INTJ Personality Type Portrait and Description
Detached pragmatists, INTJs are systematic and often visionary problem solvers. They approach problems in a methodical manner. Where often slow to act, they are unconsciously observant and analytical; slowly noting how the parts of the whole fit together before, in decisive action, arranging things to suit their needs or towards a particular goal or overall vision. Outwardly INTJs often appear distant, and for the most part, unexpressive. They can often come across as cold and or even harsh, but are more or less just detached. They do not easily get caught up in their emotions, the emotions of others even less.
Despite their somewhat stiff appearance, INTJs tend to have a rich inner life and will have an eclectic set of interests that tend to run very deep. Their interests tend to be geared towards an abstract academic subject; literature, philosophy, history, mythology, mathematics - whatever their interests are, they tend to pursue them with an almost obsessional intensity where they will let their curiosity lead them as it will. They tend to be perfectionist in nature where even in their more relaxed, less abstract hobbies, they often play to become more practiced and skilled.
While often not the greatest with people, whom they can have a hard time appreciating or understanding emotionally, and whom they find exhausting at times, INTJs often find themselves in leadership positions due to their ability to devise systems that help facilitate work, not just towards an abstract goal or metric, but to a greater overall vision of how things can and should function. They tend to be academically oriented and a good fit for higher education where they often pick more science or technology orientated degrees - degrees in which they can learn theoretical topics that have a basis in real world application as INTJs like to see their envisioned systems or plans come to fruition in the real world.
INTJs tend to have a high drive for autonomy. Perhaps the highest among all the types, and they will plan extensively and many years into the future to achieve what they want and to build the kind of environment they want to live and work in. Generally unsentimental and with no particular regard of the status quo, they can often clash with others in trying to implement the changes they desire in order to reform the overall system. They tend to take a top-down approach where they will first work out an overall plan before going down a layer to further refine its implementation and address the details. They can often seem somewhat arrogant in this regard because they will be ruthless towards what works and what doesn't and have little regard for what has proven not to work or is not optimized, seeking to change or refine it and push their ideas forward; to not just build or create but to innovate.
While they can seem harsh, INTJs are often far more tolerant than they appear as while they do tend to ruthlessly question everything, they'll question themselves and their own ideas almost more than others. They are not hesitant or doubtful in trying to figure out what they want to do; INTJs tend to have a strong intrinsic motivation towards their desires, but they have doubts about whether or not their ideas or the ideas of others will work or not, or are valid or invalid. To this end, while often very blunt, INTJs aren't as judgmental as they may appear and consider a great many things - feelings, ideas, thoughts, plans - to be separate entities from those who formed them. They may express criticism towards an idea but not the person.
In regards to emotion and feeling, despite appearances, INTJs are often deeply emotional in a very raw sense and just as deeply loath to express such emotions. Often seeing human nature as unavoidably repetitive, most human causes and ideals are something they are largely indifferent to. They can however be idealistic towards certain virtues or ideas rather than people or causes; virtues such as freedom of speech, the pursuit of knowledge, the individuality of people, and freedom of expression. They will often also develop a love of aesthetics and art and will become enamored with certain expressions of the human spirit in art which they can analyze and which help them to explore their feelings by shaping their thoughts towards said expressions.
INTJs tend to have few relationships and friendships as they will often desire quality over quantity and seek to form deep bonds with people so they can utterly be themselves and explore ideas without having to worry about how they are perceived. INTJs often simply seek to be understood in their friendships and relationships due to their difficulty relating with people and society. They can be very dependable, predictable, and honest in relationships. INTJs tend to see very little value in flirting or emotionally expressive behavior or body language and often tend to be very direct in communication and dislike small talk. While more than happy to help friends and mates, they often fail miserably at predicting or anticipating others' emotional desires or needs and tend to be strong verbal communicators and require strong verbal communication in turn.
While they can often ramble when excited, hopping from idea to idea, INTJs will favor more concrete words and topics about ideas more than people or events. They can be inventive with language at times when trying to discuss a new idea but in general will seek to discuss specifics of ideas rather than generalities and dislike endless speculation and in this sense will often remain silent where they will only speak about something if they feel they have relevant information or insight regarding it.