ISTJ Stereotypes: Rules and Traditions
I thought I’d take the time out to dedicate an article to a very common stereotype: ISTJs being sticklers for the rules and traditions. You’ve all heard of this, right? Pop onto a ‘type me’ thread and the most common evidence you’ll see laid out as proof of not being an ISTJ is not caring about tradition or not being die hard about rules. So, where did this stereotype come from? And is it true? The obvious first step in discussing this subject is to briefly cover Si.
What is Si?
Si, while not necessarily hard to understand, is heavily stereotyped, making it highly misunderstood. The base definition of Si, with all extrapolations aside, is a preference for internalizing data via subject sensory observations and bodily sensations. In other words, these people tend to recall important moments in great detail. (Note – they don’t recall everything – just what they deem important.) This subsequently means that they are naturally sensitive to negative experiences since they will be trapped with an in depth memory of these for forever. From this key fact, we derive the well-accepted idea that dominant Si users repeat what has worked in the past, and may avoid new experiences due to their potential to go wrong. This is why they are considered security-oriented above all else.
With that in mind, let’s move on to the first item on the agenda: tradition.
Tradition
Many sources claim that Si users (or SJs) will be upholders of tradition. However, go on any typology forum where ISTJs are present and ask them how they feel about tradition. The vast majority will tell you that they don’t really care about tradition. So, why the contradiction? Why don’t the ISTJs view themselves the way the rest of the world wants to describe them? Well, first you need to look at the word “tradition.”
I’ve already stated that Si users will prefer to repeat what has worked in the past. In that sense, they will be “traditional”. Generally, systems are formed with rules to keep things orderly and consistent. An ISTJ will be all for that, and will typically prefer to err on the side of trusting said system. However, that more business aspect of tradition is not always what people associate with the word “tradition”.
In many people’s minds, the word “tradition” tends to imply a certain degree of sentiment. Think about it. Most people have holiday traditions that they repeat year after year. These could be activities, rituals, or whatever. Ultimately, people get satisfaction from rituals, a sense of holiday fulfillment, or to put it a little more plainly, warm and fuzzy feelings. But, looping back to my earlier statement – these traditions are rooted in sentiment, which is based in emotions. ISTJs are not typically emotional people. They do have that tertiary Fi which may value certain holidays or traditions, which are important to them personally. However, they may not get as deeply wrapped up in the intricacies of every family tradition. Some might care for all of the sentimental traditions, and some might not. It will likely vary. Some may want the important moment or day recognized in some fashion, but not care about specifically how it is recognized. Unless there is a logical, practical, or efficiency based reason for a tradition, some ISTJs may not care for it at all. I don’t mean this to say that ISTJs will never hold to certain sentimental traditions, but not all will.
The Rules
Now for the second item: the rules. ISTJs are said to be sticklers for the rules, never disobeying. The perfect little soldier. I guess this isn’t so obvious to others, but I’ve always seen this description as very extreme. After all, do you really think an ISTJ will follow someone blindly off of a cliff? Are they that stupid? No. There is a point in which they will view breaking the rules as necessary. That’s only logical. They have brains. They can think. So, is this stereotype way off base?
Well, let me recall my earlier statement about ISTJs (or Si dominants) being security minded. Think of it like self-preservation. They will be prone to obeying rules so as not to suffer the consequences of breaking said rules. However, if a rule has either little consequence or the consequence is unlikely to be applied to them, they may not think twice about breaking the rules. For instance, an ISTJ could be prone to speeding, due to faith in their own driving skills, knowing that they won’t get caught, and that if they do, it’ll ultimately just cost them a small fee.
INTJs, in comparison to the ISTJs, tend to be described as less liked (meaner) and prone to breaking or bending rules. This is due to inferior Se. With that thought in mind, ISTJs (without that Se) tend to be good at keeping their mouth shut and not making that snarky comment when the stakes are high. They won’t trust themselves to dance that close to the line. However, they will only feel the need to be this careful around people that they deem consequential. For instance, family (who is stuck with them) may not get such careful treatment, whereas their boss at work probably will. Are you starting to understand what I’m saying?
The last thing worth noting when it comes to the rules is the ISTJ’s moral code. They have that stubborn tertiary Fi. Tertiary Fi users tend to be very rigid about certain things. When these things are threatened or called into question, they may get abrasive, aggressive, or rebellious. If an ISTJ is in a situation where someone is trying to make them cross their internal moral boundary, they will hold to their own morals and ignore/break whatever rule is running to the contrary. (This is, of course, assuming that the ISTJ is healthy from a personality standpoint.)
In conclusion…
I’ve said this many times, but Si doms tend to get the most hate in typology communities. I’m not saying it’s on purpose, but they are definitely written out to be the least desirable types out of all the 16. Of course, this has provoked a ton of mistypes, and is why I tend to hit on the subject quite a bit. I’ve noticed this tendency to give all of the impressive IXTJ characters to the INTJs and the boring, spineless, and mindless ones to the ISTJs, and I think it’s sad.
I’ve recently been reading arguments on why Darcy is claimed as an INTJ, and I’m just not so sure about the support people are presenting. He married Elizabeth so he can’t be an ISTJ? He argued and was generally rude to the inconsequential lower class so he must be an INTJ? Of course, there is always my most hated form of evidence: I relate to him completely, so he’s me. -__- Come on people. Love can make anyone do crazy things, and ISTJs have that same abrasive Te as the INTJs. My opinion on him is still up in the air, and this article isn’t about that. I just would like to encourage people to think about ISTJs in a more realistic and positive light, and give them a fair treatment, equal to the other, more desirable, types. Stop taking stereotypes at face value and start looking for the logic behind the stereotype to see when it will apply, and when it may not.
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Hey ya’ll,
I enjoyed the article! I do think ISTJs get pushed to the side a little much, even though they have some awesome qualities. The only part of the post I’d refute is the traditions part. Traditions are not only tied to sentiment. Traditional ways of doing things in business or religion could be purely systemic, no sentiment involved. And in that case an ISTJ would definitely be more trusting of what the system (organization) has always done because it seems vetted. Just wanted to point that out.
Keep up the good work! Hopefully you guys will do some more Hunter x Hunter characters in the future *wink wink* 🙂
I agree with what you’re saying. I meant specifically that traditions, when tied to sentiment, may easily be discarded by ISTJs, not necessarily all tradition. My intended observation there was that it sometimes seems like people automatically associate tradition with the sentimental style of tradition which is then incorrectly linked to ISTJs. I’ll have to check back over my wording and make some adjustments. Thank you!
Anddd no worries, Hunter X Hunter is in our future!
Sweet! Can’t wait! 🙂
Hey, thanks for this! Si stereotypes are so overblown everywhere, it’s always nice to see some more nuanced, true to life content being published.
In my personal experience with an ISTJ close friend (who had quite a long and tortuous journey to self-type correctly, due to hyperbolic stereotyping), it’s pretty much as described on the article: though they do hold a few sentiment-oriented traditions, such as birthdays and specific anniversaries, very much dear just for the sake of emotional satisfaction, they are in general more attuned to a kind of pragmatic, systemic traditionalism, i.e. what they deem to be functionally productive enough for an intended purpose as described by and done well in the past, orienting particularly towards “their own” past (personal experiences) or bodies which may be given personal significance (e.g. religion and domestic education). It’s also something I don’t see being discussed very often; due to Si’s functioning, whether on ISTJs or ISFJs, couldn’t that give (healthy) Si doms significant pattern recognition and forecasting abilities typically attributed only or mostly to Ni/Ni doms and aux? What are your thoughts on that?
Something else I found interesting is the point on security-consciousness and rules; I’ve noticed the ISTJs in my life tend to display almost a… Fe-like behavior? In certain circumstances, like the one you mentioned regarding a boss, despite being pretty dry and snarky in more intimate settings. I think that impression might be due to the mechanism you described — complying to rules, hierarchy and established systems as a way to guarantee and maintain security (as long as it does not conflict with tertiary Fi or too intensely with Te’s parameters on what’s efficient and necessary to do). Would you say that’s correct?
Sorry for the long reply and if any of my questions were answered in previous articles, I’ve found your blog very recently and have yet to read less recent posts. I also have a suggestion for an article (which I’m not sure if you’ve already covered, but here goes): would you consider writing something on INTJ stereotypes? I feel like they are also *very* overblown but rather than negatively as is the ISTJs’ case, it’s positively, to the point that it becomes unrealistic and superhumanlike, leading to several mistypes, idealization and confusion. I also think there may be aspects of most INTJ descriptions that apply equally or more to ISTJs, as well as maybe an excessive focus on Te rather than Ni itself in the former.
Thank you for reading, hope you guys keep it up with the great articles!
Ps, as someone who also enjoys some anime, I see I’ll have much to look forward to, and to read on the past posts as well!
Hey! I have seen Si dominants make predictions. What Si excels at is looking at the past and saying “every time this happens, that follows, so it’ll happen that way again.” They can usually cite specific examples from their past. However, the catch with Si dominants is that they are prone to honing in too far on the details. So, what can happen is that a few details of a situation will be similar or the same, but the situation as a whole may not be the same. Obviously, this mistake leads to inaccuracy. I would imagine an ISXJ with well developed inferior Ne would struggle less with this.
As for ISTJs displaying almost Fe-like behavior, I have noticed the exact same thing, and what you explained seems correct. Of course, a scenario could exist where an ISTJ has underdeveloped Fi, and thus gives up their own internal standards for the sake of Si.
Ryan and I can definitely give INTJ stereotypes some thought. I’ll add it to our theory queue. I agree that some parts of their description apply equally to the ISTJs, which kinda goes back the issue with the average ISTJ description essentially having overblown Si. Basically, the stereotypical ISTJ description describes an ISTJ who is a slave to Si, lacking the balance of Te/Fi and inferior Ne. Whereas, the INTJ descriptions tend to get the Te credited to them that should also be credited to the ISTJs. (For example, goal orientation has been incorrectly attributed to Ni, when really it’s a Te attribute.)
Thanks for the comment!
Oh I see, it’s interesting because it looks like that’s another difference between Ni and Si doms: the pitfalls the latter can fall into apparently run opposite to those more typical of the former, as Ni doms seem to be more liable to glossing over details and ignoring concrete data for the sake of a perceived pattern or vision due to inferior Se — thus possible inaccuracies being produced.
When it comes to goal orientation, I very much agree with it being a domain of Te; even lower Te users I’ve met do tend to, when more well-developed and/or in certain occasions, display it significantly, irrespective of the presence of any other specific functions.
Anyway, thank you very much for the article on INTJ stereotypes, I’ll be looking forward to it! I’ve thought a bit about it myself, and am eager to see some clearer, more concise perspectives on the matter than what floats on my mind lol.
Hi!!
This a great article yet again that talks about Si stereotypes. As an ENTP, I used to mindlessly disregard or abhor my Si to the point where I repeated the same mistakes again and again. I am much more appreciative of my Si now. In fact all successful and known NPs have this respect towards their Si and have it well developed. Si users I know are one of the most disciplined people ever, the tortoise/turtle in the race, steadily heading towards the finish line come what may. Especially in the current pandemic scenario, we are all worried about survival, safety and security something that Si completely embodies. If it werent for “traditional” established health and security systems, the world would be in worse chaos.
And yes in typology I have noticed intuitives are attributed too many positive qualities and Si is bashed against. Perhaps this could be due to the fact that typology was originally expounded by intuitives who themselves felt they were targeted against by sensors, in a more sensor dominant world, Never the less, I feel all functions have their place in the world and gross misrepresentation of any function is absolutely inaccurate for understanding people.
I am glad I found this site. Most MBTI sites waffle, talk in circles, evade definitions, and neglect to highlight the difference between behaviour and motivation. You write clearly, concisely, and still keep nuance. So thanks 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
“The base definition of Si, with all extrapolations aside, is a preference for internalizing data via subject sensory observations and bodily sensations”… based on this, would high Si users be more present, in the moment, than low Si users?
It depends on what you mean. Since Si is concerned with intaking info, they tend to be more like detached observers, with interacting being a lower priority. Ergo, they won’t be present like an Se user will be. But, they will notice more details in the moment than the high Ne users will. However, a high Ne user will be extroverting into the world so they may seem more present than an Si user in some sense… But the Ne users are not always present in the moment even if they’re actively participating in the moment.
“But, they will notice more details in the moment than the high Ne users will.”, I was talking about this. Not in an active/reactive way, but in a passive/contemplative form, like perceiving reality with all its details. As an high Ne, most of the time, in a lot of situations, I see what could it be and the similarities with other things not really related with the real stuff I’m actually seeing, rather than see what actually it is. Maybe high Si users are the exactly opposite.
Sounds about right to me