intj media 101

books, movies, quotes, and songs i think defines intj characteristics, as an intj

Oct 16, 2024

∙ Paid

I am ~~(unfortunately?)~~ a big fan of personality tests. For someone who believes that no test with a standardized set of questions can accurately decide someone’s personality, I have probably tried every single one under the horizon, from MBTI to Enneagram to really bad Buzzfeed and Quotev ones when I was twelve, thirteen, that sounded like: Choose a comfort food and we’ll tell you what One Direction member you belong with.

I talked about personality tests and the desire to belong in one of my earlier postcards, but this is what I wrote:

In more recent years, I have taken the MBTI test and the Enneagram test. I sometimes will spend a good hour in my free time poring over my results, looking at the strengths and weaknesses of whatever result I get. I compare it with my personality. Am I a control freak? Am I overly ambitious? Am I hyper-independent? I wonder what it means when someone I barely know tells me, oh Elle, you’re such a Scorpio moon, that makes so much sense! By putting myself into these types and groups, what am I saying about myself?
While I do think that personality tests are a good baseline way to find out how you function as a person and analyze your qualities, I think the more inherent reason why we take these tests is our innate need to belong. We crave this validation of our qualities and being placed with similar people lets us feel that we’re not weird for doing x or that other people feel y as well. As humans, we are born with the intrinsic longing to be part of a group of similar people, and personality tests, whether accurate or deeply not so, give you that satisfaction for a moment.
I personally find MBTI so fun and interesting, even though its validity is murky at best. When I was writing books regularly, I had a big spreadsheet where I wrote out which character was which MBTI. Even for fictional characters, doing so made it easier for me to be able to create a fuller picture of their personalities. Assigning them a personality type that so many people and fictional characters already have gives them a form of depth and belonging that wasn’t previously there before.

Whenever I start writing a new novel, the first thing I do is take the MBTI test with the personality and mindset of my character. Having a general frame about their character, strengths, and weaknesses, was immensely helpful in creating a more realistic and three dimensional version of someone fictional. This interest bled into my real life, and I would always ask new friends what their MBTI was if they knew it. I always think it’s a fun and superficial way to get to know someone, because it’s definitely pseudoscience, but it’s still a good icebreaker.

I am apparently a through and through INTJ. I’ve taken the personality test on dozens of sites that are called ‘reputable’, and it’s almost felt like a waste of time because I got INTJ for all of them. I feel like I always get asked if I am, so maybe it’s obvious. According to Simply Psychology, INTJs derive energy from solitary thought and introspection (Introversion), lean towards abstract concepts and future scenarios over immediate facts (Intuition), base their decisions on logical reasoning rather than emotional considerations (Thinking), and prefer planning and structure over spontaneous flexibility (Judging).

People with the INTJ personality type tend to be highly independent, confident, and self-sufficient individuals. They are analytical, creative, and driven. They place an emphasis on logic and fact rather than emotion and can be viewed as perfectionists. They typically have high expectations of competence and performance for themselves and others.

I thought it would be fun to do a media recommendation post that includes books, movies, quotes, and songs, that I feel like ties in with being an INTJ. I’d feel terrible if I was sending out a completely paywalled post to all of my subscribers, so I’ve put a playlist, five books and five movies each above the paywall! And attached a playlist. For paid subscribers, I’ve included a lot more.

Also, disclaimer: If you are going to comment about the inaccuracies of MBTI or to tell me that I am not an INTJ because you take MBTI so seriously like it’s Newton’s Laws of Gravitation, don’t bother. This is all for fun. Also, as far as the 16 types of MBTI is concerned, I am an INTJ across all tests and sites, so don’t be in my comment section, telling me, a complete stranger, that I’m not what I say I am.