INFJ Cafe

[Myrrh]

Supposedly there are a disproportionate number of INFJs here, and since I rarely find any such kindred spirits in my offline life, I thought we could hook up here, what with being the rarest and least understood of all the Myers-Briggs personality types :grouphug:

 

One caveat:

You must be certain you are truly an INFJ because...

- you were administered the authentic assessment by an MBTI certified practitioner (I'm one :o) who helped you arrive at your your best fit type

~OR~

- you have taken several of the free online questionnaires, consistently received INFJ results, and reading through the descriptions of that type was like a spiritual epiphany (you know what I'm talking about!)

 

...So, if you're a true INFJ, please introduce yourself :hurray:

[Myrrh]

Have I been had? ;)

[TheCoffeeChick]

Sorry, not me I am INTJ :D

[cathmom]

Did you start a social group or you want us to introduce ourselves here?

 

I was tested at about age 20 and was INFP, but have since changed to INFJ.

[Harriet Vane]

I have done the official test a couple times. My J and P scores are often very close, so I have wobbled between the two letters. On my first test I was INFP, but every subsequent time I have tested I was J.

 

And yes, reading the descriptions has been a spiritual epiphany. Another test calls our type Counselor-Idealist, a name that fits me to a T.

[KidsHappen]

I also test as an INTP/J. I am mentally a J but in practice a P. The problem is that I live in a house full of Ps and I am just too tired to get them to all come around to my way of thinking. I frequently tell my husband that he is peeing all over my J. :tongue_smilie:

[annabanana1992]

Sorry - way out ESTJ here....

[Guest Katia]

Almost. I'm ISFJ.

[amy g.]

INTP here.

[Jenn in Mo]

I keep running into this....where would I find these free online questionnaires....all I'm finding are sites with fees. I'm curious, but not curious enough to pay.

[elise1mds]

ISTJ here... though the 'S' isn't very strong.

 

Here's the test I usually link to: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm

[Miss Marple]

http://www.kisa.ca/personality/

 

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

 

I come up solidly INTJ on both.

[Jenn in Mo]

Thanks, y'all! Now I'm off to read what ENFP means.....after taking the tests, I'm afraid it's going to mean "good grief, she's lazy."

[Aurelia]

I'm not consistent on the assessments, I keep ending up alternating between INFP and INFJ.

[percytruffle]

I am one. There were a number of us here, but I think some of them are frequenters of the hs board and some, like me, are finished homeschooling and only pop in from time to time to say hello. We are a rare breed that does seem to be represented here more than in the world at large. Perhaps if I post and bump this back up to the front, more will come forward.

 

BTW, your idea to write a homeschooling book based on personality type sounds very intriguing. Of course, it would, since INFJ's are the type most interested in personality theory :-)

[April in NC]

I'm sometimes an INFP and sometimes an INFJ. Plus sometimes my F changes to a T. I often find myself answering questions on these tests as "all of the above!". And I usually find that all four of those personality profiles speak to me in various ways.

 

What does it say about one's personality type if one doesn't want to be limited to a single clearly defined personality type?!

 

But I am definitely an introvert with a score of 90+%! No question about that. Though I am usually great at dealing with people . . . :001_smile:

 

April

[Nicole M]

I'm one. Or I was when I took the official test. I can't for the life of me remember what it means.

 

I thought only 5% of the population was an INFJ? Or is it 15?

[Alicia64]

Wow, I guessed I missed the part about being rare. I was tested in a Masters class program by a therapist and came out INFJ.

 

Although I'm in the middle of being an "I" and an "E".

 

I didn't know that home schoolers could tend towards being an INFJ -- I'd like to hear more!

 

Alicia

[Caitilin]

I come up as an INTJ--do you ladies find these to be an accurate assessment of yourselves? I haven't ever looked into this before. :)

[cathmom]

http://www.parenting.com/article/Mom/Work--Family/your-mothering-style/1

 

here's an article that relates your type to your mothering style. I find it to be accurate!

[Mary in NJ]

ISFJ

[Michelle in GA]

I am an INFJ. I have taken the test many times....am consistently INFJ, being very strong in the "N".

[OhM]

Sorry, not me I am INTJ :D

 

Yep, me too.

[HSMom2One]

I'm also and INFJ, although when I was younger I was much more extroverted.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Janna]

I used to be INTJ, but apparently I have switched. I have taken this test 5 times and all 5 have come up with the same result.

 

When I read this, I definitely had what felt like a spiritual epiphany, LOL. No where have I ever felt (HA!) so understood! I read it to dh and he was impressed too, with how accurately it described me.

 

I will say, that it doesn't appear we're in the bottom 1% according to these boards, though! ;)

[muffinmom]

INFJ here! May I have a latte, please?

[ElizabethB]

Thanks, y'all! Now I'm off to read what ENFP means.....after taking the tests, I'm afraid it's going to mean "good grief, she's lazy."

 

I'm an INTP. I prefer the word efficient!

 

Although, sometimes lazy fits, but I do often get a lot of thing accomplished. I prefer to work in long bursts of energy, that hasn't worked well since having children. However, my husband will take the children fishing on Saturdays when he has time and I really need to work on something on my website or for my large remedial reading classes that I do with the help of volunteers from my church.

 

I try to force myself to do what I can in small periods of time, I have weeks or months where that goes well, but it's not how I naturally like to work.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

Not much to say about it, but I took the test the other day and that is what popped up. I'd say it fits.

[klmama]

INFJ here. My dh has been telling me so for years, but I hadn't taken the test until just a few days ago online. I realize it isn't "official," but reading the description that Janna linked was like having my secret, private life exposed online, including on the other related pages on the site, right down to all of my strengths and weaknesses. It's amazing that they can know us so well when they've never met us!

[KidsHappen]

I also test as an INTP/J. I am mentally a J but in practice a P. The problem is that I live in a house full of Ps and I am just too tired to get them to all come around to my way of thinking. I frequently tell my husband that he is peeing all over my J. :tongue_smilie:

 

Sorry, this is incorrect. I am a INFP/J, not T. For some reason I do not have the edit option on this post so I had to quote myself.

[HSMom2One]

INFJ here. ...I realize it isn't "official," but reading the description that Janna linked was like having my secret, private life exposed online, including on the other related pages on the site, right down to all of my strengths and weaknesses. It's amazing that they can know us so well when they've never met us!

 

I feel the same way! Isn't it encouraging to pull it all together and realize that there is (sort of) an explanation for why we do the things we do? I mean, I don't feel quite as "odd" knowing that there are others out there with this quirky personality too.

 

As a person of deep faith, I know that God created me to be who I am for a purpose beyond my own imagination or comprehension.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[ElizabethB]

I feel the same way! Isn't it encouraging to pull it all together and realize that there is (sort of) an explanation for why we do the things we do? I mean, I don't feel quite as "odd" knowing that there are others out there with this quirky personality too.

 

As a person of deep faith, I know that God created me to be who I am for a purpose beyond my own imagination or comprehension.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

 

Gifts Differing, by Isabel Brigs Myers, takes its title from a bible verse and starts with a biblical quote about each of us having "Gifts Differing" and how all types are important and needed. I recently found that she was homeschooled.

 

From wikipedia:

 

"Isabel Briggs Myers (October 18, 1897 – May 5, 1980)[1][2] was an American psychological theorist. She was co-creator, with her mother, of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

 

She was home-schooled by her mother (Katharine Cook Briggs, January 3, 1875 – 1968)[3] and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in political science from Swarthmore College. In 1918 she married Clarence Myers."

[Guest Katia]

Ok, I have to re-post and say I am an INFJ, not the ISFJ as thought before.

 

I re-tested and apparently I had misread several questions.....so I took it twice and both times came up with INFJ.

 

So, I can legally join the club, no?

[HSMom2One]

Gifts Differing, by Isabel Brigs Myers, takes its title from a bible verse and starts with a biblical quote about each of us having "Gifts Differing" and how all types are important and needed. I recently found that she was homeschooled.

 

From wikipedia:

 

"Isabel Briggs Myers (October 18, 1897 – May 5, 1980)[1][2] was an American psychological theorist. She was co-creator, with her mother, of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

 

She was home-schooled by her mother (Katharine Cook Briggs, January 3, 1875 – 1968)[3] and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in political science from Swarthmore College. In 1918 she married Clarence Myers."

 

That is fascinating information. I have often had conversations with others about gifting and how it is related to our personalities. Now I'm going to have to check out Isabel's book (if its available). And to think -- she was homeschooled. I love stories like this about people. Thank you for sharing it.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Myrrh]

Ah, kindred spirits at last! :grouphug: I'm rather sporadic in coming to the boards (what with being a newbie homeschooler) but I'm glad this "cafe" I started is taking on a life of its own :001_smile:

 

I think INFJs are the most likely to be interested in personality typing. It's our whole introspective nurturing nature which makes us so relational and analytical at the same time.

 

I love that you quote the intro page from Gifts Differing. Since getting certified about a year and a half ago, I am just starting to give talks (so far to MOPS and a women's Bible study) and do private consulting, but I have amassed an arsenal of personality typing resources over the years, some Christian, some not. My favorites for the MBTI are:

 

Gifts Differing, MotherStyles, Nurture by Nature, LifeKeys, Please Understand Me, Prayer and Temperament, When INFJs and ENFPs Interact (my husband is an ENFP, so I was thrilled to find another couple with our types who had written a book!).

 

Also this website, which provides a Biblical foundation for the MBTI:

 

http://home.centurytel.net/foundations/humanity/mbti/contents.htm

 

My girls are already interested in this, so I expect it will be one of our electives when they're in the logic stage :)

[Myrrh]

I'm one. Or I was when I took the official test. I can't for the life of me remember what it means.

 

I thought only 5% of the population was an INFJ? Or is it 15?

 

Actually the official materials I have (MBTI handbook) put us at less than 2% of the population, the most rare of all types! And if you think about how many women are on these boards (like 5000?), and how many have turned up here who are actually INFJs, even factoring in the disproportionate numbers of us who homeschool, that figure sounds about right :001_smile:

[Myrrh]

I just blogged something I think other INFJs (and Ns in general) might relate to. It possibly makes me sound a bit like an INFP but I really am an INFJ. It's just that my perfectionism makes me a procrastinator.

 

http://rhetoricalchristian.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/the-dearth-and-the-angst/

[rowan25]

ISTJ pretty overwhelmingly. Where can I find info on this one?

[ChrisB]

Not an INFJ, but...

 

Me = ESFJ

DH = ENTJ he even loves his MB's "title"

 

we're a great fit :D

[Jill- OK]

I am consistently INFJ (whenever there's been a thread here and I've tested myself, lol) and yes, it was a relief to read the (various) descriptions of that personality type.

 

It feels good to think that someone, somewhere, could understand me.

 

I don't drink coffee, but I'll take a cup of green tea! :D

[amy g.]

We were tested when we got married.

 

I was an INTP and Dh was an INTJ.

 

In the last 17 years, I have been tested several times, and am now strongly INTJ.

 

I wonder if it is Dh's influence, or just part of my maturation process.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

I had never even heard of these tests before I looked at this thread. I tested INFJ. My family was laughing when I read the personality description....it was completely accurate!

 

~

Leanna

[Building Up]

I am also an INFJ. I don't think I've ever met another!

[JeanM]

I've taken these tests before and usually come out INFJ, although the "J" is pretty weak. The description is right on!

 

Jean

[mama2cntrykids]

Wow! How cool. I'm definetly checking out some of those links. I took one test and came out ISFJ. What's the difference between the "S" and "N"?

[iwka]

The tests says I am INTJ. But at work and in social groups I am E and much more of F & P than the test shows.

[tex-mex]

Holy cow... took the Myers-Brigg over 25 years ago and it scored me as an INFJ. Took it again in the 90's -- INFJ. Took it in 2003 -- INFJ. Just took it via your link... INFJ. Heavens.

 

I didn't know there were a small % of us folk -- (Counselor) INFJ.

 

"Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them."

 

LOL Cheers! ;)

Edited August 11, 2009 by tex-mex

[Renee in NC]

INFJ here!

 

Didn't know it was so rare. I am strongest on the N and least strong on the I. I am not an extroverted person, but I don't get exhausted by interaction easily.

 

I do like to be alone more - for example, I prefer to go to the store alone rather than taking dc with me. Dh (who is E) takes dc with him wherever he goes.

[Cindy in C-ville]

I tend to waver between INFJ and ENFP. Interestingly, my husband is an INFJ as well, borderline on the I/E, but not on the J/P. When we were just starting our church planting adventure, we went through an assessment center with ~ 6 other potential church planting couples. We all took the Myers-Briggs and when the psychiatrist guy gave the results he shared that he had never had a couple BOTH show up as INFJs. We both function well in a crowd, have no trouble mingling, etc., but need time by ourselves to recharge.

 

I do wonder about my going back and forth and what this means. If I test "I," I always test "J," and if I test "E," I always test "P." Any thoughts? I guess I am definitely in the "Healer" category, but I don't know what to think about the other. Here are the descriptions from one of the websites mentioned:

 

The Counselor (INFJ) is a more private person than the Teacher. They, too, can be found in the field of education as a professor , teacher, counselor, or educational consultant. Sometimes they feel a strong calling toward the religious life as clergy, nun, or director of religious education. Social service jobs, such as social worker, social scientist, or mediator can fit their needs. Some Counselors work in human services, marketing, or as a job analyst. Others are drawn to the arts as a novelist, designer, or artist. Says Benito, "My art is very personal. It expresses who I am at the same time reaching out to draw the viewer in. My art changes the viewer's perspective of reality."

 

People naturally confide in the Champion (ENFP). That's why they make such good mediators, counselors, teachers, consultants, and reporters. Any position that outreaches to others can fit the Champion. They can be columnists, journalists, publicists, copy writers, advertising account executives. In the arts they can be character actors, cartoonists, art educators. If they choose jobs such as restaurateur, be sure that their business sites will be unique and designed for a particular type of customer. Don't be surprised to see them as an inventor. This type of personality wants to experience the whole of life and may change careers more often than many other types. Says Charles, "I've had a number of jobs and when there is nothing left to create, I move to something new. I want my life to be spiced with newness, love, and joy."

[Cindy in C-ville]

Think I figured it out after reading a bit more. My "coping" self is an INFJ, and yet at my "core" I'm an ENFP. http://rakkav.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/type-trek-enfp-or-infj/ helped. Would love your thoughts. Anyone else an ENFP coping with the demands of life as an INFJ? For me, it's the number of children that we have as well as church planting that forced me into chore charts, organizational strategies, keeping a calendar, etc. I LOVE start-up and strategizing, but am not so good a follow-up or sticking to a plan. I need variety and something to motivate me. One aspect of the ENFP that stings a bit is the lack of relational follow-through. I have found this to be true and it makes me sad. I truly love my friends, but unless a friend pursues me or is in my life , I'm not that great at maintaining relationship. I have dear friends that I haven't talked to in YEARS all over the country. Thoughts?