INTP Personality Type: Characteristics and Careers

An INTP is one of the sixteen different personality types in the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator system. The INTP acronym stands for “introverted, intuitive, thinking, perceiving.” Colloquially, this personality type is known as “the thinker” or “the logician” type. Famous INTPs include Albert Einstein, René Descartes, Charles Darwin, and Marie Curie.

Like all Myers–Briggs personality types, the INTP has a recognizable assortment of personality traits and cognitive functions:

• Dominant: The dominant cognitive function of INTPs is Introverted Thinking, meaning these personality types are analytical, logical, and think independently. INTPs enjoy spending time alone with their own thoughts.
• Auxiliary: The auxiliary cognitive function of INTP personality types is Extroverted Intuition, meaning INTPs often think about the future and use insight to form ideas.
• Tertiary: INTPs have Introverted Sensing as the tertiary cognitive function. INTPs compare new information to what they already know to make predictions about future events. INTPs can be open minded, but they are very quick to pick up on logical inconsistencies and point out flaws of reasoning.
• Inferior: The inferior cognitive function of INTP type is Extroverted Feeling. Introversion commonly defines INTPs, but many INTP personalities are extroverts in small groups of people they know. When an INTP lets someone into their inner world, they often form a strong personal bond with that person. While they can take a long time to warm up to people, once they are close friends, they tend to remain close long term.

Common characteristics and traits of INTP personality types include:

• Analytical
• Autonomous
• Curious
• Inventive
• Non-traditional
• Objective
• Self-critical
• Thoughtful
• Quiet

INTP personality types tend to be rigorous and skeptical, and they are highly independent in their work. INTPs do well in STEM fields, which stands for “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” Their analytical rigor and awareness of the big picture means they can discover significant breakthroughs when given adequate resources to follow their ideas all the way. Some of the best INTP careers are those that have the potential for creative genius to thrive. INTPs can apply their analytic skills to the arts with career paths such as graphic designers, musical composers, and photographers.

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI for short) is a self-reported personality assessment. Developed by Isabel Myers and Catherine Briggs, who drew heavily on the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, it seeks to promote self-understanding by helping people clarify their abilities and preferences in life, work, and relationships.

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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