ISTJ – Responsible Executor
by John Uke Last update: September 2, 2024
💡 Highlights
- Personality Type: ISTJ (Pragmatists, Logicians, Inspectors).
- Strengths: diligence, calmness, restraint, love of quiet and measured life, stability in emotions and life, attention to detail, enthusiasm even in monotonous tasks, methodological and logical approach to tasks, honing skills to the limit, competence.
- Preferences: modesty while clearly knowing the limits of one’s abilities, adherence to rules, high value of tradition, determining truth through a combination of logic and experience (one’s own and that of respected people), preference for proven rather than innovative or creative ways of solving problems.
- Passions and hobbies: ensuring stability in society, avoiding rash decisions.
ISTJs (also known as Pragmatists, Logisticians, Accountants, Inspectors, Duty Fulfiller, SLI, Gabin) are hard working, calm, and constrained individuals who love quiet and secure living. Their high levels of emotional, and life, stability coupled with their strong attention to detail, allow them to persist through tasks, with enthusiasm, that many of us would mess up on or find too boring to finish. They approach these tasks with methodical and logical approaches that result in extreme mastery over time, often resulting in highly competent individuals.
Despite their competence, ISTJs are often quite humble, with a clear understanding of what they do, and do not, know. They aren’t ones to consider themselves above the rules and have a high regard for tradition. To determine truth, they primarily rely on an interesting mix of logic and experiences over time, both their own as well as those of well-respected authorities.
If a person in question prefers to take highly innovative or imaginative routes over well-proven ones, then they are not an ISTJ. It can even be presumed that were it not for the ISTJs in society, humanity would have gone extinct long ago from taking too many uncertain risks at the behest of some of the other personality types.
Games ISTJs Like
Recommended Genres: Adventure, Puzzle, Strategy, Simulation
Recommended Platforms: Computer, Playstation, Tabletop, Card Games
Recommended Games: StarCraft II, the Metal Gear Solid series, Final Fantasy Tactics
- Play games a lot
- Most likely to finish games
- Prefer defending
Being such hard workers, it’s surprising that ISTJs actually play games more than people of most other types, especially compared to other stable
Guardian types. This is because gaming is a great hobby for those with stable lives. They can particularly be found playing historical miniature wargames and card games, but avoid high-intensity ones like racing games.
ISTJs crave certainty, and will meticulously research a game to decide if they will enjoy it before making a purchase. This, combined with their stick-with-it attitude, results in them being the type most likely to actually finish the games they start.
Along the lines of caution, ISTJs are one of the few types that prefer playing a defensive strategy to an offensive or supportive one. They are more prone to keep the things they own than try to take yours!
ISTP Video Game Characters
- Agent 47 (Hitman series)
- Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)
- Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney series)
- Elizabeth (BioShock Infinite)
- Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect series)
- Big Boss (Metal Gear series)
- Claire Redfield (Resident Evil series)
- Connor (Detroit: Become Human)
- Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)
- Daud (Dishonored series)
Celebrities and Famous ISTJ’s
- Ned Stark
- Angela Merkel
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Elizabeth II
- George Washington
- Henry Ford
- Natalie Portman
- Richard Nixon
- Robert De Niro
- Sigmund Freud
- Warren Buffett
Why Be Friends With an ISTJ
1. Dependable
An ISTJ is unlikely to be late, go back on promises, or wind up in jail. If you want a friend you can rely on, then you want an ISTJ friend.
2. Loyal
It takes time to make your way into the inner circle of an ISTJ, but once they’ve accepted you, they will go to the end of the Earth. They will be willing to fight or endure long suffering to help you.
3. Honest
Integrity is very important to an ISTJ. People with this personality mean what they say and say what they mean. ISTJs will only make promises they are capable of keeping and never take the easy way out. Whenever they tell you something, you can trust they believe they are telling the truth.
4. Calm Yet Strong
ISTJs can be a great stabilizing force in your life because they don’t make quick rash decisions, and have great endurance to follow-through. Useful especially if you are highly erratic, they’ll lend you strength to carry on and be there through the highs and lows alike.
5. Create Order
ISTJs are the best when it comes to maintaining structure and routine. Particularly for scatterbrains, they can help you organize your life and be sure about the goals you want to set. They also make great cornerstones for groups of friends as well.
How to Make Friends With an ISTJ
1. Don’t break the rules
If you want to be friends with an ISTJ you’d better follow the rules of the game or be ready to face a very pissed off ISTJ (not recommended).
2. Be honest & reliable
Nothing breaks the trust of an ISTJ more than dishonesty and once broken it’s next to impossible to get their trust back, especially because they themselves are so honest. Be honest about your intentions and they will respond with the same level of trust. The same is true for being reliable.
3. Invest in their interests
ISTJs tend to go more deep than broad with their interests. If you can share one of them, then this will create a substantial common ground to start a friendship.
4. Relate to their values and beliefs
ISTJs hold traditions and already established principles in high esteem. ISTJs take a long time to form their values and beliefs, so it also takes a long time to change them.
5. Be Patient
As you can tell by now, ISTJs are very steady, so don’t press them too hard. Give them time and space or they will walk away. They will be more tolerant once you are their friend and you have a reputation with them.
Advice for ISTJs on Making Friends
1. Lighten Up
Your propensity to follow rules can make you seem rigid to types who prefer guidelines. Try to have more sympathy for guidelines, or at least wait until things get out of hand before proposing rules.
2. Pursue new experiences
Stability is a glorious thing, but there is no growth without constant change. Change can be a tricky subject, but by getting out of your comfort zone you will be able to constantly challenge yourself and, ultimately, self-improve.
3. Let your beliefs and principles be challenged
It’s always difficult to fully listen to someone whose opinion or belief is the exact opposite of ours. Understanding where others come from and what their opinions and beliefs are founded on is a crucial step in having a stable sustainable society as a whole and making friends of different personality types.
4. Open up emotionally
Reading the emotional side of people is not your forté and you can unintentionally hurt the feelings of more sensitive types. Pay attention to the emotional needs of others, try to open up gradually, and you will gain their respect and affection.
What’s next?
Now that you know everything about this type, try making friends with one, or arrange a game using our app.
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