Do INFJ's make good FBI Profilers?

[President of Canada]

I realize that real life is not the TV show. But I mean, we do often see on the show how their intuition leaps ahead, it tells them what direction to go. They do have to go and actually find documentable evidence. But they are not randomly searching.

I have this book that I'm reading that's fun. It uses the TV show as a springboard to discuss REAL profiling and REAL cases. It's called The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds by Katherine Ramsland. It is very good at showing how real life FBI work is different than the show.

That's true, but it isn't like that in real life. We don't get to see those moments the camera is showing us, where they connected the dots. In real life, the person on the other end gets none of that. They just have to take your word for it.

 

[jkxx]

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."

Lol I've been told I'm like this by a number of people so this resonated quite a bit. Sometimes it turns out to be a nothingburger but the alarm does get set off here and there. Unfortunately there have been more than a few situations where they've been on point, especially at work in my case with some really bizarre schemes happening there in the background so if anything it sharpened my suspicions toward looking for more signs of trouble and imagining something untoward taking place and sure enough, nearly every time this turned out to be the case.

Anyway, it's nice to know others do this as well.


@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.

From having worked with some (FBI agents) this makes sense, and makes sense overall too. Not standing out and paying attention is about the best combo for catching evidence of something funky happening without alerting anyone so it fits. Not sure if the ones I are were ISTJs though.

A challenge with an INFJ FBI profiler, might be getting others to see what you see, trying to find a way to explain the dots you have connected. You're there, gesturing emphatically: "Just look at the evidence!" Except the evidence is invisible to everyone except you.

This is also very relatable though sometimes outside of this particular context, when you're trying to show others something you clearly see and they just go "but there's nothing there, nothing's happening, there's nothing to it..." so yeah, fun times.


From my own research it makes sense why INFJs would do well at this (you all covered it pretty well) with the relevant functions and focus and sometimes it can be indicated by other let's say typing systems which would indicate the necessary aptitude even if one is of a different personality type according to the MBTI. It does seem to involve an interest in how people tick though, in the case of profilers since there is a specific mindset that's needed for someone to focus on a person's behavior in this way and try to analyze it thoroughly, including without getting bored of doing so.