While Assertive (INFJ-A) and Turbulent (INFJ-T) Advocates are likely to be more alike than different, their Identity personality trait provides some nuanced dissimilarities between the two. It impacts the way each thinks, acts, and responds to their worlds to a significant extent.
Assertive Advocates are more likely to be confident and relaxed. Turbulent Advocates are likely to question themselves more and are ordinarily more sensitive to stressors. To discover more about the general differences between Assertive and Turbulent Identities, please visit their overview page.
74% of Assertive Advocates feel like they effectively manage the stress in their life, compared to 28% of Turbulent Advocates.
Turbulent and Assertive Advocates and the People in Their Lives
All Advocate individuals decide matters primarily by filtering them through their feelings, and their decisions often reflect the value they place on their morality. How they think about people and what they are going through is a defining factor for their personality type. But Turbulent Advocates are likely to turn empathizing with others up a notch when compared to Assertive Advocates.
Turbulent Advocates often let their passions lead them to great accomplishments. These are fueled by their regard for the people in their lives and concern for moral and idealistic issues. They can become overly involved in the problems of others. This involvement might even generate a kind of hyper-empathy where these personalities identify too much with those they seek to help.
If Turbulent Advocates become invested and then are not able to help to the degree they think they should, Turbulent self-criticism can be excessively harsh. They can sink into brooding and become miserably mired in worry and regret.
75% of Turbulent Advocates say they are prone to seeing difficulties everywhere, compared to 42% of Assertive Advocates.
To add to this, Turbulent Advocates are more willing to exaggerate the impact of something that bothers them or hurts the people they care about. People with this personality type often interpret things as being far worse than they are. But such exaggeration is rarely on purpose or about dishonesty. It’s more a reflection of their tendency to hold more negative views of things. It can genuinely reflect what they believe. But even if it comes from a good place, magnifying the problems can add unneeded stress and intensity to an already difficult situation.
When the Assertive Advocates become bothered by injustice, inequality, or the problems of others, they are more likely to respond in a hopeful manner. They may pay just as much attention to any troubling concerns and human difficulties, but they refuse to become stressed by them.
35% of Turbulent Advocates feel like they are in control, even when things are going wrong, compared to 72% of Assertive Advocates.
That doesn’t mean these personalities aren’t genuinely invested, or that they don’t care. There are many ways, apart from fretting, to take an interest in the plight of others.
Assertive Advocates are more likely than their counterparts to stay on an even emotional keel when relating to others. Rather than spending a lot of time thinking about the pain and misery some may suffer, these personality types are more likely to think in terms of plans and visions that may lead to a more positive future. They can be just as intense imagining the emergence of something good as Turbulent Advocates can be about their worries and regrets.
But this optimism can, at times, have negative outcomes. Life through rose-colored glasses doesn’t always promote a clear vision. Assertive Advocates might shrug off legitimately important problems that need to be addressed, choosing instead to focus on brighter things. On these occasions, they may overlook essential tasks. Turbulent Advocates are more likely to spot such things long before Assertive Advocates do.
Both Turbulent and Assertive Advocates tend to elevate their friends, the people they fall in love with, and even their colleagues. These personalities generally think the best of those they value and agree with. They might not look as kindly on those who go against their sense of right and wrong or appear to be phony.
However, there is a difference between the two: Assertive Advocates see things through a filter that values humanity and want to have people (in limited Introverted doses) in their lives. Turbulent Advocates, in comparison, are more likely to go beyond simply wanting people in their lives. These personalities feel more of a need for others and are more affected by what others think of them. This need for others and their opinions can help them form deep bonds with others and allows them to collaborate better when that’s called for.
38% of Turbulent Advocates find it easy to make an important decision without consulting anyone first, compared to 71% of Assertive Advocates.
However, unlike Turbulent Advocates, Assertive Advocates are not deeply influenced by the opinions of others – perhaps, at times, to their detriment. This allows these personalities to approach the various missions in their lives with independence and in a streamlined fashion.
73% of Turbulent Advocates feel pressured to live up to a certain standard (e.g., home, car, salary), compared to 42% of Assertive Advocates.
But at what point does this independence evolve into arrogance? All Introverted personality types prefer being alone – or, at most, among a small group of carefully chosen people. That said, Assertive Advocates can overplay the role of the lone wolf. These Confident Individualists can become so independent that they forget the needs and wishes of others.
Turbulent Advocates can go the other way – constantly looking for approval, stifling their individuality, and thwarting their efforts as they wait for all who matter to look kindly on their actions and ideas. Pleasing everyone is a rare accomplishment in life, and pursuing it has stalled a lot of people in their tracks.
93% of Turbulent Advocates are often afraid of being rejected by other people, compared to 52% of Assertive Advocates.
Change, Regret, and Advocate Identity Differences
Because of their shared Judging personality trait, both types of Advocates prefer routine and predictability. Neither particularly likes to be caught by surprise.
However, Assertive Advocates are much more likely to accept an unusual turn in events, and they somewhat more readily buy into unorthodox ideas and people. They tend to be somewhat more adventurous than their Turbulent counterparts – probably by virtue of their confidence.
Turbulent Advocates, as part of their quest for ongoing improvements, are likely to embrace change, but only within reason. People with this personality type like to have some control over it and to have some guarantee that it is the right change at the right moment. They are likely to take fewer risks than their Assertive counterparts.
87% of Turbulent Advocates find it hard not to let a stressful event negatively affect them, compared to 47% of Assertive Advocates.
Advocate personalities all share profound regard for the past. They tend to remember the way things have unfolded in their lives deeply and passionately. They glean lessons for the future from their bygone days. However, Assertive Advocates are much less bothered by regrets when their pasts have been rocky, whereas Turbulent Advocates may cling tightly to the memories of such disappointments and missteps.
86% of Turbulent Advocates often feel regret, compared to 48% of Assertive Advocates.
Regret can color Turbulent Advocates’ future actions either positively or negatively: positively, if they are motivated to make up for past missteps; negatively, if these personalities become caught up in guilt or anger. This can be especially devastating if they believe they have harmed others.
Because regret does not impact them as much, Assertive Advocates may be less driven to fix past mistakes. If they can just brush off their failures as unimportant, they may not learn critical lessons that can be best taught by trial and error. This may leave these personalities repeating their mistakes more often than they might like.
89% of Turbulent Advocates often catch themselves dwelling on past mistakes, compared to 61% of Assertive Advocates.
Summary of Differences
- Both personality types are concerned with other people, but Assertive Advocates are likely to be more hopeful, and Turbulent Advocates to focus on the difficult parts of a problem.
- Turbulent Advocates are often fueled by their worries and concerns, and these can be used to make significant progress.
- Both Assertive and Turbulent Advocates can get caught up in the drama of life, but those who are Turbulent are likely to be affected by it more.
- Stress and regret affect the Assertive Advocate individuals less, but this should not be confused with their not caring.
- Because their regrets weigh on them more, Turbulent Advocates are more likely to learn from their mistakes than Assertive Advocates.
- Assertive Advocates are less influenced by the opinions of others than Turbulent Advocates. However, paying too little or too much attention to the opinions of others carries its own difficulties.
- Assertive Advocates are more likely to want people in their lives, while Turbulent Advocates may feel they need people in their lives.
The same but different – that’s what we discover when we explore Assertive and Turbulent Identities in a single personality type. For Advocates, this means they share the same passion, the same concern for others, the same sense of order, and the same level of conviction about right and wrong.
However, it also means each personality type has a somewhat different perspective regarding the metaphorical glass. Is it half-full or half-empty? To what degree do they respond to other people and events, and to what degree do they move forward despite them? It’s all part of the journey of self-exploration.
