[Gracie]

They say that INFJs are extremely good judges of character, even uncannily so, and I have always found this to be true. I understand people very well, almost as soon as I meet them - it's something that's hard to verbalise, but I can often predict how they think, how they will respond to things, etc... It's like I get a "sense" of them as a person. I don't have to have had much experience of them. I can't explain it, it just is.

Whether that is for better or worse, I cannot always tell. With some people, I like them almost instantaneously. I just get a sense of "oh! I like you!! Let's be friends!" and I know that I can trust this person, and that they're *good*, as it were.

Other times, it's an instinctive aversion - and this is when it tends to get difficult and messy. I experience this a lot - I tend to see right through a facade of charisma or charm to the kind of motivations behind them. Politicians are a perfect example. We're in the middle of election season in Ireland at the moment - we went to the ballots today - and there's one candidate in particular I cannot stand. I just *know* he has all of the wrong motivations - but if I try to explain this to someone more ambivalent about them, they think I'm being unreasonable. But I'm really not. This guy gives me an awful feeling - he is self-absorbed, controlling and totally self-interested. We've been more or less bankrupted by our incumbent government, and while it's important that we get them out of power, it is equally important that we pay close attention to who we put *in* power. This guy is the last kind of person fit for a position of any kind of authority.

It's not just politicians, though - it happens all the time. People who are charming and personable and outgoing on the outside, and everybody seems to gravitate towards, because all they see is the exterior. Meanwhile, I hang back because I see past the charisma to the selfishness, insecurity or just plain cruelty that lies beneath it. I'm not saying that ALL charming people are like this, of course! But when they are, it *infuriates* me that I seem to be the only one to see it. It doesn't even comfort me when I turn out to be right in my suspicions, which pretty much ALWAYS happens eventually.



It's just so frustrating to have people always think you're some kind of naysayer when you can't help seeing what you do. It makes you feel like a freak.

[bellcs]

I definitely do all of this alot alot.

It gets me frustrated sometimes too. I'm completely ok with people joking around with me but when I sense bad intent on their part underneath the joke I will get angry and they don't seem to understand why I take some jokes but not others if that makes sense.

Haha I have definitely had people tell me I'm being absurd too when I tell them that a certain person is being fake or just acting but I'm almost always right about their negative intentions.

I don't understand how they don't see it either it seems so obvious.

[Hokahey]

Yeah, telling people you get a sense of someone else and saying you just "know" gets that you are a freak look/comment. I've done this with people, it's frustrating I will grant you that. I'm becoming more passive about it, just keep my mouth shut and do whatever, maybe no one will ever notice or talk to me. lol....

It's something that's hard to verbalise

Honestly I just realized this statement is a total win for INFJ motto. Thoughts? lol....

[ertertwert]

I can pick up on vibes but I don't usually act on them. Even if someone gives me bad vibes I'll probably still act the same way to them. But I keep it in the back of my mind of course.

[R22]

This happens to me too & come to think of it, this is probably why I have pulled out of quite a few of groups. Particularly when I start seeing guru-type behavior or I encounter controlling patriarchs in leadership positions, and I observe how other people are overlooking mixed messages / ignoring (or not seeing/ wanting to see) warning signs, my instinct for self preservation kicks in (**danger** **danger**) and I tend to back off. There seems to be a lot of that out there, not only in politics but also on smaller scales in day to day life.

[Gracie]

This happens to me too & come to think of it, this is probably why I have pulled out of quite a few of groups. Particularly when I start seeing guru-type behavior or I encounter controlling patriarchs in leadership positions, and I observe how other people are overlooking mixed messages

This is *exactly* what I'm talking about. "Guru-type behaviour" is a very succinct way of putting it. I often find myself averse to people others seem to admire or even revere. I don't know what it is...

[curious0610]

I can pick up on vibes but I don't usually act on them. Even if someone gives me bad vibes I'll probably still act the same way to them. But I keep it in the back of my mind of course.

This is exactly how I feel and how I act in real life. Even if I get bad vibes from someone, I don't let this show and act the same way towards them. However, I do keep it in the back of my mind and sometimes bring it up on PerC.

I used to get frustrated when other people seemed to not be able to see what I saw in other people. Maybe this partially has to do with me needing validation for these vibes/thoughts, but overall, in the past year, I've come to rely a lot more on my own validation, so as long as I know for myself , it's usually enough.