Reddit reviews Personality Type: An Owner's Manual: A Practical Guide to Understanding Yourself and Others Through Typology (Jung on the Hudson Book Series)

INFJ here.
Extroverts outnumber introverts already, and with the pressure for introverts to pretend they are extroverted to fit in, the apparent number of introverted people goes way down as far as extroverts can tell.

Someone who is well versed in MBTI theory will be able to spot even well-socialized introverts and treat them appropriately, but an extrovert who doesn't see reality in terms of I's and E's being equally acceptable will come to the natural conclusion that I's are the different minority and thus weird. After all, the extroverted worldview is based on integrating oneself into a community. At best, when they see someone not integrating themselves, they see someone who is different, or just might be feeling bad at the time. At worst, they might see someone who is a threat to good and upright social behavior; they don't realize that not everyone is wired to extrovert themselves, especially when they think most people are wired that way and should be wired that way.

Unfortunately, I feel this puts the burden on introverts to make their viewpoint known to extroverts--in essence, to stand up for themselves and to defend their worldview. My reasons for this belief are complicated for me to explain so bear with me:

The seen majority aren't just going to up and recognize the silent minority. Now, this makes it sound like an "us vs them" scenario where E's are oppressing I's and don't give a shit about us. And sometimes (especially when you are young and surrounded by childish assholes) it feels like that. But it's really not. The more mature your peers are, the easier it will be for I's. Most E's just want I's to fit in because, to them, fitting in makes them happy. And they think, why wouldn't everyone want to be happy? The introverted perspective is literally invisible to many inexperienced extroverts. And I'll explain why.

I'm not sure how well versed you are in MBTI. It was a long time before I went beyond the four letters in one's type (EI, SN, TF, JP) So I'll give a crash course.

There are eight cognitive functions:

Extroverted Sensing
Introverted Sensing
Extroverted Intuition
Introverted Intuition
Extroverted Feeling
Introverted Feeling
Extroverted Thinking
Introverted Thinking

Every type has a primary function and a secondary function. The primary function is relied upon the most and the secondary function is a supporting function.

The first four functions in the list are called Perceiving functions and the last four are called Judging functions. This is where we get the J/P distinction. A J's extroverted function will be a judging function. A P's extroverted function will be a perceiving function.

INFJ doesn't simply mean an introvert who is an intuiter, feeler, and judger. It means that my primary function is Introverted iNtuition and my secondary is Extroverted Feeling.

How do we derive what my primary and secondary functions are? Since I am INFJ, my main function will be introverted. Because I am a J, my extroverted function will be a judging function. So that means Extroverted Feeling. But because I am an I, my primary will be an Introverted function. Since we already know my secondary is Extroverted Feeling, that means that Introverted iNtuition is my primary. I know it's confusing. Google "8 cognitive functions mbti" if you need a better explanation (because mine's a little unorganized).

Anyway..

The extroverted functions let people deal with the outside world of people and things and the introverted functions let people deal with the inner world of thoughts, beliefs, personal reflection, and other things like that. Introverts' primary function is an introverted one meaning they spend a lot of time in their heads. They are essentially forced to develop their secondary extroverted functions when dealing with people and things, even if they mostly rely on their introverted function more because it is their primary.

Extroverts rely primarily on their extroverted functions. Because society (and all it's entailed cooperation and social interaction) creates situations more suited to the easy use of extroverted functions, extroverts usually aren't forced to develop their secondary introverted functions until later in their development. (Some extroverts develop it early enough in their teens, but I know some who didn't start developing their introverted selves until their early-mid 30's).

Introverts are well aware of the two halves of their personality because they are forced to develop an extroverted secondary function alongside their introverted primary. They sense that their have two selves: one for their inner life and one for their outer life. Society makes it easier for extroverts to rely only on their primary function so their introverted perspective doesn't become apparent to them. They develop their inner self later (and in some cases, a lot later). This is how the introverted perspective may be literally unperceived (invisible) to undeveloped extroverts. This is how some of them simply can't understand that shyness and being alone can be preferable to acting extroverted. In fact, because their secondary introverted functions are less developed, the introverted perspective can be a source of stress for these kinds of extroverts until they're life experience grows. No wonder they can't understand how people could prefer to stay in their own heads.

Because undeveloped extroverts don't grasp both halves of a whole personality and introverts have more experience with both halves, introverts are the most capable of bridging the gap between E's and I's. We have to be confident in our introversion and let E's know that our introversion is okay with us and should be okay with them too.

And don't get me wrong, not all undeveloped E's are unaccepting of introverts. Just as how there are even some developed E's that still think there is something wrong with introverts. It depends a lot the attitudes of their families and peers. After all, that's what extroverted people do: they integrate into themselves the attitudes of the group. That mid-thirties extrovert that I mentioned earlier (who had an undeveloped introverted perspective)... she came from a family of introverts and didn't have a problem with the introverted lifestyle at all. She just didn't subscribe to the lifestyle. I know it's hard for us, but I's just need to be upfront about their Introversion so that it registers on extroverts radar.

And please, don't hate E's for it. Group assimilation is as natural to them as being a loner is for us. They can't help the way they are. But they can control how courteous they are to introverts and how they treat them. So I's need to set up a precedent for how they want to be treated. I know societal norms are stacked against us, but it really does get easier. Given the social nature of humanity, it's something we have to do because if we don't, it wont get done.

Edit: Most of my info on this matter is paraphrased from this very informative book

Aside from the book I'm writing? ;)

Yeah, there are a couple. The problem is that even though these books talk about the cognitive processes in depth, the way they're written seems to confuse people for some reason. I've know people that read both of these and STILL had no idea what the functions are or how to use them. Despite that, these are two of the best:

Personality Type, an Owner's Manual by Lenore Thomson This is the most in depth and accurate coverage of the functions currently out there. A bit complicated (there is actually an entire wiki out there devoted to trying to understand what Lenore was talking about), but very good. I've picked up more from this than any other comparable book.

Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs-Myers - Aside from Psychological Types, this is the book that got it all started. Great book.

Also you can check out the website of my partner and I: PersonalityHacker.com This isn't nearly as complete as it will be soon, but it's getting there.

I'm Camronn, by the way.

The two books I recommend the most are…

http://www.amazon.com/Please-Understand-Temperament-Character-Intelligence/dp/1885705026

… by an INTP, and this from an INTJ (I think)…

http://www.amazon.com/Personality-Type-Jung-Hudson-Books/dp/0877739870/ref=pd_sim_b_10

The first one deals more with SP/SJ/NF/NT groupings, while the second is more on Jung’s theory.

Personality Type, bv Lenore Thomson

https://www.amazon.com/Personality-Type-Practical-Understanding-Yourself/dp/0877739870

Quite detailed, although I find her ideas on the brain rather questionable. She also explains where all 8 functions are in a type.

INTJ Description

Ni Description (Dominant Function)

Te Description(Secondary Function)

INTJ Development Description

These should aid you on your quest. The functions are really where it's at when trying to learn about MBTI, and you should focus on your first two, and how they interact to determine your type.

I also recommend Personality Type, An Owners Manual by Lenore Thomson.

well actually, according to Lenore Thomson, Ti and Ne are both functions that have primarily right hemispherical activation.