How compatible are INTP and ISTP patterns of communicating, thinking, and working?
Reading time: 5 minutes
Gregory Park, Ph.D.
Author
In this article, you’ll find a comparison of INTPs and ISTPs across five important personality domains: Interpersonal/Communication Style, Emotional Style, Intellectual Style, and Organizational Style.
One important note: the following comparisons cannot be made simply by comparing the cognitive functions (letters) of each personality type.
For this analysis, TraitLab gathered data about personality traits from thousands of participants who identified themselves as a particular type in the 16 Personality or Myers-Briggs framework.
The comparisons here show the average similarities and differences between INTPs and ISTPs. However, remember that all personality types are oversimplifications. For an assessment of your unique position in these areas, you’ll need a personalized assessment that doesn’t rely on personality types.
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Your particular style of communicating and interacting with others can be described fairly well by two dimensions: assertiveness and warmth.
Assertiveness describes your tendency to assert yourself, lead, and influence others in social situations, while warmth describes your tendencies to empathize and put others’ needs ahead of your own.
People with the same personality type often share some similarities in assertiveness and warmth. In the graph below, you can see where most INTPs and most ISTPs fall along both of these dimensions.
First, take a look at where people in each type, on average, fall in this interpersonal space.
Most INTPs and ISTPs overlap heavily in their interpersonal and communication style.
INTPs and ISTPs are realists who perceive things and people clearly, without being overly optimistic. At their best, they are practical skeptics who are comfortable holding and sharing unorthodox, unpopular views. INTPs and ISTPs may be overly skeptical and suspicious, and they may have difficulty trusting others. At their worst, they can struggle to make new friends and socialize, and have a hard time showing affection and admiration for others.
One aspect that INTPs like you and many ISTPs have in common in your relative comfort around interpersonal conflict and disagreements. Both INTPs and ISTPs are both likely to focus on their own point of view and goals, even if it leads to some interpersonal tension.
Likewise, you and most ISTPs both tend to be on the more reserved and passive side in social situations. On one hand, this is a benefit: both of you tend to be reliable partners, ready and willing to help each other when needed. On the other hand, your mutual passivity can stall decisions and action, especially if both of you are waiting for the other to take the lead.
Another characteristic of your personality is your emotional style — your tendencies towards different kinds of moods. There are two dimensions that influence emotional style: arousal and valence.
Arousal describes your relative energy level across different situations. Those with high baseline levels of arousal tend to be generally more alert, active, and engaged, while those with a lower baseline are more reserved, subdued, and inhibited.
Valence describes whether these moods tend to be positive (pleasant) or negative (unpleasant). People with a more positively valenced style are more likely to experience emotions like joy, enthusiasm, satisfaction, and serenity. People with a more negatively valenced style are more likely to experience sadness, frustration, dissatisfaction, and anxiety.
The graph below shows where each type, on average, usually sits in this emotional space.
INTPs have a tendency to be quiet and inhibited. Compared to most people, they can easily drift into gloom and melancholy. They see the glass as half-empty and have a more skeptical outlook and a hesitant approach to life. For better or worse, INTPs tend to notice the negatives in most situations. In stressful times, they are more likely to withdraw quietly and retreat inward, rather than share their frustration with others.
ISTPs tend to be reserved, laid-back, and content. They often see the glass as half-full, confident that things will eventually work out for the best. ISTPs typically respond to challenges with quiet optimism and rarely become overwhelmed when things get difficult. When their efforts fail, they calmly dust themselves off and try again.
Like many INTPs, you and most ISTPs tend to be on the more reserved and quiet side. You both prefer to sit back and observe, and the two of you are usually perfectly happy with lower levels of excitement and stimulation. You understand each other’s need for personal space and solitude, and you are both content to leave each other to do their own thing.
One difference between INTPs and ISTPs in their typical emotional valence, or their tendencies towards positive and negative emotions. You and most INTPs tend to fall on the more negative side. Compared to most ISTPs, you and most INTPs typically experience more negative emotions like sadness, worry, frustration, and impatience. ISTPs have the opposite pattern, and they tend to gravitate toward positive emotions like enthusiasm, joy, and contentment.
These emotional differences can be subtle, but they may color how INTPs and ISTPs process new information. You and most INTPs are quicker to see the negatives and consider what could go wrong, while ISTPs might receive the same news with excitement and optimism.
Your intellectual style describes how you receive, process, and pursue different kinds of information. Differences in intellectual style are captured well by two dimensions: ideas and aesthetics.
Ideas describes your appetite for new information and your interest in complex, challenging material. People high on the ideas dimension have an appreciation for complexity and technical details. People lower on ideas are less interested in learning for learning’s sake, and they prefer to simplify complex topics down to the essential details.
Aesthetics captures your relative interest and sensitivity to aesthetic information and its emotional impact. People higher on the aesthetics dimension usually have strong artistic interests and a deep appreciation for beauty in many forms. Those lower on aesthetics tend to value practical application over artistic merit and usually adhere to more conventional standards of beauty.
In the graph below, you’ll see where INTPs and ISTPs, on average, fall in this intellectual space.
INTPs are usually highly effective, efficient thinkers, capable of processing large amounts of complex information and distilling it down to its most useful elements. They are pragmatic and grounded and prefer to apply their knowledge to conventional, practical pursuits.
ISTPs are practical realists. They focus on building practical skills and essential knowledge and are less likely to spend time learning for learning’s sake. In addition, they usually value conventional, tangible accomplishments over artistic expression and rarely feel compelled to develop a creative outlet.
As with many INTPs, you tend to have a stronger need for information and complexity than most ISTPs. You are much more likely to become enamored with a fascinating new idea and dive head first into learning everything you can about it while your ISTP counterparts are focused on the practical matter in front of them. You may find yourself pulling the conversation to a more theoretical level when you’re together, while your ISTP partner resists and keeps things down-to-earth.
Likewise, INTPs and ISTPs share an appreciation for practical, tangible accomplishments over artistic expression. INTPs and ISTPs are both likely to embrace conventional ways of thinking, and both types are more skeptical of eccentric or unusual approaches to solving problems.
Your organizational style describes your habits around organization and planning. Your organizational style influences how you structure your time and physical space. Differences in organizational style fall along two dimensions: industriousness and orderliness.
Industriousness describes your persistence, need for achievement, and intensity of focus. People higher on industriousness usually organize their behavior around a few important long-term goals. People lower on industriousness are usually more focused on the present and will more easily change their focus when new opportunities appear.
Orderliness describes your need for regularity, order, and structure in your environment. People higher on orderliness prefer tidy, organized physical spaces, detailed schedules, and reliable routines. People lower on orderliness can tolerate more disorganization and prefer a more spontaneous, unstructured approach.
The graph below shows the average position of INTPs and ISTPs along these dimensions of organizational style.
Most INTPs and ISTPs share a similar organizational style.
INTPs and ISTPs thrive in unstructured environments with fewer constraints and more room for improvisation and serendipity. They generally focus on enjoying the present rather than preparing for the future. INTPs and ISTPs highly value spontaneity and the flexibility to change their mind, and they resist setting hard deadlines or rigid expectations.
Like most INTPs, you and many ISTPs often set ambitious goals but struggle to stick to those plans in the long run. As new opportunities arise, you easily change direction, losing interest or motivation to pursue your past goals. As a result, the two of you often postpone important or difficult decisions, which sometimes creates tension between you due to lost opportunities or last-minute rushing. Both of you tend to perform better under external pressure rather than being left to your devices. You can benefit greatly by holding each other accountable and providing gentle motivation when needed.
Similarly, INTPs and ISTPs share a more intuitive, unstructured approach to most areas of their lives. Both of you take life as it comes, and you avoid overly detailed plans and high levels of organization. Compared to most people, the two of you also have higher tolerances for messiness and disorganization.
Most people have complex personalities and don’t fall into a single personality type.
With TraitLab’s comprehensive analyses of your traits, strengths, and interests, you can see how your personality compares to all 16 types. Start building your personality profile by creating a free account today.
For comparisons between INTPs and other types from the 16 Personality typology, visit any of the type pairings below:
For comparisons between INTPs and other Enneagram types, visit any of the type pairings below:
