ISTPs are mercurial figures who exude confidence and are difficult to get to know. If you have ever been intrigued by a mysterious ISTP, you are not alone. These intriguing personalities play their cards close to their chests, which makes you even more desperate to get to know them!
ISTPs are moody and mysterious. They love their own space and will become brooding if you try to dictate their use of time. Because they are unpredictable, prefer action to speech, keep their composure, and keep their thoughts to themselves, they are considered mysterious.
While ISTPs can seem unapproachable, they can be very loving friends and partners, as long as you are willing to give them their space. So, if you’re itching to know more about this mysterious personality type, read on!
Focus On ISTPs: Myers-Briggs Personality Types
As one of the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality types, the ISTP acronym stands for Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving. This personality type abounds with enthusiasm for learning how things work.
The Myers-Briggs personality types were developed by mother-daughter pairing Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers, inspired by the personality typology of Carl Jung, who invented the terms introversion and extroversion.
ISTPs enjoy doing things independently and are stimulated by exploring the mechanics behind things. They are innate thrill-seekers and tackle extreme sports like hunting, rappelling, motorcycling, aviation, and skydiving. ISTPs relish fixing the apparatus that accompanies their sports.
About five percent of the population has this personality type. However, only two percent of women embody these characteristics, whereas it is the third most common type among men, at nine percent.
Famous ISTPs include Daniel Craig, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee, Tiger Woods, Chuck Yaeger, Bear Grylls, Michael Jordan, Milla Jovovich, Tom Cruise, and Michelle Rodriguez. As you can see, far more men than women are among the renowned examples.
In fiction, this is true as well. James Bond, Angus MacGyver from MacGyver, John McClane from Die Hard, the titular Indiana Jones, and Michael Westen from Burn Notice are among the many men that embody the ISTP. The limited female examples include Arya Stark from Game of Thrones.
Are ISTPs Moody?
ISTPs are known to have mood swings. Personality trait measures associated with the ISTP include guarded, independent, critical and detached. They are known as the lowest of all types in the realm of using social coping resources.
They are also one of the four types with the last satisfaction in their marital or intimate relationship. They love autonomy and can be standoffish. This all makes them seem moody.
The truth is that ISTPs will be moody if you don’t allow them the space they need. They love to plot their own path and will be morose if you try to control them and their time.
In romantic relationships, trying to force their hand can be disastrous and even spell doom for the relationship. ISTPs need lots of mental and physical space.
ISTPs can be prone to depression and mood swings if they don’t actively work on their mental health. Their environment can exacerbate things, and if they’re not allowed the space to flourish, they will be moodier and broodier than ever.
Are ISTPs Mysterious?
ISTPs are intriguing and seem even more incomprehensible to people who don’t know them. They can be aloof and reserved, making them more interesting. Here are the ways that ISTPs are mysterious.
1. They Keep Their Thoughts To Themselves
ISTPs prefer to hold in their emotions and reactions, especially regarding their romantic partners. Their intention in doing this is not to keep things from their partner but rather to avoid focussing unnecessarily on their emotions.
They find emotions fleeting and don’t want to delve into the wormhole that constitutes talking about their emotions. However, this makes them inaccessible to their partners and friends, who cannot tell what ISTPs feel about pretty much anything!
2. They Prefer Action
This personality type will typically go out of their way to help their friend or significant other rather than confessing their love through words. Acts of service are their love language, and they will do anything for you, except a cheesy reiteration of a speech from a John Hughes movie from the 80s!
This can sometimes make it hard to understand how an ISTP feels about you, especially if you think they might be acting out of friendliness or pity, not love. Their motivations are mysterious, and this can leave you feeling clueless as to their true feelings.
3. They’re Unpredictable
ISTPs are a contradiction in terms. They are both friendly and reserved and both calm and spontaneous. Also, they struggle to remain in formal learning, yet they are curious beyond measure.
They can stay focused on something for a while, up to a point where they will go in a new and unexpected direction. This kind of turbulence can make them seem very mysterious and make you wonder if you even know them.
4. They Keep Their Composure
ISTPs are the kind of people who are always cool and collected, even in the most stressful circumstances. They thrive under pressure, and this can make them seem supernaturally calm. This further adds to the mystery.
ISTP Areas For Development
No one on this planet has no areas for self-improvement. Similarly, ISTPs, despite their mysterious veneer, have got to take a long, hard look at themselves and see how they can improve and become more prepared for the future.
The first thing they can do is learn to plan. Despite their aversion to long-term planning, ISTPs need to plan so that they can advance their careers.
Their distaste for commitment, both in work and in love, is tied to this. However, this can severely impinge on their romantic relationships. They need to start with small commitments and work their way up if they want to beat the marital dissatisfaction prevalent among ISTPs.
ISTPs also tend not to dwell on the past, which can be a good thing. However, it also prevents them from learning from their mistakes. Thus, it is prudent to reflect from time to time and grow as a person.
Another thing ISTPs can do to work on themselves is to learn time management skills. Living in the moment all the time can lead to procrastination, and ISTPs need to learn to prioritize if they want to control their time more effectively.
Conclusion
ISTPs can be brooding and keep their thoughts to themselves, which makes them seem mysterious. They would rather look after you when you’re sick than make a big flowery speech about their love for you; this aloofness can drive you crazy!
ISTPs are also great in a crisis, and their sense of calm feels uncanny. They also avoid talking about their emotions, so you never quite know what’s happening in their heads. All of this makes them super mysterious – so much so that you’re just dying to be friends with them!
