INTJ vs INFJ

Compatibility and Comparison of their Personality Traits

No need to say that Myers-Briggs 16 Personality Inventory helps people identify their personality traits and characteristics and find out more about themselves. But nowadays people also take this test in order to reveal their personality type and see whether they get along with other types or not. INTJ and INFJ are some of the most widely discussed types that have so much in common that sometimes people confuse these two personalities.

Both INTJ and INFJ are relatively rare types from 16 personalities. They share Introversion (I), Intuition (N), and Judging (J) traits and this makes them quite similar. However, considering the difference in their Thinking (T) and Feeling (F) traits, they are not very much alike. Let’s discuss the characteristics of these two types more deeply, compare INTJ vs INFJ, and see how compatible they are with one another. 

INTJ Personality Type – The Architect

INTJ (Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, Judging) is also known as the Architect. The most obvious characteristic of INTJs is that they are strategic planners and have the ability to perfectly organize everything before starting to work. As a result, sometimes they are considered great leaders who can manage their teammates perfectly but actually, INTJs prefer to work alone. 

Critical and analytical thinking is key to their success. They use logic to make decisions and neglect emotions and subjective ideas. When it comes to emotions, generally, INTJs are unable to express their feelings and all they do is talk about what they think. Therefore, sometimes they have difficulties in romantic relationships. INTJs aim to order everything and make plans long before it’s needed so that they can avoid confusion and uncertainty. 

INFJ Personality Type – The Advocate

INFJ (Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judging) is also known as the Advocate. It’s one of the rarest types of personality among Byers-Briggs 16 types. INFJs often inspire people with their logic and creativity. They are idealist people who often try to find purpose in life. They are very empathetic, understand others’ emotions perfectly, and can look at things from others’ perspectives. 

Although INFJs are introverts, they can establish deep connections with people they care about. They are kind, caring people who enjoy helping others but too much communication can take away all their energy and make them feel emotionally exhausted. As a result of their perfectionism, INFJs have too high expectations, and sometimes, they get disappointed. INFJs have a huge inner world and it’s hard to get to know them completely. 

The Major Differences Between INTJ vs INFJ

INTJs and INFJs are people who try to find the meaning of life and focus on the future. They are creative personalities, with innovative ideas and inspirational thoughts. Therefore, they share plenty of characteristics and can understand each other well. 

However, INFJs usually take care of other people’s feelings and try to express empathy towards them. On the other hand, INTJs use their logic to solve problems and avoid emotions. Let’s compare the leadership styles, main values, and romantic attitudes of INTJ vs INFJ. 

Leadership Styles

• When it comes to leadership, INTJs’ main strength is that they can easily manage other people. They are well-aware of how to organize schedules perfectly, focus on achieving main goals, and setting long-term plans. As a result, people often pick them as team leaders but INTJs don’t always choose the role of leader themselves. They prefer to use their ability to strategically plan everything for themselves and work alone. 

• Although INFJ is an introvert type, when it comes to teamwork, they can neglect their introversion and become excellent leaders. The reason is that they always consider others’ needs and try to adapt their plans to everyone. INFJs notice the potential in people and use it upon organizing plans. They can effectively predict the future and avoid problems. Generating creative ideas and building strong teams are their strengths as well. 

Romantic Attitudes

• Being romantic is something strange for INTJs. They tend to rely on their logic even in romantic relationships and as a result, sometimes they demand too much from their partners. This can lead to troubles in a relationship if they don’t choose someone who shares their values. They never focus on feelings and avoid expressing emotions. However, some people believe that INTJs are still romantic but not in traditional ways.

• INFJs are passionate lovers. Thanks to their empathy, they would do anything to make their partners feel more alive and take care of them. They usually express everything they feel to make their partners think they are loved. Even though expressing feelings is not easy for them, they believe that true love should be based on sincere emotions. However, they are very sensitive and feel disappointed if others don’t express the same. 

Main Values

• INTJs value logic and knowledge. They appreciate people who rely on logical arguments while discussing things and believe that theoretical arguments are the best way to understand the meaning of life. From their point of view, intelligence is vital for clear communication. 

• Creativity and harmony are major values for INFJs. They are focused on the future and try to establish a balance between their desires and reality. Besides, they value sincerity and expect everyone to express their feelings honestly. They look for deeper meaning in everything and don’t care about trivial things. 

INTJ and INFJ in Relationships

INTJ and INFJ are ideal for romantic relationships. There are so many reasons why they are attracted to each other. Specifically, INFJ admires INTJ’s confidence and self-assurance while INTJ likes INFJ’s compassion and empathy. Both INTJ and INFJ focus on abstract relationships but the difference is that INFJs rely on feelings while INTJs think logically. 

Both of them desire to predict the future and find the purpose of life. INFJs admire INTJs logic, while INTJs can fall for INFJs creativity. They prefer taking part in theoretical discussions to things like going on romantic trips. Therefore, sometimes they are considered as intellectual allies of each other. 

All in All

As you can see, despite so many differences in the way of thinking and expressing emotions between INTJ vs INFJ, they can be an ideal couple. They balance each other in many aspects and admire one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Even though INTJs are practical people and INFJs are dreamers, they like to discuss theoretical matters with each other and look at things from a wider perspective. As a result, they can be complementary to each other.