All About An INFJ Personality!

What if you could take a questionnaire and find out interesting tidbits about your personality? The INFJ personality is just one typology on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Knowing this information, you can better understand careers that are well-suited to your personality and the way in which you perceive the world, how you deal with relationships, and other useful insights.

Here, we will share more about the Myers-Briggs, and specifically, we will focus on the INFJ meaning.

What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was developed by mother and daughter team Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs. They studied Carl Jung’s theory of personality types and used that knowledge to develop the self-report questionnaire. Based on answering this set of questions, you can learn more about your strengths, preferences, and personality type.

The MBTI is commonly utilized by organizations, career counselors, educators, coaches, and development professionals.

What Does INFJ Stand For?

INFJ stands for Introversion-Intuition-Feeling-Judging.

Each of these four words is indicative of a personality trait. The INFJ personality type is known as the “counselor.” This type has also been referred to as the Insightful Visionary (by the MBTI) and The Advocate (16Personalities).

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INFJ Personality Type

The INFJ personality type enjoys helping others succeed and realize their potential. They tend to be problem-solvers who are highly attuned to the emotions of others. Given that they are introverted, they may come across as reserved and unlikely to share their feelings openly.

They are idealistic, sensitive, compassionate, creative, and gentle. They are internally complex. They have a strong will to fix the problems of society and those that they care about.

They are known as advocates because they build deep relationships, have the power and insight to make impressions upon those around them, and communicate clearly and warmly.

INFP vs INFJ

The INFJ type is commonly confused with the INFP type. Even though they are one letter off from one another, these personality traits have several differences.

When it comes to decision-making, INFJs base their choices off of their intuition and learning. On the other hand, INFPs lead with a feeling process. Although both may come off as indecisive, the root of their why develops from different drivers within their decision-making processes.

Both types are known to be wildly empathetic and can sense the emotions of those around them with a keen astuteness. INFJs absorb the emotions of those around them, no matter how close they may be to the other person. INFPs are like chameleons of emotion. They can role-play to accurately interpret how people around them feel, but they don’t necessarily have to take over the feelings themselves. To put it simply, you can say that INFJs absorb emotions, and INFPs mirror emotions.

When it comes to helping others and offering solutions, INFJs and INFPs differ in this regard, too. INFJs share other perspectives so that solutions become clearer. INFPs interpret emotions so deeply and can understand them in a way that they can redirect the emotions of another person.

Career Paths for INFJ

There are some career paths in which INFJs tend to excel given their personality traits. As Advocates and Counselors, they hold tightly to their beliefs and do well in jobs that value the same principles. They are most happy when working in a field that can blend creativity and the ability to positively impact the world.

As academics and high achievers, they are likely to evolve into perfectionists in the workplace. Their coworkers are likely to say that INFJs are easy to get along with. If the job requires a strict routine, then INFJs may become dissatisfied.

Here’s a look at some careers that work well with the personality traits of INFJs:

Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs begin their own business endeavors, which means that they take on most of the risk and also most of the rewards. Entrepreneurs can start businesses in any industry, and INFJs are great at doing so because they are leaders who are hard-working.

Writer

Writers can exist in many capacities depending on their goals and interests. Writers may work for publications as journalists, businesses as copywriters, publishing houses as authors, production companies as scriptwriters, or the like.

Counselor

Counselors are qualified professionals who work to help others overcome emotional issues. They listen to their patients and develop treatment plans that teach about strategies for coping with problems.

Psychologist

Psychologists learn about human behavior and the human mind through science. Then, they work in a variety of settings to work with people who need to overcome emotional or behavioral disorders. They can apply various types of therapies to do so.

Teacher

Teachers are responsible for creating lesson plans and executing them with their students so students can learn. They keep updated reports on students’ progress and communicate with students’ parents.

Photographer

Photographers take images to tell stories and record events. Photographers have the choice to specialize in different types of photography, from wildlife to portraits, for example.

Actor

Actors interpret and act out roles through use of speech, gestures, and body language in an effort to entertain or educate the intended audience.

Strengths and Weaknesses of INFJ People

The strengths of INFJ people can be summarized as:

• Reserved
• Creative and artistic
• Focused on the future
• Intrigued by thinking about the meaning of life
• Idealistic
• Empathetic and sensitive

Because they feel so deeply and keep many of their emotions inside, they can have some weaknesses, including:

• Being difficult to get to know
• Can be overly sensitive
• Dislikes confrontation
• Having high expectations of others and themselves that can be unrealistic

The Rarest Type of All

The INFJ personality is the rarest of the 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicators. With just 2% of the population being INFJs, it is no wonder why they often feel misunderstood. However, many notable people who have greatly impacted the world are INFJs, including: Mohandas Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelet, Jane Goodall, and Brené Brown.

Are you an INFJ? Find out by taking a free Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire here.