Insecurity and Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

Back in November we explored what makes each of the 16 personality types feel vulnerable. Today I want to take another look at vulnerability and insecurity. We all experience more insecurity around strengths or preferences we don’t have. For example, a Sensor will feel more insecurity when having to rely on intuition than an Intuitive would. If you asked a Sensor to hypothesize a future reality with certainty they may shrug and look confused – after all, they need more facts and real-life data to draw from. Occasionally they might find this kind of activity fun, but often it will feel a little off-putting. This works the same way for Intuitives when having to rely on Sensation, Feeling types relying on Thinking, and more.

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Estimated reading time: 21 minutes

What Is Myers-Briggs?

Before we go on, you might be asking yourself “What is a Myers-Briggs® Personality Type Anyyway?” That’s a good question! Maybe you clicked on this post without having a full awareness of what the 16 personalities are.

Myers-Briggs® is a system based on the theories of psychology pioneer Carl Jung. He believed that we are all born with certain psychological preferences – like whether we prefer to focus on the outer world or our own internal world, how we take in information, how we make decisions, and even our relationship to time. Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers built on Jung’s theories by creating a questionnaire to help individuals identify their type. MBTI® is an acronym for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®.

Ultimately, this personality theory helps us learn about ourselves in terms of how our preferences can both challenge and empower us in different situations. Each of the 16 personality types has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, talents and vulnerabilities.

Each Myers-Briggs® personality type has four sets of ingrained preferences. These preferences are based on the following areas:

1. Extraversion or Introversion (E or I)

2. Sensing or Intuition (S or N)

3. Thinking or Feeling (T or F)

4. Judging or Perceiving (J or P).

As you read the rest of this article you’ll get a better idea of what those preferences (and their corresponding letters) mean.

Are we automatically bad at our less-preferred functions?

If, for example, you are an INFJ, will you always be bad at Sensation (S) or Thinking (T)? Not necessarily. Like many typologists, I explain our type preferences by comparing them to handedness. If you’re right-handed you still use your left hand, sometimes quite proficiently. If you suddenly lost your left hand you’d dearly miss it. Driving, cooking, and nearly any task become much more challenging without two hands!

The same applies to your personality preferences. Each letter in your personality type denotes a preference: I for Introversion, E for Extroversion, S for Sensing, N for Intuition, etc,. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use the other preference well in particular situations. It will just take more effort and practice on your part, and it may not be as gratifying. You will also likely have less confidence in non-preferred strengths than you do in your preferred strengths.

Let’s see how this plays out among the personality types.

Personality Type and Insecurity

Extroverts and Insecurity

For many Extroverts, insecurity can creep in when they can’t adequately engage with or get traction in the outside world.

Imagine an ESTJ who has been handed a problem but has no authority to fix it, an ENFP who has ideas but nowhere to explore them, an ESFP stuck waiting when every instinct is telling them to act, or an ENFJ trying to understand a relationship when the other person won’t communicate. The circumstances are different, but there’s a similar frustration underneath them: I need something from the outside world to work with, and I’m not getting it.

This doesn’t mean Extroverts can’t be alone. Many need solitude, and some need quite a lot of it. But prolonged isolation, lack of feedback, inactivity, or being unable to interact with the part of the world that engages their dominant function can leave them feeling less grounded.

They may also become insecure when their usual way of interactingwith the world isn’t working. A normally decisive ENTJ may second-guess themselves when none of their strategies produce results. An ENFP who can’t find inspiration or possibilities may wonder what’s wrong with them. An ESFJ who can’t read where they stand with someone may replay the interaction looking for clues. An ESTP who can’t act on a rapidly changing situation may feel restless and unusually powerless.

EJ types can be especially interesting in this regard because their outward decisiveness may hide more uncertainty than other people realize. The MBTI® Manual notes that they can “present such an active, competent face that it is easy to miss signs of distress and lack of confidence.” Someone can look capable, decisive, and completely in control while privately wondering whether they’re handling the situation correctly. I have an ENTJ friend who talks about presenting a confident face in a work setting but feels much more shy and awkward in social situations where she has to enter a more Feeling-oriented place.

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Introverts and Insecurity

Introverts naturally direct more of their attention toward their inner world. This doesn’t mean they’re shy, socially anxious, or happiest alone all the time. In Myers-Briggs® theory, Introversion is more about where your mind tends to go first. Introverts rely most on an internal process of reflection, whether they’re sorting through ideas, impressions, values, logical principles, or insights.

 

Carl Jung described introverted consciousness as being oriented by “subjective determinants.” (Psychological Types, 374) In simpler terms, the Introvert doesn’t only ask, What’s happening out there? They also need to know, What does this mean to me? What do I think about it? How does this fit with what I already understand?That internal focus looks different depending on the personality type:

• • Introverted Intuitive types (INFJs and INTJs) turn inward to trace patterns, impressions, meanings, and implications until something begins to crystallize into an insight.

 

• • Introverted Sensing types (ISFJs and ISTJs) compare what’s happening now with their storehouse of impressions and experience, noticing what feels familiar, different, stable, or significant.

 

• • Introverted Thinking types (INTPs and ISTPs) mentally take things apart, examining principles and inconsistencies until they understand how something works or whether it makes sense.

 

• Introverted Feeling types (INFPs and ISFPs) check experiences and decisions against an internal sense of value, meaning, emotional truth, and personal integrity

What Makes Introverts Insecure?

For many Introverts, insecurity can creep in when they’re expected to respond externally before they’ve had enough opportunity to consult that inner world.

Someone asks what they think, but they haven’t decided yet. They’re presented with a complicated problem and immediately asked for a solution. An argument is moving quickly and they’re expected to explain exactly how they feel while they’re still trying to understand it themselves.

In situations like these, an Introvert may know that something is happening internally without having words for it yet. This can be especially frustrating because hesitation is easy for other people to misinterpret. A pause can look like uncertainty, indifference, incompetence, or evasiveness when the person may actually be thinking very carefully.

Imagine an Introvert in the middle of an argument when their partner suddenly asks, “Do you even want this relationship?” They pause. Their partner sees the pause and says, “Wow. The fact that you even have to think about that tells me everything.”

But the pause didn’t necessarily mean I don’t know if I love you. The question opened an internal door. Now the Introvert is considering what was said, what they’re feeling, what the question actually means, and how to answer accurately rather than blurting out the first thing that comes to mind.

Being denied that processing space can leave Introverts feeling cornered and strangely disconnected from themselves. This doesn’t mean Introverts are incapable of thinking on their feet. An ISTP might respond almost instantly to a physical emergency. An ISFP can leap into action when something matters deeply to them. An INTJ may make a rapid decision about an issue they’ve already thought about extensively. Expertise and familiarity make an enormous difference.

The difficulty is more likely to appear when an Introvert is being asked to externalize something that hasn’t finished taking shape internally.

This can also happen in groups. An Introvert may have a thoughtful contribution but lose the opportunity to make it because the conversation moves on before they’ve formulated it. They may leave a meeting only to realize ten minutes later exactly what they wanted to say. Or they may agree to something under pressure and later realize, once they’re alone, that it doesn’t sit right with them at all.

Dominant Introverted Thinking types can experience another version of this uncertainty. The MBTI® Manual notes that ISTPs and INTPs may sometimes be “bewildered by others’ behavior and misinterpret or overinterpret its meaning.” Their internal logical analysis may be highly developed while the unspoken expectations and interpersonal signals surrounding them feel much harder to decipher.

For Introverts, then, insecurity isn’t necessarily about socializing, public speaking, or being around lots of people. It often appears when the outside world is demanding an answer, reaction, or engagement before their inner world has had enough time to catch up.

Give them that space, and what looked like uncertainty may turn into a surprisingly clear answer.

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Intuitives and Insecurity

Intuitives are naturally drawn toward patterns, possibilities, meanings, and connections. While Sensing focuses more readily on concrete information and direct experience, Intuition asks what the information suggests. Where could this lead? What’s happening beneath the surface? What else could this mean?

This doesn’t mean Intuitives are uninterested in facts or incapable of being detail-oriented. Many are exceptionally knowledgeable in subjects that matter to them. But facts tend to become especially interesting when they connect to a larger idea, pattern, possibility, or implication.

Intuition also looks different depending on the personality type:

• Intuitive-Judging types (INFJs, INTJs, ENFJs, and ENTJs) use Introverted Intuition to look for underlying patterns, meanings, and long-range implications. They often narrow many pieces of information into one overarching interpretation or sense of where something is heading.
• Intuitive-Perceiving types (INFPs, INTPs, ENFPs, and ENTPs) use Extraverted Intuition to notice connections and possibilities in the world around them. One idea tends to lead to another as they explore alternatives, unusual combinations, and different ways something could unfold.

Carl Jung described Intuition as involving “an attitude of expectancy, by vision and penetration.” (Psychological Types, 366) Intuition reaches beyond what’s immediately observable and tries to perceive what isn’t obvious yet.

For the extroverted intuitive (EN type), the external world triggers inner insights, connections, and possibilities that are abstract or conceptual in nature. They might see a tree and imagine a deity overlooking the world, often unnoticed, but ever watching. The introverted intuitive (IN type) also makes these connections, but usually imbues meaning on the external world from the inner world first. They might be walking through a park pondering the nature of God and the universe when they spot a tree. Immediately they consider how spirituality is often overlooked in the modern world. People are too distracted with their electronic devices to see the nature or magic around them. They don’t see the tree. “We don’t see God anymore. We see our phones.” they might think to themselves.

Carl Jung describes intuition well: “The intuitive function is represented in consciousness by an attitude of expectancy, by vision and penetration.” (Psychological Types, 366)

Intuitives do well in situations that call on them to imagine, predict, and gain insight. They enjoy exploring connections, patterns, and possibilities. They feel insecure in situations that force them to rely purely on cold, hard facts and literal details. Remembering a lot of details or working in a rigid structure that lacks room for imagination or creativity can feel overwhelming to them.

It’s easy for Intuitives to feel “bound” by facts or details. Sensors trust what they know from experience, and they may feel the need to “rein in” intuitives to keep them from taking on an idea or possibility that has never been explored before. This can be irritating to intuitives, who are driven to work with the unknown and unexplored.

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Sensors and Insecurity

Sensors tend to trust information they can actually get their hands on. What happened? What did you see? What do we know from experience? What is happening right now?

This doesn’t mean Sensors aren’t imaginative or interested in ideas. I’ve known plenty of Sensors who love fantasy novels, philosophy, psychology, theology, science fiction, and conversations about the future. Being a Sensor doesn’t sentence you to a lifetime of discussing lawn equipment and grocery prices.

The difference is more about what kind of information you naturally trust and pay attention to. Sensors tend to give a lot of weight to experience and observable reality. If you tell them something is true, there’s a good chance they’ll want to know what you’re basing that on.

As Carl Jung put it, Sensation “establishes what is actually present.” That’s a pretty good shorthand for the Sensing preference. It keeps asking us to come back to what is here.

But Sensing can look very different depending on the type:

• Sensing-Judging types (ISTJs, ISFJs, ESTJs, and ESFJs) use Introverted Sensation, or Si. They compare what’s happening now with what they already know from experience. They tend to notice familiarity, changes, specific impressions, and whether something matches or contradicts what they’ve encountered before.
• Sensing-Perceiving types (ISTPs, ISFPs, ESTPs, and ESFPs) use Extraverted Sensation, or Se. They’re more tuned in to what’s happening in the environment right now: what can be seen, heard, touched, changed, used, enjoyed, or acted upon.

What Makes Sensors Insecure?

For many Sensors, insecurity starts creeping in when they’re expected to reach a conclusion without enough concrete information to go on. Imagine being in a meeting and someone says, “I just have a feeling this is where the market is heading.”

A Sensor may think, Okay…based on what?

Or someone says, “Don’t worry about the details. We’ll figure those out later.” Again: Which details? Because some of those details might completely change whether this works.

This isn’t necessarily negativity or lack of imagination. Sometimes the Sensor is noticing that everyone has become excited about an idea before anyone has checked whether the thing can actually be done.

I’ve noticed this distinction many times in conversations about personality type. An Intuitive may be perfectly comfortable following a theory several steps beyond the available evidence just to see where it leads. A Sensor is more likely to stop somewhere along the way and ask, “But do we actually know that?”

Neither approach is automatically better. Sometimes the Intuitive discovers something because they were willing to make the leap. Sometimes the Sensor saves everyone a lot of trouble because they noticed there wasn’t a bridge.

When Sensors Feel Put on the Spot

Sensors can also feel less confident when they’re expected to speculate extensively about something that hasn’t happened yet.

You might ask, “Where do you think you’ll be in ten years?” and get a perfectly sincere, “How would I know?”

That doesn’t necessarily mean the person lacks ambition or hasn’t thought about their future. They may just be uncomfortable pretending to know something that, from their perspective, depends on hundreds of things that haven’t happened yet.

The same thing can happen with highly theoretical conversations. If someone keeps building assumption upon assumption without tying any of it back to reality, the Sensor may start losing interest or wondering what they’re supposed to do with the information.

And sometimes this gets interpreted unfairly. Sensors can be labeled unimaginative because they ask for evidence, or “too literal” because they want someone to explain what they actually mean. But asking How do we know this? is not the same thing as being incapable of considering possibilities.

In fact, Sensors can be extremely creative. Their creativity may just have more contact with the real world. Think of the chef who knows exactly what a dish needs after tasting it, the mechanic who hears something slightly wrong with an engine, the photographer who catches a shift in light everyone else missed, or the historian who notices that someone’s sweeping claim doesn’t match what actually happened.

Si and Se Can Feel Insecure for Different Reasons

The two forms of Sensing don’t always struggle with the same things.

Si users tend to feel more uncertain when they have nothing familiar to reference. If the situation is completely new, the expectations keep changing, or they’re being asked to abandon a method that has worked reliably without a convincing reason, they may want more time to get their bearings.

An ISTJ starting a job where nobody can explain the procedures may wonder, How am I supposed to know whether I’m doing this correctly? An ISFJ dealing with a completely unfamiliar family problem may wish there were some previous experience they could draw from.

Se users, on the other hand, are often comfortable with new situations as long as they can interact with what’s actually happening. Their insecurity may show up more when they’re expected to predict something they can’t observe yet, commit themselves far in advance, or sit around theorizing when they’d rather get involved and see what happens.

An ESTP might think, Give me the actual problem and I’ll deal with it. An ISFP may be far more confident responding to a real situation in front of them than explaining exactly what they’ll do if some hypothetical situation occurs three years from now.

This is one reason I don’t think “Sensors don’t like change” works as a general description. Some Sensors love novelty. Some hate it. An SP may happily walk into a situation they’ve never experienced before because they trust themselves to respond to whatever happens. An SJ may be much more comfortable when there’s some precedent to work from. Both are using Sensing, but they’re leaning on it differently.

When “Just Trust Me” Isn’t Enough

At the heart of a lot of Sensing insecurity is a fairly reasonable question:

What am I supposed to base this on?

If you’re asking a Sensor to believe a prediction, pursue an untested possibility, interpret a hidden meaning, or make a decision about something that hasn’t happened yet, they may want more evidence before they put their weight behind it.

That can frustrate Intuitives, who may feel like the Sensor is demanding proof for something that is still taking shape. But the reverse is frustrating too. From the Sensor’s perspective, the Intuitive may be asking everyone to treat a possibility as though it’s already a fact.

This is where the two preferences can be incredibly useful to each other when neither is trying to prove they’re the smarter one.

Intuition asks, What might be happening here?

Sensing asks, What do we actually know?

We need both questions. A possibility without evidence can turn into fantasy, but facts without imagination don’t tell us where else we could go.

For Sensors, insecurity tends to show up when the conversation gets too far ahead of what they can actually verify, experience, or reasonably infer. Give them something real to work with, though, and you’ll often see a very different kind of confidence.

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Thinking Types and Insecurity

Thinking types like decisions to make sense. When they’re trying to figure out what to do, they naturally step back from the situation and look at how the pieces fit together. What’s causing the problem? What are the consequences of each choice? Is this consistent? Is it fair? Will it actually work?

This doesn’t mean Thinking types don’t care about people. It also doesn’t mean they make perfectly logical decisions while everyone else is being swept around by their emotions. Thinkers have biases, feelings, attachments, bad days, irrational fears, and favorite people just like everyone else.

The preference is about what they tend to prioritize when making a decision. Thinking asks us to create some distance from our personal feelings so we can examine the situation according to principles, evidence, cause and effect, or some other standard that makes sense.

And Thinking doesn’t look exactly the same in every type:

• Thinking-Judging types (ENTJs, ESTJs, INTJs, and ISTJs) use Extraverted Thinking, or Te. They’re interested in making things work in the real world. They tend to look for useful evidence, measurable results, efficient methods, and logical ways to organize people and resources.
• Thinking-Perceiving types (ENTPs, ESTPs, INTPs, and ISTPs) use Introverted Thinking, or Ti. They’re more interested in understanding how something works from the inside out. They tend to question definitions and assumptions, look for inconsistencies, and keep pulling an idea apart until the logic makes sense to them.

Thinking types can appear very competent and capable in situations that rely on their strengths. A TJ type might appear at the top of their game in the boardroom or when organizing a strategy. A TP type might appear at the top of their game when explaining a system or troubleshooting a problem.

Where Thinking types feel insecure is in situations that rely on their use of Feeling. The MBTI® Manual states that some Thinking types “Have issues about discomfort and a sense of inadequacy in social situations, as they tend to take longer than other types to develop comfortable social skills. This is particularly true for dominant introverted thinking types (ISTP and INTP).” (227)

I’ve spoken with many ISTPs, INTPs, and even TJs who feel insecure or shy in social situations because they are less confident in social dynamics and “reading the room” than their Feeling counterparts.

When There Isn’t a “Correct” Answer

Thinking types can also feel uncertain when they’re expected to make a decision based primarily on emotional or interpersonal considerations.

Suppose a manager has an employee who isn’t performing well. The numbers are clear. Deadlines are being missed, other employees are picking up the slack, and something has to change.

Then the manager finds out that the employee is going through a terrible time at home. Now there are two different kinds of information on the table.

A Thinking type may understand perfectly well why the employee is struggling and still feel that the performance problem has to be addressed. But they may start wondering where compassion ends and unfairness to everyone else begins.

This is where Thinking can become much less emotionally detached than it looks from the outside. The person may be running the decision through their mind again and again because there isn’t an obvious principle that satisfies every concern.

Thinking types can become especially uncomfortable when they’re expected to say something they don’t believe just to make another person feel better. “Tell me everything is going to be okay” can be surprisingly difficult when they genuinely don’t know whether everything is going to be okay.

They may offer something more cautious instead: “Whatever happens, we’ll figure out what to do next.” To someone wanting emotional reassurance, that can sound oddly clinical. To the Thinker, it may be the most sincere comfort they know how to give.

Many Thinking types also feel vulnerable and insecure when they need emotional help. Because they so often subject their emotions to critical analysis, they can feel embarrassed, guilty, or ashamed when they are forced to acknowledge and accept the presence of emotions. If they “blow up” emotionally or vent about their feelings, they often experience embarrassment or regret afterwards. Many times they rationalize their feelings before they even have the chance to talk about them.

It’s crucial for Thinking types to recognize the importance of emotions rather than continually be repressing them. Having a feeling doesn’t make them “bad” or “stupid” and it certainly shouldn’t be something that they feel ashamed of.

Feeling Types and Insecurity

Feeling types make decisions by paying attention to values. What matters here? Who will be affected? What choice can I live with afterward?

That doesn’t mean Feeling types make decisions based on whatever emotion they’re experiencing at the moment. You can be furious with someone and still decide to forgive them. You can desperately want something and decide it would be wrong to pursue it. Feelings are emotions; Feeling, in Myers-Briggs® theory, is a way of evaluating what has worth and importance.

This is one of the reasons I wish the preference had been given a different name. “Feeling” makes it sound like Thinkers are using their brains while Feelers are wandering around asking their emotions what to do. That’s not what the theory is saying at all.

Feeling also takes two very different forms:

• Feeling-Judging types (ENFJs, ESFJs, INFJs, and ISFJs) use Extraverted Feeling, or Fe. They tend to notice the values, needs, and emotional dynamics of the people around them. When making decisions, they’re often considering how everyone will be affected and what will preserve trust, cooperation, or a sense of shared values.
• Feeling-Perceiving types (ENFPs, ESFPs, INFPs, and ISFPs) use Introverted Feeling, or Fi. They tend to evaluate decisions against an internal sense of what feels right, meaningful, or personally honest. They’re often asking themselves whether a choice lines up with what they genuinely believe rather than what they’re expected to believe.

What Makes Feeling Types Insecure?

For many Feeling types, insecurity starts to show up when they’re expected to set aside the human or personal side of a decision and defend themselves on impersonal grounds alone.

Imagine you’re deciding whether to fire someone. On paper, the decision makes sense. They’re underperforming. You’ve given them several chances and keeping them is costing the company money. But you also know this person. You know they just went through a divorce and they’re terrified about paying rent. You know their kid has been sick.

A Feeling type can understand every logical reason for letting that person go and still feel the weight of what the decision will do to them. That isn’t necessarily a failure of objectivity. It’s another piece of information being given serious weight. The trouble comes when someone responds, “None of that matters. Just look at the facts.”

To a Feeling type, those things are facts. A human being losing their income is a fact. The effect of a decision on someone’s family is real. Trust, morale, loyalty, dignity, and relationships may be harder to put into a spreadsheet, but that doesn’t make them imaginary.

“Am I Being Too Subjective?”

Feeling types can also become insecure when they have to prove that their judgment is rational. Maybe they dislike a proposed decision because it seems unfair. Maybe something about a workplace policy bothers them or maybe everyone else is enthusiastic about an opportunity, but an FP feels that accepting it would require compromising something important.

Then someone asks, “Okay, but what’s your logical reason?” and that question can cause some insecurity to creep in. The Feeling type may know exactly why something matters to them but struggle to translate a value judgment into the kind of detached argument the other person wants.

An INFP might think, Because I don’t want to become the kind of person who does that.

An ESFJ might think, Because this is going to destroy morale.

An ISFP might think, I don’t care if this makes us more money. It feels wrong.

An ENFJ might think, You can win this argument and still lose these people.

None of those concerns are inherently irrational. But when the people around you only respect information that sounds detached, measurable, or impersonal, it’s easy to start wondering whether your way of evaluating the situation is somehow less legitimate.

When Someone Has to Be Disappointed

There is another situation that can be surprisingly uncomfortable for Feeling types: making a choice they know will hurt or disappoint someone. This can be especially noticeable with Fe users. An ESFJ manager may know an employee’s request needs to be denied but dread the conversation afterward. An INFJ may spend far too long trying to phrase a boundary in a way that cannot possibly offend anyone, only to discover that such a sentence does not exist.

FJs tend to be highly aware of the interpersonal atmosphere around a decision. If someone is angry, disappointed, embarrassed, or hurt, that reaction can be difficult to ignore even when the FJ believes they made the right call.

FPs can struggle with a different version of the same problem. They may be perfectly willing to disappoint someone when an important value is at stake, but feel much less confident when they’re expected to enforce an impersonal standard they don’t personally believe in. Tell an ISFP, “You have to enforce this because those are the rules,” and there’s a decent chance their next question will be some variation of, “But why is that the rule?” If the answer is basically because I said so, you’ve probably made things worse.

Criticism Can Get Complicated

Feeling types can also feel insecure when they’re expected to evaluate something without considering the person attached to it.

Suppose a friend hands you a manuscript they’ve spent three years writing and asks what you think.

You think it’s bad.

Now what?

A Thinking type may also struggle with this, of course, but a Feeling type is more likely to automatically register several questions at once: How honest should I be? What would actually help them? Are they asking for criticism or encouragement? If I tell them exactly what I think, will I crush them? If I don’t, am I being dishonest?

This is why “Feelers can’t handle criticism” misses the point. Many Feeling types are excellent critics. They may simply be more aware that criticism happens between two human beings, and that how you deliver the truth can change what happens next. The insecurity comes when there doesn’t seem to be a way to honor both honesty and the person.

Feeling Types Aren’t Allergic to Logic

It’s worth saying this outright because the stereotype refuses to die: a Feeling preference tells you nothing about someone’s intelligence.

Feeling types use Thinking too. They can analyze data, troubleshoot problems, run businesses, understand complex systems, argue logically, and make decisions other people consider cold. I’ve met Feeling types who are far more analytical than plenty of Thinking types. Personality type doesn’t measure IQ, education, maturity, competence, or whether you can win an argument on the internet.

What can happen, though, is that Feeling types become less confident when they’re operating for long periods in situations where everything they naturally notice is treated as irrelevant.

If you’re repeatedly told that people’s reactions don’t matter, personal values have no place in a decision, relationships are secondary, and anything that can’t be quantified shouldn’t count, you may eventually start wondering whether you’re equipped for the environment you’re in. Or you may decide the environment is the problem. Sometimes that’s the correct conclusion.

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Judging Types and Insecurity

Judging types approach life with a need for structure, order, and reliability. They like knowing what’s going to happen, having a plan, and mapping situations out in advance. The MBTI® Manual states that “In the Judging attitude, a person is concerned with making decisions, seeking closure, planning operations, or organizing activities.” (26)

Here’s how the Judging preference shows up in the eight Judging personality types:

 

• Thinking-Judging (TJ) types make their decisions based on logical analysis. They try to create sensible plans, structures, and guidelines with which to organize their lives. In doing so, they hope to get peoples’ needs met in the most fair way possible.

 

 

• Feeling-Judging (FJ) types make their decisions by weighing and assessing values. They try to tap into the emotional needs of people in order to make a decision that gets those emotional needs met in as fair a way as possible.

 

As you can see above, both TJ and FJ personality types are trying to get people’s needs met, but they’re coming at it from different avenues. A TJ might come up with a strategy or plan that will meet someone’s resource needs (like money or food), while an FJ might be more focused on creating a solution that will meet someone’s emotional needs (like feeling heard and understood).

One of the places where Judging types can feel insecure is when they’re placed in a situation that doesn’t allow for any preparation or pre-planning. If they’re asked to make a decision on the spot, without any time for forethought or research, they may feel overwhelmed and underprepared.

Judgers can also find adapting to change stressful. Even if the change is for the better, Judgers may resist it because they’re so used to having everything in its place. They need time to adjust and find a new plan of attack before they can embrace the change.

Perceiving Types and Insecurity

Perceiving types are interested in new information and reacting to that information in the moment with a flexible perspective. They are less interested in having a structure or plan and more interested in taking each day as it comes. Their perspective is one of curiosity, openness, and adaptability.

Here’s how the Perceiving preference shows up in the eight Perceiving personality types:

 

• Sensing-Perceiving (SP) types are fascinated by what they can take in and experience through their five senses. They’re often curious and open to new experiences and are likely to take each day as it comes with a “go-with-the-flow” attitude.

 

 

• Intuitive-Perceiving (NP) types focus on possibilities and They’re drawn to what’s new and novel and are often open to taking risks in order to explore ideas. Openness allows them to take in many possibilities and generate as many alternatives as possible.

 

Perceiving types feel insecure in situations that force them to live in a more structured, orderly way. When they are forced to make a plan and stick to it, they may feel trapped and find it difficult to be sure that their plan is the right one.

Having too many structured rules can also be off-putting for Perceiving types. They thrive when they have the flexibility to move and adapt as needed, so having rigid expectations placed on them can cause them to shut down and become resistant. This is why it’s important for Perceivers to have plenty of unstructured time in their schedule to explore new ideas, adapt to whatever life throws at them, and live in their preferred “exploratory” mode of existing.

Read This Next: Why Judgers and Perceivers Drive Each Other Crazy

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Find out more about your personality type in our eBooks, Discovering You: Unlocking the Power of Personality Type, The INFJ – Understanding the Mystic, The INTJ – Understanding the Strategist, and The INFP – Understanding the Dreamer. You can also connect with me via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!

Sources:

Psychological Types by Carl Jung

The MBTI® Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument by Isabel Briggs Myers, Mary H. McCaulley, Naomi L. Quenk, Allen L. Hammer

Building Blocks of Personality Type by Leona Haas and Mark Hunziker