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Am I an INFJ or an INTP?

6352 Views 78 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  Klaro26
I've been struggling with various types and after reading the INFJ description, on Personality Junkie decided that I related to that one the most. The only other one to even come close to that was INTP. Those were also the only two, that I related to the being "in the grip" inferior functions, with INFJ having the decided edge.

I took the PerC Cognitive functions test, and my 3 highest scores were INTP, INFJ and ENTP. I've pretty much written off that one, 'though; so I know for sure, it is between those two.

The reason I am posting this here, and not in either the Cognitive Functions or the Myers-Briggs forums; is that when I tried to explain my experience of Ni; non N doms types had no idea what I was talking about; so I would rather just get INFJ's opinions only.
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The reason I am posting this here, and not in either the Cognitive Functions or the Myers-Briggs forums; is that when I tried to explain my experience of Ni; non N doms types had no idea what I was talking about; so I would rather just get INFJ's opinions only.
Could you add a description of how you experience Ni (or link to where you have described it in a way that you feel is accurate for you?)
@TreasureTower, I just can't shake the sense that it's Ti and not Ni as your dominant. I mean, you know yourself way better than I do, so of course you're the best one to type yourself in the end.

Words get in the way, unfortunately. I wish I could really pin down in function-specific words why I get this sense. But I can't, the words seem slippery somehow. So I have to say it this way if I'm going to say it at all: INFJs have this feel to me, it's kind of a minor chord dark-ish resonance (Ni-Fe). Your feel is different. Yours is lighter, cleaner, clearer. It's not INFP, their feel/lightness is more more summer-sun-like (Fi-Ne). Yours, while similar in that it is about light, is more like a cool clarity of light (Ti-Ne?).

I don't know if this information will be useful for you. It's pretty vague and I wish I could actually link it directly to descriptions of Ni and Ti. But like I said, for me the words get in the way at that layer.

Anyway, as I said, you know yourself way better than I do, so take it with a grain of salt.
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That's plain amazing!!! :D I heard of people sensing other's types through video footage, but not yet written text. I can definitely see what you mean with "dark-ishness", that's Ni. I only recently learned more about the Jungian concept of personal and collective shadow, and I understood at once why I have always been able to sense and sometimes clearly see all that vast, endless darkness in myself. Ni allows you to do that by way of detachment, even from yourself. It's awesome.
But why is Ni dark/minor chords like that? What is the relevance of personal and/or collective shadow to it?

I feel like I have the actual perception quite clearly, but not the cognitive/analytical understanding.

PS Also: Is it just Ni? Seems like INTJs ... well, I actually don't know, does Te compensate or ... I haven't attended to whether I do or don't get this feel from INTJs.
maybe because Ni as a perception power directed inwardly sees deeper into the unconscious? and the nearer you come to the unknown, the more your Ti wants to understand and classify your perceptions. you walk deeper and deeper, and it is no wonder that sooner or later you are confronted with the bare, crude darkness that is part of each of us. if you dare go deeper, you will learn more about it and accept it as a legitimate part of yourself. NOT DENYING that darkness that everyone carries deep inside but actually seeing beauty in it makes us appear "dark and mysterious" I guess.
Not sure that actually explains how it is for me (or maybe it's more that Ni includes perceptual access to a collective unconscious so it isn't about my individual unconscious). But anyway, for sure I perceive beauty in that minor chord/darkness resonance - not like some sort of emotional beauty but perceptual beauty, like hearing music.

*musing*

And it isn't like some sort of goth-dark individual emotional thing for me at all. I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to describe the experience of having material resonate in or through me that other people seem to feel would floor them in terms of pain or intensity and I can't find a way to do it that adequately expresses how much it's NOT a personal experience for me at some really basic level. Which seems to link to this part of what you wrote in the previous comment:

Ni allows you to do that by way of detachment, even from yourself.
Though I have to say sometimes I'm not clear what's related to Ni and what's related to other aspects of how I'm made.
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Have you had similar experiences?
It seems like you're experiencing a lot of incorrect and critical external interpretation of what you like and prefer. I haven't had to deal with that kind of criticism even where I share your preferences. I myself personally don't know how closely Ni ties directly to preferences like that, but I can certainly see it contributing to not perceiving these things as negative.
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@Aquarian has expressed it herself: how she suddenly get that "a-ha" moment when everything just becomes crystal clear to her. That's the only way, I ever can feel certain of anything.
Well, that description could be one of two things:

1. Ti: When my Ti analysis finally reveals the whole picture and how its parts relate. Yes, it can feel like "everything becomes crystal clear" in that situation.

2. Ni: A resonant gut-level sense-perception of "yes this is true" that is often linked to a particular piece of information, whether a phrase or an image or other keystone.

(could you remind me where you got that from if you have the link handy? That will say more about the context)

I can also perceive from inside what I call the Ni landscape, but it's not so much a feeling of crystal clarity or "a-ha" as it is a gut level sense of ... alignment is one word for it ... in being in my most organic landscape and moving according to how it's set up (contrasted with not moving in that Ni landscape - that tends to feel/vibrate gut-level distorted).

Edited to add:

The greatest truth can only be experienced from deep from within oneself, like a revelation that completely explains everything.
Ni-level truths very seldom explain everything for me. They are pieces of layered and often metaphorical information that I sometimes don't cognitively understand at the time I receive them. the Ni landscape is a place of organic truth to me in another way, but it doesn't explain anything - it just is.
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@TreasureTower, you're convinced you're an INFJ and I am increasingly of the perspective that you're not.

As for this dialogue, for me it's like the words get all slippery and I don't have the energy to pick it apart at this point. I will say that I feel quite strongly that you're subtly misusing what I wrote, a sort of shading from Ni into Ti like a sort of shell game sleight of hand, too quick to see, and I really wish you wouldn't use it to justify your typing. I'd be happy to be wrong about the typing but I'd prefer no to have my words subtly misused like that.

I know you don't have any bad intentions but I really don't like this situation and I apologize for getting involved with this thread in the first place - I really should have known better.
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Yes! Perfect!

Notice in that quote (pasted below) that I name Ti as the function associated with crystal clarity for me, and that I contrast that with Ni, which for me is very specifically NOT about that.

Thank you!

Speaking as a Ni-dom whose Ti plays an important and distinctive role in a cycle of perception and understanding:

In my case:

Ni doesn't have words or word-based analyses for its perceptions. Its perceptions are very strong, but they often show up at the gut level. My conscious mind processes Ni perceptions as a body-based "feel," as images and/or as something akin to sound or smell or touch.

Ti is all about conscious understanding. Ti wants to bring everything into conscious view in an analytical way. When Ti is active, not only can I explain Ti insights in words or maps that are transparently accessible to my conscious mind - I have to do so. (explain to myself, at the very least, and often to others).

So where Ni perceptions take place outside of the conscious analytical mind, Ti lives in and "speaks from" that mind. Ni is like this huge bass-vibrating sphere with all these sensations inside of it, while Ti is conscious, crystal clear and very precise.

As Ni-dom/Ti-tert, I often find myself feeling something going on but unable to consciously understand it at first, and then it takes a while before I can bring it into analytical consciousness.

Ni perception doesn't require conscious understanding. At best, Ni perception can bypass the analytical mind and yield action responses at the reflex level, from the gut. At worst, Ni perception can yield sensations that are too diffuse (unsourced, imprecise in certain ways, etc) to understand as a guide for action.
PS: @Aquarian its not uncommon for an INFJ to come across as a Ti dom when writing because Ti often takes precedence as writing is an internal development process rather than an external one.
My sense-perception on this one isn't about what is coming across on the surface here. Unfortunately I tend to pick up on stuff underneath.
I'm not saying its the surface stuff. I'm saying Ti is the dictating force in the writing. Therefore, everything is tweaked by the Ti, even the Fe in the posts is tempered by it.Twitch
Except that what I perceive is the flow underneath the writing from the source (the person) - writing is the surface for me.
Leading with introverted iNtuition to detect "vibes" is foolish. It's subjective. It's symbolic but only in a way that a specific individual understands it. When you don't even fully know what it means, yet you let it make your decisions and sway your judgments so very quickly that's blatant misuse. Ask a person with anxiety how useful a "gut hunch" is. Most often, IT ISN'T. That's what reality checks are for. Trusting intuition blindly is foolish- that's not what it's for. Spending time trying to make sense of Ni in a way that is objective can fail; it often does. Zoom out and see the bigger picture, suddenly all these variables the individual didn't consider [because they didn't even SEE them] apply- they always applied, but in that individual's mind they don't apply until that moment of swimming back to the surface of the ocean desperate for air. Keep trying to breathe that water, you'll inevitably drown.
Hahahahaha!

I didn't realize it but apparently YOU are the voice in my head that's been encouraging me to doubt my gut level perception all these decades. Dude, you've caused me a lot of unnecessary pain and strife! Why don't you mind your own business and get out of my head already - I mean, you have really overstayed your welcome - and focus your name-calling disrespect of Ni (actually, Ni-Se) elsewhere than inside my freaking head.

But seriously: Truth in my experience is this: Acting from my gut intuition, Ni (I think more properly, Ni-Se) is actually a really great way to move if it's trusted and honed. My problem has been distrusting and not openly working with (rather than berating myself with the kind of BS above) this marvelous source of information about what is going on around me.

But what's that saying ... "your mileage may vary."
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You proved my point.

Your truth is your truth.

That's it.

In the effort of extending your truth to others, you may find that your truth ends where another person's truth begins.

You can be upset by it.

You can grow through it.

You can acknowledge the limitations and become even better with your intuition than ever before.

Your choice.
You're on on a very particular path in your comments to others and about discussions on this site lately, Sweetish. I've been noticing it in passing and now it's kind of in my face from this dialogue. From my vantage point, I can't imagine how it could feel good inside to be in the space that would yield what you've been bringing lately, but maybe for you it does feel good.

For your sake, I hope it is truly well for you to be doing what you've been doing on this site lately.
I have already tried on INFP and INTP and am not convinced that either fits; so I will now try INFJ and see how it feels over time. I've realized that that is the only way, I can possibly know for sure. If I had waited to choose my E type when I was 100% certain; I still would be clueless about that. This is my process and I can only explain after the fact - if even then. All I know, is that unlike putting down a mortgage, I can always change my mind. I might wind up sticking with it or I may go back to INTP, but if I do that now; I will always be unsure.
Yay! This is a wonderful and for me much-needed (for clarity) description of your process! I think I've been responding partly to how you move in the trying-on mode. Yeah, this brings what's been happening into very clear view for me. Thank you thank you thank you. I think this explains a lot I've been sensing but unable to understand.

As I'm understanding it now: You need to figure it out by doing/experience and attending to the experience-based information that emerges in that process. Grounding understanding in experience - very inductive. I get it. It's not my way of moving in terms of applying a conceptual model for this kind of understanding, because "trying something on" like that like that would either resonate wrong at the depths, pull or commit me to a depth that would be hard for me to get out of, or some other sticky shit. I am able to hold conceptual tools lightly, but I discard whatever pieces don't fit rather quickly as I hone in to what fits best, rather than trying something on like you describe.

I just checked with my my INFP and she said she would never do something like this either. Seems to come from her confidence in her sense of self (which I associate Fi-dom).

We both have the same basic reaction which is: HOW you're doing this may be the key to your type, in the end.

Anyway, you have given me a mini Ti-gasm with this information and I am grateful for it, thank you.
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