Are INFJ's really that rare? | INFJ Forum

Are INFJ's really that rare?

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Jan 17, 2010
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Rare? or not so much?

*gasp* could it be true? are we really not all that rare?
Okay, sorry about the drama folks, but i was interested in bringing up a point. Now it very well may be already in this forum, but i did not really want to spend eternity looking for it.
One of the most prized qualities (or myths) of the INFJ is that we are the most rare type. (go us! ...i wish...)
BUT, that might not be true.
I would like to share with you two links from the same site, http://infj.com/INFJ_Statistics.htm &
http://infj.com/IllusionOfRarity.htm
I have heard many statistics say that we comprise 1% of the population (1.5% for females, and .5% for males.)
But Ms. Jo brings up a good point in this links..
What do you all think? Could it be true?

[regardless, i love my INFJness :D]
 
There was a thread about this:http://forum.infjs.com/showthread.php?t=3492

Personally, although a lot of it makes sense and it is true, I still remain in my opinion that INFJ's are rare even if we perhaps are not the ''rarest'', there's clearly a greater abundance of sensors which leaves N types on the other end of the scale. Persoanlly from observation I have not seen any INFJ's or I might not be aware of it, now this is using a limited amount of sources but still carries some way, I really don't care how common my supposed type is, as I am an individual and I am already different.
 
er, does it matter? you're going to be who you are regardless of how rare your type is, at least if the theory holds. in any case, infj's are rare in real life in my experience, but then again so are introverts in general. not so rare on the internet. their drive to get things done is probably unique in an introvert - distinguishing them from infp's, for example.
 
I read all the time that INFJ's supposedly are so rare, but what is this really based on?

Is it based on David Keirsey's estimation of the type distribution?

That doesn't sound very scientific.

I've tried to find some kind of valid survey, but I have found none. It seems the rarity of INFJ's are based on a myth rather than scientific data, unless you have some hard hitting facts to show to me.

In fact it seems the whole % distrubution of types are based on good ol' guessing, but I am open to be proven wrong of course.
 
The only trend I put stock into is that SJ's are the most common, and NJ's are the least common. Other then that, I just don't follow the type trends. No true experiment or data was collected to determine the type. The only reason I say that SJ's are the most common, and NJ's the least, is from personal observation.
 
Sithious said:
I read all the time that INFJ's supposedly are so rare, but what is this really based on?

Is it based on David Keirsey's estimation of the type distribution?

That doesn't sound very scientific.

I've tried to find some kind of valid survey, but I have found none. It seems the rarity of INFJ's are based on a myth rather than scientific data, unless you have some hard hitting facts to show to me.

In fact it seems the whole % distrubution of types are based on good ol' guessing, but I am open to be proven wrong of course.
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, I believe the estimation is based on a small sample of testing. They took 100-500 people and they tested how many times a personality type occurred, thus giving us a percentage. Seeing as this isn't good science at all, it's all but pretty much been scratched and I can no longer find the article.

tl;dr: No one really knows brah.
 
IndigoSensor said:
The only trend I put stock into is that SJ's are the most common, and NJ's are the least common. Other then that, I just don't follow the type trends. No true experiment or data was collected to determine the type. The only reason I say that SJ's are the most common, and NJ's the least, is from personal observation.
Click to expand...

This. I don't follow traditional MBTI statistics but from what I have observed I seen many trends and the SJ's being most common and NJ's being least common is one of them.
 
I don't like to believe SJ is the most common but looking at the past, they have usually made quite some impact on my life (#_#);; So they stand out quite a lot. I can say sensors is the most common based on experience..

Actually recently I am noticing there must be something else. It doesn't matter maybe the MBTI, I feel a little bit more out of place even in places where I think I should be more at ease at or where I should have more in common with the people.

I have felt the same vibes coming from both sensor and intuitive types. There is something else I am looking for.
 
Nope, the only data I've seen is not really scientifically presented. It's just %'s on MBTI sites--no support. I do think the INFJ type is rare, just from personal experience. I also think S is more common than N, and E more common than I, again just from personal experience. How rare INFJ's are is the real question.
 
I guess you have just pointed it out, Questingpoet ^^

Introvert less common than Extrovert
Intuitive less than Sensor

And IN exist in INFJ

So it also includes INTJ, INTP, INFP,etc which I think are also said to be in low numbers
 
Take the following data for what it's worth, aka, a very small sampling of self assessment scores, but I think it is ballpark accurate from my experiences, but keep in mind that as we have seen, mistyping by one or more letters happens very frequently.

infj.org said:
The Sixteen Types
U.S. Population Breakdown
The table organizing the sixteen types was created by Isabel Myers (an INFP).

ISTJ 11.6%

ISFJ 13.8%

INFJ 1.5%

INTJ 2.1%

ISTP 5.4%

ISFP 8.8%

INFP 4.3%

INTP 3.3%

ESTP 4.3%

ESFP 8.5%

ENFP 8.1%

ENTP 3.2%

ESTJ 8.7%

ESFJ 12.3%

ENFJ 2.4%

ENTJ 1.8%

Estimated percentages of the 16 types in the American population using inferential statistics. The figures above are from a random sampling of 3009 people culled from a total pool of 16,000 using the 1998 MBTI Form M. The individuals whose form results were used in this random sampling were not provided with the data to verify or question their accuracy. But these numbers do provide a working base on which to build further understanding and development of the model as extrapolated to larger populations.

http://www.infj.org/archive/typestats.html
Click to expand...

Let's just assume that the total world INFJ population is about 1%.

1% of the world population (which is estimated at 6,803,800,000) is roughly 60 million.

While 1% is a small percentage of the population, 60 million is a very large number of people.

I personally believe, due to the commonality of mistyping, that the actual figure is closer to 0.25% of the population, but even then, we're still talking about 15 million people. This makes INFJs rare, but certainly not 'unique'.
 
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In order by %, almost separated into SJ, FP, TP, NJ.
SJ:
ISFJ 13.8%
ESFJ 12.3%
ISTJ 11.6%
ESTJ 8.7%

~FP:
ISFP 8.8%
ESFP 8.5%
ENFP 8.1%
ISTP 5.4%

~TP:
INFP 4.3%
ESTP 4.3%
INTP 3.3%
ENTP 3.2%

NJ:
ENFJ 2.4%
INTJ 2.1%
ENTJ 1.8%
INFJ 1.5%
Click to expand...
 
Statistical inference is a valid tool for estimation, and only question really is how big was the tested population and under what circumstances (was there retesting, what was the age span of tested population, ...). This is what should be stated along with every percentages table, and usually is not which might be the reason why people suspect those percentages in the first place and that is reasonable.

Although I'm not the fan of Wikipedia and generally am not the one to rely to much on it this should be an interesting reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator

If I'm not mistaking in the bottom of that page there are some studies that are about statistics of MBTI types.
 
WaeV said:
In order by %, almost separated into SJ, FP, TP, NJ.
Click to expand...

I think the actual figures are more like (and this is a complete guesstimate based on personal experience...)

SJ:
ISFJ 14%
ESFJ 13%
ISTJ 15%
ESTJ 14%
Total = 56%

~FP:
ISFP 12%
ESFP 12%
ENFP 3%
INFP 3%
Total = 30%

~TP:
ISTP 5%
ESTP 5%
INTP 1%
ENTP 1%
Total = 12%

NJ:
ENFJ 1%
INTJ 0.5%
ENTJ 1.25%
INFJ 0.25%
Total = 2%

Total N types, not including NFPs is definitely less than 5% of the population, but NFPs are more common than any other N type. I assume this is because they share the same basic functions with STJs, which comprise the majority of the population.
 
Von Hase said:
I think the actual figures are more like (and this is a complete guesstimate based on personal experience...)

SJ:
ISFJ 14%
ESFJ 13%
ISTJ 15%
ESTJ 14%
Total = 56%

~FP:
ISFP 12%
ESFP 12%
ENFP 3%
INFP 3%
Total = 30%

~TP:
ISTP 5%
ESTP 5%
INTP 1%
ENTP 1%
Total = 12%

NJ:
ENFJ 1%
INTJ 0.5%
ENTJ 1.25%
INFJ 0.25%
Total = 2%

Total N types, not including NFPs is definitely less than 5% of the population, but NFPs are more common than any other N type. I assume this is because they share the same basic functions with STJs, which comprise the majority of the population.
Click to expand...

This statistics seem pretty accurate to me at least from what I have observed, Von do you think this distributions are different among different countries? I seen most MBTI statistics are based on the American population not taking into account other factors such as the effects of culture.
 
If what you just put up is really accurate VH, my wife is the most common type and I am the least common type. That's an eye-opener!
 
Basically, I think the best way to describe my estimations are this...

Take any random 400 people, and you will likely have the following...

ISFJ 55
ESFJ 53
ISTJ 60
ESTJ 58

ISFP 48
ESFP 49
ISTP 23
ESTP 22

ENFP 11
INFP 12
INTP 4
ENTP 4

ENFJ 4
INTJ 2
ENTJ 4
INFJ 1

However, in any given group there is going to be bias. Any organizations, professional fields, social circles, etc, are going to have bias toward certain types, skewing these numbers strongly. For example, science fiction conventions are going to have extremely N heavy populations with a leaning toward Introverts. Sports events like tailgating parties are going to have extremely S populations with a leaning toward Extroverts.
 
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Raccoon Love said:
This statistics seem pretty accurate to me at least from what I have observed, Von do you think this distributions are different among different countries? I seen most MBTI statistics are based on the American population not taking into account other factors such as the effects of culture.
Click to expand...

That's highly possible.

I think there is strong evidence for racial and / or cultural bias. In America, the most common types for white people seem to be SJs, while the most common types for black people seem to be FPs. It would be a great study to find out how much of this is genetic influence and how much of it is culturally influenced.

This could possibly lead to some very interesting breakthroughs in racial / ethnic / cultural relations.
 
Lol wut?

I ask if you have any scientific data to show to, and you list % guesses based on your experiences? The experiences of 1 out of nearly 7 billion people on this planet?

-_-
 
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