 16personalities.org and am finding that the third letter is where I am most confused. I am finding that I can be both T and J, although 99% of the time I am T because I have severe trust issues and had an emotionally abusive childhood. But when I let me guard down, I am every bit an F. For example, If someone I actually trust says something bad about me to my face, I will be immediately hurt and will want to go away and escape.

And again, I am a scary good actor when I turn it on, and I constantly need to see social conflicts from all points of view and almost always find myself taking the position of a diplomat whenever there is dissension. I am very good at making angry people happy.

So I must be F, right?

 

[ZcM4xzkjgzCjytBc]

 

[Rcs6r]

Well, you're both. You're basically a chocolate bunny:

Maybe you keep testing ISTJ because you are taking the wrong test. Or maybe you're actually a sensor with developed alternate functions.

 

[Zen]

Hello,

I am fairly new to this whole 16 personality thing and have found it to be very helpful in understanding myself.

But I got stuck...

When I took the test initially (being ignorant to the way the system works) I was given ISTJ. Then I did some research, found that ISTJ things were pretty much exactly what other people thought of me. Although mostly all the characteristics in ISTJ fit me almost perfectly, it only seemed to reflect one side of my personality.

When I am on the job, when I deal with pretty much anybody who I don't trust (which is basically everyone on the surface of the earth, save one or two), and when I feel pressure, I am extremely logical, callous, cold, and unfeeling. That is the main reason I relate to ISTJ so much. Also the whole responsibility thing, but not so much rules and structure.

But that is only me on the outside when my sheilds are up. When there isn't any threat of the wrong people seeing who I am on the inside, I am actually the complete opposite. (And if anyone who I know reads this, just a fair warning, I will want to kill you if I find out.)

Then I watched Frozen (this is where people who know me should stop reading) and found that I relate extremely well with Elsa. So I found out that she was INFJ, did some research into INFJ and started seeing that hidden side of my personality with much more clarity through the INFJ page.

I realized that there have been many times when I could sense intense emotion just radiating from other people when no one else seemed to feel or notice anything. Also, I am incredibly good at acting. I don't see it as acting though because I can so easily feel what the characters are feeling and make their pains and joys my own pains and joys. Finally, although I've never realized this before, I'm pretty sure I've had a history being able to predict things long in advance without hardly any details (for example, when there were still 7 people on the Republican stage (think recent American politics, for any non-americans here), I had absolutely no doubt that Trump would end up defeating Hillary. The entire country up until voting day afternoon was positive I was wrong. But I was right. I can't tell you how I knew exactly, but I do know that it has something do do with my subconscious mind seeing patterns.)

I feel most accomplished when I am leading others, and my points of greatest inspiration have all been when helping other people (on forums, when training them, and when listening to their problems.)

SO I'm pretty sure that means I'm a definate INFJ (and if anybody doubts, I have plenty more deeper layers that further support INFJ), but my question for everyone is, why do I keep testing as ISTJ? Is it possible for someone to switch between two personality types at will? Are ISTJ's capable of being INFJ's? Or is INFJ the only one that can seem to be both?

Although my shell allows me to be almost a perfect ISTJ, there's a ton more to me than what's on the ISTJ page. Things that true ISTJ's shouldn't be able to relate to. Like being a really good actor. Like always becoming an instant diplomat whenever conflict arises between people.

Can somebody please assure me that I'm INFJ?

And why am I the only INFJ online who is so close ISTJ?

(Yes, there is tons more I could tell you about myself, but I am hoping I have already said enough.)

Hi amprod and welcome to the forum. I believe you are going about this in the wrong way. This is not something you can read your way through and decide. I agree with Flavus on this one. You have to answer the questions in an honest way and the results will speak for themselves.

This is my favorite MBTI test.

https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Sandie33 suggested this test in a thread which I found very original and interesting.

http://www.sociotype.com/tests/

Try taking the two tests and the results should be the same.

 

[Kaotiklysm]

I did some research and found this, which I believe is relevant to what you are asking: "In order to understand ISTJs, one must first understand their dominant function, Introverted Sensing (Si) , which compels them to preserve and protect past ways of doing things. Their Si characteristics led David Keirsey to rightly describe them as “guardians.” ISTJs guard and defend traditions and conventions, particularly those they have significant personal experience and familiarity with (e.g., their childhood religion)."

So, to answer your first question, if what I found above rightly describes the S part, then I definitely don't have the S, because I constantly strive to innovate, challenge, and re-root everything that isn't absolutely perfect the way it is, including technology systems, ideals, organization systems, etc.

And in answer to your latter question, I'm not really sure what you're asking. I'm definitely not averse to theoretical constructs, but I'm not terribly in tune with my surroundings either, as I don't need small details to make decisions, but rather hunches, intuition, and feelings. Is this for the third letter or the second?

I am looking at the "Our Theory" page at 16personalities.org and am finding that the third letter is where I am most confused. I am finding that I can be both T and J, although 99% of the time I am T because I have severe trust issues and had an emotionally abusive childhood. But when I let me guard down, I am every bit an F. For example, If someone I actually trust says something bad about me to my face, I will be immediately hurt and will want to go away and escape.

And again, I am a scary good actor when I turn it on, and I constantly need to see social conflicts from all points of view and almost always find myself taking the position of a diplomat whenever there is dissension. I am very good at making angry people happy.

So I must be F, right?

Well, in that case you seem to not really have much in the way of Sensor traits.

INFJ has auxiliary Feeling and tertiary Thinking, so the Feeling preference in general is going to be less pronounced than the Intuition preference. An INFJ coming across as a T is not going to be too rare, as a result.

 

[amprod]

but it's a 50/50 thing really.

It's really not though, because I was convinced that both he and Hillary would make it to the general when there were still 7 people on the Republican stage (and I believe 3 on the Democrat). And this was when I barely knew anything about Trump.

 

[amprod]

INFJ has auxiliary Feeling and tertiary Thinking, so the Feeling preference in general is going to be less pronounced than the Intuition preference. An INFJ coming across as a T is not going to be too rare, as a result.

So you are saying that I could be INFJ coming across as INTJ because the third letter is less pronounced? (I'm still learning the personality geekspeak).

 

[Kaotiklysm]

So you are saying that I could be INFJ coming across as INTJ because the third letter is less pronounced? (I'm still learning the personality geekspeak).

Pretty much, yeah. The difference between a T-ish INFJ and INTJ is that INFJ favours extroverted feeling and introverted thinking, whereas INTJ favours extroverted thinking and introverted feeling, so there are nonetheless key differences.

Me for example - I use a lot of Thinking, but because it is Ti I end up coming across more as an NTP type than as INTJ.

 

[amprod]

Hi amprod and welcome to the forum. I believe you are going about this in the wrong way. This is not something you can read your way through and decide. I agree with Flavus on this one. You have to answer the questions in an honest way and the results will speak for themselves.

This is my favorite MBTI test.

https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Sandie33 suggested this test in a thread which I found very original and interesting.

http://www.sociotype.com/tests/

Try taking the two tests and the results should be the same.

Well, I took the 16personalities test again (for the tenth time) and somehow got ISFP, which is not even close to what I relate to. But the other site gave me INFP, which was much closer. But I know that I can't possibly be INFP because I read the description for P and J and I am very decisive and thorough, mostly organized, I value clarity (not so much predictability though) and definitely closure, and prefer structure and planning to randomness. Also, some of the people on that list - NOT A CHANCE!

I hereby formally declare myself an INFJ, with no strings attached.

Thanks everyone!!!

amprod out.