So you’ve taken a free online personality test and it said you’re an INFJ personality. You’ve done some research but you’re not entirely sure if the result was accurate. You are still wondering if you are an INFJ or something else. Well, your confusion ends here. Here are the 14 telltale signs you are an INFJ personality type.
INFJs’ nonstop search for learning, self-growth, and development—and wishing the same for everyone else—makes them very reassuring to others and people worth emulating.” – Otto Kroeger
A lot of people, like you and me, find it a bit perplexing when trying to understand their psychological type the first time. Understanding your personality type can be a lifelong process of self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-assessment. However, there are certain common traits that can lend you a hand in identifying your true type and finding out if you are an INFJ.
INFJs are the rarest personality type in the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator and comprise around 2% of the general population with 1% of men and 2% of women. They are known to be deep and complicated individuals who are big dreamers and excellent listeners.
Understanding the INFJ personality type
INFJ is one of the 16 personality types recognized by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). INFJs are caring, creative, and gentle individuals who have a distinct idea of personal integrity.
Although this personality type is generally reserved, they are highly sensitive and empathic and are driven to motivate and help other people to realize their full potential with unique solutions to their different challenges. They tend to be very idealistic and have high moral standards.
Being dedicated and creative, INFJs love to ponder the meaning of life and think about profound topics. They can easily deduce what someone else is feeling and know their motivations and emotions. They have strong faith in their understanding of others and their ability to read others’ emotions.
Read: 9 Humbling Life Lessons I’ve Learned As An INFJ
INFJs are sensitive and private people. They are highly selective about who they open up to and share their deepest thoughts and feelings with.
However, what makes the INFJs special is their morals and ideals and how they implement them into action throughout their lives. This personality type is not philosophers or daydreamers, they have a clear vision about the future and know what they want to accomplish.
They don’t just think about making the world a better place. INFJs take action to bring about a lasting, positive change in society using their values.
What INFJ means
INFJ is primarily an acronym developed by Katharine Briggs & Isabel Myers to explain one of the 16 personality types. INFJ stands for Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging. An INFJ person feels rejuvenated by spending time alone (Introverted). They love to focus their thoughts on concepts and ideas instead of details & facts (iNtuitive).
Moreover, they also take decisions based on their values & feelings (Feeling) and like to plan & organize instead of being flexible and spontaneous (Judging). INFJs are often referred to as the “Counselor” or the “Idealist” or the “Advocate”.
INFJs are constantly thinking, imagining, hosting conversations in their minds, and coming up with off-the-wall solutions for problems. Often we’ll stop paying attention to the world outside our minds and walk around in a Walter Mitty-like state that causes people who have no idea what’s going on to label us as “crazy”.
It often takes a conscious effort to pull ourselves out of our own heads enough to interact with people in a normal fashion, especially if we’re dealing with small-talk rather than a conversation with depth.” – Marissa Baker
Signs you are an INFJ personality
Now that you know what an INFJ personality type is, it’s time to find out if you are one. All personality types have certain common traits that define their personalities and guide their thoughts, behaviors, and actions throughout their lives.
Here are some specific qualities unique to INFJ personalities that set them apart from others. If you can relate to all or most of these traits, then you are a genuine INFJ.
1. Mysterious and calming aura
One of the main INFJ signs is that they tend to have a peaceful, calm, and yet mystifying demeanor. Although they may not realize it themselves, people around them usually feel comfortable and at ease. They tend to be rather polite and have a calming aura in the way they speak and carry themselves. They are very easy to be with.
2. Compassion & empathy
“The INFJ is able to tune into underlying meanings and gain a deeper awareness of your situation. They can feel unexpressed emotions and pick up on small inflections that others may require you to spell out. INFJs do not only listen, but they also hear, comprehend and engage in your words.” – Jennifer Soldner
INFJs understand how compassion and empathy can make a difference to the world. They can easily identify unhappiness and anxiety in others even when there are no visible signs of distress as they are very intuitive. They have the unique ability to detect unacknowledged and unsaid suffering and try their best to help someone in need.
3. Looking for deeper meaning
INFJs seek deeper meaning in every aspect of life from their career to their friendships, relationships, and even interactions with random strangers. They try to look at what lies beyond the surface to understand people, situations, experiences, and life more profoundly.
4. Value driven
This personality type is driven by their values and has a strong sense of idealism. INFJs look for meaning in almost all aspects of life, especially in work and relationships. They tend to be highly opinionated and will not hesitate to fight for their values and beliefs.
5. Complicated and difficult individuals
Even though they may be able to empathize with people and can make connections easily, INFJs can still be difficult to understand and get close to. As they highly value their ideals and privacy, they often have a hard time revealing their complicated selves to others, except for the ones they are really close to.
Read: The Dark Side Of The INFJ Personality Type
6. Alone time
Being mostly introverts, INFJs need their personal space and time to recharge themselves. They need to withdraw themselves from crowds to recalibrate and identify who they feel comfortable with. This can be a difficult process for them as they need to assess their friendships.
7. Curious, well informed and knowledgeable
People with INFJ personalities are curious about exploring and learning new concepts and ideas. They like to learn, talk and discuss various subjects like science, pseudoscience, science fiction, conspiracy theories, magic, spirits and demons, religion, personality theories, psychics, critical thinking, and philosophy.
8. Meaningful connections over casual friendships
“INFJs seek meaning and connection in their lives and have little use for details unless they fit with their inner vision. They use their intuition primarily internally, where they develop complex pictures and understandings. INFJs are likely to be insightful, creative, and visionary.” – The MBTI® Manual, Third Edition
Although INFJs are natural introverts, they tend to form a lot of strong, meaningful bonds with different people. They will still be withdrawn or shy, but they can create lasting relationships and have a lot of close friends as they enjoy helping others. However, they will still have their personal time to recharge themselves.
9. Assertive and decisive
INFJs are usually empathetic and soft-spoken due to their strong emotional intelligence and intuition. However, they are not push-overs. As they have deep ideals and beliefs, these personality types can be rather assertive and decisive to accomplish a task or goal.
10. Witty & funny
People in this personality type are witty. They always know what to say and can be exceptionally funny when they want to. Most of the time INFJs are hilarious and they can impress anyone with their sense of humor. They are also experts in making the strangest jokes and delivering instant, witty comebacks.
11. Purpose over money
(INFJs) are deeply discontented in a routine job that offers no scope for inspiration.” – Isabel Briggs-Myers
INFJs prefer to do jobs with a purpose instead of doing a job that pays tons of money. They usually make their careers in counseling, education, writing, art, and music. They are also inclined to work in non-profit organizations. INFJs are drawn to careers that are creative and require an idea-centric approach. They love to put their efforts into the greater good of the community.
12. Full of emotions
People belonging to these personality types are filled with emotions. Although they can be calm, they can hyperactive as well when they are with the right people. INFJs can be very humorous or sob incessantly depending on their feelings at the moment. When they are with close friends, INFJs will clearly express their thoughts and feelings without holding them back.
13. Passionate
“(INFJs) stay focused on the desired outcome no matter what the effort required. (They) often get strong impressions about how things will play out or what problems will occur without much data or experience. Their steady and accepting presence encourages people and keeps them on track.” – Linda V. Berens
INFJ personalities are very passionate about what they do. They can be so focused and involved in certain activities and projects that they can even forget to take care of themselves. And hence, most of the time INFJs end up feeling weary and exhausted.
14. Creative self-expression
INFJs are creators. They use art as a means to express their innermost feelings and thoughts. Expressing themselves through art makes them feel fulfilled and happy. Whether it is painting, writing, dancing, or anything else, they express their inner self through creative and artistic means.
Do you think you’re an INFJ?
Mostly, INFJs aim to create what others experience on an emotional plane. Their stories are planned, multilayered, and interconnected by relationships and complex situations; the words they choose contain multiple meanings.” – David B. Goldstein & Otto Kroeger
Could you relate to most of these INFJ signs or traits? Then most probably you’re an INFJ. Although most of us can identify with some of these signs, a true INFJ personality will know it in their hearts as their uniqueness will always shine through.
Leave a Reply