Do INFJ's make good FBI Profilers?

[meowzician]

I'm sure I'm not the only Criminal Minds fan on the forum. I always kind of thought to myself that I'd make a great profiler, but I doubt I'd last more that 5-10 years. It would tear me apart.

It seems to me that INFJ's are natural profilers. I mean, isn't that what we do 24/7? Look for patterns of behavior? Spot things that don't quite fit and start digging and we don't let it rest until we've uncovered the true motivation?

I once said to my daughter, "I don't know why I watch this show. It is so incredibly disturbing to me. I always have to close my eyes." And she said, "Because, Mom, you are obsessed with what makes people tick. You can't let it alone. Anytime you spot something that doesn't quite make sense, you have to dig and dig until you understand. You are always watching everybody all the time. This is like, YOUR SHOW."

So I asked AI what MBTI types would make good FBI Profilers. We were the ONLY NF's it listed, and my guess is for exactly what I noted above--empathy makes NF's prone to burnout if you are constantly dealing with the dark side of humanity. The AI also listed INTJ, INTP, and ENTJ which make sense because they share the necessary intuition, but their T protects them.

Does anyone have any real life experience with this? OR even with related fields. Like, how do INFJ's survive as cops?

 

[TomasM]

The profession does seem to align more with a realist than an idealist. NT’s are realists.

I think it also depends on how weighted the T/F dichotomy is to the F and if the person is more dedicated to growing their intellect through education. Weighted closer to the middle of T/F and a commitment to the social and behavioral sciences would seem to have them prepared.

Also, a high level of ADHD might not be good in that profession when a solution has to be found quickly.

One of my favorite shows was The Mentalist and he (Patrick Jane) did have a knack for finding the guilty with what appeared to be an NF typing.

 

[Asa]

I searched this the old-fashioned way, and the most dominant type is ISTJ. I've known two FBI agents, which is not many, and they were quiet observers who knew how to blend in. To this day, people don't know who they were unless they were specifically told. I'm sure there were more I never found out about.


In a crowd, I'm the one who ends up in a corner talking to someone about their feelings they won't share with anyone else. This level of intimacy would feel like a betrayal if I worked for the FBI and was really there to spy on people.

 

[RetroMan]

This is quite the interesting observation and a fair one, I think. Both to your points about INFJ's having the mental capability to pick it apart but maybe being too torn up by the process to keep it up long term because of their sensitive nature. So, maybe not a perfect fit, but could work.

Curiously, this made me think about Grace Ashcroft from the video game Resident Evil Requiem that came out not too long ago. I am a big fan of the series. Anyway, she reminds me of an INFJ personality type, or at least partially and she is FBI intelligence analyst. Not exactly on par with your thoughts, but I am thinking now. She probably at lease has some of the traits. Maybe not an exact INFJ.

 

[meowzician]

I searched this the old-fashioned way, and the most dominant type is ISTJ.

This sounds promising. May I ask what the "old fashioned way" is? Because I am genuinely curious!

I've known two FBI agents, which is not many, and they were quiet observers who knew how to blend in. To this day, people don't know who they were unless they were specifically told. I'm sure there were more I never found out about.

An ISTJ Profiler? Isn't that a bit like a nine-fingered pianist? I think an ISTJ would make a really good conventional cop or detective, because they are great protectors and so much of the job is just meticulous collection of evidence--my ISTJ son considered becoming a cop and I told him I thought he would make a great cop. But profiling is not at all the same thing as that. It seems to me that they don't share the same quality of foundation in human understanding nor do they have the knack of connecting the dots with very few dots. But hey, maybe I'm wrong and there are elements of a profiling career that would fit an ISTJ and I just haven't thought of them.

In a crowd, I'm the one who ends up in a corner talking to someone about their feelings they won't share with anyone else. This level of intimacy would feel like a betrayal if I worked for the FBI and was really there to spy on people.

Can you give an example of what you mean? To profile a serial killer, who is it that you would be spying on other than the unsub?