ISTP Personality: The Artificer
ISTPs are crafty troubleshooting types who see the world as a series of problems to solve. They take life events as they come, arguing that what's right in front of them is more real than anything else, usually geared toward mechanical practices. ISTPs are considered the Jack of all trades. They balance the effort they give to helping others with thrill-seeking experiences to keep their lives fun and joyful.
Examples of famous ISTPs you may know include:
- Diana, Princess of Wales
- Justin Bieber
- Lindsay Lohan
- Lionel Messi
- Michael Jordan
- Phil Ivey
Expression Style
As is the case with all personality types, the ISTP lies at the intersection between a specific expression style and a specific worldview. They are one of the four finisher types, meaning that their communication style is direct, responding, and progression.
Direct: ISTPs are extremely blunt in communication. They waste no time with their words and can find elaboration difficult.
Responding: ISTPs feel valued when other people seek them out for counsel. They stay on topic, often fearing that tangents are unacceptable to their audience.
Progression: ISTPs often approach life without much caution. They don't think they need to plan things out thoroughly because they are tactical enough to react to any mistakes. This willful negligence causes them to be the most dangerous of all the types.
Worldview
ISTPs are part of the Artisan worldview, also called the SP temperament, meaning that they are concrete, pragmatic, and interest-based.
Concrete: They say, "I will believe it when I see it." They tend to dismiss hypothetical ideas unless they have a way to tinker with them using some physical model.
Pragmatic: ISTPs tend to put their personal freedom above other people's needs. They determine their way of living life, for better or for worse. Still, they struggle with the guilt that comes with dismissing the group.
Interest: ISTPs prefer a situational route to problem solving, taking things on a case-by-case basis instead of developing algorithms to apply across multiple tasks. Interest also means they consider the pros and cons of an individual's behavior, often judging intentions by looking at the benefits someone gets from their actions.
Cognitive Functions
Ti Hero
Ti Hero has the ability to figure out just about anything. Knowing this fact can be dangerous for ISTPs as they can end up becoming inaccurate when their arrogance gets the best of them. They are the most stubborn of all the types. ISTPs are excellent at deductive thinking. Ti Hero's lines of "if-then" logic can run the absolute longest. The biggest risk for them is drawing false conclusions and a reliance on last known input. ISTPs need to be constantly challenged to help others and debate opposing viewpoints to keep their thinking sharp.
Se Parent
Se Parent is responsible in performance, putting an extra focus on not being sloppy. Without Se Parent to keep them in check, ISTPs would make a mess that other people would have to clean up. They can manage their arrogance and willpower by making sure they are not making others unsafe. ISTPs learn that it doesn't always work to be forceful. Some materials can handle extreme pressure, but others break. People are the same way. They carefully consider when to push people and when to hold back. They benefit from practicing skills with colleagues around to react to their mistakes. In fact, they master those skills when teaching them to other people.
Ni Child
Ni Child is very innocent about its desires. It is the purest form of hope. ISTPs handle tense situations deftly, giving them a reputation for being lucky or clutch. An ISTP who takes Fi Child too far has Peter Pan syndrome, which is when they push their childhood far past the appropriate age. From that perspective, personal responsibility gets in the way of their freedom of choice and their ability to have fun. When they think their freedom of choice is being taken away, ISTPs become very controlling. Watch out because they may try to manipulate a situation so that people have no other option but to rely on them.
Fe Inferior
ISTPs are fearful of not being accepted. They are anxious in social situations because they know the truth they tell might make people feel bad. They're very susceptible to guilt. As long as they ensure they are being helpful, this should not be a problem. Showing them gratitude is the simplest way to help them accomplish this. ISTPs test the gratitude of others to determine if they are quality people. They need good people around to give them feedback to feel something themselves.
Te Nemesis
ISTPs worry that other people do not think things through as much as they do. They feel compelled to chase accomplishments to have concrete evidence of their knowledge so that other people have a reason to listen to them. By doing the research themselves, ISTPs do not have to worry whether or not data provided from another source is credible. Finding ways to incorporate reading into their daily activities would be an effective use of their time. Te Nemesis is what challenges the ISTP to become a better listener. They have serious struggles taking in all the information from a conversation.
Si Critic
Si Critic is where an ISTP's self-discipline (or lack thereof) comes from. It is an everyday struggle for them to stay committed to their obligations. ISTPs have terrible long-term memory, despite often thinking otherwise. Writing things down into a journal helps them keep track of past mistakes to avoid, while alarms and to-do lists are sufficient in nagging them into meeting deadlines. ISTPs can become very diligent from enduring enough hardship to know what can truly hurt them. Seeking suffering is a way for them to develop strength from within, which is more useful to them in the long run than aesthetics and shows of strength.
Ne Trickster
ISTPs are clueless about consequences, one of the most oblivious types. They struggle to see past their own nose. When they do imagine possibilities and theories, their predictions tend to be way off. They are prone to conflating actions and intentions and are susceptible to the long con, as they fail to see the traps laid out ahead of time. They need to be protected from manipulation.
Fi Demon
Fi Demon causes ISTPs to repress feelings of self-worth. They often think their feelings and problems do not matter. This lack of self-respect can lead to them not taking enough care of their needs. ISTPs are generally ungrateful and have a hard time apologizing to other people. They want to believe that they never needed help, that they can do it all on their own, and that they are always in the right. When their help goes unappreciated, they turn the tables and make it all about them in a very entitled and resentful way. ISTPs tend to be quite debauched. Without someone who has sympathy for them, their sense of morality is twisted and selfish.
Four Sides of the Mind
ISTP Ego
The ISTP has ENFJ subconscious, ESTJ unconscious (also known as The Shadow), and INFP super ego in their ego. These functions shape their core personality.
ENFJ Subconscious
The ISTP's subconscious consists of ENFJ. It represents their path to happiness when they break through the fear of their inferior function. It becomes aspirational, and they become strong and capable where they were previously weak and afraid. For ISTPs, this means knowing when it is okay to hurt people's feelings. A developed ENFJ subconscious is confident that other people like them and strives to make people feel better when they are hurt. ISTPs can give themselves the green light to criticize those same people later on because those who do not accept their help fail to understand their lot in life. ISTPs love to mentor and teach; this is as true for individual apprentices as it is for a classroom full of students. Education is the playground of the ENFJ subconscious.
ESTJ Unconscious
The unconscious for ISTPs is ESTJ. Embracing their unconscious allows them to keep on a path of self-improvement by consistently referring to their past records of poor behavior. They need to micromanage their own lives more than they seek to control others. Focusing on their own life can bring them more peace of mind. ISTPs can ensure they never lose the knowledge they obtain from reading by taking thorough, clear notes on information as they process it. Their records become a prepackaged ISTP-friendly textbook for when they inevitably forget what they learned.
INFP Superego
The ISTP's superego is INFP, led by Fi Demon. Over time, the ISTP begins to realize that they are important, and nobody else can take that away from them. They cease to sell themselves short and instead focus on giving humanity a better future. In its Angelic form, the Ne Master of the ISTP can envision the way forward for humanity, and the Fi Angel ensures that only the best principles get to live on.
Summary
ISTPs use logic to improve their environment, but they struggle to take care of themselves. By holding themselves accountable for having self-esteem, they become examples for everyone around them to learn from. ISTPs are the biggest hypocrites of all the types. The best ISTPs face guilt and failure head-on. They need to fight through the pain that comes from admitting their faults to eventually find acceptance.
