ISFJs are the practical, down-to-earth nurturers of the MBTI. This type is introverted at their core but ceaselessly giving in nature – which gives way to a series of misconceptions about their type. This week on my MBTI Facebook page , I asked ISFJs what they wished others understood about their unique personalities. Here’s what they had to say.

1. “We can be creative too. We’re not just sweet grandmas who live to serve others.”

3. “We actually love doing things for people but we need to be appreciated.”

4. “I think about things and feel things much more deeply than I’m given credit for – I think this is true of most ISFJs. We spend our alone time reading and taking in information and we are like walking encyclopedias in a lot of ways! We just keep most of that to ourselves because people don’t tend to ask about it.”

5. “We may not be the best at intense logical arguments, but give us a few hours and we’ll have made our point clear.”

6. “We’re prone to burning out from giving all we’ve got to our loved ones in need, and sometimes we need to be taken care of too.”

7. “I don’t know how to tell people no, which leads to me getting stressed out over all the things I have to do. Try not to overburden ISFJs just because you know that they won’t tell you no.”

8. “We are the most social introverts you’ll meet but we also like to be alone and sometimes can’t stand people. We get the benefits of both worlds but it depends on the individual’s energy for social activity and where they fall on the introvert/extrovert scale.”

9. “We can have strong opinions too, we just don’t always voice them because we feel overshadowed by more aggressive, extroverted types. But please don’t assume that if we’re not speaking up, it means we agree with what’s being said. A lot of the time it just means we don’t feel comfortable sharing our thoughts.”

10. “If I say that I love you, I really, really mean it.”

11. “We tend to be passive aggressive when a problem arises for fear of disruption or disagreement in close relations. Just let us know when we do that and since we value the relationship, we will state what we want more clearly. We can’t stand when we have an enemy.”

12. “We’re perfectionists and our own biggest critics. If we are honest with you about that it means we really trust you.”

13. “We put a big emotional value on relationships we make, and are hurt when those feelings are not reciprocated!”

14. “We seem more outgoing than we are because never want our friends to feel like we’re not enjoying spending time with them. But we actually need a lot of alone time. It’s how we recharge.”

15. “If we’re complaining or sounding pessimistic it’s just because we always want to be prepared for the worst. It’s not because we think life is all bad. In fact, we’re usually pretty happy with the way things are.”

16. “I might have just met you last week, but all it takes is one meaningful connection for me to feel like we’ve been friends forever.”

17. “Even though we have our own stuff going on, we really, genuinely are happiest when the people we love are happy. Nothing about that is fake!”