Here are 17 clues that you might be an INFJ, one of the world’s rarest personality types.
The letters INFJ stand for Introversion, Intuition, Feeling and Judging.
According to the Myers-Briggs 16 personality types, this is thought to be one of the rarest and comprises only about two percent of the entire world’s human population.
People who are INFJ show certain unmistakable personality markers that distinguish them from the rest of the crowd. They have a high emotionally intelligence and can be seen as very mysterious. Personality experts sometimes refer to them as “the advocate” or “the counselor”.
So far all this may sound quite familiar. you may recognise these traits in yourself or others. The truth of the matter is, this personality type is usually completely misunderstood.
Now here are the 17 clues that you can use to determine whether you are, in fact, INFJ.
Number one: Introvert Actuals.
INFJs are introverted by nature.
This trait is key to their character and it’s the first letter in the acronym that describes them. This introversion doesnot mean that they are socially awkward, in fact it’s quite the contrary.
They are self actualized individuals and they know how to efficiently blend into social settings. They may also be most comfortable with quite a small circle of friends who they know they can trust and are thus deserving of their love.
The majority of the time, the introverted INFJ will become overwhelmed in large crowds and exhausted by extensive social activity. They are well adapted to endure these settings up to a point, but it is imperative to them that they have time to themselves in order to recharge, reflect and recuperate.
Number two: Acutely Aware Of The States Of Other People.
Those who are INFJ show a greater than average ability to “people read” and they can very quickly tune into other’s motivations and emotional states. While they themselves are adept at reading people, others find it difficult to read them, which can be problematic when you’re aiming for mutual understanding between two people . The second meaning of “IN” in INFJ is intuition.
They possess an innate, advanced level of intuition, enabling them to dig deep below the surface of another person’s mind. They can become fascinated by the workings of other people’s minds and often strive to fully understand an individual’s inner uniqueness.
They are usually very good at detecting when someone is not telling the truth, to the point that they can even tell when someone is lying to themselves
Number three: Beauty Is Valued And Quality Expected.
An INFJ is constantly seeking quality and beauty to be fully integrated into their lives. They are most comfortable in their environment if immersed in beauty and sophistication.
Fine foods, high quality wines, the finest of clothes and items made well with good craftsmanship are important to them. Quality and high aesthetics are very inspiring and calming to them. Although they do value beautiful things, INFJs do not want clutter or too much input.
They are typically minimalist and would rather have a small number of very well made things than a lot of mediocre stuff.
Number four: Charming And Approachable.
You might agree that in most situations it would be unusual to open up our innermost selves to a random person. INFJs exude such warmth and charm that frequently random individuals readily share their hopes, dreams, fears and past experiences with them.
Those with the INFJ personality type often exude a presence that others find incredibly disarming and feel at peace when they are near them. Almost everyone actively enjoys their company. They always create an agreeable atmosphere around themselves so people find it very easy to relax and loosen up.
They with happily listen in conversation and show thoughtful sincerity in their replies. They generate trust in those with whom they come into contact.
Number five: A Tendency Towards Perfectionism And Procrastination.
A fear of failure is easily developed in people with this personality type. They are driven to surpass the ordinary and are always striving to reach perfection in what they do. Due to their need to reach perfection in everything, this can cause procrastination of certain tasks.
They have to be absolutely sure it will be perfect before going forward. In most cases they are more than capable of doing what they need to, so this need for perfection can be a hinderance to their progress.
Criticism is something INFJs have difficulty with because they give it a high weight of importance in their mind and can focus on it more than any positive evaluation they may have received. Thankfully, as they progress through life, they are able to let go of the intense need for perfection which frees them up to be able to realise remarkable achievements.
Number six: Conflict Averse.
INFJ personality types are easily stressed by any form of conflict. In relationships, they work hard to maintain a peaceful, harmonious theme. They often expect the other parties in the relationship to also work towards harmony and synchronization with one another.
Should they find themselves entangled in a conflict, this situation can disrupt their steady, optimistic nature quite drastically. Whether the conflict involves them directly, or someone they are close to, it can cause them to lose sleep and distract easily due to stress causing thoughts.
The stress of conflict can bleed into their physiology, causing aches, pains and apparent illness. As they are so intelligent and analytical, INFJs are able to develop a system for themselves to deal with inevitable conflict, as they grow older, that allows them to hold their harmonious state while at the same time searching for solutions for the benefit of those involved.
Number seven: Emotionally Intimate.
INFJs have a high level of empathy as part of their make up.
They have a genuine interest in other people and seek to get to know them on a deep level. It can take quite a while for them to open up as they are quietly assessing the characters around them before they show more of their own personality.
Because of this they can be viewed initially as very private, shy or mysterious but actually they are quite social. To INFJs, authenticity in relationships is essential.
They will only trust the other if they are being their true self. Due to their empathic nature, they can engage in meaningful conversations and the emotional connections which they make are deep and intimate.
Number eight: A Difference In Thinking And Being.
INFJs function in a very different scope to most other people and this fact can cause them to feel isolated from the general population. Pattern recognition and intuition are at the forefront of how they function day to day. They are very drawn towards other people and are in tune with feelings, therefore many of the patterns which they recognise are related to human nature.
The subject of intuition, which is their dominant trait, tends to stem from the unconscious mind and can be quite a murky area to discuss. An intuitive individual simply knows something without being able to explain how they came into that knowledge. The fact that they are so highly intuitive can leave them feeling like an outsider in groups as most regular people find this aspect of their personality difficult to grasp.
Number nine: Take On Other’s Emotions.
INFJs are so in tune with other people, that they can be feeling the exact emotions of those with whom they have come into contact. The younger, less experienced INFJs will almost certainly interpret these emotions as their own. As they gain experience in life they become more adept at separating the emotional noise of others from their own reactions and feelings.
It may take a number of difficult years for them to gain the ability to control what they pick up from others, but once they master it, they become formidable people readers. Their abilities allow them to excel in fields that require understanding the inner workings of people. Fields such as therapy, psychology or even sales are available to INFJs.
Number ten: Driven By Goals
INFJ personality types are predisposed to change their personal circumstances to ensure that they are more aligned to their personal goals. For example, if they are in employed in an organisation that they see is not moving them closer towards their desired future, they will very quickly cut ties and move to a more suitable position. They are also able to do this with personal relationships.
INFJs Tend to have a lucid memory of past experiences. If some of those past experiences were negative, their mind can latch on to that aspect to the extent that any positive parts of the memory are overridden. It is for this reason that they are generally more future focused.
Number eleven: Drawn To The Needy.
An INFJ has a high capacity for compassion towards others. Their analytical mind can work out who is in need of help and how they would be able to help. Their innate abilities of empathy and intuition allow them to have the ability to truly help others in need. They often find themselves doing a lot of activity which helps others. This can be through their work or social circle and an INFJ often finds it rewarding when they can use their gifts to help. They operate best in this area when they are working according to their own terms.
Number twelve: Do The Right Thing.
INFJs can have a strong protective streak in them. If someone they know is going through a difficult life situation, they are likely to be there to help them. They cannot abide bullying and will readily counter it if they can. Charity work, volunteering and helping out in the community is all well within the scope of an INFJ. They abhor the idea of being a negative or bad person which can cause them to overcompensate in doing what is right. The INFJ personality type, while quirky and certainly complicated, generally has their heart in the right place and will take action to help another where others will sit back and do nothing.
Number thirteen: A Deep Understanding Of Language.
During their free time, INFJs spend a lot of it alone. Remember that they are introverted so this is not any kind of problem for them. One activity that introverts enjoy greatly is reading. INFJs can be ravenous consumers of books and information. They expose themselves to diverse uses of language and as they are intelligent, retain much of what they read. They are solid communicators both in written form and spoken. They tend to prefer the written form of communicating as that method suits their personality closely.
Writing allows them to express themselves freely and to construct complex thoughts in a way that an ad-libbed conversation does not allow. Among the ranks of many successful writers can be found a high percentage of INFJ type personalities as authors.
Number fourteen: Prefer To Work Alone.
INFJs are quite capable of working in groups, though the smaller the group the better. It helps greatly if the other group members are on the same page as the INFJ in their work. Usually though, their best work is done alone; completely autonomously. An example of work they like has already been mentioned – writing. If they are left without distraction then they can write all the way through the night. They can also be found carrying out specialist scientific research that does not rely on too much outside influence.
Number fifteen: The Thinker.
INFJs have the ability to turn inward and ponder deeply over anything of which they might be aware.
Idle gossip and trivial information are of little to no interest to an INFJ.
They have spent a lot of time by themselves reading, absorbing information, thinking deeply about profound issues. This level of intellectualism sometimes makes it difficult for them to partake in superficial social activities.
Their mind can be immersed in a philosophical proposition, or a paradox or trying to solve a tough problem.
They can appear distant and not present but in fact they are just focused on thinking.
They do have enough social awareness to realise how they appear to other people though, so they can come quickly back around.
Number sixteen: Extroverted Feeling.
Although the dominant trait of INFJ is introversion, true to their contradictory nature they also have an extroverted aspect to their personality. This explains the “F” in the acronym.
We have already covered how INFJs can show sincere care and concern for other people, and this is the manner in which their feeling is extroverted. The feeling and empathy of an INFJ is on show to the world, not kept hidden away internally.
Perhaps an extreme example of this outward display of compassion comes from a very famous INFJ – Oprah Winfrey. Very often she uses her enormous influence and powerful platform to help others whom she deems to be in need. This is typical of this personality type.
Number seventeen: Judging Not Judgemental.
According to the Briggs and Myers personality theory, INFJs are a “Judging” type as opposed to a “Perceiving” type. Individuals who have a Judging or Perceiving preference have a specific way of shaping their surroundings.
The difference between them is that Judgers prefer a sense of structure, while Perceivers are more comfortable with flexibility.
People who like to plan, organize and implement procedures tend to be Judgers.
A good example of the difference would be in how they handle finding a phone number. A Judger would look in their register where they keep all contact details in alphabetical order, while a Perceiver would accept that they are going to have to search through their drawers for the scrap of paper on which they scribbled it down.
All Done.
We have looked at 17 aspects of the INFJ personality. You might find that you match with many of them. If you find that you match with almost all of them, then you might just be one of the 2% of the human population that is actually INFJ personality.