# Catholic INTP? or maybe I'm mistyped.



## RayStormX (Oct 19, 2011)

how bout I kill two birds with one stone? I'll introduce myself and maybe you can see if I'm somehow mistyped or if my type sounds right.
I've been reading up on my personality, and though I've been brought up in a Catholic family with strong catholic ideals, I've often doubted my faith and God and at one time considered going Atheist or perhaps Agnostic because it's not like I'm going to have pure blind faith, that's absurd. 

my faith, a lot of the time, feels like a chore, though sometimes there's a mass that I find very stimulating. 

Apparently many INTPs are atheist or agnostic, so....idk. My ESFJ girlfriend is driving me nuts because she takes catholicism way too seriously (she wanted to sacrifice our relationship for God =,=), and even does things that even my CCD-teaching mom doesn't do.

like praying the rosary at 3am.

I've consistently gotten INTP from taking multiple MBTI and big 5 personality tests over several years, with the only change being an ENTP in my 2nd semester of college in freshman year. 

But the thing is, I'm not very interested in math, though I may be good at it. I could possibly be an INFP but not sure. I'm more into stuff like English, Music, etc. I 'm a romantic and like to flirt, but subtly.

I can definitely empathize with people and have stayed up with a friend to give them emotional support and advice. I have an interest in acting and I'm not camera-shy. love pictures. it's good to make memories after all. 

I relish the idea of giving speeches to an audience and entertaining people, but in social circles, I don't really care. outside of my room mates, I haven't really made any new friends this year. I have a few very close friends.

I kind of have a rebellious streak. I like being original, or at least unique and standing out in some sort of way. In the face of arguments I like making good comebacks and responses and I find it mentally stimulating. sometimes I'll play devil's advocate for the hell of it, just because I can.


so that's me. hi


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## DMack (Aug 16, 2011)

I know a good deal of INTPs that are religious, they all have came to their faith through a rigorous pursuit of what they feel to be truth. It's a logical, thought out path for them. It's important to remember just because your type tends toward something doesn't mean you are going to follow that path.


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## clicheguevara (Jul 27, 2011)

Don't let the stereotypes fool you, I thought I was an INFP for quite a while because of reasons simlilar to yours.
Personally, I dislike Catholicism for its dogmatism and focus on symbols and gestures but I still don't see why it shouldn't be perfectly possible to be both INTP and Catholic. Enjoying the spotlight sounds more than just a bit atypical though :tongue:

Also: Welcome to PerC!


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## RayStormX (Oct 19, 2011)

thank you for the welcome 
as far as religion goes, my concern isn't necessarily that I'm going to turn atheist or agnostic because of what my type is. I'm just speculating that maybe it's because I'm an INTP that I'm still to this day questioning my religion and faith in God. But I figure that if I go to church once a week, pray to God once in a while, and feel spiritually satisfied, then that's enough for me.

I'm actually pretty self-absorbed. probably not your typical INTP, and that's interesting since if I recall, INTPs are already rare as it is lol


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## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm with everyone else. Your religious affiliations say very little about personality type -- that's very higher order, kinda like typing someone based on their food preferences. Although you do sound kinda INTP (question religion, love/hate with ESFJ girlfriend), there's a few things that jump out as abnormal -- not saying you're not INTP but...



> I relish the idea of giving speeches to an audience and entertaining people
> 
> I 'm a romantic and like to flirt, but subtly.
> 
> I have an interest in acting and I'm not camera-shy.


None of those are type dealbreakers but are maybe a little out of character for typical INTP profile (and actually for INFP as well). More ENTP-like, because of their more pronounced Fe. 



> I kind of have a rebellious streak. I like being original, or at least unique and standing out in some sort of way. In the face of arguments I like making good comebacks and responses and I find it mentally stimulating. sometimes I'll play devil's advocate for the hell of it, just because I can.


I hear this a lot from ENTP's, who relish a good debate and love playing devil's advocate. Originality _could_ suggest Fi but that opens up a whole can of worms so we won't go there. This could be anecdotal.


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## RayStormX (Oct 19, 2011)

Big Five Test Results

Extroversion	||||||||||	40%
Orderliness	||||||||||	34%
Emotional Stability	||||||||||||||||	70%
Accommodation	||||||||||	40%
Inquisitiveness	||||||||||||||||	68%

The Big Five is currently the most accepted personality model in the scientific community. The Big Five emerged from the work of multiple independent scientists/researchers starting in the 1950s who using different techniques obtained similar results. Those results were that there are five distinct personality traits/dimensions. Here are your results on each dimension:

Extroversion results were moderately low which suggests you are reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and private.

Orderliness results were moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, random, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of structure, reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

Emotional Stability results were high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Accommodation results were moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly selfish, uncooperative, and difficult at the expense of the well being of others.

Inquisitiveness results were moderately high which suggests you are intellectual, curious, imaginative but possibly not very practical.

Your Global5/SLOAN type is RCUEI
Your Primary type is Calm
Global 5: sloan RCUEI; sloan+ r|C|ueI; primary Calm; R(60%)C(70%)U(66%)E(60%)I(68%)


maybe more info would help?

also here's a personality test that I've been retaking on facebook (my personality app) and it's consistently been INTP except for one time it said ENTP or something)


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## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

RCUEI translates to INTP. You might just a well developed and balanced INTP that's all.

Personality, of course, doesn't exist in a vacuum and doesnt take things into account like socialization, upbringing, culture or skillsets. I imagine an INTP brought up around pickup artists might be very good at getting dates, or one who had to make a lot of public appearances might learn to like it (Fe is 'energized' by interaction with people even in the inferior). Knowing what's under the hood doesn't necessarily tell us much about 'how' the car will be driven in reality, or the kind of owner it will have or his habits. Just tells us what the foundation is.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

Catholic INTPs: the intellectual C.S. Lewis and the accomplished author Evelyn Waugh.

I wouldn't question your type just because you're Catholic.

However, I've noticed that INTPs tend to be more erudite Catholics.


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## Grunfur (Oct 23, 2011)

Your religion really doesn't have anything to do with your typology. And your intellectual interests are irrelevant too. It is more about what traits you have. The question you need to be asking is: Am I more interested in creativity than valuing knowledge and new ideas?


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## eduardo.sacasa (Jan 4, 2013)

I'm an INTP Catholic. I won't say I'm a good one, but I definitely believe in my Faith. To me, you strike me more as an "F" type. Your "feelings" are what are driving you away from Catholicism, not your logic. "Feeling/INFP" atheists are usually driven away by things such as "prayer seems so useless" or "Catholics believe that that piece of bread is God? thats's insane!" (historical events also affect INFPs more than INTPs). These are feelings, because you are not digging deep into the INTP abstract logic. A "Thinking/INTP" atheist would usually be driven away from the Church by things such as the idea that we cannot know anything because our senses are flawed or someone else could always know more than you, or the idea that science can explain things that "Feeling" religious people say are matters of Faith. 
I believe religion (I won't go deeper to Catholicism; this is simply against atheism) is logical through a simple process that mirrors the thinking process of a physicist. Physicists make theories because with these theories, things make sense. They don't have to see things directly, they simply either see their effect, or (more importantly), they know that if they don't believe in these unseen things, their science would not make sense. We cannot see everything science tells us probably exists, but we know that without it, things wouldn't make sense. Same goes with God; without God (or without the capacity of knowing right from wrong), nothing makes sense. Atheism holds that we can't know of a truth; everything is theory. It is the believe that we can't really make sense of anything because it would always be an infinite process of discovery. Catholics believe we can know a little bit (enough to start), and we discover things, but we are nevertheless guided by something that tells us "things make sense, you are going the right way". Believing nothing makes sense does not make sense because you would be believing that the belief that nothing makes sense also makes no sense (and that doesn't make sense). yeh... trust me, what I just said makes sense (read it again).  sry for that; I couldn't help it... 

Catholics believe things make sense (it is that simple). We have a purpose, and we can choose. Atheists will say that they also have purpose with their atheist belief, yet without the belief that there is good and evil, you cannot be selfless. Without selflessness, you can only have selfishness. If your only choice ever is selfish, then really, you cannot choose. Being a firm atheist means that you believe your actions are determined by the movement of atoms and that you don't really have choice. I think choice is the most important thing we should keep as part of our beliefs, because if we deny it, we deny our thoughts are our own.
I won't say God DEFINITELY exists, but I will say that BELIEVING He definitely exists is DEFINITELY the most logical decision.


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## The King Of Dreams (Aug 18, 2010)

*Hello! Welcome to the forums!* :happy:


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## Barcelonic (Jan 5, 2013)

@RayStormX Your Catholicism is entirely separate from your INTP-ness. And lol there is something you said which sums up your type perfectly... "pure blind faith [is] absurd"

Couldn't agree more!! Welcome!


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## Magnetic Dissonance (Sep 18, 2013)

Whenever I hear religion(not natural religion like buddhism) and INTP in the same sentence, I always assume the person in question may be, or probably is an INFJ mistyped as an INTP. 9w1 and 1w9 seems plausible, but 5wX? To me, that's a hard sell.


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## brandon (Oct 7, 2013)

Sort of relevant: I once read a quote about how the one thing a non-conformist hates more than a conformist is a non-conformist who doesn't adhere to the prevailing standard of non-conformity.


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## Grain of Sugar (Sep 17, 2013)

Sounds like buddhism would be more rational. Really... 

Probabely there's a preference for INTP to be agnostic or atheist. Yeah, but that does not mean INTPs have to be mistyped INFjs. 
By the way some here really tend to say something like "What you tell us about your feeling and in addition your arguing doesn't seem logical, you sure you're INTP?" And it looks like some identify T with intelligence and F with stupidness. But I know dominant f-user can be really smart and logical  Just to be said. 
The thread creator may has a well-developed Fe? I mean, everyone has feelings and I would also be there for my friends (or they would not be my friends). And I also like acting and being funny, but in secure surroundings, please.

You checked your cognitive functions, raystormx?


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## Fibonacci (Sep 15, 2013)

Wait no cafebot on this thread? XD 
Welcome to the forum raystormx


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## sly (Oct 8, 2011)

DMack said:


> I know a good deal of INTPs that are religious, they all have came to their faith through a rigorous pursuit of what they feel to be truth. It's a logical, thought out path for them. It's important to remember just because your type tends toward something doesn't mean you are going to follow that path.


Seconded.


As an INTP myself I suffered from the relentless fedora attacks pushing their intolerance and bigotry down my thoat. As a self-respecting individual I considered the claims(=many nights of research) and chose to believe in God. While there is a correlation between being INTP and atheism, it is the peer pressure in the INTP-sub that pushes for ''science'' in which undeveloped INTPs degenerate into name calling and being plain obnoxious against those thate deviate from the norm. This kills the perceived freedom of thought and limits the exposure to exotic thought patterns in our sub, perhaps an NF could descend into the NT-basement and teach us in how to be more accepting of alternative ideas?

As for the more mature INTP members, they tend to go agnost or accept certain modules of faith(usually the spiritual things from sufism and buddhism).


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## MooseAndSquirrel (Apr 10, 2012)

Fibonacci said:


> Wait no cafebot on this thread? XD
> Welcome to the forum raystormx


Egads Fibonacci, you're right; no cafebot welcome :shocked: :laughing:!

raystormx my nephew in-law is INTP and happens to be Catholic. He also seems to take great pleasure in being a bit of a contrarian because, like you noted, he can...



RayStormX said:


> ... I kind of have a rebellious streak. I like being original, or at least unique and standing out in some sort of way. In the face of arguments I like making good comebacks and responses and I find it mentally stimulating. sometimes I'll play devil's advocate for the hell of it, just because I can.


It's one of the many things I love about my nephew but I hardly think the faith he was born into and that he continues to practice has anything to do with his personality type. It just adds another dimension to it as my Catholic faith does for me.

Anyway, "Welcome" to PC!


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## Mbaruh (Aug 22, 2013)

Wait, what?
Why are people replying here? He joined 2 years ago xD


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## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

:happy: Welcome to the forum!


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