infjs generally know more about themselves than any other type

I'm not sure we know more about ourselves than any other type. I think we might question ourselves more than any other type though.
"Who am I?" and "Who are we?" are my biggest ongoing questions and it runs like a current under everything I do.
 
I think INFPs fit that category more eccentric.
 
I never met the guy. :)
 
I find INFJ's to be refreshingly open to self-scrutiny in the general. I really love their need for authenticity (which requires self knowledge). But all people have things they're ready to see and things they are not, and stories they tell themselves in the meantime. I find the trap INFJ's face (at times, of course) is an emotional attachment to the story, or to a way in which they've come to define themselves. In those cases it's difficult for them to let go of the attachment to become objective, and in the worst case they can become resentful of the person who 'made' them see it, feeling persecuted.

I'd say INFJ's definitely have a leg up on introspection, but I wouldn't say they're necessarily the leaders in the department.
 
I would not go so far as to say they ARE the type that know themselves the best, but that they have a great capacity for it. Because Ni is there dominate function (which largely relates to introspection) INFJ's will inturn question themselves and try to figure themselves out more then other types might tend to do. This doesn't mean though that they will "get" themselves or get it right for that matter. And they could simply be so complex that they will never fully understand themselves.
 
I wouldn't say we know ourselves best, but we definitely try the hardest to define ourselves. The INFJ group on facebook has 2000 people, more than any other MBTI type. The biggest ESFP group only has 100 people, even though they're much more common.
 
That's because we are special. And we know how to communicate with our own kind. We see value in all things where others just see. Or do they? I see being an infj as a split personality at times I am hot like magma one one day and cold as ice the other. Being an infj can be a curse and a blessing. I would rather be who I am than be someone else.
 
AntoniaDodge said:
I find INFJ's to be refreshingly open to self-scrutiny in the general. I really love their need for authenticity (which requires self knowledge). But all people have things they're ready to see and things they are not, and stories they tell themselves in the meantime. I find the trap INFJ's face (at times, of course) is an emotional attachment to the story, or to a way in which they've come to define themselves. In those cases it's difficult for them to let go of the attachment to become objective, and in the worst case they can become resentful of the person who 'made' them see it, feeling persecuted.

I'd say INFJ's definitely have a leg up on introspection, but I wouldn't say they're necessarily the leaders in the department.
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Great post, AntoniaDodge; I agree with what you've said. :smile:

I think any type has the potential to know themselves well, provided that the person has a healthy amount of self-awareness, and has spent time doing the right work to know who their authentic self really is.
 
Look at how big this forum is compared to the other brain types. The only other forum i've heard of is the INTJ one. I think it's obviously an introverted trait to be introspective, and more of an intuitive feature as well. So it's definitely one of the four INxx types, but as far as feelings go I think INFJ's are the best at understanding their emotions while the N thinkers are best at a more philosophical understanding of themselves (mainly non emotional and hard to explain), but they are particularly focused on understanding abstract concepts in the world in areas such as philosophy, art, music and sciences.

I think that any type has the ability to know themselves well, but INxx is more inclined to care and be interested in introspection.
 
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I read in David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates, Please Understand Me: Character &Temperament Types that

"How can I become the person I really am?" asks the NF. He hungers for self-actualisation, to be and to become real. To be what he is meant to be and to have an identity which is uniquely his. His endless search most often causes him guilt, believing that his real self is somehow less than it ought to be. And so he wanders, sometimes spiritually, sometimes psychologically, sometimes physically, seeking to satisfy his hunger for unity and uniqueness, to become self actualised into a perfect whole and to have an identity which is perfectly unique, even though the paths in search of self are never clearly marked.
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To really find our identities, and what our purpose is, we must delve inside, and discover ourselves. And from reading the above quote I guess it's clear that NFs do this more than any other type.
 
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Or maybe we know the most of ourselves because as we've grown we all understood that there were things about ourselves that didn't seem to fit in.

So because we don't know better we think we are 'weird' or that 'something is wrong' with us because we can't be like the mainstream without causing ourselves discomfort.

Then all of a sudden we are introduced to Meyers Briggs, we find our type...we learn about our type and the lights come on!

Holy Sheet! We REALLY are normal! And we are uncommon....which is why we all seem to be alone in our little universes.

Don't know bout any of ya'll. Reading about INFj's really brought me to peace with somethings about myself. I understand myself better, and am learning to communicate those needs effectively with my spouse. He's a little slow on the uptake, but it's like training any sort of semi-intelligent animal. Lots of repetition and rewards for desired behaviors.
 
Zanshin said:
Look at how big this forum is compared to the other brain types. The only other forum i've heard of is the INTJ one. I think it's obviously an introverted trait to be introspective, and more of an intuitive feature as well. So it's definitely one of the four INxx types, but as far as feelings go I think INFJ's are the best at understanding their emotions while the N thinkers are best at a more philosophical understanding of themselves (mainly non emotional and hard to explain), but they are particularly focused on understanding abstract concepts in the world in areas such as philosophy, art, music and sciences.

I think that any type has the ability to know themselves well, but INxx is more inclined to care and be interested in introspection.
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I think I agree with your assessment of the NF's vs. NT's. I tend to take as objective as possible a look at myself when I'm being introspective, and have had to carefully cultivate my emotional understanding. Which has been both painstaking and ridiculously complicated at times.

However, I would say that the forum traffic of 'I' sites vs. 'E' sites could boil down to 'I's enjoying the less taxing interaction of Cyber Space, whereas 'E's' are far more likely to be out cultivating interaction in Meat Space. I'm not sure it correlates to introspection.
 
alcyone said:
Or maybe we know the most of ourselves because as we've grown we all understood that there were things about ourselves that didn't seem to fit in.

So because we don't know better we think we are 'weird' or that 'something is wrong' with us because we can't be like the mainstream without causing ourselves discomfort.

Then all of a sudden we are introduced to Meyers Briggs, we find our type...we learn about our type and the lights come on!

Holy Sheet! We REALLY are normal! And we are uncommon....which is why we all seem to be alone in our little universes.

Don't know bout any of ya'll. Reading about INFj's really brought me to peace with somethings about myself. I understand myself better, and am learning to communicate those needs effectively with my spouse. He's a little slow on the uptake, but it's like training any sort of semi-intelligent animal. Lots of repetition and rewards for desired behaviors.
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I pretty much agree with a lost of posts, including this one.
 
I'd say we're one of the most introspective types, if not the most. I don't know if on average we know ourselves better than others but what I'm pretty sure of is that our potential for self-knowledge is almost endless. I think a healthy, experienced INFJ (not that easy to find mind you) will be introspective but at the same time detached enough from self-judgement to be able to know themselves and accept who they are completely, making way for incredible growth.

I agree with Ni being the key for introspection. I would say INTJs might be more objective than we are about themselves, and less likely to fall into the trap of trying to turn themselves into an idealized, romanticized idea of what they are, but I'd say when we manage to go beyond this temptation we can then become more enlightened. I lack a better word. What I mean is that once we reach that level I think we have an incredible power to transmit this to other people and help them in turn becoming more just with themselves, our introspection can serve other people.

edit : I would also say that reaching that level, the concept of introspection probably takes a very different meaning too. It wouldn't be so much looking for yourself as letting Ni reveal itself to you.
 
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I agree because we spend too much time analyzing and picking apart every single aspect of everything. I don't think its a good thing though...we can get lost in our realities which not be the reality according to those on the out side. They might see ourselves differently than we see us...so we are still in a bind.
 
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