INTPs – or introverted, intuitive, thinking percivers – are known for being scholarly, inventive and a little emotionally distant. But not every INTP fits this bill to a T. Below, 17 INTPs explain the ways in which they defy the habits that are commonly associated with their personality type.
1. “As much as we appear to not at all care about what people think, deep down, we actually do care.”
2. “I absolutely hate anything to do with math or research, which are two of the career paths INTPs are always recommended. Not to say that I don’t love learning and the sciences, but little detail and repetitive tasks involved in the maths are painful for me to memorize/perform.”
3. “I’m not great at math, I can be very warm and fuzzy with specific people and my house isn’t a tip.”
4. “I can be really emotional and irrational at times, especially when I’m under a lot of stress.”
5. “Because I come from a large and close-knit family, I am very comfortable talking about my emotions – just not with strangers. I tend to remember a lot of details about people after meeting them once, but I might forget their name. I value physical fitness just as much as I value mental acuity. I can dominate a conversation as easily as just listening.”
6. “I read a lot about INTPs not caring about fashion and/or being unkempt and not caring. I’m a female INTP and I love fashion and apply makeup every day and I enjoy it. I loathe small talk and would rather talk about big ideas, however, I like to keep up with the goings on in my friends lives. I guess I’m a bit more socialized than the average INTP?”
7. “My hardest area of growth isn’t Fe; it’s most definitely Si. I have spent 17 years in recovery from codependency so dealing with feelings is something I’ve learned about a lot. Sensing, on the other hand, baffles me most of the time.”
8. “I really enjoy the company of others, as long as it’s people of my choosing. I just don’t like to be around people who annoy me or expect too much of me – it’s exhausting. I am also actually very emotional. But unless you are one of my very, very closest friends or family, you will never know it. If something happens to me that is very emotional, I will call in sick and stay home rather than risk having others see it and make a big deal out of it.”
9. “I value kindness over intelligence. And I don’t look down on anyone who might have a different type of intelligence than I do.”
10. “I’m not really that much of a nerd. Never got that much into anime, comic books, video games, etc. I played football and was an all state track and field athlete instead. In fact I was pretty popular in high school and college because I was very involved in a lot of clubs and the local music scenes. If I wasn’t so weird otherwise, bringing up random facts in conversation, reading niche philosophy, and arguing with my teachers and professors, my INTPness would go unnoticed.”
11. ” I am not cold with the people I like, even if they are not my friends; actually I am very warm and cheesy and bubbly and smiley!”
12. “I’m not into that many material things, but I’m not a mismatched slob with no fashion sense. I also have a pretty good sense of what my friends are feelings and how to help them and he a good friend, but that was definitely something I had to learn. I’m pretty sure if I had been a man, I wouldn’t be as aware or as well-rounded.”
13. “I don’t enjoy programming or dealing with raw logic. Although Ti is my natural preference, I rely mostly on my own subjective logic and am actually less invested in that than I am in Feeling or generating new ideas.
14. “I think a lot about other people (although I hardly interact with them). I’m very romantic and I value interpersonal connection more than almost anything.”
15. “I am not the detached, overly brainy type that will only want to talk to you if you have an idea to share. I know the importance of small talk and actually value it a bit, because I know how lonely it is to exist solely in my head.”
16. “I work really really hard, even on projects that don’t fascinate me, and I’m horrified by the thought of appearing lazy. I’m very comfortable with public speaking (which I guess violates a stereotype about introverts, not specifically INTPs).”
17. “I take several showers a day.”
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