INFJ Personality Type: Traits and Career Paths

An INFJ is one of sixteen personality types in the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator system. Colloquially known as “the advocate” or “the idealist” type, the acronym “INFJ” stands for “introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging.” Carl Jung, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr. had INFJ personality types.

INFJ types are compassionate, idealistic, and likely to form close bonds with people. People with the INFJ personality type can also be challenging to get to know on a deep level. Generally, they have high expectations and can be perfectionistic and challenging to satisfy.

An INFJ’s dominant cognitive function is Introverted Intuition, meaning they follow their instincts and will likely stick to them. Their auxiliary cognitive function is Extraverted Feeling, so they are keenly aware of the needs of others, making it difficult to turn down a request. The tertiary cognitive function is Introverted Thinking, or relying on their own intuition to inform their decision-making; they can, however, become swayed by other people’s feelings in group settings. The inferior cognitive function of INFJs (the weakest part of their personality) is Extraverted Sensing; this helps them live in the present moment and be aware of the world around them.

INFJ personality stands for introverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging. Common attributes for INFJ include:

1. 1. Introverted: The INFJ personality tends to have a small but close-knit set of relationships. You may find it challenging to get to know people with the INFJ personality type on a deep level. They can take a long time to warm up to friends and romantic partners, but the relationship will be solid after establishing trust.
2. 2. Intuitive: They accomplish their goals using big-picture planning informed by their intuitions.
3. 3. Feeling: They are empathetic dreamers and often thrive on helping others and improving the world.
4. 4. Judging: Due to their introverted intuition, people with the INFJ personality type tend to be good judges of character, but they can also be quick to judge, requiring their loved ones to be patient.

INFJ is the rarest personality type in the MBTI system. Only about one to three percent of people in the United States fall under this classification.

Here are a few common personality traits of INFJ types:

• Altruistic
• Compassionate
• Considerate
• Determined
• Idealistic
• Insightful
• Organized
• Passionate
• Perfectionist
• Supportive

People with INFJ personality types excel at career paths with creativity, insight, and intuition. They can be very high achievers when they have work that aligns with their personal value systems and calm, easy-going, harmonious work environments. Too much structure, management, or demands on their attention can be complex to handle. Artists, teachers, psychologists, and religious scholars are promising careers for INFJ personalities.

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI for short) is a self-reported personality assessment. Writers Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs developed the test in 1943. The MBTI draws heavily on the work of Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung and seeks to promote self-understanding by helping people clarify their abilities and preferences in life, work, and relationships. The MBTI personality test organizes people into sixteen categories.

The sixteen MBTI types include ISTJ, ISFJ, INTJ, INFJ, ISTP, INTP, INFP, ISFP, ESTJ, ENTJ, ENTP, ENFJ, ENFP, ESFP, ESTP, and ESFJ.

The MBTI personality test organizes people into sixteen categories. The letters refer to four psychological functions or scales in human personalities:

1. 1. Introversion - Extroversion (I-E): Introversion to extroversion describes how people interact with themselves and others. Extroverted people thrive on socializing and find relationships relatively energizing, while introverts need to spend more time with themselves and often find socializing draining.
2. 2. Sensing - Intuition (S-N): This refers to how people gather information about the exterior world. Some tend to be more attentive to sensory information, while others are more intuitive about the world around them.
3. 3. Thinking - Feeling (T-F): This measures how people make decisions about the world and events. Those who favor thinking tend to be rational and deliberative and prefer logical conclusions. People who lean toward feeling tend to emphasize their emotions when making decisions.
4. 4. Judging - Perceiving (J-P): This scale measures people’s overall orientation toward people and events. Those who judge tend to favor organizational structure and precise decisions, whereas people who perceive are often more accepting, nuanced, and reserved in their opinions and ideas.

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