ISTP Personality Type: Understanding the Nature of the Virtuoso
What is the ISTP personality type like?
A person who has been lucky enough to be born with an ISTP personality is usually considered to be kind, logical, and tolerant. People born with these traits are, more often than not, hard workers, and they enjoy creating magic with their hands.
ISTPs are the kind of people you want by your side during a crisis. Their level-headedness allows them to be composed, inspect the situation, and quickly decide what needs to be done.
ISTP personality type isn’t the one to sugar-coat. With them, what you see is what you get, as ISTPs are direct and honest. Their complete honesty and a very straightforward communication style can oftentimes seem like bluntness, which might stir up some conflict.
Words to describe the ISTP personality
- Independent
- Confident
- Resourceful
- Curious
- Logical
- Handy
- Self-reliant
- Realistic
- Practical
- Analytical
- Efficient
- Detached
What does ISTP mean?
What does ISTP mean?
ISTP stands for Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.
Due to their Introverted trait, ISTPs are energized by time spent alone. Alone time gives ISTP men and women time to think and recharge. They won’t socialize more than necessary, as they prefer to spend time working on their goals.
Because of the Sensing trait, ISTPs are people who focus on concrete information and details. They aren’t the ones to spend their days thinking about abstract ideas and theoretical concepts.
The Thinking trait is there to ensure that ISTPs rely on logic and reason rather than emotions. They trust personal experience and aren’t afraid to learn through trial and error.
Finally, an ISTP’s Perceiving trait can be their greatest strength or biggest weakness. It’s because of this trait that ISTPs aren’t likely to make plans but rather go with the flow.
ISTP stands for:
- - Introverted
- - Sensing
- - Thinking
- - Perceiving
How to recognize an ISTP
You can recognize a Virtuoso by their love for fixing things, their authenticity, and their respect for others.
Here’s what that looks like in real life:
Love for fixing things
You can recognize a Virtuoso by paying attention to how much love they have for fixing things. An ISTP personality type loves nothing more than to get their hands dirty by fixing stuff and improving it.
Authenticity
ISTPs are very authentic individuals who do as they feel, not as society expects them to. They never sugarcoat and they have no problems advocating for their wants and needs.
Respect for others
ISTPs are set on finding that perfect balance between co-existing with people and being authentic individuals. They want to respect everyone’s personality, but they don’t want to lose themselves in the process.
ISTP-A vs. ISTP-T
The main difference between ISTP-A and ISTP-T can be seen in their level of confidence.
ISTP-A
ISTP-As are much more confident than ISTP-Ts, and they also have a more stable sense of self. The Turbulent type of ISTP personality needs help trusting themselves and their better judgment.
ISTP-T
ISTP-Ts, on the other hand, have more curiosity and are more invested in personal growth than their Assertive counterparts. They are also more likely to have better social skills than ISTP-As, which is mostly because they are more aware of other people’s emotions.
How rare is the ISTP personality?
- ISTPs make up 5% of the general population.
- 8.5% of men are ISTPs.
- 2.3% of women are ISTPs.
- ISTP is the ninth- rarest personality type.
How are ISTPs perceived?
ISTPs are perceived as reserved thinkers. Both ISTP women and men take life very seriously and use their logic while navigating life’s curveballs. People who have an ISTP personality type can also be perceived as insensitive, as they prefer to deal with emotions in their heads rather than discussing them openly.
What do ISTPs value?
ISTPs value fairness and equality. People with this personality type live freely, and they also let others do the same.
ISTP men and women also think highly of people who are direct but not necessarily too strict. For people with ISTP personality traits, few things are more valuable than trust.
Interesting fact about ISTPs
ISTPs are commonly found in a population of male college scholarship athletes.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Aristotle
ISTP cognitive functions
All personality types have four cognitive functions, which can be directed inward (introverted) or outward (extraverted). The hierarchical arrangement of these will have a say in how a person functions and acts.
These are the four primary functions of ISTPs:
Dominant introverted thinking (Ti)
ISTPs are logical, and they spend a lot of time inside their heads. They aren’t likely to express themselves verbally, so they are known as quiet types.
Auxiliary extraverted sensing (Se)
People with ISTP personality traits live for the present moment, and they would much rather focus on plans for the present, not the future.
Tertiary introverted intuition (Ni)
This function is the reason why ISTPs sometimes have a ‘gut feeling’ about something and experience those “aha” moments.
Inferior extraverted feeling (Fe)
Sometimes, ISTPs can have sudden outbursts of emotion, which isn’t characteristic of them. This emotionally heightened state usually happens under stress, and it’s this function that impacts how an ISTP handles difficult times.
Famous ISTPs you might know
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee had complete control over his body and was a master of his craft, which is one of the most common traits of ISTPs.
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra is the epitome of an ISTP celebrity, as he was quiet, spontaneous, and curious. Unpredictability and confidence were two of his prominent features as well.
Venus Williams
She has excelled in sports due to her hard work and technical proficiency. That demonstrates some of ISTP’s main traits, which are discipline and focus.
Bear Grylls
It’s Bear’s drive to understand how things work that makes him the perfect example of a famous person with ISTP features. He’s also confident and downright inspiring.
Michael Jordan
Even though he had elite skills while playing, Michael Jordan was always striving for more. His desire to constantly improve his game and skills is indicative of people with ISTP personality traits.
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