Physical characteristics and other descriptions

[Inappropriate Behavior]

I found this site while researching INTPs and found much of this did NOT apply to me while many other descriptions of the INTP type are dead on. So I am wondering if this description is just off some or if much of this applies to many of you. The physical description is off by 100% for me but the notion lumping character traits by personality types seems illogical anyway.

So here are some of my questions:

INTPs often have a characteristic round-shouldered posture. Their necks are often not as well proportioned as other types and their heads seem to strain forwards. Their eyes have a sorrowful look about them as if they are about to be victimised in some way. Their noses are somewhat aquiline in shape which combined with often flattened cheekbones giving the false impression that their noses are large.

During conversation INTps may project their lower lips forward. INTps often show poor control of their lower jaw, allowing them to hang down. INTps normal facial expressions usually reflect wisdom and great life experience or sadness and victimisation. Although INTps are introverts, some of them may behave in a very extroverted manner.

Do these physical characteristics apply to anyone?

INTps with more developed aesthetic taste are neat and tidy. They look after their clothes which they know well how to compose and combine. When they interact with others they are softly spoken and unobtrusive, leaving others the impression that they are intelligent and educated. When asking someone for something, they usually do it in such a way as to rarely be denied.

INTps with less developed aesthetic taste usually look like they are not bothered about their appearance. Their clothes are often old and worn and their footwear may be in a bad condition. When interacting with others they may be very active, pushy and sometimes even aggressive. They often do not obey the norms of politeness and may sometime be rough and vulgar, however this behaviour usually does not last a long time.

I equate with the boldened portions of these paragraphs but if this site's description is to be believed, I am the opposite what I should be. Do either of these paragraphs apply to anyone as written?

And finally:

INTps are often active in business and commercial matters.

Not me. Any of you?

 

[IntenseBurger]

yeah.....

That physical description is nothing like me. I even checked the mirror. Plus, I never leave my mouth open and I don't project my lower lip forward.

The second part kinda fits.... ish.

And I am not in business matters

where did you find that thing anyway?

 

[Decaf]

That's Socionics, not MBTI theory. First of all, it means the last letter doesn't mean the same thing. In MBTI theory it indicates which function you extravert (we extravert our perceiving function, intuition). In Socionics the last letter indicates which function is dominant (which makes us INTjs). That means that all the introverted types have to swap their last letter to compare theories.

That being said, its a different theory based on Jung's work. I don't really agree with it, but it can be a useful outside perspective, but watch out for Soc-heads. They're a little bitter than MBTI has gotten so much more attention.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

That's Socionics, not MBTI theory. First of all, it means the last letter doesn't mean the same thing. In MBTI theory it indicates which function you extravert (we extravert our perceiving function, intuition). In Socionics the last letter indicates which function is dominant (which makes us INTjs). That means that all the introverted types have to swap their last letter to compare theories.

That being said, its a different theory based on Jung's work. I don't really agree with it, but it can be a useful outside perspective, but watch out for Soc-heads. They're a little bitter than MBTI has gotten so much more attention.

That explains it! I'm very much still the novice in discovering my personality type. I think studying MBTI vs. Socionics will be helpful. Clearly I don't know where I would fit in Socionics or even if I fit any mold at all.

I found that site researching personality types as part of character development for the book I'm TRYING to write. I wanted to make sure my characters stayed somewhat consistent within the parameters of their personalities. Unfortunately for me, the more research I do, the further off on a tangent I end up. Eventually I refocus.

 

[Decaf]

I found that site researching personality types as part of character development for the book I'm TRYING to write. I wanted to make sure my characters stayed somewhat consistent within the parameters of their personalities. Unfortunately for me, the more research I do, the further off on a tangent I end up. Eventually I refocus.

I recommend a book called "Life Types" by Sandra Hirsch and Jean Kummerow. Its one of the best resources of that type I've found and combines practical with theoretical beautifully. Seriously, if you're not getting deep into the theory, that's probably the only book you'll need.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

I recommend a book called "Life Types" by Sandra Hirsch and Jean Kummerow. Its one of the best resources of that type I've found and combines practical with theoretical beautifully. Seriously, if you're not getting deep into the theory, that's probably the only book you'll need.

Just ordered it. Thanks

 

[James Black]

I am soft-spoken, and unobtrusive, but that's mainly because it's the only "personality" related part of the description. I used to be grungy (and then gothic) type person in my youth. I am now, more of the, let's see here... "Metrosexual" from day to day, or common 'blue jeans + short sleeve shirt,' sometimes blue jeans + dress shirt, and sometimes a tie.

 

[Decaf]

I am soft-spoken, and unobtrusive, but that's mainly because it's the only "personality" related part of the description. I used to be grungy (and then gothic) type person in my youth. I am now, more of the, let's see here... "Metrosexual" from day to day, or common 'blue jeans + short sleeve shirt,' sometimes blue jeans + dress shirt, and sometimes a tie.

That's precisely why I think Socionic's "Visual Identification" is bollocks. Its precisely the kind of useless generalization that MBTI tries so hard to avoid. You end up defining your stereotypes instead of the person.

This is taken directly from the Socionics website:
"V.I. (Visual Identification) is the fastest and most reliable method of Type identification of today. It works on the principle that an inner process will always manifest itself through its outer boundaries - a sack with a brick will have a different shape than a sack with a football"

Translation: Its ok to judge a book by its cover as long as you do it using our method.

Sorry... that kind of stuff gets me worked up.

 

[Kuu]

I do think there is a small (tiny, minuscule) truth to the idea of physical manifestation, but claiming it is "the fastest and most reliable method of Type Identification" is so horribly reductionist of psychology, and a flawed idea in so many ways... one would have to be an extremely knowledgeable psychologist, with deep understanding of the complex and sometimes contradictory or parallel symbolic relationships of "appearance", and also be a mind reader to make it a somewhat reliable approach to typing........

 

[Decaf]

I do think there is a small (tiny, minuscule) truth to the idea of physical manifestation, but claiming it is "the fastest and most reliable method of Type Identification" is so horribly reductionist of psychology, and a flawed idea in so many ways... one would have to be an extremely knowledgeable psychologist, with deep understanding of the complex and sometimes contradictory or parallel symbolic relationships of "appearance", and also be a mind reader to make it a somewhat reliable approach to typing........

True, but I believe that its like gender. It only seems like a reliable indicator when you look at averages.

You talk to two people at a conference. One of them is light-hearted, makes puns and smiles a lot. The other is serious, doesn't crack as much as a grin and seems terribly uncomfortable. Which is the INTP?

How many INTPs dress to express themselves creatively? How many don't care how they dress at all? How many dress to fit in, even if the spend minimal effort doing so? Probably most fall into the last category, but I'm sure not all of us.

If you look at averages, I'm sure you'd find strong corrolations, but I just don't trust the reliability.

 

[Jordan~]

I can usually tell someone's type intuitively, anyway - it's not hard to rule out one letter at a time. Interestingly, I ususally find that Socionics descriptions and MBTI descriptions match up fairly closely, and both call me a fairly definite INT(P/p). I've noticed this for a lot of other people, too (using one of their tests, anyway) - it's a shame there's no equivalent of the Type Assistant Turbo for the MBTI, it's very handy for when you want to check someone's type quickly.

 

[Rice]

Hi. I don't know if this applies for men and women, but I'm a guy. I do not know what are the sources of this website, but more than 90% of their description on the INTPs applies for me. I am surprised how they were able to be so precise about my clothing and my eyes. A girl said there was something special about my eyes. She didn't mean to say that I had nice eyes. She said she liked them beacuse they're different. That's something I've always been curious about. How come do I have such sad-looking eyes when in fact, I'm a [relatively] positive person?

edit -
(What's the relation of all that with being an INTP?)

-My eyes - already explained.
-My neck - Disproportionally long.
-The way I dress - Stupidly casual. I have to change style. (I may look like I don't care about my clothing)
-I may act like an extroverted person. (only when I lack energy)
-My nose LOOKS large.

As for the behavior, it's more than 95% of what is said that is true.
I think I'm gonna do a little research on this..

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Let’s see now...

Big hands, nose, feet, ears, ahem
I dress well relatively well in comfortable, rugged clothes.
Forward swept shoulders and sullen eyes are caused by social abuse (e.g. high school) or spending too much time glued to a computer. I used to be like that.
Generally I think intelligent people have a very intense gaze, I know at times I can make people uncomfortable by concentrating on my focus.

A lot of this is contradictory and hit-miss; just what'd you would expect from a fortune-teller or horoscope, trying to "seem right".

 

[Kronos Zul]

I pretty much Registered just to respond to this thread.
my first try was instantly banned...
The Physical description of the INTP on the Soc site describes me pretty well, but the INTj personality Description describes me too.
Guess I'm some kind of mixture.

My nose has the appearance of being large, but isn't
My neck is huge
My shoulders are Rounded(as well as Broad)
I'm told my eyes can be sad, or look like I'm upset, when I'm not

During conversation INTps may project their lower lips forward. INTps often show poor control of their lower jaw, allowing them to hang down. INTps normal facial expressions usually reflect wisdom and great life experience or sadness and victimization.
It's actually creepy how well that describes me.


Also, Since this is my first post...
Hello, I go by Kronos and Kronos Zul on the Internet.
I'm 17, and in High school and all that other Teen stuff.
I found this forum through this page:
http://typelogic.com/intp.html
Don't really have much else to say.

 

[Decaf]

Yes, I'm going to add my discontent about VI again. The parts that have to do with how we carry ourselves (eyes, posture and some of the wardrobe) seem pretty legitimate, though reductionist. I have to say that the genetic parts like the nose, neck (unless they're talking about posture) are definitely a slippery slope. How far is that away from determining people's type by gender and skin color (which the MBTI version of type theory is firmly against). Does that mean there are more INTP jews than chinese?

 

[Jennywocky]

...The Physical description of the INTP on the Soc site describes me pretty well, but the INTj personality Description describes me too. Guess I'm some kind of mixture.

Just to clarify in case you haven't looked at Socionics much, but the types are reversed there.

iow, Socionics INTj = mbti INTP
Socionics INTp = mbti INTJ

The socionics people did not like the fact that Myers wanted to use the J/P dichotomy to describe the preference that was extroverted, they thought it should describe the primary (which for introverts is an introverted function, not the extroverted secondary which is easily observable).

 

[Kronos Zul]

Yeah, Both Socionics INTP and INTJ describe me, but in different ways.

 

[fullerene]

same... I'm about 70% INTp and 30% INTj. It's tough to tell though cause I read the descriptions off of a wiki . At first I thought I was pure INTp... but then after I got over the initial shock of it and it sunk in, I realized it wasn't all that perfect of a description at all. Neither was the INTj one, though.

It's odd, because there's no direct function correlation... which makes it tough to tell. The ILI (INTp) of socionics is Ni, Te, Si, Fe and the LII (INTj) is Ti, Ne, Fi, Se. The first function is supposed to be your strength, while the last (that i listed) is your vulnerable (that hurts you when people tell you you're using it wrong). I would think my role function (1st) is almost certainly Ti, but my vulnerable (4th) is almost certainly Fe... which puts it at a weird mix. Neither one corresponds to the INTP functions of MBTI.

Also, it says that INTj's get along best with ESFj's... and ESFj socionics are ESFJ MBTI... so... yeah. If that doesn't tell you something is "off," I don't know what would, but I only know one ESFJ of about 4 who doesn't piss me the hell off.

Needless to say, since I don't really trust the theory, I don't really trust the physical descriptions.

 

[Linsejko]

I once read a book on personology that actually hit many things right on for me and my friends, including body type- but it wasn't directly correlated to MBTI or this Soc-crap.

The physical description given in the first post is ridiculously absurd. I have broad shoulders; a strong, relatively sharp jaw; piercing, intense eyes that can also be gently (perhaps, in those times, one could see a sadness); my neck is regular enough to have never noticed it; I am a survivor/warrior in appearance much more before I am a 'victim'- I am rather athletic, energetic, or maintain a strong+reserved appearance.

The second quoted section in the first post just sounds like an INTJ to me, I relate a very little with it- as one would anticipate.

L

 

[Ermine]

I don't get how they make all those physical assumptions. None of those characteristics fit me except for my dark intense eyes, especially compared with my naturally blonde hair.

And maybe it's just the art, but I have a well developed sense of aesthetics, which I've applied to my clothing. Though they describe INTPs as fashion challenged, I am often complimented for how well I dress.

 

[Auburn]

I agree with Decaf

It is a method, but a very poor method, in my opinion, to identify an INTP. I can see some logic behind their stereotypes, but not enough to make this method official. For Example:

I can see how an illusion of a large nose can be seen in someone who has flat cheeks. I guess since typically INTPs are not too social/talkative, their cheek muscles may not be so developed, hence creating a droopy look. I wouldn't use this method though.

I can somewhat see how the rounded shoulders and long neck can be INTP characteristics. I guess since typically INTPs exercise their mind much more than their body, their body might be weaker than normal. Bad posture is directly related to weak muscles.

I can see how, in some cases, an INTP's indifference to the experior world can render them uninterested in things such as fashion/appearance. There is, however, an ace up their sleeve in the aesthetic field which, if they so chose, can be used to portray a brilliant sense in fashion.



Does any of this apply to me? not really...

 

[Calamedes]

As with Cog, this was also a hit-miss for me. SOme things were spot on, but there were many that were totally off. i.e.: I don't slouch, as I spent time in a military-style academic setting. My nose doesn't look large, it IS large, though that may have something to do with my Jewish-ness... lol. Also, I definitely do have a sense of fashion which I, like Fernando, also am complemented on. I take good care of my hair, in particular, as well and the only way that I "let myself go" is that I'll sometimes forget a meal... or 3... in pursuit of an idea. Even my boss commented on how skinny I am (in an anorexic sense) :P

 

[Agent Intellect]

i have intense eyes (once described as having the 1000 yard stare), i rarely smile, i have a slightly slouched appearance, and i dress like a hobo, so i guess some of the description fits me.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

I guess these posts on this thread pretty much prove that trying to attach typical physical characteristics to a body type is folly. I couldn't find any description that involved having no neck and got worried about me and my fellow Shrek look-alikes.
(Thanks to Decaf for pointing out the dif between MBTI and Socionics which I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own for some time yet)