INTP Manipulation: How INTPs Deal With Manipulation and Coercion
Everyone is capable of manipulating others, some are just more prone to this behavior than others. Being a manipulative person is rarely tied to someone’s personality type, but the ways in which someone can manipulate often is. While manipulation is not going to be more common in certain types, each personality type has their own methods of trying to adjust a situation so that they can get the results they want. It can help to understand these methods in a more personal way, so that we can be more conscious of someone’s intentions and actions. It is also important to understand how each personality type handles feeling a sense of manipulation from others, as some will be much less forgiving when this happens to them.
For the INTP information is often their most useful tool of manipulation, but this doesn’t mean they use it lightly. INTPs also dislike feeling like someone else is trying to manipulate them and can become extremely upset by this. They are naturally guarded people and so they can be suspicious of manipulative types, and often can tell when someone is attempting to manipulate them. This can sometimes make the INTP paranoid towards people who aren’t trying to manipulate them, but they would rather be safe than allow someone to use them. They simply don’t like being coerced or having someone try to get inside their heads. When it comes to manipulating others the healthy INTP is much less likely to do this unless they are being defensive for some reason.
INTP Manipulation
INTPs often manipulate more than even they realize, it is just something which happens naturally. Usually this isn’t done as something they think through beforehand and premeditatively try to control someone, it just happens as they try to calm a situation. Where INTPs often try to manipulate is when they can see things going down a bad path and they need to find a way to steer it away. INTPs can often say the right words or use certain information to their advantage in order to create the type of response needed. When the INTP realizes that the best way for the situation to work out is to use some sort of manipulation tactics, then they will likely go with this option. They use facts and information to fix problems and make things right, and sometimes this means a bit of subtle and harmless manipulation. INTPs often do this naturally as a means of creating the best results, they are actually more focused on problem solving and ensuring that they can handle the situation. Sometimes INTPs will actually do this to avoid fights, especially with strangers in situations they don’t want to be involved in. Often this is for the best in the INTPs mind, and even benefits the other people involved. They might feel like the people around them cannot see what is best or how the situation will go, and so they need to use these subtle manipulation tactics in order to ensure that things run more smoothly in that direction. To the INTP there is nothing immoral or wrong about this, since their goals is actually a positive one. They want to help and ensure that things go right, and so they really won’t see this as a bad or wrong thing. They care about ensuring that the people around them do what is right and don’t make too many mistakes which could get them into trouble. INTPs have their own view on what is moral, and to them this is perfectly within their expectations of what is acceptable.
INTPs can be more overtly manipulative as well, sometimes doing this in hopes of pushing buttons and figuring people out. They are curious people who value information and want to be able to learn as much as they can about the subjects they are interested in. When it comes to people sometimes manipulating the situation to see how they will respond can be a useful tool in the INTPs mind. The more unhealthy INTP might even do this just to see what they are personally capable of accomplishing. It is about seeing how far they can take things and learning about their own skills in these situations. This is really only a tactic of an unhealthy INTP, as the healthy version of this type is not going to be drawn to manipulating in these ways. They don’t want to do anything which would seem controlling or unjust to others. The unhealthy version however, might want to find ways to challenge themselves and prove that they are capable of manipulating someone into behaving a certain way or doing what they want them to.
Being Manipulated
INTPs really don’t like to be manipulated and can often sense when this is coming. They can be somewhat guarded around most people, not really finding it easy to trust or let them in. If the INTP can tell someone is attempting to manipulate them it can certainly make them angry. They don’t like being around people who try to actively manipulate or control them, as this makes them feel like they are being used. They don’t want to be around people who would do this to them, as it makes them feel like they cannot trust or rely on them in any real way. INTPs can become rather defensive around anyone who they feel is good at manipulating, struggling to really believe that they won’t do this to them as well. INTPs prefer to focus on facts, which is why they spend so much time researching and wanting to be sure about people. They will even spend time trying to study an individual in hopes of figuring out if they can trust them sincerely. This is part of why it can take so long for the INTP to really trust people and open up to them.
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