What type do you think you come across as? | INFJ Forum

What type do you think you come across as?

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Jan 24, 2009
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I've just had a revelation of sorts. Recently I noticed I become more of an ISTJ at work (and ESTJ when overly stressed), but I've done more thinking into how I come across in other contexts. I think 60% of the time I still come off as ISTJ (an unhealthy/awkward one mind you), even in casual situations. The rest is regular INFP like when I'm posting here or ENFP when I'm around good friends... or drunk... pfft same thing.

For a long time I had this feeling that I wasn't myself, but I could never really put my finger on what was causing me to not be myself, or what "myself" was in the first place. Sorry I can't really explain this better. When I discovered MBTI and settled on INFP as my type it was a step closer but there was still some uncertainty. INFP made sense to me, but for some reason I still didn't feel comfortable in myself. I thought I felt too stressed as an INFP for it to be my natural type, that I may naturally have been ENFP, and some circumstance had caused me to become incredibly defensive and reclusive, thus to behave as an introvert. This came when I noticed a correlation in behaviour and mood. When I was extroverting (as an ENFP), I was happy and jovial, and while I was introverting I was just the opposite. For a time I thought that extroverting is what made me happy. In reality it was backwards; being happy is what made me behave extrovertedly.

My parents tell me even at a young age that I was a quiet person, so before I had this revelation I thought whatever may have happened must have happened really young. With this knowledge that I come off as ISTJ it means that this is not the case. There was no trauma that caused me to be introverted, I just was. The feeling that I wasn't being myself was coming from the fact I was behaving as an ISTJ rather than and INFP. It is apparent to me that I think as and feel like an INFP so that's why it made sense to me, but I hadn't really thought about how I was acting or came off to others until recently.

Perhaps it is no surprise then that my best friend with whom I share a lot in common with is ISTJ, at least he comes off as one. Maybe he is INFP on the inside as well. I'll have to tell him about MBTI.

So how did my ISTJ side develop and take over in certain social contexts? I think my ISTJ persona is an over-zealous defence mechanism; a way for me to hide/protect my real self from others. I was reading a few threads here about bullying and was going to make a reply outlining how I was bullied but it didn't affect me; how I just ignored it rah rah rah... but that is my ISTJ right there! I think bullying, or any instance where I predicted I would get hurt would bring about my clinical and robotic ISTJ side to either give people impressions that my feelings weren't hurt or maybe to distract them with a different personality. I don't know, but now it's just become a force of habit in any situation where I leave myself even slightly vulnerable.

I feel I am a roasted marshmallow: hardened on the outside by my environment, yet still warm, sweet and gooey on the inside. :love:

This might have impeded my growth as an INFP. I would have neglected my Fi and certainly my Ne. I have become a prisoner of the walls that I used to keep others out of my emotional space. Now I want to break from the ISTJ binds that inhibit me from being my true self around others. On the other hand I suppose it has taught me to really appreciate my primary functions.

I don't want to abandon the ISTJ side of me entirely however. I don't think any type is better than another. On the contrary: I want to control it. I want to invoke the ISTJ when the context best calls for it, and banish it when it doesn't. I think harnessing this side of me is fundamental to my success as a human being to say the least. The combination of INFP ambition and ISTJ work-ethic I believe can make for a powerful force.

Anyway that's enough of me for now. Tell me about you.
 
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People have told me several times that I am Extroverted, and definetly a sensitive feely person. So the E and F, I am certain of :)

THAT IS a really interesting theory, and it applies on me to now that I think about it. When I am happy, I am extroverted and when I am sad, I am introverted. It is amazing how many sides a person can have, although when it comes down to it, mbti is a device to be able to adress weaknessess and try to develope them. ^^
 
I come across probably as an INTJ to people that first meet me, especially when I don't know anyone and don't have to be warm or social. My Ti is very strong, and I've been around enough NTs all my life...I even thought I might have really been INTJ for a while, but I know I'm not now.

I also might come across as INFP to people that know me just a bit and see mostly my spontaneous, crazy side.

I could also see how some people could see me as an extroverted type in some social situations where I have to be "charismatic" or act in a political manner. So, ENFJ.
And I could see how someone might take me as an SP type, especially when I'm around my ESTP friend's friends, or when I'm feel fashionable.


So basically, I'm kind of a chameleon; who I appear to be depends mostly on the situation I'm in. I'm definitely INFJ on the inside, and people who come to know me are aware of that. But, I'm able to put on a pretty convincing face when the situation calls for it.
 
People have though I was an ISTJ, INTJ, and ENFJ.
 
INTP.

My general slobbiness, procrastination, and developed Ti give me that classic "absent minded professor" look that is most often associated with INTPs.

I've also been accused of being an INTJ and an INFP.
 
INTP.

My general slobbiness, procrastination, and developed Ti give me that classic "absent minded professor" look that is most often associated with INTPs.

I've also been accused of being an INTJ and an INFP.


I would definetly agree on the T although Te as opposed to Ti, but I think that when the Fe comes out you are nice :)
 
im an infj, but i think i come across as being much colder than i am. i emote my feelings, but keep people at a distance, as need be.

more of an sfj at work, either esfj, or isfj. live in the moment sort of thing. if one can ever change type...
 
Amidst times of chaos in which I border on being out of a job, homeless or physically assaulted, I kick up the 'J' quite a bit. But it's not natural to me.

I resent structure and order, nothing makes me feel more stifled... though in "today's modern dog-eat-dog work a day world of scientists, diplomats, [and] Mc Salad Shakers" it is necessary to have a plan of action to avoid such things as homelessness etc.
 
Probably IxTJ untill I grow to trust you (could take years) and then I am like a bubbly ESFP.
 
I think I sometimes come off as ENFJ and when I'm down I think I come off as INFP.
 
Hmm didn't think about mood dependence. This is my interepretation of how I could be seen depending on moods.

Normal / with good friends: INFJ
Excitable mood (possibly drunk): ENFP
Bad mood: INTJ
Stressed/flustered: ISTJ
Leadership mode: ENFJ
 
I come across as insane :D

thats one of the great things about being an INFJ. No one really know what the hells going on with you. People think me E and I sometimes just shut up be my nice I self just to screw around with them :D People supposedly think I'm P as I can change my plans at the very last moment but they dont see that thats 'cause I've already planned the goal in advance and that the change wouldnt affect it. If it would, I wouldnt change. Anyway, I can seem all sorts of types, even to my close friends, especially when something funny is going on. I can just "change" without warning.
 

I don
't think people around me know much about typing, although one girl who did thought I might be an INTP. I work with stats all day so I guess people take me for a brainiac.

To the OP, I don't think it is necessary to focus so much on being a specific type as discovering who you are. If you figure out what you like, what you want to do and how you want to interact with people then you can place a label on it if you want but as long as it's authentic it can only be good. I heard that a person's personality doesn't really settle until they're 30 anyways so you've got plenty of time to figure yourself out.

Instead of getting a personality type, I'd love to get a mutant power!!! I'm thinking Iceman from the X-Men.
 
I act like an ESTP in school. I always find unusual pranks to do, like scratching the desk ALL THE WAY THROUGH with makeshift drills, or signing my name on the bathroom log as "arnold mudkips" (nsfw explanation: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/David_Mudkips), or adding fake elements to the periodic table hanging in the hallway.

Keeps me from getting bored at school, I guess...
 
To the OP, I don't think it is necessary to focus so much on being a specific type as discovering who you are. If you figure out what you like, what you want to do and how you want to interact with people then you can place a label on it if you want but as long as it's authentic it can only be good. I heard that a person's personality doesn't really settle until they're 30 anyways so you've got plenty of time to figure yourself out.

Oh I don't want to be INFP just for the sake of it and try to conform to that type. It's just it to summarise who I think I am and can be.
 
I'd seem like either an INT of sorts, or an INF. Different people tend to see different qualities in me. I don't show a lot of people my N (I got in trouble a lot for that when I was a kid), so some people will simply see me as an IT.
 
I act like an ESTP in school. I always find unusual pranks to do, like scratching the desk ALL THE WAY THROUGH with makeshift drills, or signing my name on the bathroom log as "arnold mudkips" (nsfw explanation: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/David_Mudkips), or adding fake elements to the periodic table hanging in the hallway.

Keeps me from getting bored at school, I guess...

You're an SP! :shocked: