25 Signs That You're an INTP, the "Prodigy" Personality Type (2024)

INTP is one of those personality types from the Myers-Briggs that are rare to find, so much so that they only constitute 3-5 percent of the U.S population.

So, INTP is a kind of personality that is often misunderstood, making them feel lonely in the world.

INTP is the personality type known for its insightful observation, intellect, and sense of innovation.

They are independent thinkers who have extreme convictions in analyzing things and finding innovative solutions to problems.

So there might be a few signs you’ve already noticed inside you of being an INTP personality but are not sure about yet.

Well, here are 20 primary indicators or signs that will make you clear on whether you are an INTP or not.

Here are Signs That You’re an INTP Personality Type

You Are Quick On Spotting Errors

You are someone who often finds logical errors in any kind of argument or explanation.

It makes it difficult for other people to lie to you. You know when things don’t make sense or add up.

You are reluctant to buy someone’s explanation or given argument when there is no logical reasoning behind it.

Most Of Routine Work Is Boring For You

You are the kind of person who isn’t interested in doing most of the day-to-day work.

You really despise wasting your time doing chores and other routine work. It is like 98 percent of what people usually do in their day seems boring and unnecessary for you.

For example, you are not interested in cleaning your workspace or organizing things around.

You kind of even hate answering all the emails at your work because it is too much of repetition, non-creative, and monotonous.

Like a true INTP, you prefer to embrace your time in bringing your creative juices together and building something new.

Or maybe develop solutions to existing problems in your life or at work.

By Nature, You’re a Private Person

Since you are an introvert, you don’t really go and express your emotions to people. In fact, it is really hard work to find out what’s going on in your head.

You are not the least expressive of your emotions, even to your closest friends.

Your best friend even wouldn’t be able to understand what’s going on in your brain. More than that, it is even harder to pick up what you are actually feeling.

You Exhibit Christmas Tree Brain

You might have noticed yourself lost in daydreaming as your mind keeps entangled in the string of ideas and thoughts.

You start thinking one thing and end up getting through rapid instances and imaginative situations or possibilities in your head.

This is because INTP is one of the very few personality types that have a bad case of Christmas Tree Brain.

So when you are into your thoughts, it just keeps succeeding to another and jumping off as your brain “lights up”.

It is called the Christmas Tree Brain because, in the EEG reports, the brain scan looks like it has blinking lights just like a Christmas tree.

This is also the time when you get most of the ideas, the good ones that stay with you for a long time.

You Tear Things Apart

You are the kind of personality who likes to tear things apart, and break apart ideas that are usually taken for granted by others.

When you analyze beliefs and concepts, you often get ruthless with them and have the least consideration for them to be sacred.

You just don’t understand the fact that people can just stay loyal to the concepts or ideas that are illogical or just outright bad.

It is very little you can tolerate when something seems illogical or just lacks perception.

This is also the reason that you easily offend people when you truly speak what’s on your mind. You would rarely see this in yourself if you are other personality types, such as INTPs.

You Only Get Open With Selective Few

Just like the stereotypical nerd, you have seen yourself more reserved and only able to prefer to open up to selected people.

You may be shy or just withdraw yourself greatly from people who don’t know you very well.

It doesn’t mean that you are not talkative and passionate. In fact, you are and also enthusiastic and love to converse.

But you are only able or want to do it with very selective people. These people can be counted on your fingers if not already two or three.

These might be the people who share your interests or passion. You become energetic and enthusiastic with them.

Deep Down, You Are Emotional

This is something you feel in your bones! You know that deep down, you are an emotional and sensitive person.

Even though you are, you find it hard to express your emotions to people. It happens as the feeling function of your personality is not well developed.

Your mind runs on logic, facts, and reasoning. And that’s also why your mind sees emotions as something that just clogs it from its optimal functioning.

INTPs can get around their emotions very well with the capability of studying their emotions and analyzing them.

Many of them are exceptional in listening and show great care, affection, and tolerance for those who they love.

Relationships Were Never Easy For You

You are not the kind of person who goes out very much or meets new people, as these things often put you out of your comfort zone.

When you risk rejection or get emotionally vulnerable, this is not something you usually do.

This is also the reason why you have to wait for others to make their first move. It can be asking someone out for a date or asking for a favor from your friend.

So starting a relationship, whether it is a friend, romantic partner, or even a professional relationship, is not easy for you.

You have a hard time at the beginning of it, especially. However, when you do get into a relationship, for the time being, you are extremely loyal and dedicated.

You’re Not So Up For Cheering

You are the kind of personality type who is not very comfortable with cheering others, even their own friends.

So your friends are less likely to get cheered up with you. You are not someone who they often rely on for their emotional support.

You are someone, in fact, which is extremely good at giving practical and straightforward advice.

You are often able to see the underlying issue or are capable of calling out something your friends have been doing wrong.

You often find yourself awkward or just incapable of offering sympathy to your friends or someone you know.

And actually, the quality of what you have is often much needed rather than emotional support, and people appreciate you for that.

You Care More About The Process

You often find yourself not obsessing over the results but rather giving more care to the process.

You are dismissive of timetables, deadlines, and schedules. You don’t really like the idea of rushing towards reaching the goal.

Rather you care more about the process. You see through every piece of the puzzle or go through the journey.

Also, you are more comfortable with the fact that things are open for flexibility and have an open-ended possibility.

Non-Conformity Is Your Natural State

You don’t conform to most of the things that are thrown at you. Non-conformity isn’t just a statement but more of a natural state for you.

You just cannot help but see the world from that perspective only. You have very little regard for the rules and regulations of society.

You are the kind of person who does not conform to any kind of social norms. Even you find it hard to fit in at school or at work as well.

You concern yourself much more with originality and exploring the right answer for the questions.

You don’t have pre-set expectations or a blueprint to accept the worldview. You cannot just accept anything that is told or shown to you.

The World Amazes You

Your viewpoint of the world is like a puzzle or a big complex machine with all moving parts together.

You are really good at spotting these connections and finding out new connections on how various things in life are interconnected.

This is something that truly amazes you. It also evokes great curiosity within you to pursue things.

You Like To Be Specific With Your Words

You really believe in the truth, saying it and always serving it. So you rarely ever mince your words.

You also don’t like people who don’t say exactly what they want to say. You prefer to be straightforward, and you expect that from people as well.

So much so, that you often come across as too blunt or even rude in some instances.

Many people confuse you with someone who is often trying to hurt people’s feelings, whereas according to you, you are just telling the truth.

For you, to say one thing and mean another is completely not acceptable.

You Have This World Of Your Own

You really enjoy spending time on your own, alone, and even feel drained when you socialize too much.

This obviously comes from the introverted function of your personality type. You prefer spending time in your own world.

Your focus is to explore the world internally through your ideas and going through different perspectives of your own on the world.

You like to analyze and study things in your mind. And when you meet people for too long or stay in conversation with others, it tires you.

You Tend To Forget Everything Else When You In Your Mind

You enjoy your inner world so much that what’s happening outside doesn’t concern you or interest you anymore.

You get caught up in your mind so much that you often tend to skip meals and avoid any public meetings.

You just don’t like any kind of intrusion into your mind with all the thoughts you have there.

You Analyze Too Much

Analyzing is one of the critical characteristics of your personality type and definitely, a quality that makes you different from others.

But you often find yourself analyzing things too much. Whatever you come up with, an idea or concept or a decision, you get into this trap of thinking too much about it.

You get paranoid on the part that you are missing some important piece in order to make it perfect.

This makes your project so hard to move and get complete. Even in general, you struggle to complete your tasks and goals as you have to go through a lot of self-analysis.

This also makes you leave a lot of projects unfinished as you fail to keep up with them after so many analyses, or it turns out not worthy.

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