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ISTP or INTP? Or a different type whatsoever? I'd like an extra opinion plz

2385 Views 22 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  Functianalyst, 
A
Hi. I've been thinking a lot about my life and career goals lately and so I came across certain books that mentioned the personality types. I took the test several times.
The result was mostly ISTP, sometimes INTP and once, for some reason, ESTJ and ESTP.

E or I.
The personality type test almost always classified me as an introvert, so I decided to go with it.
However, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire repeatedly calls me an ambivert (A is sort of between E and I or 50/50) and sometimes even an extravert. Most I-people I know think I'm an E-person, but most E-people I know consider me to be an I-person. I'm not much into parties, but during my student years I enjoyed public speaking.

S or N.
This is the most actual question for me. On one hand, I'm a physical kind of person. I enjoy good food, I recognize and remember smells, I love massage, I have a sort of physical awareness - I'm very rarely clumsy, I don't run into people or furniture, etc. I get bored with theory. My fantasies always involve some kind of action. When I was a child, even though I'm a girl, I dreamed of becoming a policeman or a vampire hunter, the role model I admired was Xena the Warrior Queen. :)
On the other hand, I've never really done a lot of action. As a child, I wasn't very good at PE (except swimming, volleyball and long distance running), I tried dancing and figure skating and never really got into either. I wasn't on any kind of team. I've never even visited a gym. The idea of repeated exercising just bores me. I sometimes have fantasies about yachting or rock climbing but I can find a dozen reasons for myself why I don't actually do it.
My education had nothing to do with action either: Economics and Marketing. I got quickly disappointed with the 'sit in the office all day staring at the computer" idea, went through some freelancing, including web design (interesting but not sure I'm creative enough to do it for a long time), translating (booooring), etc. I now work for a search engine, analyzing the specifics of customer behaviour. Once again, a zero action boring job which I like only because I can work from home and choose my own working hours. (And work on a fantasy novel on the side, which is full of battles, heh).

Anyway, not trying to change it into a 'help me with my job' thread. :) Just explaining my S - N confusion.

T or F.
I'm 90 percent sure on this one - T. I'm a cool-headed, analytical person, I was even told I tend to over-rationalize things.

P or J.
Leaning mostly towards P.

Some more stuff about me, just skip it if you are already bored. :) It's mostly a more detailed look into what I said above.

I tend to be more introverted when it comes to personal interaction. I behave more like an extrovert when it's all about business or just something impersonal. At the same time, I'm not exactly shy, I sometimes talk to complete strangers, I have good social skills when I want to (though I can get bored easily). I tend to be rather straight-forward, for example, I'm not into flirting, even though it can be amusing when a man does that to me, I just reply directly, without word games. I find social networks boring, same goes for small talk. At the same time, just sitting at home talking to no one can get boring, too. I like internet communications partially because they let me choose the time without making plans, you either open your ICQ or you don't, on a whim. At the same time, I like going out for some good food and interesting conversation.

I tend to be very confident when it comes to my mind, but much less confident when it comes to my sports skills. It's like I value more being, say, athletic (which I'm not) than being smart. At the same time, I'm confident about things I do with my hands, like cooking (can't say I love it, but I'm a natural) or home made aromatherapy concoctions (I helped some friends with skin problems by making special lotions for them, even though I'm not a certified specialist, I learned it myself and experimented on myself). But, for example, tennis... when I think about trying it and being bad at it, I feel uncomfortable. Like everyone will laugh at me. But failing at a chem lab doesn't scare me the same way. Who cares, it's not important, I can do better next time.

I'm not an agressive person, but I'm also not a peacemaker or a pacifist. I tend to reason with rather than ask for, and if a conflict arises, I'm more likely to get bold than to try calming everyone down. I'm not actively trying to become a leader (too lazy for that), but sometimes I find myself taking charge, especially when a situation isn't to my liking. I get furious when people try to pressure me into something, I don't have a submissive bone in my body. I won't say "You are hurting my feelings", if I'm offended, I'm more likely to say "Apologize right now" or "Shut up!"
But in everyday life I'm a calm, rather easy-going person.

I keep a cool head in all kinds of situations, including some rather dangerous ones. On the other hand, I sometimes feel like I need to be more in touch with my emotions.

I like nature, I'm honest, thus I'm not evil, lol... but I'm more sentimental than kind. I can be sensitive about a few things that are important to me, but I often find myself to be more thick-skinned than people around me. I also have a tendency to carry grudges, if a person did something nasty to my or my friends, I'll never forget and never forgive.

I like hearing about new experiences or just getting interesting information, but I'm not the type who is learning things just for fun. I learned a foreign language because I thought I was going to use it in my work. I won't spend every evening reading nonfiction books. I'd prefer to talk about it to people who are doing the stuff. Or I'd read an article or two. Or one book, ok. Maybe.
In fact, even though studying wasn't difficult for me, I never liked too much being a student. Now when I think about changing a career, the idea of going back to uni for several years... urh, not really inspiring.

I'm curious by nature, but also careful. Probably because I tend to employ a realistic approach.

I like good food, clothes that feel good against the skin. I can't imagine how some people are able to eat without noticing or caring about the taste or they don't know whether they are cold or warm. I always know how my clothes fit. I can't say I'm crazy about fashion or looks, but I have a personal style, I know how I want to look and I know what to do to get there. At the same time, I'm too lazy for elaborate efforts like a full face makeup or white clothes. I can do it right, but I choose to do it only for special occasions.

I can be indecisive if there are too many possibilities, partially because I'm not good at analyzing them (projecting them into the future, thinking about long term), and partially because I can start feeling like I'm probably missing on a better thing by settling on a certain one. I like to keep my options open. I'd even say I have a bit of a commitment problem. I always want to know I can change my mind and make a different choice. I get bored easily by routine work. If I need to pay a lot of attention to small details during a long time, I'll get distracted.

I'm not a workaholic (not sure if it's because I'm not in love with my job, though), I like having free time. I feel frustrated when there is a routine demanding me to be busy with the same things for long periods of time, all day, every day.

So. This is where the conclusion starts.

I feel like ISTP is a sort of a person that I'd like to be. I'm reading the description and thinking, ah, it's so cool to be this doer, this policeman, pilot, firefighter, paramedic, steelworker who also loves skydiving and rally driving in the wilderness in her free time, and I'm this lazy girl who can't probably hitchhike for more than a day without wanting to get back to her soft bed and hot dinner.
But for being an INTP I seem to be not interested enough in the stuff that's supposed to be interesting. I don't feel satisfied.

So... am I an INTP who sort of dreams about being a different type, an ISTP who hasn't completely found herself yet, or something entirely different that has no idea what it is. :) I'm asking here because I need an external opinion, and none of my friends have any idea about this system. I know you can't just type me by taking a look at this post, but maybe something will jump out at you, give you some ideas - and your thoughts, in turn, will make me look at this in a different light or get some new ideas, too.
Thanks in advance.
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H
MBTI is about personality... and more specifically, about how your mind works. So while ISTPs might be often physically adept, it won't always be the truth. What's more important is what functions you are using, and that affects what is important to you. Se will be more about physical things, sensations and etc.

Personally, you sound very ISTP to me. If it makes you feel better, I have two ISTPs I've known that weren't super sporty. The first.. He likes sports, but he was never the fastest/best, and he certainly has had his clumsy moments. The other that I know actually doesn't care for physical activity much at all, but he's very choosy about the quality of things in his life (he wears nice clothes, drinks nice alcohol, etc). Plus, the fact that you get bored with theory... I would be surprised if you were an INTP and saying that!
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P
Your not an extreme extrovert nor introvert, in the popular sense of the word.

Being confident on T, makes this likely to be your dominant function. If your Sensing is second and extraverted. Your thinking will be Introverted, as your type in general. This could account for your being analytical.

As for S/N you could be Extraverted Sensing. Assuming this is your second function, explains why you were not into PE as a child, since the auxiliary is developed later than the dominant function. If you did not have the right opportunities to develop the skills and/or experience doing the things that you now feel you want to be able to do, then your second function would be less developed in that particular area. If so, I guess this also can make you feel stuck inside your own world, if you are not able to use your Extraverted Sensing, relating to things outside of yourself and having new experiences.

Tentative conclusion: ISTP.

Hope that helps...
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V
Extraversion:
The problem with determining whether you are extravert or introvert lies in that most people use a common definition of extraversion as somebody who is very interested in socializing and going to parties and generally being with people. This is not the correct definition, however, and it makes T-type extraverts suspect that they might be introverts. Extraversion is simply desire to interact with environment around you, and whether or not that environment includes people in it is irrelevant. The 'social butterfly' definition of extraversion works for F-type extraverts because for F-types find people and relationships interesting, so if they are extraverting most likely they will be spending that time with other people. But T-type extraverts are not very interested in people. Hence their extraversion may simply consist of going out rock climbing or going out to a store completely by themselves to purchase new gadget that just came out. This is interaction with environment but not in the way that includes other people. You can read more about introversion and extraversion here:

Orienting
Cocooning-vs.-Conforming Exegesis
Fundamental Nature of the MBTI

In general extraverts:
-Act first, think/reflect later
-Feel deprived when cutoff from interaction with the outside world
-Usually open to and motivated by outside world
-Enjoy wide variety and change in people relationships
Introverts:
-Think/reflect first, then Act
-Regularly require an amount of "private time" to recharge batteries
-Motivated internally, mind is sometimes so active it is "closed" to outside world
-Prefer one-to-one communication and relationships
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Heather
In this way I think I'm an S, because I definitely value physical sensations. Though I have an active imagination, too, but I often imagine physical things in my fantasies, if it's possible to phrase it that way.

I like some theory if I can apply it. It doesn't mean I'll immediately apply it to real life, but, for example, if I come across a book on landscape designing, I'll ask myself "do you plan to become a landscape designer" before reading it. If I don't plan on doing it, I won't have a lot of interest about learning it.
At the same time, I sometimes rely on theoretical knowledge to make decisions about things. Such as, when I considered trying certain sports, I used to watch videos as a first step in deciding whether I would engage in them. Wouldn't a true S simply run out and pick up a snow board? :)

penchant
Yes, you said it well. I feel a sort of a need to use Se more, and yet I feel sort of underconfident about it. On the other hand, as my friend recently said, I seem to set up a higher Se "goal" than some other people would. Like considering taking up mountain biking rather than jogging in a park. Thinking about martial arts rather than a fitness class.

vel
What would an introvert do then? I mean, solitary outside activites like going to a store alone seem like a rather introverted thing to do. I often go out this way, take a walk around the historical center of city, go to a restaurant with a book or just look at the people and the buildings. I thought the very fact I wasn't doing it with five more people to keep me company sure made me an introvert. xD

Thanks for the links. I've read all the articles and it now seems to be that I sometimes react in one way and sometimes in a different way.
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Arctis said:
Thanks for the links. I've read all the articles and it now seems to be that I sometimes react in one way and sometimes in a different way.
Click to expand...
You will react sometimes one way and other times another way because no one person is just extravert or introvert. If you look at ENTP function order it goes Ne-Ti-Fe-Si so as you can see it is a mix of extraverted and introverted functions. Extraverts simply have a dominant extraverted function which makes them want to extravert more, but it is unhealthy for extraverts to always be extraverting just as it is unhealthy for introverts to be introverting all the time.

Arctis said:
What would an introvert do then? I mean, solitary outside activites like going to a store alone seem like a rather introverted thing to do. I often go out this way, take a walk around the historical center of city, go to a restaurant with a book or just look at the people and the buildings. I thought the very fact I wasn't doing it with five more people to keep me company sure made me an introvert. xD
Click to expand...
Introversion doesn't do anything with the environment. It happens any time you sit and think to yourself, whenever you retreat inside your mind and not interact with anything. Instead of monitoring how many people you have around you, monitor for a couple of hours how often your attention and focus are directed to objects, events, people, and idea coming from the outside and how often you get pulled into your mind, and your focus is directed inside. The switch between the two states is the switch between extraversion and introversion and it may happen instantly and multiple times during those few hours you'll be monitoring yourself, as your introverted and extraverted functions are working in cohesion. Extraverts will do more of the former, introverts will do more of the later.
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M
I would say ISTJ...
Si Te Fi Ne

I would say definitely not INTP
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M
Even if I am extraverting I am still an introvert when I do so.
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OrangeAppled
I vote ISTP also. I don't see any sign of INTP in this.
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M
Is it to late to retract my last opinion.....

Even though I kinda don't want to.
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H
Arctis said:
Heather
In this way I think I'm an S, because I definitely value physical sensations. Though I have an active imagination, too, but I often imagine physical things in my fantasies, if it's possible to phrase it that way.

I like some theory if I can apply it. It doesn't mean I'll immediately apply it to real life, but, for example, if I come across a book on landscape designing, I'll ask myself "do you plan to become a landscape designer" before reading it. If I don't plan on doing it, I won't have a lot of interest about learning it.
At the same time, I sometimes rely on theoretical knowledge to make decisions about things. Such as, when I considered trying certain sports, I used to watch videos as a first step in deciding whether I would engage in them. Wouldn't a true S simply run out and pick up a snow board? :)
Click to expand...
Haha, your "theories" are cute. :happy: The way you described thinking of things is very S to me. For example, if I came across a book on landscape designing, whether or not I was planning on becoming a landscape designer is not the only thing I'd considered about reading it. I would read it anyways, because I'm thinking of all the crazy possibilities - well what if I do decide to design some landscape when I own twenty acres someday? What if I could apply this to how I decorate my room? Is there any kind of landscape designs I could learn about in this book and recognize from my own neighborhood/town? Then I would be wondering about who exactly hires a landscape designer, what landscape designers are like/how they think, and wondering what "natural" things in towns are actually designed, etc...

Then I would pick up the book and read it, because even though I will never be a landscape designer, all these possibilities made me interested. It's very S to see it so simply as whether or not it applies directly to your life. As an intuitive, I'm always making connections from very far off and random ideas, so that something as far away from my life as landscape design could suddenly be something very pivotal and interesting to me. That's pretty much my Ne in action - possibilities and connections and all that - which you would have as an INTP.

So I still think you're an ISTP. Being a sensor doesn't mean you can't understand and apply theory to your life.. I think that "theory" isn't the clearest way to distinguish an intuitive from a sensor. But sensors are definitely more concrete and grounded in facts from direct experiences in their thinking, whereas an intuitive would be more likely to love something they've never used or don't imagine using (like landscape design) on a theory alone. A sensor would say, "I've never designed a landscape, and I won't ever. What's the point of reading that book?" Which you kind of did. :tongue:
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P
Arctis said:
penchant
Yes, you said it well. I feel a sort of a need to use Se more, and yet I feel sort of underconfident about it. On the other hand, as my friend recently said, I seem to set up a higher Se "goal" than some other people would. Like considering taking up mountain biking rather than jogging in a park. Thinking about martial arts rather than a fitness class.
Click to expand...
That makes a lot of sense...

Heather said:
Haha, your "theories" are cute. :happy: The way you described thinking of things is very S to me. For example, if I came across a book on landscape designing, whether or not I was planning on becoming a landscape designer is not the only thing I'd considered about reading it. I would read it anyways, because I'm thinking of all the crazy possibilities - well what if I do decide to design some landscape when I own twenty acres someday? What if I could apply this to how I decorate my room? Is there any kind of landscape designs I could learn about in this book and recognize from my own neighborhood/town? Then I would be wondering about who exactly hires a landscape designer, what landscape designers are like/how they think, and wondering what "natural" things in towns are actually designed, etc...

Then I would pick up the book and read it, because even though I will never be a landscape designer, all these possibilities made me interested. It's very S to see it so simply as whether or not it applies directly to your life. As an intuitive, I'm always making connections from very far off and random ideas, so that something as far away from my life as landscape design could suddenly be something very pivotal and interesting to me. That's pretty much my Ne in action - possibilities and connections and all that - which you would have as an INTP.

So I still think you're an ISTP. Being a sensor doesn't mean you can't understand and apply theory to your life.. I think that "theory" isn't the clearest way to distinguish an intuitive from a sensor. But sensors are definitely more concrete and grounded in facts from direct experiences in their thinking, whereas an intuitive would be more likely to love something they've never used or don't imagine using (like landscape design) on a theory alone. A sensor would say, "I've never designed a landscape, and I won't ever. What's the point of reading that book?" Which you kind of did. :tongue:
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Brilliant post!!! Thanks! :happy:
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Arctis said:
I like some theory if I can apply it. It doesn't mean I'll immediately apply it to real life, but, for example, if I come across a book on landscape designing, I'll ask myself "do you plan to become a landscape designer" before reading it. If I don't plan on doing it, I won't have a lot of interest about learning it.
At the same time, I sometimes rely on theoretical knowledge to make decisions about things. Such as, when I considered trying certain sports, I used to watch videos as a first step in deciding whether I would engage in them. Wouldn't a true S simply run out and pick up a snow board? :)
Click to expand...
Heather said:
Haha, your "theories" are cute. :happy: The way you described thinking of things is very S to me. For example, if I came across a book on landscape designing, whether or not I was planning on becoming a landscape designer is not the only thing I'd considered about reading it. I would read it anyways, because I'm thinking of all the crazy possibilities - well what if I do decide to design some landscape when I own twenty acres someday?
Click to expand...
This bit actually sounds very familiar to me. Whenever I pick up a book I estimate relevance of its contents to my own persona. And I'm an intuition dominant :happy: Thus I would not take this as an indication that he is a sensor. This kind of attitude results from a combination of slow-learning conservative Ni and self-serving Ti. Reading about something that I cannot use in any way doesn't appeal much to me. Also reading about something before doing it I'd say pegs him more of an intuitive rather than a sensor.
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A
ENTJ! (maybe)

ENTJs use the cognitive processes Te, Ni, Se, Fi
So when extraverting, they use Te and Se so maybe that is why the test picked up ESTJ and ESTP because of the dominant Te and Se.
And the ISTP result could be from the high use of tertiary Se.

Also since Ni and Se are ENTJs second and third preferred function, sometimes it is hard to tell which they prefer more with Ni imagining about Se things.

Considering you love Se which fits in with the ENTJs tertiary Se - usually the tertiary is how people relax and some people are in love with the tertiary since it's orientated in the same way as the dominant and whether it is perceving or judging is opposite to the dominant so it doesn't fight with the dominant.

Perhaps all this walking around in the city and looking at things is part of Se - taking in information...

Maybe the low Fi and mostly out of the picture Fe means you aren't so people orientated, although still extraverted towards things in the outside world that's why you don't fit the extravert stereotype of being so much into people.
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Functianalyst
Arctis said:
Hi. I've been thinking a lot about my life and career goals lately and so I came across certain books that mentioned the personality types. I took the test several times.
The result was mostly ISTP, sometimes INTP and once, for some reason, ESTJ and ESTP.....
Click to expand...
I don't know very many ISTPs who have not mistyped as INTP or INTJ. The 4th post in this article may shed some light. Unfortunately attempting to find the answer using dichotomies will be a daunting task since they're rigid forced choices. Our personalities are fluid and the function-attitudes can be accessed at the blink of an eye. Your disclosure above give me an indication of your preference, but it's not my call to make and none of us can tell you your type. You have to do that. If you know that you prefer introverted thinking (Ti), then the only question is do you prefer Se or Ne. I posted some scenarios of how each type may react to similar situations here. They be of some benefit in helping you decide.
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A
Replying to everyone at once. Thanks once again for your replies, it gave me some new angles and food for thought.

myjazz said:
I would say ISTJ...
Si Te Fi Ne
I would say definitely not INTP
Click to expand...
You know, this is interesting, because when I was looking at the articles provided by Functianalyst, I ended up with exactly this list of functions except I wasn't sure whether to put S or T first, so it was a choice between ISTJ and ESTJ.
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M
Arctis said:
Replying to everyone at once. Thanks once again for your replies, it gave me some new angles and food for thought.



You know, this is interesting, because when I was looking at the articles provided by Functianalyst, I ended up with exactly this list of functions except I wasn't sure whether to put S or T first, so it was a choice between ISTJ and ESTJ.
Click to expand...
That lead to the question that seemed unclear as to if you are an I or an E. It seems that you are relying on stereotypical view of I and E. Here is an example of the two difference's.


"According to Jung, extraversion and introversion refer to the direction of psychic energy. If a person's energy usually flows outwards, he or she is an extravert, while if this energy normally flows inwards, this person is an introvert. Extraverts feel energized when interacting with large group of people, but feel a decrease of energy when left alone. Conversely, introverts feel energized when alone, but feel a decrease of energy when surrounded by large group of people.
The words introvert and extravert have become part of everyday speech, often confused with ideas like shyness and sociability, partially because introverts tend to be shy and extraverts tend to be sociable. But Jung intended for them to refer more to whether the individual more often faced outward through the persona toward the physical world, or inward toward the collective unconscious and its archetypes. In that sense, the introvert is somewhat more mature than the extravert. Our culture, of course, values the extravert much more. And Jung warned that we all tend to value our own type most!
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A
I was also considering the positions of Fi and Ne. I think maybe my tertiary is F.
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M
Types with tertiary F:
Tertiary Fi: ISTJ, INTJ
Tertiary Fe: ESTP, ENTP
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A
Thanks for the list.
I've discovered the differences between Te and Ti, Ne and Ni, and so on, so now I'm even more confused and deep in thought.:)
Though some recent circumstances confirmed the "STP" trait usually described as "learns by doing". That is, I get interested in stuff and I start doing it at about the same time. Just learning how to do stuff (or about stuff) isn't interesting unless you can put your hands on it. And by doing it I get more excited about learning more about it.
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