INTP personalities are just a stone’s throw away from the INTJ personality type. But how similar are they to their counterpart? Are INTPs also just as driven and ambitious as INTJs?
INTPs are not driven or ambitious. They are also not goal-oriented. INTPs will only focus on tasks and activities if they are motivated. or inspired by their interests. INTPs often feel demotivated in situations that are rigid or when they need to rely on others.
To understand what motivates an INTP personality, you will first need to know how they operate regarding their drive and how they perceive their goals. We’ve compiled a short and simple guide to help you better understand INTPs, what motivates them, and how to encourage more goal-driven behavior.
Are INTPs Driven?
INTPs are often thought to be naturally driven and hard working. However, this may be because they are closely related to the INTJ personality type. INTP stands for Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving, while the ‘J’ in INTJ stands for Judging.
INTJs have an in-born drive that encourages them to focus on their goals. They receive immense satisfaction from achieving these goals and may even center their lives around this achievement. INTPs, on the other hand, are entirely different.
INTPs are not typically driven individuals. Unlike INTJs, they don’t receive satisfaction from achieving their goals. Rather, INTPs enjoy engaging in complex thought and tend to focus on coming up with new ideas of solutions.
While INTPs may not necessarily be driven, they typically strive for excellence in the things that give them purpose. This is generally considered to be motivation rather than drive. The difference between these concepts is that drive is a natural inclination, while motivation comes from desire.
The INTP personality trait desires freedom, and they can often feel stifled in an environment that is too structured. Similarly, INTPs do not like planning or routine. They have a natural curiosity that fuels their desire to learn, but this is quickly derailed by other interests.
Simply put, INTPs are easily distracted and experience fleeting motivation. This is in complete opposition to drive because driven individuals and personality types (such as INTJs) are not easily swayed from their goals.
Are INTPs Goal-Oriented?
INTPs are highly motivated by ideas or concepts that interest them. They do not often have goals and are not generally considered goal-oriented. Because of their desire for freedom, they don’t like structure and rigidity. Having pre-planned goals may make an INTP feel limited and lead to agitation and irritation in this personality type.
While INTPs aren’t necessarily goal-oriented, their interest and curiosity can help to focus them on specific tasks. For example, rather than setting a goal to run five miles every day, an INTP may feel driven by their interest in health and fitness to exercise more in their everyday life.
INTPs think about goals in a more general and vague way and avoid getting caught up in specific ideas. They are big picture thinkers and often overlook finer details. Because of their inclination for broader thinking, they are less likely to have particular goals. Instead, their goals will be more generalized, and they will feel motivated rather than driven to achieve them.
INTPs And Motivation
Rather than focus and drive, an INTP’s behavior is motivated by certain activities. To better understand how an INTP’s motivation works, you may need to look at what an individual who falls into the INTP category enjoys.
Firstly, INTPs love a challenge. They are often motivated by complex puzzles and situations because it gives them a chance to use logical and analytical thinking. INTPs enjoy having their thought process challenged, meaning they are more likely to feel motivated in environments or situations where they can analyze problems and synthesize possible solutions or outcomes.
INTPs are considered critical thinkers, and they are prone to spending long periods in thought to come up with the best possible outcome rather than finding short-term solutions. INTPs are also generally motivated to find a permanent solution to a problem. This can encourage them to think outside of the box and consider all of the facts.
The INTP personality type is also characterized by slow and methodical thought processes. INTPs are not likely to rush a decision and can take longer to make a choice than other personality types. For this reason, INTPs are unlikely to be motivated by the need to come to a conclusion. Instead, they are generally more motivated to understand the problem in its entirety before committing to a decision.
The ‘I’ in INTP stands for Introversion, so it should be no surprise that these analytic thinkers do best when they are on their own. INTPs tend to feel more motivated and inspired when they have time to themselves. Similarly, an INTP that is forced to be around others or in a group setting may lose all sense of motivation.
INTPs generally feel restricted and unhappy when weighed down by rules and rigid structure or routine. They also do not enjoy planning. Instead, INTPs thrive in environments where they are self-governed and feel relaxed and free. INTPs may also lose feelings of motivation when they are being told what to do or how to act.
Finally, INTPs are motivated by logic and intellect. INTPs are unlikely to feel motivated by their thoughts, feelings, or emotions. They can become tense and unproductive in emotionally charged environments or situations. INTPs may also find it challenging to make a decision or find a solution to a problem when they are presented with emotions rather than facts.
Conclusion
Unlike their closely related personality type, the INTJ, INTPs are not driven or goal-oriented. Instead of feeling driven to achieve specific goals, INTPs are motivated by their interests, hobbies, and skills.
They are also motivated by challenging or complex puzzles and problems and thrive in a relaxed environment where they call the shots. INTPs prefer to be alone and can quickly lose motivation when answering to others.
