The INTJ personality traits refers to those enduring and relatively stable attributes of this type that makes them stand out from other 16 personality types.
People with this personality type are known as creative masterminds. They are insightful and curious, often act nerdy and expressionless; but are deeply thoughtful in their everyday life.
INTJs are not into too much socialization because they hate to see crowds encircling them. They hate casual chit-chats and prefer to remain engrossed in deep thinking. Thus, they have a small group of friends with whom they can share their insightful secrets and big goals.
These individuals are organized and focused. They will accomplish big goals in life with devotion and utmost commitment.
In this article, we will discuss some common personality traits of INTJ type individuals. Keep reading to find out.
20 INTJ Personality Traits
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the most commonly used personality assessment tests in the world. According to this personality test, there are sixteen different personality types among humans. One of these is the INTJ personality type.
The acronym INTJ stands for introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging. Individuals with this personality type generally tend to shy away from social interactions. They value rules and norms. But at the same time, they have their own set of morals and beliefs.
INTJ personalities are one of the rarest in the world. Only 2% of people in the world have an INTJ personality, with the case being rarer among women. As such, others may find it difficult to deal with an INTJ. Naturally, if you know someone’s strengths and weaknesses, you will find it easier to interact with them in daily life.
1. Shy
We all know that the “I” in INTJ stands for introverted. These individuals love to spend a lot of time alone. They prefer to stay away from social interactions. They hate being in the limelight under any situation.
INTJs use their alone time to introspect and reflect. Their minds are always active even when they are alone.
2. Thoughtful
People of the INTJ personality type usually spend a lot of time thinking and analyzing every little thing. They are very insightful about several matters and keep ruminating about them. In simple words, they tend to think too deeply about any topic. Sometimes, this can even be a detriment to them. Their friends may often call them over thinkers. But this is something that an INTJ cannot help.
3. Curious
INTJs are curious about every little thing. They love to be knowledgeable. They love to have the luxury of knowing details about everything under the sun. INTJs are staunch believers of the saying, “knowledge is power.”
If you have INTJ friends, you are very likely to find them at a library in their free time. They would probably read all kinds of books. The author and genre do not matter to them as long as they can hope to gain knowledge from it.
4. Big picture thinkers
Most INTJ individuals have the ability to think of the big picture. This is often beneficial for them in every sphere of life. When an INTJ sets out to perform a task, he or she can think of long-term solutions. This enables them to consider all sorts of possibilities and prepare for every possible solution.
5. Patience
We all know the common saying, “patience is a virtue.”
This is something that an INTJ truly believes as well. Because of the fact that an INTJ spends so much time alone, patience is something that they learn or develop.
For most people that we encounter in our daily lives, we can say that patience is a skill. In this regard, one can say that INTJs are quite skilled in this particular attribute. Standing in a queue for hours at an end is no big deal at all for an INTJ person!
6. Organizational skills
INTJs are naturally gifted at planning and organizing. As a matter of fact, many INTJ individuals claim that they love keeping things properly organized. This is actually an effect of the “judging” side of their personality profile.
People with the INTJ personality often like to follow a proper schedule in their daily lives. Even if they go for a night out with their friends, they prefer to have an itinerary of plans. Even though this can actually annoy their friends, they do not care.
However, being gifted with organizational skills can be beneficial in the work life of INTJs.
7. Rule followers
INTJs love to follow rules and regulations. Not only that, but they also want the people around them to be following established rules.
INTJ individuals often have high standards of living. But at the same time, they believe that every experience of life should be governed by something. For this reason, rules are important to an INTJ.
But at the same time, they do not follow all rules blindly just because someone else tells them to. They are rational thinkers. So, they carefully evaluate every situation before blindly acting upon anything just because of rules.
8. Strong morality
People with the INTJ personality have a strong sense of internal values and beliefs. It is likely that their caregivers or parents inculcate these within them during their childhood. Thereafter, the INTJs carry these values with them throughout their lives.
An INTJ’s moral compass is very rigid and well-oriented. Thus, an INTJ will not blindly follow the decisions of other people, unless they are sure that they are doing the right thing.
9. They’re socially aloof
INTJs hate social interactions. They especially hate small talk, and meaningless interactions with people. They dislike others noticing them and prefer not to be the center of attention.
Even if an INTJ has to go to a party where social interaction is possible, they would probably stand alone in one corner, enjoying their meal or drinks, and quietly observing everyone.
Even if they have to go to a social gathering, an INTJ would not take the initiative to talk to anyone, unless someone else speaks to them first.
10. Rational thinkers
INTJs are naturally gifted at rational thinking. They have an innate talent to judge every situation critically and at the slightest level of detail. This makes them very good at solving problems.
As a matter of fact, many INTJ individuals like to pursue problem solving as a hobby or leisure activity. They may often engross themselves in general aptitude questionnaires or quizzes as a pastime activity.
This kind of rational thinking also makes INTJs very good at conflict resolution at their workplace or elsewhere. If an INTJ sees that there is a conflict between two or more parties, they will judge the situation from a neutral point of view.
11. Meticulous
INTJs are very meticulous and thorough about everything. If needed, INTJs focus their attention to detail.
Now, this may come as a surprise to some people. Because earlier we said that INTJs have the ability to think of the bigger picture. How can someone think of the big picture and also pay attention to tiny details?
INTJs can do this because they are extremely skilled at prioritizing. They can prioritize their needs and react according to the situation.
12. Forward thinking habits
If you are friends with an INTJ, you would probably notice that they never like to dwell on the past. This is because INTJs are forward thinkers. They do not like to be fixated on the past.
INTJs do not like to ruminate on things like “what could have been” or “what never was”.
INTJ individuals are staunch forward thinkers. Whenever they get a moment to think, they would rather think of the future than the past. We know that INTJs are planners. In fact, many people call INTJs “the architects”.
When an INTJ gets a moment to think, he or she would plan their future tasks and activities.
13. Driven by big goals in life
INTJ people care strongly about their goals. This applies to every single thing they do. It does not matter to them if it is a big task or a small one.
Individuals with the INTJ personality have a good amount of zeal or will power. They have the talent to motivate themselves. They then hold on to that motivation until that task is completed. When an INTJ becomes too engrossed in some work that they are doing, they can lose track of time. They may even forget to eat, drink, sleep, or take a bath, when they are immersed in the work that they are doing.
This kind of attitude often benefits an INTJ in their workplace. Their supervisors love them for their exemplary work ethic. But continuing this kind of work habit on a regular basis can be harmful to their health in the long run. By not maintaining a proper sleep schedule, INTJs could end up having permanent damage to their body.
14. Single-tasking people
Despite all their skills, INTJs are not good at multitasking. They like to focus all of their undivided attention on one task at a time.
An INTJ’s work ethic is like this. They will give their one hundred percent effort on one task that they are currently doing. They will make sure that the task is completed. Only after that will they move on to their next task. If they leave one job incomplete, it keeps bugging them at the back of their mind unless they come back to it and finish it.
For INTJs who are students, this kind of attitude is beneficial. This is because it drives them to complete their homework and assignments properly. But in a work environment, this can be problematic for an INTJ.
This is because in a work environment, sometimes it becomes necessary to leave one task incomplete and jump on to another one if the situation demands it.
15. High achievers
INTJs often have high standards of living. In order to achieve that, they have high expectations of themselves. Sometimes, they even keep unrealistic demands from themselves. To make sure that they meet those demands, they often overwork themselves. They may forget to eat, drink, sleep, or take a bath, and keep themselves immersed in work.
16. Independent
Because INTJs like to keep themselves socially distant, they prefer to be independent. They are not good team players.
They would rather prefer to take all of the workload and do it all alone. However, this can often have a bad effect on their mental as well as physical health.
This kind of attitude also creates problems in work life, as well as student life. In modern work cultures, collaboration and cooperation are highly valued.
Many workplaces also consider teamwork to be of utmost importance. But an INTJ struggles to fit into such environments.
17. Impulsive under stress
We all know that every person reacts in an unnatural way when they are facing some stressful situations. For an INTJ, this unnatural reaction makes them impulsive.
In their daily lives, INTJs love proper planning and organization. They make sure to have a proper itinerary and daily schedule that they follow accurately. But under stress, they become whimsical and impulsive. They become reckless.
When facing a stressful situation, an INTJ may suddenly decide to go out and drink with friends, rather than properly plan the night-out ahead of time.
18. Hard to read
Many people claim that INTJs are hard to read. This is because INTJs are natural introverts. For this reason, they often like to internalize their thoughts and feelings. Even if an INTJ is feeling sad or upset, they would prefer to stay alone and listen to music, or watch a movie, or read a book, in order to feel better.
They do not want to discuss their problems with other people. This is because they feel like they would be burdening others by discussing their issues with them.
This kind of attitude also translates to an INTJ’s appearance. They often appear emotionally detached and stoic. INTJs are good at maintaining a so-called poker face.
19. Gut feeling
INTJs have a very strong gut feeling or internal feeling about other people. Because they are introverts, they do not like to engage much in social interactions. Even if they have to go to social gatherings, they do not like to speak with people, unless someone else comes up and speaks with them first. When speaking with others, INTJs have a gut feeling of whom to trust, and whom not to. They are often right about these gut feelings.
It is true that INTJs do not have many friends. But in their very small friend circle, they trust everyone. Their hunch tells them about the potential problems that can come up in future. It also makes them extra cautious. They tend to safeguard themselves from problems that can rob their peace of mind.
Due to this strong intuition, INTJs will also notice changes in their immediate environment. They are too smart to detect subtle changes that many others will miss out in the situation.
20. Tough minded
INTJ individuals can often be tough and decisive. People, who know INTJs, sometimes call them “stone-resolved” for this reason. They can make the tough decision at moments of crisis when others around them are not willing to. In fact, INTJs can also keep calm and think rationally under moments of crisis.
This mindset can be quite helpful when an INTJ is in a position of power in the workplace. They may be faced with making a difficult decision that will make them unfavorable to others. But an INTJ does not care about people’s adulations and they can make such a tough decision with ease.
To Sum Up
In this article, we have discussed some common personality traits of INTJ individuals. To give a recap, INTJ stands for an introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging type of individual.
Because of their introverted nature, they are shy and socially aloof. Their intuitive and thinking sides make them good at critical thinking and rational-minded. They also like to follow rules and regulations, but at the same time, have their own set of morals and beliefs which they strongly value.
But it is important to remember that not all INTJs should necessarily have all of these traits, because every person is unique. Similarly, just because someone exhibits many of these traits that do not necessarily make them an INTJ.
