How serious are ISTjs and sense of humor

[ENFperator]

According to Oldham style it’s a serious personality type, but how serious and down to earth do you find them? The ISTjs I know have a good sense of humor, although they are joking about serious matters.

[Louise]

My brother is ISTj and I wouldn't describe him as serious at all! He's much more how you described...he's always been the easygoing, happy-go-lucky one in the family. But my dad is also ISTj and he is usually pretty serious.

[FDG]

My dad is ISTj, and he's not serious at all!

He's not into dirty jokes like I am, but serious is not the way I would describe him at all.

It could be effect of the subtype. Sensory subtype being less serious, and logical subtype more serious.

[Expat]

ISTjs can be playful, but not in the same outgoing way as ESTps.

However, I would say that they tend to be serious for longer times than jokey.

Also, I think their humor is a very direct one, very obvious, not subtle or ironic.

[Creepy-Wagner]

Yeah, I had an ISTj friend and he liked to laugh and joke around a lot. He got a kick out of it and he liked to be around people who would make jokes and joke around a lot. But... when it came to schoolwork, he was well, "serious". He would do everything very neatly and tidily and seldom muck around. He's never pretentious and he'd never, ever, overestimate his abilities. Ever. If he thought he couldn't do something, then he would never do it. He was quite depressive and negativistic, though.

[XoX]

I know an ISTj who takes all responsibilities very seriously but other than that is not very serious at all. Actually he has his own sense of humor which is a bit naughty and down to earth He likes to spread his humor whenever he is not doing a task he feels responsible for. Sometimes his humor can be quite intrusive and rough even to his friends and especially to women who don't know him too well. I usually laugh a lot when around him.

When doing work or concentrating on something that he feels important he can be in a serious state of mind for hours. Never judge an ISTj to be serious without spending leisure time with one. "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" pretty much catches his sense of humor. If you like Triumph you will like ISTj humor and if not then...keep your distance Ok, this is just one ISTj the others can be very different

[Cone]

My ISTj friend in school was serious. Quiet, perhaps that is a better word.

[Ave]

My mom is ISTj and shes kinda serious. Well not really serious, just not very quiet. And my ISTJ uncle is pretty serious.

And the correlation Oldham makes between his serious type is with the socionics ISTP! Go figure.

[XoX]

And the correlation Oldham makes between his serious type is with the socionics ISTP! Go figure.

Hmm...I guess that makes sense. I can be surprisingly serious but I often fake it to look like I'm not haha. I don't want to be a fun spoiler. Inside I'm like . Outside I'm like . With ISTjs it could be the opposite.

[flower]

My dad is ISTj, his is has a subtle undertone of seriousness about him, that can come up at any moment if the situation calls for it. He has fun and enjoys himself in a reasonably relaxed way most of the time, but when something comes up, about money, jobs, advise, etc he gets very serious very quickly and tends to look at things very objectively without concern for personal values.

Being ISTp we get on fine and like many of the same things and are in many ways similar, but our life philosophy and global viewpoints differ. He tends to strive for and do things that 'should be done' regardless of how much pain it may cause, whereas I tend to just let things happen and deal with things as and when they come up, trying to do only the things that are fun and enjoyable and ignoring other stuff as much as I can. I think life is too short to even do all the things you want to, let alone the things you dont.

For example, my dad sometimes says I should move to a bigger city for a better, higher status and more highly paid job, despite what I will be leaving behind. I however prefer to stay where I am and accept a lower pay etc as I feel to much for the things (friends etc) here that I will have to leave behind, and dont value the gains of a better job as much as these things.

[Kirana]

my mother is mostly serious. she has a sense of humour but it's a quiet one.

but the guy i'm sort of with, though he is what i would call serious, also has a funny, nonsensical side to him. he makes me smile all the time, and can be very silly.

[XoX]

For example, my dad sometimes says I should move to a bigger city for a better, higher status and more highly paid job, despite what I will be leaving behind. I however prefer to stay where I am and accept a lower pay etc as I feel to much for the things (friends etc) here that I will have to leave behind, and dont value the gains of a better job as much as these things.

I can relate to this. My philosophy is something like "I have nothing against money but I can't be bought".

I'm slowly starting to relate to ISTps here. At first I wasn't too sure

[schrödinger's cat]

The ISTJ I know compartmentalizes things. Others can do serious things in a silly way, or silly things in a serious way... they sort of drift in and out of joking. She doesn't. Serious things should be dealt with seriously. Work, school, homework, chores, all that. Serious subjects should be spoken of seriously. There is a right time to be funny, and a right place. Work first; fun afterwards. When she talks about the future development of things, she's usually pessimistic. Doom and gloom.

But she's got a great sense of humour. She's very good at telling stories that happened to her; she often cracks us all up. And she can be very playful in a way that's childlike (in a nice kind of way). It wouldn't surprise me if ISTJs had a taste for practical jokes.

[jaja]

And the correlation Oldham makes between his serious type is with the socionics ISTP! Go figure.

Hmm...I guess that makes sense. I can be surprisingly serious but I often fake it to look like I'm not haha. I don't want to be a fun spoiler. Inside I'm like . Outside I'm like . With ISTjs it could be the opposite.

i agree. my dad is very serious but he's a joker inside. but he said he was a very naughty person when he was young.

[Jarno]

ISTJ's main trait is not seriousness, but responsability.