Saints, sometime Satans and the last unicorns - the curious case of the INFJ

A friend of mine once told me about a  most wonderful girl who was her friend during her stay at a Canadian university. Her name was Moneli and she was able to analyze people instantly and predict behavioural outcomes in human interactions. At the time I was a bit incredulous and envious at the same time because I felt almost autistic in my attempts at understanding other people’s behaviour. Little did I know at the time that Moneli was an INFJ, the rarest of all Myers-Briggs personality types and not very different from me, INFP, nor that these wonderful creatures could be found near me, as well. Coming from a family of intuitives I have three INFJ cousins, who I - admittedly - do not know that well as they are almost as reclusive as me.

Curiously INFJs often share not only personality traits, but also physical traits. They have heart-shaped faces, quite wide nostrils and "arches" from their nosed downward to their mouth, like Australian actress Nicole Kidman: 

Jesus, Plato, the Russian scientists and Nobel Prize laureate Andrey Sakharov and Hitler (sometimes they can go horribly wrong) were all INFs, just like a large number of famous actors (Nicole Kidman, Benedict Cumberbatch), writers (J. K. Rowling) and musicians (Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens). INFJs are also called the “unicorns of the MBT world” because they are so rare and so sensitive. Unicorns fade away when they are touched by an impure person. I am quite sure, whoever invented unicorns was an INFJ him/herself. As is most likely Peter S.Beagle, the author of The Last Unicorn. In fact, INFJs are the students I have who show the highest rate of social anxiety and I had one PTSD student too, who was INFJ.


INFJs are hypersensitive and cry a lot. Already as babies, they are often hyperreactive (easily cry, are easily scared and might have a meltdown after a day with a lot of new information). INFJ are non-competitive and have a high sense of justice and they are the kids who wouldn’t only ask a lot of “why?” questions, but also “Why is the world so unjust?”. They are the pickiest eaters as children and due to higher stress-response might be sick more easily than other kids or suffer from an allergy or asthma. As grown-ups, INFJs tend to be very monogamous or be singles rather than ending up in the wrong kind of relationship. Which is often wise, as INFJs have a high risk of being abused in a psychopath-empath relationship, self-sacrificing as they are.

INFJs are the living proof for any evolutionary psychologist who doesn’t believe that altruism is real (thank you, J.K. Rowling, for donating your money to the needy). They shouldn’t exist in a world that is materialistic and obsessed with power and status. In fact, INFJs are a remnant of our evolutionary hunter-gatherer past. All the traits they possess from their high sensitivity to the egalitarian mindset served them well in their survival in the savannah.

INFJs evolved to have a long life-span in order to take care of their children who, like them had later onset of puberty and took longer to grow up. Our competitive and stressful world is toxic to INFJs, many of who refuse to have children in this cold world. An INFJ once told me that we are living in bad times for having children. At the time I considered her a bit silly, with all the medical advances and child-care facilities we have got nowadays. It took me a long time to understand that she was right, at least for her type, and perhaps the whole hunter-gatherer neurotribe. The last ancient unicorns are in danger of going extinct.

I am indebted to Jim Black for pointing out the facial features of INFJs to me.


When the last eagle flies
Over the last crumbling mountain
And the last lion roars
At the last dusty fountain
In the shadow of the forest
Though she may be old and worn
They will stare unbelieving
At the Last Unicorn

(America, The Last Unicorn)