Intp or Entp? I feel that I'm both!

[LucielaMinerva]

Used to think I was ENTP based on test results, but I have since changed my perspective on myself when I read the descriptions for INTPs. I can't say for sure that I am without any speck of doubt a true blue INTP, but I daresay I have a lot of INTP traits.

The problem is I have a lot of ENTP traits as well, and it seems the Ne-Ti functions are performing pretty well for both Entp and Intp profiles.

I've read three descriptions of Intp and I find that I fit them more than the descriptions for Entp.

The following pages are the ones I can safely agree for 80% of the time:

http://www.intp.org/intprofile.html
http://morriscat.50megs.com/type/intptype.html
http://www.geocities.com/lifexplore/intp.htm

The only ways I cannot be an intp are:

- I am a naturally bubbly, excitable person, and I do enjoy the company of people more than being alone
- I am an ideas/concept person and I do like to plan things before embarking on it, but I rarely ever follow up thoroughly once the novelty is gone or when I've figured something out
- I am pretty open with sharing aspects of myself (although there are some I'd preferably not tell people about if it puts me in a judgemental light). But sometimes I shock people for the lulz anyway. I have a love for the unconventional.

But other functions are favourably Intp than Entp, although there are a few shared traits (such as intellectual curiosity and the need to satiate it).

I'm absentminded since young. A lot of my traits (such as lack of ability to concentrate and absentmindedness) I attribute to a possible case of ADD.

Is the difference between an Entp and an Intp only the extroversion function? If so, then why are the personalities so different? And why do I have both?

I have a theory that I appear to be both because I learnt the other side instead of being born with it.

To be honest, I think I'm a pretty private person and I interact with people normally when absolutely necessary. If not, I'll be too absorbed doing my own things. But I'm rather sociable too; I have no problems talking to people. In fact I have pretty good PR skills (I'm working in customer service now). I do not share my worries or personal troubles that plague me often. I manifest tiny specks of it in poetry or tell it to my close friends. The real deal lies in my head.

I love my brain, yet I hate it. It's constantly in use and I am always thinking introspectively about things. My worst and happiest events happen in my brain. You can liken it to a bomb defuser- just chuck everything inside and I'll process it from the inside. It is my sanctuary and my refuge. It is the only place I can go to dissect thoughts safely.

It is also the reason for me being neurotic, somewhat psychotic and depressed. I have SO MUCH thoughts in my head that it affects me. And I don't tell people about it cause, I like thinking about it in my head. I like theorizing and seeing myself from a 3rd party's perspective when I'm emotional. I can be crying because I'm sad that a friend just insulted me, but I can also be thinking about what he said at the same time and analyzing his words to see the merits of his accusation.

I scare myself sometimes. I've always had this ability of "two minds" in the same body. One that functions the physical body, and the other that functions the mental side. Am I weird?

 

[Enne]

So? The MBTI types are relative. There's no such thing as a legitimate type. =/

Dunno what you're expecting.

 

[Concojones]

You're definitely not the only one who thinks he doesn't entirely fit into one type, and it has the advantage that you'll remember to take MBTI with a grain of salt (don't use it as an excuse to e.g. not develop your social or decision taking skills).

It can also take some time find your type. Originally I tested INFP and the profile also seemed the best fit. Later I realized INTP was an even better fit. It's not always easy to rank your own personality traits.

 

[Decaf]

So? The MBTI types are relative. There's no such thing as a legitimate type. =/

Dunno what you're expecting.

That's certainly one perspective. The other would be that type is hard to define based on isolationism. One behavior could be caused by more than one function and its presence is not a solid indicator of which one it is.

You could take the position that people are a spectrum and thus there is no use trying to divide them up, and that's what much of modern psychology still holds to. I'm of the position that there are rules by which the brain functions and in those rules there are multiple solutions. In the course of selecting a preferred solution the brain has to make choices and those choices affect how it approaches the sensory input that we call life.

It could be that given an emotional stimuli the brain has to decide whether to be understanding or reactionary. The understanding side could best be described as introverted in this case and can be applied to any of the four functions, introverted thinking (making mental models of facts, a.k.a. theories), introverted feeling (delving into personal meaning), introverted sensing (reflecting on past experience) and introverted intuition (creative association).

I would love to write a great deal more on this, but I'm trying to get motivated to write in my blog and this isn't helping so I'll move on to the subject of the thread:

____

The difference between INTPs and ENTPs are which function is dominant over the others. An INTPs dominant function is introverted thinking, followed by extraverted intuition as its auxiliary. For the ENTP its the opposite. So what does that mean?

The question to ask yourself is what is your greater area of confidence. Do you derive more self confidence from your ability to come up with ideas or to reason out the best course of action. Are you primarily a brainstormer or puzzle solver? That sounds like an easier question to answer than it is, but I'll await your reply so we can reason it out together.

____

One important note. The one thing that MBTI takes no note of that is considered a fundamental trait of personality is neuroticism. Part of why it is ignored is because Jung thought it might have more to do with nurture than nature, and part of why its remained ignored is that Myers-Briggs is primarily a theory for benefit. Its for helping people cope, understand themselves, etc. The Big Five is much more objective in its willingness to be negative. High levels of neuroticism is generally considered a negative trait despite reasoning that suggests it is an important trait for those who often go on to the greatest levels of success (as neuroticism can ruin you, but it can also drive you beyond your basic needs to achieve what you desire). If you're highly neurotic you have to read that into the type descriptions because it will be absent.

In the end, all of this is about self-knowledge. If the MBTI helps you achieve it, then it was a success even if it isn't perfectly accurate or if its fundamental assumptions are off. If you don't believe it can help, it probably won't.

 

[Dentan]

LucielaMinerva, you remind me of myself.
I was definitely more on the INTP side in the past,
but after pledging for a fraternity (forcing myself to leave my comfort zone)
I've become very close to a ENTP.
Although I consider myself an INTP that's developed my extroverted intuition.
There's a piece somewhere online about the benefits an INTP who develops extroverted intuition has.

 

[LucielaMinerva]

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to reply! It is most appreciated. Sorry I can't reply in full as I have to rush off to work soon, so I'll reply decaf first:

The difference between INTPs and ENTPs are which function is dominant over the others. An INTPs dominant function is introverted thinking, followed by extraverted intuition as its auxiliary. For the ENTP its the opposite. So what does that mean?

The question to ask yourself is what is your greater area of confidence. Do you derive more self confidence from your ability to come up with ideas or to reason out the best course of action. Are you primarily a brainstormer or puzzle solver? That sounds like an easier question to answer than it is, but I'll await your reply so we can reason it out together.

Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to read it and offer help. =)

When you say introverted thinking, does it mean thinking in the head as opposed to voicing it out to people or do you mean introspective thoughts as opposed to external-relations thoughts?

I'm a philosopher (we all are, just some more than others) and I will usually spend time thinking about something in my own head- I enjoy the delight of weighing my arguments up against what I know and being part of the whole thinking process- in fact, it comes as second nature to me, and I'm a pretty quick thinker, but thorough when necessary, and when I'm done thinking about it, I am usually either satisfied or when I cannot figure it out, I will expound upon it in, say, a forum, to get alternative views.

When you say come up with ideas vs reasoning process, I don't really know how to answer that. My thought process is extremely methodological. Working in a team, I am the ideas/concept person, but I am also the person who sets the direction as well as the one who scaffolds the action plan for the team. Not out of obligation, though. Only when it is a problem worth my intellectual curiosity or when I'm forced to do so. Otherwise, I'd prefer not doing work at all... *coughs* HAHA :P

E.g. let's say we have a marketing problem- we aren't meeting the sales targets for the month.

My first thought would not be "what else can we do?" but "I must figure out why this is so", and once I've discerned the source, I will proceed to brainstorm, and once I am done with that, I will draft an action plan to address the situation. Then I will present to the team. And yes, I do not really like working in teams; I am a fiercely independent person (but I am extremely adaptable to situations!)

I enjoy a little direction when faced with decision making.

This, however, might not be applicable to times of emotional distress.

Brainstormer or puzzle solver... hmm.

One of my hobbies include solving logic puzzles, e.g. sudoku, logic grid puzzles, crosswords and generally mystery-type games. I especially love logic puzzles. I've always had an extremely analytical mind since young, mainly directed at problem solving, and my fav genre of books is mystery, or something that makes me excited about it just by using my brain to decipher clues.


Note: Noted about the neuroticism part. It stems from an underlying sense of low self esteem and the need to be accepted by people. I am very insecure. I have the propensity to make myself appear higher than others, especially when I see a moral need to put someone in their place or when someone challenges me in a rude manner (not socially inept, RUDE).

I agree this is for self knowledge. This is just another one of my intellectual curiosity endeavours for self awareness and self understanding. Once I have figured it out, I would probably find something else to pursue. Haha.

 

[LucielaMinerva]

And dentan, I've always been a weird person since young. I keep things to myself (that's what my mum says), but on the other hand, I am cynically talkative. I am naturally shy and reserved by nature, but I do not appear so around people because I have had training to be bold since young (I was a literary enthusiast and a drama student) and a lot of my interaction with people in the real world stems from my shedding my inhibitions and going up to the person to say "HI THERE MY NAME IS XXXX, WHAT'S YOURS? "

It takes a lot of guts to do that. I'm bold and assertive, though, when necessary, or when I wish to reinstate my importance, especially when my ego is hurt. My temperament is akin to a male's. Which makes me very unlikeable to a lot of males as it is a clash of egos.

That is why I have reason to believe that I may possibly be a "closet INTP". My extraverted exterior is a fake, but has become such a comfortable skin to be in that I forgot what I TRULY want inside me.

 

[Ermine]

It takes a lot of guts to do that. I'm bold and assertive, though, when necessary, or when I wish to reinstate my importance, especially when my ego is hurt. My temperament is akin to a male's. Which makes me very unlikeable to a lot of males as it is a clash of egos.

Reminds me of grade school dodgeball. I was the only girl who tried to play instead of just stand there like the rest of the girls, and always was the first to be hit by several balls at once, even though I wasn't incredibly good. No fun.

That is why I have reason to believe that I may possibly be a "closet INTP". My extraverted exterior is a fake, but has become such a comfortable skin to be in that I forgot what I TRULY want inside me.

If you are comfortable and profiting from your extraverted exterior, how can it go against what you truly want? I think all MBTI types are neutral and merely indicate comfort zones and defaults, just a starting point for self discovery. If you're comfortable with both introspection and extraversion, then you are. It isn't the MBTI's responsibility to tell you what your comfort zone is if you know different. It would be a different story if you consider extraversion a necessary evil, something you wouldn't do if you didn't have to.

 

[Chimaera]

... I am naturally shy and reserved by nature, but I do not appear so around people because I have had training to be bold since young (I was a literary enthusiast and a drama student) and a lot of my interaction with people in the real world stems from my shedding my inhibitions and going up to the person to say "HI THERE MY NAME IS XXXX, WHAT'S YOURS? "

It takes a lot of guts to do that. I'm bold and assertive, though, when necessary, or when I wish to reinstate my importance, especially when my ego is hurt. My temperament is akin to a male's. Which makes me very unlikeable to a lot of males as it is a clash of egos.

That is why I have reason to believe that I may possibly be a "closet INTP". My extraverted exterior is a fake, but has become such a comfortable skin to be in that I forgot what I TRULY want inside me.

I know this type of transition as well. Many conference speakers follow in this cathegory as well. I'm like you comfortable being Extrovert once I am in the role, and it is not decisive if there is internal or external factor that makes me be in one of the roles, but if I'm concerned I'd use extraversion only to control environment, and introversion to defend my mind from dangerous or meaningless influence. The worst of my fears is that I had known what is right and I failed to do it or to express it at least, to stay comfortable and safe. Anyway I'm rather staying calm when I'm not sure to be competent enough to defend my point of view, but act quickly when I'm expected to be in charge. When I'm in charge errors are to be accepted as a part of the process to reach ultimate goals.

In my quick opinion by looking at methodology of measuring temperament preferences is designed to differentiate particular traits, it's meaningless about how strong are your skills in mastering any situation. I used to explore people's minds to impose my point, but recently I'm interested in Meyers-Briggs profiling to reduce my effort, because they feel threathened when I unconsciously or unnecessarily hit their vulnerable points. It is important for me as well to reduce unnecessary stress for both sides when communicating with people. Extraverted behaviour done properly reduces that stress, therefore I don't hesitate to perform if thinking and analizing is satisfied as a prerequisite for a good performance. No need of performance is perfect situation for me, of course.

I usually prepare my public presentations the night or the morning before the speech. Most of time (weeks before presentation) I spend on secod-guessing my audience reactions, and do not care about meritum, which I know and I can modify in details the very last minute.