Why You Have Trust Issues, Based On Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type

ENFP and INFP: Because in the past, you’ve been burned by your own wild imagination.

You have a tendency to rush into things heart-first, with your imagination running wild alongside you. More than a couple of times, you’ve found yourself disappointed when the reality of a person or a situation doesn’t quite measure up to the way you envisioned them in your mind. You’re more cautious about handing over your trust nowadays, as you’ve learned that it’s best to let your head catch up before your heart leaps entirely over the fence.

INFJ and ENFJ: Because you don’t want to plan an entire future with someone who’s just going to leave.

You don’t do ‘casual’ anything. If you’re dating someone, it’s because you see a future with them. If you’re working somewhere, it’s because you want to advance in the position. When you go ‘in’ on a commitment, you go all the way in – and you pour every inch of your heart into it. You’re cautious about placing your trust in others because you want to make sure that they’re in it for the long haul as well. Otherwise, you’re making plans around something that might disappear at any moment – leaving both your heart and your plans for the future in the lurch.

ESTJ and ISTJ: Because you always invest 100% and you don’t want that investment to be taken advantage of.

You don’t commit to anything halfway. You feel a strong sense of diligence and obligation to the people, communities and positions that you invest yourself in – and you want that same sense of investment in return. Once you make a serious commitment to something or someone, you prioritize them above everything else in your life. And that last thing you want is for someone to take advantage of that tendency.

ISTP and ESTP: Because you know firsthand how selfish people can be.

You don’t have rose-colored glasses on. You’ve been around the block a few times and you’ve seen it all – people lying, cheating, betraying each other and throwing one another under the bus to benefit themselves. You’re distrustful of others because you’re realistic about others, in a way that many other people are not. You know that it’s human nature to be selfish, so you’re careful to protect your own heart.

ESFJ and ISFJ: Because you’re used to giving more than you get back.

You’re a giver by nature, and supporting those around you comes as naturally to you as breathing. Unfortunately, others aren’t always quite as openhearted as you are. You’ve learned through trial and error that you have to be careful and whom and what you invest your heart in. You don’t want to have to limit your love, so you need to find someone who’s ready to give it back to you in equal measure, before you let yourself get too invested – and end up heartbroken at the end of it.

ENTP and INTP: Because you have an objective understanding of the dark side of the human psyche.

Most people slap on rose-colored glasses when they’re falling in love or investing in a new opportunity – but you have never owned a pair of those in your life. You have no problem staring down the human psyche for what it is – a self-preserving entity, that functions to protect the individual in question at all costs. It’s not so much that you think people are inherently malicious – it’s just that you know they are inherently out to protect themselves. So you do the exact same, by never trusting anyone else above yourself.

ESFP and ISFP: Because you’re easily affected by relationships and are scared of getting hurt again.

It sounds a little dramatic, but it’s true. You feel both the highs and the lows of a relationship very intensely, which means when it’s good it’s great – but when it’s bad, it’s really bad. You’re cautious about who you place your trust in because you invest a lot of your heart into any relationship you enter into – and you’re afraid of someone walking away with it, leaving you empty and alone.

INTJ and ENTJ: Because you secretly think everyone else is incompetent.

Okay maybe not everyone, and maybe not entirely incompetent, but you secretly believe that most people are at least a little less competent than you are. You have trouble placing your trust in others because you can’t see how anyone else could come up with a plan for the future that’s better than the one you figured out – so you’d prefer to just go with your own and trust others only with what you absolutely need to.