CALLING ALL INTJs!!! 

Ok.. I have seen it too many times.. INTJs who claim they have no feelings.. 

I just want to bring you guys back down to earth and say that you have emotions.. You are not man-made computers.. Humans are emotional and relational beings. And I have met INTJs who are more emotional then ENFPs..

Anyway.. That's the opening statement to this thread.. lol 

Intriguing.. Now we are bringing ENFP kind into the mix. I feel as though the ENFPs are somewhat more insensitive than the INTJ kind. One of my INTJ lady friends commonly jokes with me that I have no feelings. And although a lot of the time, I actually do feel quite emotionless and somewhat unmotivated by human emotion, they are still there.. The human race was inbuilt with emotions so we could make choices. These choices are made as a result of us feeling whether something is right or wrong.

Anyhow.. Make INTJs feel unsettled Mr. Optimaler? We could never do such a thing.. Since you are a machine, it will just make you easier to dismantle and pull apart. After all, the ENFP race is very much all about pulling things apart right? But, if I were to make you feel insecure, and we did get bad Karma, it wouldn't do a great deal.. After all, there are more ENFPs then INTJs... .. One problem though Optimaler --> bad Karma generally comes from doing bad things....... AND Yes, I am being cruel... 

Oooohhhh, believe me, I have emotions. I have plenty of them. Sometimes, I wish I could be a walking machine, but really, then I that wouldn't be much different. I would just be like a cylon (from Battlestar Galactica) and they DEFINITELY have emotions. I mean, what is the human body - anyway - but a giant functioning machine, synapses working to flow elctrical data from one part of the processor to the other, each connection making up how and why a person thinks and feels and acts they do? It is impossible to realize the link and to desire to completely separate the two because they are one and the same. How we process is also how we feel, and how we feel is also how we process. You have to completely understand that internally before you can attempt to decipher incoming fact from supposition.

Are INTJs proud? Yes, a lot of us can be. Are ENFPs proud? Yes, a lot of them can be. It both stems from what Caprice said, ENFPs and INTJs are like two sides of the same coin oftentimes. ENFPs want to make connections and learn new things and create harmony and go with the flow without having to give up themselves. INTJs want to make connections and learn knew things and solve problems while trying to avoid feeling. These are noble pursuits, but they are altogether completely impossible in both cases, and of course either would be proud because the ideal of what they desire is ultimately impossible. It is noble in theory, but completely impractible. An ENFP can't always create harmony and learn new things and keep going or they hit a wall, either physically (they become drained) or they hit someone or someones that will feed off of their desire to create harmony and accordance. INTJs well, they can't shut everyone and everything else out or else they lose everything and become bitter and jaded and completely incapable of attempting to be impartial at that point. That is why these two tend to learn so much from each other. They both have to learn about the perfection of imperfection. Moreover, they both are generally able to think outside the box, have a great desire to learn, and maintain many traits that are admired by the general public, so no wonder they can both be proud. They both live in the future, seeing potential outcomes and coming to predetermined conclusions. Enough correct educated guesses, and of course one would be proud.

But I'm just hypothesizing...

The coldness is just big brother Te trying to protect it's younger and more sensitive sibling, Fi.

He likes to act all tough and is pretty quiet, but he is definitely very passionate and feels things very deeply.

Posted By JustinRWatson on 30 Jan 2011 02:40 PM

Intriguing.. Now we are bringing ENFP kind into the mix. I feel as though the ENFPs are somewhat more insensitive than the INTJ kind. One of my INTJ lady friends commonly jokes with me that I have no feelings. And although a lot of the time, I actually do feel quite emotionless and somewhat unmotivated by human emotion, they are still there..
 

I wonder how much of that has to do with personality type and how much has to do with sex. You may be ENFP, but you're still a man. Your friend may be INTJ, but she's still a woman. I'm not ruling out the possibility that INTJs are actually more sensitive than ENFPs, but all factors must be accounted for.

I wonder how much of that has to do with personality type and how much has to do with sex. You may be ENFP, but you're still a man. Your friend may be INTJ, but she's still a woman. I'm not ruling out the possibility that INTJs are actually more sensitive than ENFPs, but all factors must be accounted for.

Sorry.. Spell check for above post *general population of *MEN*.. lol..

I would also like to just put out there that three quarters of the female population in America are extroverted. This is an example of the sociological side-effects on the human personality. The fact that you are cognitively dominant in the extroverted area is not actually dictated by sex, likewise, the intensity of emotion or social sensibility is not either... Conservatives once used the argument that women were too emotional to join the work force like men - back when the women's liberation movements were really starting to take place, unfortunately, the conservatives were proven wrong.. Anyhow, I just want to put forward the prospect that sex does not dictate personality traits...

Posted By JustinRWatson on 03 Feb 2011 02:58 PM

I wonder how much of that has to do with personality type and how much has to do with sex. You may be ENFP, but you're still a man. Your friend may be INTJ, but she's still a woman. I'm not ruling out the possibility that INTJs are actually more sensitive than ENFPs, but all factors must be accounted for.

Becareful of gender stereotypes.. I went through an entire semester looking at this, and psychologically, there is not much of a difference.. The reason it is generalized this way is probably because the general population of me are not predominantly NF-types.. Have look at Myers Briggs statistics.. I can't remember the figures straight off the top of my head, but the fact that there are more introverted men in American culture then women, and the fact that there are more STJ type men then women must say something. It's nothing to do with gender, but rather, the culture or society and it's expectations of you that help form identity. So are also suggesting that women are naturally inclined to be more emotional, and from a psychological stand-point, there is little empirical evidence to show this, apart from profiling statistics which doesn't tell you much..
Anyhow, just thought I would pull that up..

There is no judgment applied to my observation. I'm not a sexist, I don't believe men are "better" than women. But there are strong differences between the sexes. It's been proven that brain lateralization is greater in men. It's harder for the male brain ot utilize both hemispheres at once. According to Lenore Thomson, the two judging functions an individual uses will be on opposite sides of the brain. A female T type can easily utilize both her thinking and feeling functions. A male F type will have more difficulty using his thinking function when he is in a "feeling mode." The reverse also holds true, and a man using his "thinking" capacity will have more difficulty accessing his "F side" and therefore be less affected by emotional states. Even if his preference is feeling, that doesn't mean he relies on it at any given time. You could well be an ENFP who chooses to rely more on his Te than his Fi, where your friend would have fairly good access to both functions. Theoretically, if that were the case, that still wouldn't make you an ENTP because you use Te and Fi as your judging functions rather than Fe and Ti. I think when MBTI says that "F types prefer feeling, T types prefer thinking," that's a bit of an oversimplification and it's actually much more complicated than that. 

Also remember that there's a difference between "being emotional" and using your emotions to determine your judgment. Everyone feels things, not everyone relies on that in their decision-making process. I'm sure women aren't any more "emotional" than men, but that doesn't mean they aren't more likely to let that affect their actions.

I think when MBTI says that "F types prefer feeling, T types prefer thinking," that's a bit of an oversimplification and it's actually much more complicated than that.

I'm sure women aren't any more "emotional" than men, but that doesn't mean they aren't more likely to let that affect their actions.

I have to agree with Justin. Sex has nothing to do with whether or not someone is more inclined to feel or think. It's strictly based on the person, not the sex. In essence, we could use Freak's way of thinking and say that black people are more inclined to steal because they are black. We all know that is faulty thinking and a seriously poor misconception. It has nothing to do with their skin color, but rather the type of person they are and the environment in which they were raised. I got somewhat off topic as I am not trying to imply that types are formed based on the surrounding environment (I'm the one "T" type out of the four people in my household), however, I believe you know the point I'm making.

Posted By Trance City on 03 Feb 2011 05:39 PM

I have to agree with Justin. Sex has nothing to do with whether or not someone is more inclined to feel or think. It's strictly based on the person, not the sex. In essence, we could use Freak's way of thinking and say that black people are more inclined to steal because they are black. We all know that is faulty thinking and a seriously poor misconception. It has nothing to do with their skin color, but rather the type of person they are and the environment in which they were raised. I got somewhat off topic as I am not trying to imply that types are formed based on the surrounding environment (I'm the one "T" type out of the four people in my household), however, I believe you know the point I'm making.

I think you are misinterpreting what I'm saying. Justin might be too, I'm not sure though. There could potentially be more male Fs than females, I'm not saying women are "more F" or more emotional. I'm saying that women are more "in touch" with both sides of their brains. That's not a bad thing, and it has been proven. During gestation, a male fetus receives a bath of testosterone which eliminates much of the connection between the two hemispheres. What this means isn't simply that a female would be "more F." It really means being more in touch with everything. This is a built in difference due to genetics and has nothing to do with how a person was raised. Your MBTI type may be environmental, but that's not really what I'm talking about, I'm talking about the possible variations within a type due to biological differences. A male may even be more "F oriented" than a female, because the brain is less balanced.


The entire reason this came up in the first place was just as a possible explanation for why Justin's INTJ friend may seem more sensitive than he himself. It wasn't a judgment of any sort, at least not a value based one. If you acknowledge any biological differences between male and female, why not brain differences?