13 Spot-On Traits of an INTJ Personality Type

By Nicole Yi

Updated on 6/15/2018 at 2:41 PM

POPSUGAR Photography | Paul Kabat
POPSUGAR Photography | Paul Kabat

I'm usually a skeptic when it comes to zodiac signs, personality quizzes, or any sort of metric that attempts to define who I am. But as I read the description of my Myers Briggs results, I found myself nodding my head instead rolling my eyes. I'm an INTJ, which is in short characterized as a planner and a strategic thinker. In fact, this personality type is said to be one of the rarest and the most strategic of them all. We make up two percent of the population, and female INTJs are even more difficult to find as we only form 0.8 percent of people.

INTJ (nicknamed "the architect") stands for (I) Introverted, (N) Intuition, (T) Thinking, and (J) Judging. We're cynical yet idealistic, logical but imaginative, hardworking, and confident — we can basically do anything we put our minds to. We do have our share of weaknesses, but we'll get into that later. If you're an INTJ like me, these 13 traits ahead will seem spot-on.

  1. You were a bookworm as a kid. Many INTJs show a thirst for knowledge beginning at a young age. You took pride in being the bookworm and weren't afraid to answer questions in class.
  2. You're a cynic. You're a living contradiction because you're one of the most cynical people as well as one of the biggest dreamers. You know that with effort, intelligence, and will, you can achieve what you want to — which is why you also view those unable as lazy. You pretty much doubt everyone else but yourself.
  3. You don't like rules or tradition. INTJs are filled with original ideas and observations that often make them want to rework current systems and ideas. If they think something can be improved, they'll think of a way to make it better if they haven't already. 16 Personalities calls it the "Is this going to work?" filter: "this mechanism is applied at all times, to all things and all people, and this is often where INTJ personality types run into trouble." You also hate blind obedience because you require a logical reason behind everything.
  4. You're always a step ahead. Your mind works like a chess game; each move is heavily weighed and analyzed before proceeding. You don't like curve balls, so you make sure you're ahead of the game to be able to always maintain control. You're constantly comparing strategies and thinking situations out in your head.
  5. You think with your head, not with your heart. If you are an INTJ, this would ring most true to you (Thinking vs. Feeling). You don't allow your emotions to decide for you. Instead, you assess whether or not the situation makes the most sense rationally. INTJs have a conscience but may appear as cold to others.
  6. You keep it real. Lies and small talk are not your thing because you appreciate truth and authenticity. You're deep, reflective, and highly intelligent, and you only ask for others to reciprocate the honesty you give them. You put much thought behind everything, including who you choose to surround yourself with, and don't like feeling betrayed after letting someone in.
  7. You know what you want. Some may perceive your decisiveness as being insensitive or blunt, but it's just because INTJs have "set opinions about what works, what doesn't, what they're looking for, and what they're not," says 16 Personalities. They don't like to waste their time on things or people they find unworthy and will cut right to the chase so that they can invest their attention on something that matters.
  8. You're self-confident. You know that when you're right, you're really right, and that's that. You're confident in your capabilities and intelligence to come up with the best strategy and results and therefore have no reason to doubt yourself. Arrogance also happens to be one of INTJs' main weaknesses.
  9. You're open-minded. Despite your high self-confidence, you're receptive to ideas and opinions outside your own. Because you're so rational, you consider all possibilities with an open mind.
  10. You have difficulty expressing your emotions. INTJs often feel emotions more deeply than other personality types because they're not good at controlling them. They equate feelings with vulnerability and constantly keep their guard up to allow a clear head for decision-making. They even use their logic to address certain emotions. Rather than allowing it to control them, they identify the emotion and figure out why they're feeling this way and what they can do to fix it.
  11. You're a hard worker. If you want something, you don't allow anything to get in your way. You'll dedicate all your time and effort toward achieving your goal and find the most efficient way to get there.
  12. You're independent. You are highly self-sufficient and don't rely on anyone else but yourself to get sh*t done. As a result, you don't require a lot of attention, making you both a good partner and somebody who is difficult to read. INTJs maintain a very small circle of friends of those who they believe to be on their level. They rely on themselves and only keep around friends who also want an honest and intellectually stimulating relationship.
  13. You have a dark sense of humor. As the bitterest of cynics, you have a very sarcastic and dark sense of humor that not everybody can handle. It can be difficult to become good friends with you, but you definitely know how to have fun with those you know well and respect.