The 16 Types.info - Socionics and Oldham personality styles

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The Complexities of the Analyst (INTj uncovered)

Authors: Tanzhe INTx type
Ti Ne Fi Se Fe Si Te Ni

Behind that cold, rational mask there is a hidden sea of turbulence. The Analyst’s life is dominated by a) his desire to control his emotions, and b) many internal complexities and paradoxes.

Usually, the child Analyst is extroverted. He uses his Fe and Se a lot. Commonly, he will have many friends, and probably will live a life of socialising. And he will not mind this. The Analyst can observe, with a ironic wit, the idiosyncrasies of life and can, to a degree, empathise and consider other people well due to his Ne.

However, he matures and realises that the life of socialising does not provide him with what he wants. Thus, his Ti asserts himself. He withdraws, becomes more reserved. The stage at which he does this is variable.

From that point onwards, the Analyst tries to suppress his emotions. He always fears that his Fe will take over, or that his Ne-related excitement will shine through. The Analyst will always view it that he became too panicky, or smiled too much.

Unfortunately, the Analyst cannot express himself in a controlled manner. He introverts logically, but extroverts intuitively. Thus, he is either well-controlled (in his opinion) or wild and uncontrolled (when extroverted). He changes, and this varies the psychological distance from him to others. It also makes him difficult to judge, or to know when to approach.

The Analyst's Ti creates more tension in the form of sadness. If the Analyst cannot find a way to express or stir his emotions, then he will become more and more depressed. By 'expressing' or 'stirring', this is not a simple matter of laughing more. It is genuinely feeling empathy with someone. The Analyst can put himself in other's shoes due to his Ne, but frequently cannot put himself in their heart.

Depression is an extreme case, in this example. However, the Analyst must express emotions to avoid sinking into clinical depression, even if the depression is only mild.

The Analyst may or may not be religious. He may believe in higher purposes, or he may stubbornly defend his anti-religious beliefs. Either way, he ponders and analyses the questions of religion.

If he is not religious, this couples with his orientation towards the future; therefore, he may begin to question his purpose in life. He seems to have no set personality, in his opinion (due to the Ti-Ne/Se). He tends to view the more serious side of life.

Feeling emotions is a liberating experience for an The Analyst. However, feeling emotion exhausts him. It is liberating but exhausting at the same time. Unfortunately, genuinely feeling emotion is, for the Analyst, difficult, and he is also afraid of feeling emotions. His Ti is not beneficial in this light.

The Analyst can, on occasion, be arrogant. He believes that he has a particular insight into life due to his intellect, but comes to the conclusion that no other people have such an insight because of their ‘apparently’ out-of-control emotions. He wishes to retain his insight, so he keeps his emotions controlled. But, as we have just said, The Analyst places his implicit trust in his Ti. So, he has a paradox - should he feel emotions and be liberated, but lose his unique perspective or does he want to control his emotions, and keep his perspective but at the cost of further dissatisfaction with his life?

His Ti means that he prefers to remain aloof, and thus he can feel lonely and without guidance. The aloofness is a product of the Ti-Si relationship. The Analyst associates, in his youth, idiots who carelessly risk their bodies to socialising. Since he has no wish to injure his body (out of the Si, and hidden agenda of remaining healthy) then he detaches and continues to associate friendliness with threat to the Si. Although this, by no means, should be interpreted that the Analyst cannot make friends, it is just as if he is afraid of socialising with common people, the practical jokers.

There is another reason. The Analyst’s Se is not well-developed. This means that he has something of an inability to assert himself. Even if he shouts, his voice is not strong. It also makes him more susceptible to bullying - he prefers an environment where there is no discomfort from the external world, and bullying targets Se very well.

This has another side-effect. The Analyst can have a tendency to wallow in self-pity and/or self-doubt because he lacks the Se authoritativeness to push onwards.

But, equally, The Analyst can sometimes lose control of his Se. When his Se becomes aroused, he can be a very difficult physical opponent, or he can be very aggressive. An Se situation is regarded as life-or-death by an Analyst.

If matters spiral out of control, The Analyst may also enter another state other than aggression. This state is almost meditative, in which there is nothing but The Analyst and the problems. In this zone, he becomes aware of all problems, and can calculate the necessary courses of action very quickly. In this zone, he is calm, does not think too much; he only acts. This is The Analyst’s Si. His Si is a mental (instinctive) function of activation, and activation is a good reaction for resolving a situation which cannot resist.

In this manner, The Analyst is able to put up a mental curtain which allows him to only focus on the essential information at that time. His formidable intellect and logic (Ti) combined with his natural forward-planning and imagination (Ne) mean that he can be very good as a leader in the right circumstances.

Of course, some types will always remain calm in such a Se environment, notably The Legionnaire (ESTp) and The Politician (ESFp) because Se is their dominant function.

Normally, the Analyst will follow the norms of politeness. This again causes a paradox. His Ti is not very good at emotionally helping others. However, the Analyst appears polite and thus seems to be a good listener. He is a good listener, but prefers not to be burdened by the problems of others that he can do nothing about. The Analyst, since he wishes to use his Fi is a socially accepted fashion, means that he is somewhat unassertive and thus cannot dismiss these people who come to him with problems.

Continuing with the theme of Ti, it allows him to make ruthless and impersonal decisions. But he will forever chide himself, because the Ti-Ne relationship produces a need for justice. If his Ti wants to make cold decisions, his Ne justice and Fe warmth oppose him. He does not like to put ruthless acts into action (in others words, personally doing dirty deeds) because of the Se and because it may well be unhealthy (because there is risk). Of course, the pressure exerted by Ne and Fe is only slight, but enough to somewhat hinder the Analyst.

The Analyst will usually try to make it appear as though his sensing is as strong as his intuition, which seems to be a root cause of his early extroversion (expressing Se so that it appear strong enough not to be a weakness). This causes another constant battle. He sometimes finds it difficult to distinguish between the two, and this can cause a ‘S-N identity disorder.’

Finally, there can also be a T-F identity disorder produced as well. His Ne allows him to consider other people well. Usually he is sensitive in dealing with himself and others, due to the Si, Ne and the fact that he does not wish to harm others (he believes that they will have the same Se function-problem). Thus, he seems to empathise. However, he must control it, because his Ti tells him to. This is another source of confusion.

In conclusion, the Analyst’s personality is one of disorder behind his remote, detached mask.