Do most INFJs prefer being alone?

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I do. And with that I mean being alone for most of my day. I often wonder if me doing something has to do with the INFJ or if it's just my own weirdness.

I enjoy being alone. I need time to myself so that I can think. I love to think. Gosh, I love it. That's why I love public transit, because it's a break from everyday life and all you can really resort to is thinking.

I never understood it when people say being by themselves is boring. I think being around people is boring. I mean, I love being around close friends, but general socializing with random people? Meh. This weekend I had to do that. It's just so boring. And the weird part is that they seem to socialize to get away from the boredom. That's totally backwards to me.
 
I can only speak for myself but I can totally relate to this. It almost seems as if being alone is sort of my time to "retreat" I guess you could say. It's sort of a strange thing but I need to think and imagine in my head. I do find a lot of talking quite boring but I think that is mainly because it tends to be "small talk" when I get into discussing emotions, concepts or intangibles with individuals I find it a bit more enjoyable. Inside my own head is a place that I can really be me though, I know that my thoughts and feelings will never be misinterpreted by myself and I can think in a more non-linear fashion that would likely be misconstrued out loud to others.
 
Yes.

Yaaaaay for quiet time! I liked quiet time as a kid and always thought it was odd when kids protested against it.
 
I'm never bored when I'm alone; there's so much to contemplate.
Big loud, noisy groups of strangers who can only talk about fluff bore me to tears.
One-on-one or small group conversations about deeper topics I find interesting
are the bomb. But I need to be alone to recharge from them as well.
I feel closest to being my true self when I am by myself.
 
I prefer to be around people about just as much as I want to be alone. Some days it leans more in one direction then the other. Either way in the end it's pretty even for me.
 
Kind of like indigo sensor. It also depends who I'm around. Sometimes I get to work in a great mood, and everyone looks miserable. Then I'm like why is everyone so unhappy? Then my good mood wears off sometimes and I'm like oh yeah.. stupid job and stupid bulldog manager!!

:)
 
IndigoSensor said:
I prefer to be around people about just as much as I want to be alone. Some days it leans more in one direction then the other. Either way in the end it's pretty even for me.
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plus one

But, if I spend too much time with people my mind has rush hour, I become little bit hyperactive and I need to be alon if I want my sanity back.
 
I love my time alone.

When with one close friend I start to withdraw after about three or four hours no matter how good the conversation is. I love in-depth conversation, but it does take its toll on me.

When with a group of close friends I can be around them and sociable all day.
 
Sali said:
I can only speak for myself but I can totally relate to this. It almost seems as if being alone is sort of my time to "retreat" I guess you could say. It's sort of a strange thing but I need to think and imagine in my head. I do find a lot of talking quite boring but I think that is mainly because it tends to be "small talk" when I get into discussing emotions, concepts or intangibles with individuals I find it a bit more enjoyable. Inside my own head is a place that I can really be me though, I know that my thoughts and feelings will never be misinterpreted by myself and I can think in a more non-linear fashion that would likely be misconstrued out loud to others.
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Same for me.

I get to a point where I have had my fill of being around others, and unless I can find space for myself to be alone and recharge I get very crabby! Or, I may withdraw into myself and not even realize someone is talking to me. This doesn't bode well if it happens to be my Wife who is talking.
I have talked to her about it, and she has learned to spot when I need space.

Growing up, I was essentially an only child since my Sister is 14 years older than me. By the time I was 5 she was off to college in another state, and never did move back.
So without other siblings around growing up it was very easy for me to go off on my own and be alone anytime I wanted.
Not so easy to do as an adult.

Being alone is bliss.
 
I don't just prefer it, I need it.
I love people and all, but
I need time to think, reflect, revitalize, and rejuvenate myself.
I love being around close friends, but I'm not one for making small talk with strangers...I'd rather be alone than thrown in that situation.

However, there are some days where I
 
I prefere being alone. There is just so much to think about and I'm always learning new things about myself:m200:.
 
I can enjoy spending time around people.

There are days when I feel outgoing and socialize with a large group of people, those tend to be rare. Then there's times where I enjoy spending time among a close group of people, those tend to be more common. I, however, certainly need an extensive period alone time to recharge my batteries and reflect. In the end, I lean more towards introversion and I engage in solitary activities more so than group ones.
 
Oh my god you should go to people and talk to people you have a life might as well use it blah blah blah being alone should be a sin blah blah blah

And I'll answer, I don't mind being with a small group all day. Big groups however (not parties) tend drive me CRAZY. Especially if there's a lot of loud, over energetic and annoying people. -.-
 
Happiness is being alone every now and then, and happiness is coming home again.

Even *I* like to be alone every now and then. Don't think you're special just because you find time alone restful, or productive, or whatever; thus, preferable to a less solitary activity. I believe that independent self-study is a very necessary component in the mastery of any skill, and it is through mastery of skills that we develop confidence in our ability to deal with life's challenges.

Basically being good at stuff makes us feel good about ourselves.

That being said, the premise of development of personality Is that somehow, somewhere, conscious, unconscious, whatever mix you desire, our brains made a ruling on what works best for us. Naturally, you're going to prefer those things.

Going back to solitude. To Illustrate, I have a neurological disorder that makes it difficult for me to ignore external stimuli which has an effect on my ability to focus. In other words I rolled low constitution Why does this matter? It makes me particularly sensitive to distractions. Most people do not appreciate having their thoughts disrupted. The best way to prevent your thoughts from being disrupted is to remove distractions.

This doesn't mean I hate people, I just would prefer a quiet environment when I'm trying to concentrate. Likewise... say you prefer an activity like introverted thinking that does not require external stimulus... you're going to prefer an environment conducive to the completion of such processes. Namely one that does not bombard you with unnecessary input that you need to sort through in order to maintain focus.

If you like to be alone, it doesn't mean you hate people. It just means your find your thoughts interesting and deserve attention and focus. And they probably are.


Now... if you think people are boring, you're obviously not doing it right.
:m145:

You can't know people are boring unless you know people.
If you think that your thoughts are way more important/interesting than the thoughts of others, you either:
A) Are a Narcissist
B) Don't know people
C) Think you know people, but really don't.

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Conclusion: While being an INFJ may not specifically indicate a preference for being alone, I would not be surprised if samples showed high incidence of such a behavior. I don't think a sample of people who self identify as introverts is enough evidence prove the anything more than coincidence and would be highly skeptical of any claims that state any definite causal correlation based solely off a bunch of people on the internet saying it is so. While such may be a very good indicator and provide a number of possible plausible explanations, further investigation would be necessary in order to examine the verity of any such claims.

I guess what i'm trying to say is. Correlation does not imply causation.
 
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I like being alone, it gives me time to think to myself and just...space my mind out.

Having said that, I dont mind being around the people I trust either. I enjoy their company a lot. ^_^
 
Wyote said:
Yes.

Yaaaaay for quiet time! I liked quiet time as a kid and always thought it was odd when kids protested against it.
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My parents quit sending me to "time out" when they figured out that it wasn't punishment for me. My dad is an
 
For me I wouldn't call it a preference exactly. If I don't get time alone I start to feel as if I'm drowning or suffocating mentally.
 
Jungian Trip said:
But when he did...he made me do volunteer work with people at church.

Mission accomplished, Dad.
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Ewwww.


I certainly prefer being alone in most cases. I like company sometimes but I can only stand to be around most people, even the ones I like, for a couple-ish hours. After that I need an escape route. If I don't have one I will put on the happy content act for their sake, but I won't really be enjoying myself anymore.
 
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