INTPs are noted for their thirst for knowledge, creative thinking and rational perspective. INTPs take pleasure in demystifying the universe, solving problems and continually filling the gaps in their knowledge. INTPs also have their share of struggles and areas of difficulty. Here is a look at 7 weaknesses associated with life as an INTP.

1. INTP independence and codependence.

As independent and self-sufficient as they strive to be, there is a part of an INTP that secretly desires approval, validation and acceptance from others. They actually do care how they are perceived by others and would ideally wish to be appreciated as being knowledgeable, helpful and creative. They may not want to admit it, but rejection is painful to an INTP and is at least part of the reason why they tend to be tentative, anxious and shy in groups and around people they don’t know well. At the heart of an INTP’s quest for insight, understanding and problems to solve is a belief that what they are doing has significant value not just for them but for others as well. Focusing on their introverted thinking can become a crutch for the INTP when they’ve become too isolated. Healthy INTPs learn to embrace and acknowledge the communal aspirations of their inferior extraverted feeling.

2. INTP Social Awkwardness.

People skills don’t come naturally to the INTP and their shyness is often a barrier to the relationships they might like to have with others. INTPs who struggle with their Fe are bound to get easily embarrassed, feel out of place, and often misunderstood by people. As simple and comfortable as it is for INTPs to just be by themselves, they may still feel a sense of loneliness from time to time. INTPs often contend with anxiety and social inhibitions related to a concern with being judged and rejected. It can be really hard for them not to act weird or awkward when they become self conscious and unsure of how to behave or act when around people. At the same time, this awkwardness can contribute to INTP’s usual charm and humor, in both intentional and unintentional ways. With time and effort, INTPs may learn to share and express themselves more naturally without embarrassing themselves.

3. INTP Emotions.

As introverted thinkers, INTPs maintain a certain emotional detachment in most situations. Although they feel emotions as humans do, INTPs don’t focus on them the way, an INFP would. They tend to suppress, ignore and conceal their feelings and instead analyze the situations that cause them. For INTP, feelings are often more of an inconvenience that they must live with. They would rather keep their emotions from affecting their rationality but when they bottle things up for too long, they can eventually come out in volatile outbursts. With their weak Fe, INTPs may exhibit emotional immaturity when their emotions are on display. Learning to manage their emotions in real time is a challenge for them especially when dealing with people they consider to be idiotic or unreasonable. Their emotions can also lead them to do embarrassing, out-of-character things such as when INTP is around someone they are infatuated with.

4. INTP Analysis Paralysis.

As a thinking and perceiving type, INTPs may have difficulty making up their minds when it comes to important decisions. When they have a number of interesting and viable options available to them, they tend to weigh their options carefully and seek to equip themselves with as much information as possible prior to committing to anything. In contrast to judging types, INTPs can get especially stalled in the decision-making process because as perceivers, they prefer to keep their options open and may prolong the deliberation process indefinitely as they compare and contrast, research and analyze, pros and cons —sometimes to an obsessive extent. Judging types like INTJ and INFJ can be very analytical about their decisions as well, but tend to have a clearer sense of what they want and are more willing to make decisions and commit to them until failure.

5. INTP Imposter Syndrome.

The skeptical nature of the INTP leads them to question everything, including themselves. INTPs can be insecure about their own smarts the same way professional models can be insecure about their looks. Despite all indications to the contrary, INTPs may experience a nagging sense that they are not that smart and that whatever academic/intellectual feats they may have achieved were largely due to luck and hard work. People with imposter syndrome have difficulty giving themselves due credit and their accomplishments are overshadowed by self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud. Because of this, they may push themselves to overcompensate in a perpetual effort to prove themselves. Although imposter syndrome is not an actual mental disorder recognized by the DSM, individuals who suffer from it are found to also deal with depression and low self-confidence.

6. INTP Oblivion.

INTPs have been cited as being the most oblivious of all types, especially when it comes to their relationships. INTPs tend to live in their heads and consequently, they may fail to take notice of their surroundings and also the people in their lives. INTPs are notorious for not picking up on the non-verbal cues that occur in their exchanges with others. INTPs tend to be not very good at reading people accurately the way an INFJ or ESTP might. Part of the reason may be that INTPs generally make less eye contact and do not examine their environments because they are often off in their own world. With regards to people, especially loved ones, INTP may draw criticism for not recognizing or responding to other people’s needs and this may often be mistaken for lack of care or wanton neglect.

7. INTP Lack of Motivation.

Lastly, INTPs can struggle in life to find something they truly enjoy and feel passionate about. For INTPs it is easy to slip into a nihilistic funk where they question the point of doing anything. INTPs are motivated by interesting problems to solve and when they do not have that, they can fall into a state of listlessness and a lack of direction. INTPs may often find themselves in positions that do not challenge or interest them but must deal with nonetheless. There may be things in their lives to hinder them but sometimes, INTPs can be the biggest obstacle to their own success. To get what they want, many INTPs may need to develop more self discipline and push themselves out of their dreamy intellectual comfort zones and into a more active mode of existence. It may take some searching and effort, but once INTP finds a worthwhile goal or objective that truly fascinates them, the passion and obsessive persistence they have can carry them far.

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