How do you break the INTJ stereotype?

[Zilal]

INTJ is definitely my best-fit type... oh, like a 98% match... but there are still ways I don't quite live up to what the various type descriptions say I'm supposed to be like.

How about you? Are there ways in which you defy the stereotype (while still feeling very INTJ)?

[MrFlaneur]

forget it. you are you and you share a few traits with others. INTJ is a rough sketch not a designation. dont try to fit the mould, it aint worth the mental effort.

[peter]

I don't fit the stereotype in so many ways but it's what I am. Regrettably.

[Uriel]

I like small-talk.

[antistu]

I don't think it's possible to link INTJ to a stereotype. I think most of us would agree to common traits and nothing else. I am Anti- everything, even your INTJ critique. However, as skeptical as I am I can't deny all the similarities I have found here... bunch of weirdos and freaks!

[zaleplonsonata]

I have moments of idealism on rare occasions despite being a rational and my imagination can be insanly wild, and I also have jolts of mania/hypomania

[thestral]

I procrastinate. A lot.

[INTJRyan]

I have a sense of humor.

[M382]

I don't think it's possible to link INTJ to a stereotype. I think most of us would agree to common traits and nothing else. I am Anti- everything, even your INTJ critique. However, as skeptical as I am I can't deny all the similarities I have found here... bunch of weirdos and freaks!

Yay! Definitely have always felt I don't fit in anywhere. Not enough this for one group; not enough that for another. Story of my life.

I LOVE to hit a party with my husband for a few hours. Not to be the center of attention there or even to get any attention there - but just to be there, to soak up the ambiance of it all. Where I live there are some damn good parties.

[BobbitSneazer]

I have moments of idealism on rare occasions despite being a rational and my imagination can be insanly wild, and I also have jolts of mania/hypomania

I don't think it's un-INTJ to have a wild imagination. That's just being an N. If you're dreaming about fairies and unicorns, then maybe...

[Muumeh]

I'm occasionally dreaming about fairies and unicorns!
I also procrastinate a lot and I'm more artsy type than math and science oriented.

[BobbitSneazer]

I love conversation, I see the validity of some emotion, and I am a complete slob.

[joliee]

I procrastinate and I'm not always direct. I'm also not completely organized.

[strawberries]

I'm always laughing and cracking jokes. Part of this is because I observe things around me very closely, and there's always a lot of irony, stupidity and outright hypocrisy going on. Not that I exempt myself from that - I laugh at myself as much as I laugh at anyone else. Probably the stuff I observe would anger a lot of people, but I choose to laugh at it instead.

Other than that, I'm excellent with kids and animals, but I think that's a product of having been an intj child, rather than antithetical to being intj. I have extremely clear memories of events and my thoughts about them starting before I was a year old, and I hated being a child. Never being taken seriously, getting talked down to, having my preferences/personhood disrespected.. so I am always very conscious of this when interacting with kids, and I treat them with respect and kindness, not condescension. I try to be similarly respectful when interacting with pets and other critters. As a result, I have almost never had to discipline when watching kids (and I've done a lot of babysitting, probably also unusual for an intj). they tend to listen on the rare occasion that I tell them to quit doing something, because they know I must have a good reason for it.

I'm also overwhelmingly concerned with ethics, and whether or not I'm doing the most ethical/decent thing in any situation.

Wow, all this makes me sound like an INFJ. As it happens, I have 90% thinking preference, and the intj descriptors fit me much better than those for INFJs. I guess I'm good at balancing?

[zaleplonsonata]

I don't think it's un-INTJ to have a wild imagination. That's just being an N. If you're dreaming about fairies and unicorns, then maybe...

I do have insane daydreams/dreams about unicorns, Cthulhu, outer space, mandallas, some kind of tetris games, fictional creatures, and other things like that, especially if im in a manic/hypomanic state

[BobbitSneazer]

OKay so we've got two INTJs dreaming about unicorns so far. I never would have thought it. Anyone else?

[Zilal]

I love physical contact, even hugs from strangers.

I do not dream about unicorns.

[Beric]

-Sometimes I don't mind small talk, especially if I can direct it towards a topic I'm interested in right now. Emotions/relationships, etc., though, and I shut down right away.
-Procrastinator, disorganized room. I'm organized in the things that matter.
-I can be fairly open about talking about myself, as long as it's a rational revelation, and related to the topic of conversation. I'll even talk about my emotions, if I feel them to be fairly logical for the time.
-I like cute stuff. Including in my anime (I don't go for violent or scary media). I don't let this on to hardly anyone, but I can even get giggly about these things, though it's only when I'm by myself.

[Sri Lanka]

I feel I may present myself as a snob even if I know I am not one...too shy and always fear people won't understand what the *** I am getting at...so why bother. I have a really low tolerance for illogical thinking...so I guess I may come across snobby.
Can't stand what feels like the fake making of friends...It takes forever for people to get to know me.

[Pseudonimum]

I'm not the "oh, how cold he is" type of person. I can be very recluse, but I'm also affectionate and very diplomatic while dealing with people. Still, with T preferences.

Also, my bedroom is usually disorganized and I procrastinate.

And this:

I'm more artsy type than math and science oriented.

[Othesemo]

I procrastinate beyond belief. As Douglas Adams said, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as I pass them by."

I also play three instruments, and enjoy it a fair amount more than mathematics and the like.

[jndiii]

None of these listed so far really break the INTJ stereotype. Young INTJs actually do procrastinate a lot. The difference is that procrastination is accompanied by anxiety. In point of fact, we call it procrastination and are highly aware of it. xxxPs on the other hand just don't believe that "being on time" is more important than doing something right.

The real thing that INTJs have in common is that we very strongly enforce our boundaries, to the point that we intimidate or even scare others. Within those boundaries, however, most INTJs are very playful.

The "death gaze" is one of the common features of that intimidation, yet when it's pointed out to us, we don't even realize we're doing it. We're not trying to intimidate you - we're just thinking ... while staring at a point in space about 3 feet behind you.