The Difference Between INTJ and Psychopaths

INTJs. People that are aware of MBTI personality typing have made quite a legend out of the INTJ personality type. Branded as masterminds, architects and other humbling titles such as the scientist, it can seem quite apparent that there is an appreciation for this personality type within the MBTI community.

However, the general demeanor of the INTJ can be off putting to many people in a society full of sensors and feelers. Unlike other personality types, INTJs generally have noticeable scowls visible on their face, not because they are a jerk but because they’re so stuck in their heads that they lose awareness of how they appear to others. This quality does not help them to make extra friends.

INTJs often go against the grain of society with their dominant introverted intuition and auxiliary extroverted thinking, breaking apart everything society holds near and dear to their heart because of their respect for traditions (introverted sensing). Their unconventional opinions can be very unpopular, especially at earlier stages of the INTJs life where they are unable to explain their ideas (due to weak extroverted thinking). And due to their tertiary introverted feeling, they are unable to access their emotions as easily as other types. This makes it difficult to be naturally empathetic and understand social queues as easily as other types. INTJs dread small talk as well, making them seem quite unsocial when they don’t engage in the norms of social interactions.

When you add up all these various qualities, the INTJ can become a social pariah. And sometimes this can lead to impressions that they are psychopaths or sociopaths. Who would want to trust the guy who always looks angry and seems like he doesn’t give a damn about you when you talk to him?

Well it turns out that there are a lot of differences between an INTJ and a sociopath. In fact, you could even say that the INTJ is the anti-sociopath, as they have similar qualities to sociopaths, yet they have other qualities that make them very different. This is not to say that someone can’t be both an INTJ and psychopath but the difference between INTJs and psychopaths of any type are discussed to reduce the misunderstanding of INTJ types.

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Both INTJs and psychopaths are capable of analyzing situations from a pragmatist perspective, but the psychopath is limited to that perspective vs the INTJ who can switch their perspectives to take into account human empathy and other factors.

Both INTJs and psychopaths are effective at reading personalities, however psychopaths will look to take advantage of weaker ones while the INTJ will try to avoid the weaker and manipulative ones. INTJs naturally sniff out and avoid psychopaths.

INTJs are not as good at persuading people naturally although they often should be listened to while psychopaths are very convincing because off their appeal to emotions rather than logic.

INTJs often make bad/weak first impressions compared to psychopaths who are great at controlling impressions, however the opinions of people tend to switch considerably after getting to know them.

INTJs gives off a stern, intense vibe scaring others into thinking he/she is a dangerous person compared to the sociopath will keep a close eye on how they are perceived and manipulate their image to seem friendly and interesting. Both are usually the opposite of how they come off internally.

Psychopaths are very happy to share interesting information about themselves but eventually reveal themselves to be very superficial and fatuous while the INTJ will be very sparing with personal information and has more depth than they’d ever like to reveal except to a few individuals. As a result, you may be surprised to find that the very suave, social person is the real psychopath while the person who doesn’t make good impressions is in fact, hiding the depth of complexity within.

Essentially, be wary of the people who work hard to impress and keep a keen eye on those who seem closed-off, you may find there’s more going on than meets the eye.