Of the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types, INFJ is the rarest. Only 1 percent or so of the population is classified as INFJ, and this type is just as rare among famous people as it is among the general population. If you’re an INFJ trying to identify a viable career path, looking at what famous INFJs do for a living may help, according to Celebrity Types.
Five famous INFJ personalities are as follows:
1. Thomas Jefferson
The author of the Declaration of Independence, a Founding Father and the second president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was a highly accomplished individual. Myers-Briggs Type Indicators, or MBTIs, didn’t exist in his day, but many experts agree that Jefferson would likely have been classified as an INFJ due to his idealism, which he actually acted upon. Like many INFJs, Jefferson disliked confrontation and was widely regarded as something of a dreamer. Unlike most INFJs, however, Jefferson was quite capable of making moral compromises. For the most part, his traits align closely with those of a classic INFJ.
2. Plato
INFJs are usually described as being contemplative and insightful. It should come as no surprise, then, that Plato, one of the most pivotal figures in philosophy, is counted among their ranks. A student of Socrates, the founder of the Academy in Athens believed that ethics were dependent on communities and that man should strive to become one with the universe. As a philosopher, Plato was very internally focused, which is a classic INFJ trait.
3. Mahatma Gandhi
One of the most distinctive things about INFJs is that they are decisive idealists, which means that they have very strong ideals and typically act on them. Gandhi essentially freed India from British rule on his own, and he spent much of his life striving for divine justice and truth. Early in his life, he saw the injustices that were being wrought by the British, and he devoted himself to freeing his fellow citizens from their rule. Incredibly, Gandhi succeeded in his quest, cementing his place as one of the most famous and influential INFJs who ever lived.
4. Noam Chomsky
A famous linguist, philosopher and socio-political activist, Noam Chomsky epitomizes what being an INFJ is all about. The Professor Emeritus of MIT, Chomsky has enjoyed a long and varied career. Through the years, he’s worked as a journalist, a linguist, a philosopher and an anti-war activist. The latter work, in particular, demonstrates why his personality meshes with that of the typical INFJ. Chomsky has strong ideals, and he has devoted much of his life to working toward achieving them. Like many INFJs, he is also widely regarded as an intellectual, and he is willing to do what it takes to affect the change he wants to see in the world.
5. Carl Jung
The founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung is one of the most famous psychotherapists of all times. He was a student of Sigmund Freud. Unlike his teacher, however, he didn’t believe a person’s primary motivating force in life to be psychosexual. Instead, he believed that the primary motivating force is spiritual in nature and that the forces of differentiation and integration arose from the soul. In this way, Jung was not only highly insightful and intuitive like a typical INFJ, but he also stuck to his ideals, which is another classic INFJ trait.
As an INFJ, you are in very good company. You should be able to pursue a variety of career paths with excellent results. Study the lives of these and other famous INFJs to gain additional inspiration for your education and career objectives.
