Like anyone, people with the INTP personality type (Logicians) look to their friends for companionship and support. But they prize something else as well: intellectual depth. Not everyone will meet their standards for a potential friend, but when someone does, the connection can spark instantly, surprising everyone who thought they had this seemingly distant personality type pegged.

Choosy or Selective?

Perhaps because they don’t mind the company of their own thoughts, they don’t surround themselves with people just for the sake of it. As a result, it’s not always easy to become close friends with these personalities. But when INTPs do open up, they can be lively, imaginative friends who always have something interesting or unexpected to say.

INTPs’ best friends tend to share their passion for new ideas, riddles, and solutions. But that doesn’t mean that people with this personality type only seek out friends who agree with them. INTPs don’t mind having their ideas challenged – in fact, they have a great deal of respect for people who make them rethink their assumptions and keep them on their toes.

INTP friendships are knowledge based, buoyed by the exchange of ideas, theories, and concepts. To this personality type, there’s nothing more exhilarating than a mind-bending conversation that stretches till the wee hours of the morning. People who aren’t able to keep up or who have sharply differing tastes (don’t talk to them about celebrities) may find themselves feeling ignored or brushed off. These friends reserve conversation for topics that they find meaningful or for people they already like enough to stick it out.

The Meaning of Friendship

When friends come to them with problems and dilemmas, INTPs are generally excited to help. These personalities can be counted on to offer logical advice and rational solutions, turning even the messiest of situations into a pros and cons list.

But when it comes to emotional support or matters of the heart, people with this personality type may feel a bit out of their depth. For INTPs, one of the greatest (and most difficult) lessons of friendship is that sometimes people don’t need advice on how to solve their problems – they just need someone they can count on to be by their side.

With INTPs, friends can expect thought-provoking conversations, uninhibited honesty, and unique perspectives on a wide variety of topics. Their friendships, though few, are deeply cherished and cultivated with a lot of thought and care. People with the INTP personality type have an uncanny ability to see past superficial trappings, such as social status or how someone dresses, and appreciate the full potential of the person inside. In a world obsessed with fitting in, these individuals can inspire their friends to buck convention, ignore trends, and find their unique voices.