ISFJ

Introverted Sensing with Feeling

People with ISFJ preferences are extremely dependable and devotedly accept responsibilities beyond the call of duty They have a complete, realistic, and practical respect for the facts. When they see from the facts that something needs to be done, they pause to think about it. If they decide that action will be helpful, they accept the responsibility. They can remember and use any number of facts, but want them all accurate. They like everything clearly stated.
    Their private reactions are often vivid and intense, and sometimes quite unpredictable to others. These private reactions seldom show in their faces, and even when dealing with a crisis, they can look calm and composed. Not until you know them very well do you discover that behind their outer calm they are looking at things from an intensely individual angle, often a delightfully humorous one. When ISFJs are "on duty" and dealing with the world, however, their behavior is sound and sensible.
    ISFJs are thorough, painstaking, hard-working, and patient with particulars and procedures. They can and will do the "little" things that need to be done to carry a project through to completion. Their perseverance tends to stabilize everything with which they are connected. They do not enter into things impulsively, but once in, they are very hard to distract or discourage. They do not quit unless experience convinces them they are wrong.
    ISFJs often choose careers where they can combine their careful observation and their caring for people, as in the health professions. Other fields attractive to ISFJs are teaching, office work, and occupations that provide services or personal care. ISFJs show their feeling preference in their contacts with the world. They are kind, sympathetic, tactful, and genuinely concerned; traits that make them very supportive to persons in need.
    Because of their concern for accuracy and organization, ISFJs often move into supervisory roles. If they are in charge of something, their practical judgment and appreciation of what works make thém conservative and consistent. They take care to collect the facts necessary to support their evaluations and decisions. As they gain experience, they compare the present problem to past situations.
    For an ISFJ, problems may arise if their judgment is not developed. If their feeling preference remains undeveloped, they will not be effective in dealing with the world. They may instead retreat, becoming silently absorbed in their inner reactions to sense-impressions. Then nothing of value is likely to come out. Another potential problem is that they tend to be somewhat suspicious of imagination and intuition and not take it seriously enough.