Introverted and Intuitive (INFP)

Tap3Times publishes papers on the "types". One of my readers, David DeVaughn, clued me in to this site. David has written several great articles for The IntrovertZCoach on business and networking topics. He's currently working on one about relating to these pesky "S" types who so proliferate in business.

I am printing below an excerpt from Tap3Times. It's about the concentration of ESTJs in business, organization and society and how this has come to dominate the scene around us.

ESTJs are called "The Supervisor". Perhaps this is unfair, but if people were cars, one might be tempted to call the ESTJs gross polluters. Compromising 15% of the population, ESTJs make up the most populous group of all the types. Their taste defines much of what we eat, see, hear and experience in public places where we have no choice. Think of an ESTJ next time you're at a mall.

ESTJs are described as follows:

ESTJ
One of the two 'extraverted thinking types' (the other is the ENTJ)....

• Not interested in that which is not practical or realistic.
• Matter-of-fact, hard-headed business types.
• Wants to organize and control things.
• Good administrators but not always considerate of others' feelings.

The E(S/N)TJs are the "executives", who enjoy "administration"; they have a natural interest in control and in "running things" , and demonstrate a "willingness to issue strict orders". [note to self: run, don't walk, in opposite direction].

• They want to be the ones who make the decisions and write the rules by which others live.
• They are not shy about requiring conformity of others.
• They have no compunction about "inflicting [their] own judgment upon other people".
• They are analytical and impersonal -- decisive, logical, strong in reasoning power.
• Their emotional life is described as "accidental", and underdeveloped.

Feeling is very strong, but it does not flow toward the object. It is rather like being in a state of love with oneself. ... The hidden introverted feeling of the extraverted feeling type establishes strong invisible loyalties. ... In a politician, the inferior feeling function might unconsciously manifest itself in a deep-rooted and steadfast loyalty to his country. But it might also induce him to drop an atom bomb or commit some other destructive act.

Unconscious and undeveloped feeling is barbaric and absolute, and therefore sometimes hidden destructive fanaticism burst out of the extraverted thinking type.... the excessive nature of the primitive feelings ... .

• prone to the "open expression of anger"
• and also lust
• an "all or nothing" style.
• excess is an "antidote to boredom", and (we might add) to underdeveloped feeling
• late hours, heavy entertainment, bingeing
• too much, too loud, too many."
• [sounds like the mall , the cruiseship, the theme park, video games, rock concerts, tv programming ....]
• difficulty in identifying aspects of the self
• when affected by others, can deny real feelings by withdrawal, by claiming boredom, or by internally blaming the self.

Also this from Tap3Times about the least frequent types of introverts (intuitive, feeling, perceptive).

The less frequent types find their infrequency an obstacle to their development. In the general population, there may be three extraverts to every introvert and three sensing types to every intuitive...

Unless the introverts with intuition are stoutly skeptical of the mass assumption that a difference is an inferiority, their faith in their type will diminish. They will not trust and exercise their preferences, which, accordingly, will not be developed enough to be beneficial. These people are cheated out of the successful undertakings that would give them faith in their type.

Nancy's comment: This is a critical statement -- their preferences .... will not be developed enough to be beneficial. How does one develop intuition? I have an online course with this objective. Please email me for information. I can help you with this! I've been teaching people for 25 years how to develop their intuition. The article continues:

Their usual way of adapting is this:

• trying to change their type (resulting in a phenomenon Pederson (1993, p. 231) calls the 'turn-type)' -- also see www.benziger.org for comments on "falsifying type" and the tremendous toll it will take on your health;
  
• trying to "pass" as another socially valued type.
  
• simply leaving organizations or finding lifestyles that require minimal organizational involvement; or,
  
• accepting ill-suited roles in organizations and thereby risking a greater potential for failure than an individual might encounter in a role suited to his/her capacities and orientation.