Not sure if I am an INTP

[Doob]

Hello,


I discovered MBTI a few days ago while reading about introversion and did two tests (http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html and http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp) that typed me as INTP. Then I read about the functions and some INTP profiles. The profile by Paul James on intp.org describes the way I think very well but I am still not sure and would like to get some more input because I don't want to come to a premature conclusion.

English is not my first language so please don't expect me to express myself as eloquently (and grammatically correct) as you do.

I am quite sure that I am very introvert because I like being alone and I enjoy living alone during the semester without seeing anybody in real life outside of lectures. Being around people drains me and the more people there are the more they suck the energy out of me. Even living with my parents the last three weeks did that to me although they do let me alone if I want to and I can't remember an occasion where I got energy by being around people.

I am not yet familiar enough with the dichotomies and the functions to put the rest of my behaviour and thinking into those categories so the next part is just a list:

- I have a huge problem with procrastination and everytime I plan to do something in advance I don't follow it through. If I start a project I usually don't finish it because I lose interest and start another one.

- I don't like it when people tell me what I have to do or should do even if I originally like to do what they want me to do as soon as they tell me to do it I don't want to anymore.

- I have social anxiety it was quite mild when I was in kindergarten but I made a lot of bad experiences in school and now it is a lot stronger. These bad experiences also damaged my self-confidence and I doubt myself a lot.

- I prefer to think before I make decisions or talk and I don't like being rushed into making a decision.

- I like being rational.

- I can come up with countless possibilites and ways to do things (which doesn't mean they are all that practicable).

- I find it dificult to fall asleep because I can't stop thinking.

- If I am interested in something I can spend hours doing it without noticing the time flying by and I often have to force myself to stop.

- I often spend hours just sitting and thinking without seeing what my eyes are looking at.

- I loathe small talk and I don't like to make the first move when I meet someone (and can't avoid talking to them) and usually mirror the mood of the other person.

- I have a strong imagination which is usually a good thing but I had and still have problems with panic attacks. I think part of me doesn't trust my body and searches for signs of malfunction and if I find a little pain or something that doesn't work as smoothly as it could do my mind comes up with countless possibilities what it could be and my imagination fleshes them out. Then my body starts showing signs of disquiet and fear and if I don't manage to calm myself down with reason (which works most of the time) an irrational part of me literally freaks out and takes over so that it is very difficult to stay rational and calm myself down again.

- I really enjoy discussions about things I am interested in because they show me other points of views that I can take into consideration and I can also test how sound my own ideas are.

- I often find it difficult to empathise with people and I feel helpless in a lot of emotional situations.

- I don't like to upset people and the feeling of disharmony when you had an argument with someone.

- When walking around I don't notice many details and/or forget them very quickly but I always remember the overall sense/atmosphere of a location or situation.

- I like listening to a wide range of music (usually depends on my mood) and music can make me kind of emotional (that depends on the kind of music of course).

- I am not good at showing my emotions and I think a lot of people think I am cold but if I do show emotions it is more an outburst.


That is enough for now I guess.

 

[Wsye]

That sounds pretty INTPish to me.

One thing I could suggest, is dealing with it the other way. With elimination.
Read about most types and you'll end up seeing that nones describes you as much as the INTP one.
It is probably impossible to perfectly set human behaviour and personality in a 16 types system. The point is to find about the one that describes you the most.
While reading about other type, you'll see some traits where you'll go "Oh, I never do that/never even thought once about acting like that." -> It's in these times that you can rule them out.
You can probably rule out all the Exxx types already, as you seems pretty clear about your introvertive nature.

 

[Doob]

I did as you suggested and marked the parts of the profiles on personalitypage.com that I see in my behaviour and way of thinking and the parts that don't seem to fit at all.

The result is that I think I am very likely not an INFP, ISFJ, ISFP, ISTP, ISTJ or INFJ.

The INTP profile on personalitypage.com consists mostly of things I immediatly see for myself (the profile on intp.org even more so) and the rest are things I can relate to but I am not totally sure probably because I just recently started analysing and getting to know myself.

I could relate to a lot of things in the INTJ profile partly because some of them are in a way similar to the INTP profile, i.e.:

They value intelligence, knowledge, and competence, and typically have high standards in these regards, which they continuously strive to fulfill. To a somewhat lesser extent, they have similar expectations of others. - personalitypage.com

Their mind constantly gathers information and makes associations about it. They are tremendously insightful and usually are very quick to understand new ideas. - personlaitypage.com

Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ. They may see them as aloof and reserved. Indeed, the INTJ is not overly demonstrative of their affections, and is likely to not give as much praise or positive support as others may need or desire. That doesn't mean that he or she doesn't truly have affection or regard for others, they simply do not typically feel the need to express it. - personalitypage.com

But I can also relate to parts about organisation, i.e.:

They dislike messiness and inefficiency, and anything that is muddled or unclear. - personalitypage.com

INTJ's tremendous value and need for systems and organization, combined with. - personalitypage.com

This made me doubt myself again because I do like to organise for example my university notes, have a tidy flat,... and I sometimes feel overwhelmed by unclear data. On the other hand it would be boring if everything was clear and I can't keep up being organised for too long.

Maybe that is the case because I was raised in a very organised household (I suspect that my mother is J) and was taught my whole life how important it is to be tidy, make plans etc. so this might be the reason or one of the reasons why I do like and at the same time lose the motivation to be organised.

I think it is also because of:

The Ne-Ti axis also leads to a curious duality in the thinking of the INTP. The dominant Ti core tends to assume the role of a controller and organiser of his life, while the Ne behaves like a free spirit, almost childlike in its enthusiasm. The INTP tends to experience these two forces as an almost continuous tug-of-war, with neither ever quite gaining the upper hand. He is not disturbed by this duality and can view it with wistful humour. If he has been free-spiriting for any length of time, he soon feels duty bound to analyse his behaviour and systematise it. While if he has been in an analytical mode for a while, he will soon decide that he can do what he wants freely after all. It is a yo-yo situation. Generally, INTPs have a very strong requirement to keep their external, social world as simple and as uncluttered as they can so that they can focus as much energy as possible on their internal world of system analysis and theoretizing. - intp.org

So I am very likely not an INTJ either (I am not good at strategy anyway) which leaves me with the INTP.

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I hope you don't mind that I use this thread to ask another question that is not directly linked to the question in the title.

The reason why I started to analyse myself are the panic attacks I mentioned:

I have a strong imagination which is usually a good thing but I had and still have problems with panic attacks. I think part of me doesn't trust my body and searches for signs of malfunction and if I find a little pain or something that doesn't work as smoothly as it could do my mind comes up with countless possibilities what it could be and my imagination fleshes them out. Then my body starts showing signs of disquiet and fear and if I don't manage to calm myself down with reason (which works most of the time) an irrational part of me literally freaks out and takes over so that it is very difficult to stay rational and calm myself down again.

I am still not sure why exactly I started to have panic attacks and this feeling of unquiet and fear. Maybe because I always had some health issues like tons of allergies and asthma and therefor the confidence in my body was never that strong and/or because I didn't do sports in the last 1 1/2 years and/or because I sit too long in front of my pc ith the result of neck and tension problems and/or because some part of me is not happy/feels neglected or surpressed?

Anyways, could that irrational part of me that is freaking out be my Fe (assuming that I really am an INTP)?

 

[louiesgonnadie]

The fact that you mentioned you read the infamous INTP profile, but still have self doubt, suggests you definitely use Ne, and quite possibly Ti-dominance. I haven't read up on a lot of your OP though so I can't form an accurate conclusion.

See if this matches your thought process: http://personalitycafe.com/articles/57608-jungiandynamics-ti-ne-axis.html

 

[Doob]

It does in a way, I think. For example everytime I read something new about the different types I try to find out where this new piece of information might fit in the work-in-progress-model in my head and if my conclusions are still valid if the information is correct.
Then I come to the provisional conclusion that I am probably an INTP even with the new piece of information. But as soon as I find new information I start doubting my conclusion again until I processed the information. At the moment I am doubting my conclusion again because I read a bit on the INTJ (I don't have much time at the moment) and can relate to some characteristics and I am not done processing the new information.
I think I don't know enough about the functions and how they work to even be relatively sure about my type that's why I am asking for help.

 

[AzuriteCat]

I spent almost my whole semester break on reading up on MBTI, especially INTP, and I can somehow assure you that you're an INTP. The chances of you being an INTP seems to be heightened when you mentioned how you're still doubting your conclusion. I did that too and so do some other INTPs .

My suggestion is that whenever you think that you're not behaving like how an INTP should, go find out if said behavior is normal for an INTP. Do forgive me for stating the obvious but not every INTPs are going to fit into the INTP mold perfectly. Every INTPs come from different background, after all.

 

[Doob]

Yes, we might share a personality type but we all have our own personality influenced by experiences,... .

I spend most of my free time learning more about the MBTI, the different types and functions for the last month and I'm now relatively sure (although I'll probably never be 100% sure) that I'm an INTP.

 

[pjoa09]

- I often spend hours just sitting and thinking without seeing what my eyes are looking at.


You have to personally put this on the "You know you are an INTP when" thread.

I don't think I have seen it there.

I have on numerous occasions drifted away staring at someones hair. It could give mixed messages.

 

[Doob]

I have on numerous occasions drifted away staring at someones hair. It could give mixed messages.

Haha. I can imagine that.