The INTP Personality Type

INTP is one of the 16 MBTI personality types. This site is a great reference. INTP’s are fairly rare, about 3% of the population, so most people have very little experience dealing with them. And since they are very introverted, they don’t venture out into the real world often. The INTP personality type (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving) may seem odd to other types because they tend to appear unemotional, although they can be quirky, witty, and charming. Despite appearing outwardly genuine and personable, INTPs would rather discuss interesting ideas, and not the boring details of people’s lives. They tend to like things that are different and unusual.

Internally, INTPs are highly self-disciplined, effectively managing their thoughts and their lives. They tend to see many things as a goal or challenge. One of their biggest challenges is finishing projects, they tend to lose interest and move on to something new and interesting.

INTP’s are original, logical, and creative thinkers. They tend to get very excited about things they are interested in. INTP’s value logic, knowledge, and competence over emotions. They tend to be flexible and good at thinking “outside the box”. INTPs often find it easier to identify inconsistencies or logical shortcomings—to determine what is not true—than to confidently identify what is true. They spend too much time rethinking past events. They can get stuck in loops of indecision (overthinking, analysis paralysis), sometimes thinking too much about the past and not the future.

The INTP is the most independent of the 16 types. They don’t like talking to people they are not familiar with. They are quiet and reserved, may be difficult to get to know well, and typically have a very small circle of friends. INTP’s can be slow to disclose the contents of their inner world. There may only be a select few who are granted full access to this side of the INTP. Others may only encounter INTPs' inner world through their work, such as by reading something they have written. Their inner world is their real world, the outside world is just a reluctant requirement. But they do like people watching, looking for interesting patterns.

When outside their head, they notice things most people don’t see and ask questions most people won’t ask. They notice patterns and many times make unusual connections between seemingly unrelated things. These connections will sometimes seem strange to the non-INTP. When speaking, it may seem that they do not have a point, drifting from one topic to another, like brainstorming out loud, making connections or new ideas as they speak.

They tend to tell it like it is, no BS. They don’t like fake people. Sometimes they have no filter. They can have a quick wit. Sarcasm and dark humor are common.

They want to do their own thing, on their own terms. They enjoy being alone, most of the time. They like a simple life. No drama, no complications. They do not follow the crowd or believe in status. They like being alone because they enjoy it, not because they are depressed.

They are usually individualistic and are uninterested in either leading or following others. They are always questioning things, looking for a better way, ignoring traditions (peer pressure from dead people), and more likely to figure out their own individual way of doing things than follow the crowd. They are suspicious of assumptions and rules, and eager to break apart things that others take for granted. The INTP never grows out of the “Why” stage.

They tend to have a consistent routine, “eating to live” vs. “living to eat”. They tend to be savers vs. spenders, seeing having excessive “stuff” as unnecessary, or perhaps even immoral. They tend to be unconcerned with their physical surroundings or possessions.

They give good advice because they ignore all emotional aspects and focus on the rational and logical. They are good at listening, keeping secrets, imagination, noticing patterns, and finding connections between things. But they have a hard time showing empathy or relating to emotions.

Emotions can be a blind spot for the INTP. They tend to be very even tempered (easygoing), but they can get VERY excited and animated when talking about something they are interested in. They use humor to block emotions (dark humor and sarcasm). It is hard to make them angry, but if you do it can be explosive. They tend to want to avoid violence, stress, negativity, and confrontations. They like peace and harmony, on their terms, dark humor and sarcasm are optional. For the most part, they are emotionless robots. They do not factor emotions into making decisions. They can sometimes be passive-aggressive, not wanting a confrontation, but needing to make their point.

Though INTP’s may appear to be emotionless robots, their emotions seem to have a mind of their own, coming and going, all or nothing. As a result, INTP’s feel very awkward in emotional situations because they can’t easily summon the appropriate emotions when required. While INTP’s struggle to directly summon or contact their emotions, they can readily override or detach from them, almost functioning as though they didn't exist. Consequently, INTPs may not consciously struggle with the same degree of guilt, regret, or shame as other types. They generally don’t care what people think about them.

With their concern for maintaining external harmony (or avoiding confrontations), the INTP may not always say what they are thinking to avoid upsetting people. Although they can be superficial peacemakers, they are generally slow to go out of their way to help people.

Things that make INTP’s seem weird: They appear to be unemotional; they can be quirky and witty; they don’t care about social norms; they are constantly observing and analyzing; they are natural skeptics; they lack empathy; the way they communicate can be odd (sarcasm, dark humor, brainstorming out loud); they could care less about the real world; they prefer to be alone.

Famous INTP’s: Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Larry Page, Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), Christopher Walken, Bill Murray, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Tina Fey, Ben Stein, Kristen Stuart, Tiger Woods, Stephen King.