Why is INFJ the rarest type?

Misty said:
Yes, I know. Thank you for saying that though. I'm sorry you had a difficult medical experience which left you with some PTSD to work through. It isn't fun, no matter what causes it.
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HI Misty, the therapy I received afterwards has made such a big positive improvement to my life that, although I would not wish the experience on anyone, it has left me as a more balanced person with a better perspective on life in general. :)...Silver linings
 
DippidyDot said:
HI Misty, the therapy I received afterwards has made such a big positive improvement to my life that, although I would not wish the experience on anyone, it has left me as a more balanced person with a better perspective on life in general. :)...Silver linings
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That's great to hear. ^_^ Silver linings, indeed.. I too believe. :)
 
Hi,

My first post!

Actually, I joined because it occurred to me that maybe I am an INFJ because of how f'ed up I am, though I am quite productive and life has its fine moments for me.

Now, I have not read all the posts so sorry if any redundancy.

I am guessing male INFJ is more rare than female due to the gender dependance regarding the TF pair (1/3 of men are F versus 2/3 of women).

I saw something about likelihoods of pairs such as an N being more likely to be a P. So with women, what is predominant? Being an INTJ or an INFJ?

Finally, is there any sense of what a person would have been without trauma and such that predisposes one to be an INFJ? Like, for example, "Well, you would have been an ENFJ and its the difficult life's experiences that tilted you from that to what you are." That sort of thing.
 
Tony Barbieri said:
Hi,

My first post!

Actually, I joined because it occurred to me that maybe I am an INFJ because of how f'ed up I am, though I am quite productive and life has its fine moments for me.

Now, I have not read all the posts so sorry if any redundancy.

I am guessing male INFJ is more rare than female due to the gender dependance regarding the TF pair (1/3 of men are F versus 2/3 of women).

I saw something about likelihoods of pairs such as an N being more likely to be a P. So with women, what is predominant? Being an INTJ or an INFJ?

Finally, is there any sense of what a person would have been without trauma and such that predisposes one to be an INFJ? Like, for example, "Well, you would have been an ENFJ and its the difficult life's experiences that tilted you from that to what you are." That sort of thing.
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Hi Tony - and welcome to the forum, fellow retiree :)

As far as I understand Jung's core concept of the functions, our main preferences are set in very early childhood and can't be changed. It's like being left handed, which always remains the main preference no matter how much you practice with your right hand. I can tell you from my own experience that it's possible to behave out of type for extended periods, mainly because of social pressures, and this can appear to alter our type. The first time I took an MBTI test I came out INTP, and this is consistent with the prevailing culture of the company I worked for, and also a response to my childhood experiences. This isn't my true type, as I realised when i got interested and started to read up about MBTI and Jung's own literature on his typology. It actually takes a lot of mental effort and is pretty tiring to sustain functions that aren't our preferred ones and our underlying main preferences are still there and will keep breaking out.

It's possible that your INFJ type is a secondary effect, and that you are of a different underlying true type. More likely is that INFJs are not good fits to the prevailing social norm types, and when we are very young we are lucky if we ever come across anyone else of the same type as us at school, or even in our own families. We get bashed around psychologically by people when we are kids as a result, which leaves unresolved traumas into adulthood, and makes us try and force ourselves to be more like the other people around us - which leaves us feeling we are devaluing ourselves and lacking authenticity. For most INFJs, this is not consciously realised unless we get some background on the way the types work and interact with each other.
 
Hi Wyote,

Thanks. Actually, though I am just curious of whether women are more likely INFJ or INTJ. The reason I ask is because it is said INFJ is the least common, but I would think a female INTF to be less common than INFJ due to more women being F than T.

No biggie tho!

Thanks again.
 
Hey John K,

Thanks, man.

Yeah, it seems to me trauma predisposed me to INFJ much more so than being the recipient of trauma due to being an INFJ.

I am pretty locked into NFJ. I was like bigtime absent-minded. Definitely predisposed to dwelling on stuff other than what I am perceiving with my 5 senses. As to F, I can think of my reaction to things as a child that were powerful that is all F. J as well.

But, I think I can float along the E versus I continuum. I first tested as ENFJ with a very low E score.

Life is what it is, but torment definitely a very real part of it and hence my curiosity around that and my type.
 
Tony Barbieri said:
Wyote,

Meant to say INTJ, of course!
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I guess I don't know what you are asking.
Are you asking if women on a whole are more likely to be INTJ vs INFJ?
I was saying that INTJ women are in fact the least likely type/subtype that exists.
So there are fewer INTJ women than INFJ women.
 
Wyote,

You wrote:
I was saying that INTJ women are in fact the least likely type/subtype that exists.

Previous you wrote:
INTJ women are said to be more rare than INFJ men,

Ahh, typo. You meant to say INFJ women.

All set!
 
Tony Barbieri said:
Ahh, typo. You meant to say INFJ women.
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No, I meant what I said.
INTJ women are more rare than INFJ men.
INFJs are considered to be the rarest type overall and among that type men are more rare.
But you wanted the dissection of the female population spelled out so I clarified.
 
In general, I like to think that everyone is unique- what we prefer, what we have directly experienced, and what choices we make, but how we are created in the image of everything around us- which makes the personality assessment a tool that could be misconstrued in general. I've fallen prey to that in the beginning of trying to understand it, but caring for each other in general isn't an easy task. Jung mostly created it because there wasn't the best way of words for him to explain why he saw the world and made choices so differently than his fellow colleges without anyone feeling like they weren't included or important to the fabric of what life is for conscious species or even an empathetic person; that- I'm sad to say- is a rarity. I'm sure consciousness in itself would be questionable, and I'm sure I have my moments as well, but perhaps, our best response to that would be that it's more of a tool to understand ourselves and others, rather than to find what would be exclusivity or a border between "us" and "them". (How could one really explain using introverted intuition without understanding the rest of what exists out there, or without understanding the conflicting ideas between thought and feeling, nature and nurture, society and the self?) The way that caring for someone includes all the parts in order to understand the piece necessary to tend to it. It doesn't mean we don't all as individuals have pains or growing to do.

When I look at the way that judging occurs outside, having organization, using planning instead of allowing things to be the way they are can become confusing to explain to someone who maybe spends time with people in order to feel comfortable. Even wanting to have time alone is a difference among others in itself, though we all do have this need for introspection or interaction as well. Having to be able to express, "Hey, I know you know I care, and that I'm always here for you, I know I seem like I have a lot of things put together and organized, but I need time to myself in order to make sense of what is happening around me, but I promise there's no malicious meaning behind this," is a conflicting statement, though it isn't expressing the intention behind it. There doesn't have to be conflict over the fact that we all see, think, and feel differently.

For the longest time, I thought in order to express having organization in general in your life was trying to explain your will power or even your need to control your life as a complete theoretical idea or even the intent behind what was happening. I understand that as impossible, though our choices have reprocussion, so even the implications of someone who is introverted and judging, could be expressed as a door slam being malicious in intent and secretive, Fi is completely unstable, or sensing not useful within community of initiatives.
The myers briggs system wasn't created for a way to explain everything, but for INFJ's to see themselves in the world that they're immersed in when it comes to other people. It's a theory that doesn't fully explain psychology or the way that we make choices or find fault in blame why things aren't going the way we expect. Sure it's interesting, but seeing yourself through someone else's eyes is empowering to choice and self love and completes our hierarchy of needs, but never substitutes them.

Having ideas that seem to conflict other ones in general doesn't mean they're untrue, or conflicting to finding truth, and finding answers doesn't make anyone perfect.
 
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