Understanding exactly what your romantic partner wants and doesn’t want from a relationship is always challenging. But knowing their personality type can make your job a lot easier.
According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), there exist sixteen different personality types.
Although we are all individuals, it is considered that every person has the prevailing characteristics of one of these types.
Knowing this, you are probably wondering what are are the ways of determining your other half’s personality type.
Let us give you a hand. Is your partner cheerful, optimistic, adventurous, energetic, creative and spontaneous?
Are they are great in crisis situations and are amazing in solving problems? Do they have a hard time committing and are easily bored? All of this means that they probably belong to an ISTP personality type.
Each of the MBTI personality types has different needs and wants in a relationship because our romantic preferences are connected with our types, and ISTP is in no way different.
So, here are 10 things which will definitely help you handle a relationship with an ISTP.
The upsides
Like every other personality type, an ISTP has a great deal of qualities.
They are productive, active and efficient. This type is also open-minded and always has a positive view on life.
But you are wondering what the things that make them relationship material are. Read on and find out!
1. It is never boring
One of the first great things about being in a relationship with an ISTP personality type is that I can guarantee that you’ll never get bored.
These people will give you a roller coaster of emotions and will make your every day worth remembering.
The ISTP personality type is known for being spontaneous and interesting to be around, and that is exactly what makes them attractive to the opposite sex.
They have the ability to make you laugh even when you are at your lowest.
Everything with them is an adventure because they are always full of new ideas and suggestions.
These people do everything they can to make the moment they are in as spectacular as possible.
They are outgoing and are never afraid to try new things which makes them appealing and which makes the honeymoon phase of a relationship with them even more exciting.
2. They aren’t needy
When the honeymoon phase is over and your romantic relationship with an ISTP personality type goes to the next level, they rarely become one of those needy and clingy partners, no matter how hard they fall for you.
They will never try to control you, your life or your choices and opinions.
Instead, they respect you as a person and as their romantic partner. They respect your boundaries and will never try to invade your personal space.
An ISTP is usually not a possessively jealous type. They won’t expect you to disregard your life just because you are with them, and they will never ask you to spend every moment of your free time with them.
They are aware of the fact that you had a life before them, and they will never disrespect your need to see your friends and family or to spend some time alone.
These people will respect your privacy and individuality. They will never try to tame you nor will they feel threatened by your independence.
3. The sex is great
Even though nobody can guarantee you sexual compatibility with another person, if you get yourself involved in a relationship with an ISTP, it is likely that you’ll have an exciting and diverse sex life.
ISTP is a very sensual and physical type, and thinks of sex as a crucial part of every romantic relationship.
They are usually extremely potent and know to be great lovers.
Another great thing about having sex with ISTPs is that they are rarely selfish in the bedroom.
They take it as their challenge to always please both themselves and their partners the best way possible.
This personality type doesn’t see sex as something that needs to be done just for the sake of doing it.
Instead, they are open-minded and enjoy trying new things and experimenting in bed.
4. They are great listeners
Another upside of dating an ISTP type is the fact that they are amazing listeners.
These people don’t like talking much, but they will always be there to give you the support you need.
Being in a relationship with this type means that you won’t have just a lover by your side; you’ll also have a friend in them.
These people are known to as being loyal and respectful. They will always hear you out and will never get too tired of doing so.
And they will always try their best to give you a piece of advice you need because they have the ability of investing themselves in other people’s problems.
The fact is that an ISTP type doesn’t enjoy talking much, so they prefer to be in the position of listener.
This gives them the possibility to see through people and to analyze their problems with a great deal of care.
5. They will always push you forward
As it was already stated, people belonging to an ISTP personality type are always looking to try new things and are never afraid to experiment.
That means that they usually have high self-confidence and that they don’t have trouble believing in themselves.
But what is great about being their romantic partner is that they have the ability to transfer their optimism to you.
If you are in a relationship with an ISTP, they will always believe in your abilities and strength. They will always push you forward into making and achieving more.
These people will never be intimidated by your success and they will never allow you to lose faith in yourself.
They will never put you down or hold you back. Instead, an ISTP personality type will always inspire you to become the best possible version of yourself.
The downsides
So, you’ve seen how great someone belonging to an ISTP personality type can be in a relationship.
I hate to break it to you, but they are not perfect. There are some downsides of being in a relationship with an ISTP, and here are the most important ones.
1. They are afraid of commitment
If you are looking for a committed relationship, you’ll probably have a hard time having it with an ISTP relationship.
Don’t get me wrong—I am not saying that they are incapable of having a long-term relationship.
It is just that commitment is not the first thing on their minds when they meet someone new.
This personality type doesn’t like labels and hates to be put in a box.
They are commitment-phobes by nature, and the sole thought of promising to love one person for the rest of their lives scares the hell out of them.
ISTPs don’t like talking about the future and setting some common goals because they prefer to live their lives day by day.
Besides, they enjoy their freedom too much to allow someone to even try to cage or oppress them, and they can never be happy with a possessive or overly jealous partner.
2. They have a hard time expressing emotions verbally
Another thing that might bring you trouble in an ISTP relationship is their inability to express their emotions verbally.
As you’ve already seen, ISTPs are sensual and physical beings which means that they have a hard time saying some things out loud. Instead, they prefer showing it to you.
Don’t expect an ISTP to be romantic or to make some big gestures to prove their love for you.
They are very private people when it comes to their emotions, but just because they won’t be telling you how much they love you every single day, it doesn’t mean they don’t care about you.
Many people might consider this personality type as too insensitive, and that is so because they prefer to use logic and reason over their feelings and because their hearts usually function in a more inferior manner to their minds.
An ISTP will rarely disregard what is rational to allow their emotions to lead them.
3. They are guarded
When you meet an ISTP, one of the first things that will probably go through your mind about them is that they are guarded. And that is the truth.
ISTPs don’t let everyone they meet in. They are fond of analytics, and they will judge you in detail before allowing you to become a part of their lives.
And even when that happens, they will never allow you to know every single detail about themselves.
This might give you the feeling that they are always holding a part of themselves back—which they are, indeed.
The people who belong to this personality type are mostly introverts who like to keep their personal matters to themselves.
They are usually reserved and incredibly difficult to get to know which often makes them appear mysterious.
But when an ISTP chooses you to be a part of their life, you can consider yourself pretty damn special because they don’t give this type of privilege to just anyone.
4. They need a lot of space
When you love someone, you want to have their full time, undivided attention, and you can’t understand that they need to have some time off from you, which is exactly what ISTPs are doing.
But being closed and always craving freedom, ISPTs find their personal space of crucial importance.
Although this can be a good thing, it can also make you feel left out, ignored, unwanted or even unloved.
It can make you question your partner’s love for you, your entire relationship and it can make you feel emotionally neglected.
The fact is that this personality type always needs some alone time and that you should never blame yourself when they ask for more space.
It doesn’t mean that they’ve gotten tired of you or that you are starting to bore them.
It’s just that they consider their freedom to be one of the most important things in life, and if you want to have a successful relationship with this type, you should never deprive them of their independence.
5. They are challenging
Having all of this in mind, you can conclude that ISTPs are quite challenging and not easy to handle.
They are known to be stubborn and complex because they always question and analyze everything.
When you are with them, you can never expect them to fit inside the box or to be ordinary.
Sharing a life with an ISTP can be difficult, but their qualities make it worth it!
