How to Tell if Someone Is Into You, by Personality Type

Laura's avatar

“How do I know if someone’s into me?”

Oh boy. This is a question we get from you, our readers, all the time. You ask us if that Architect classmate of yours is being rude or trying (not very successfully, it seems) to flirt. And what about that Campaigner from work – are they that friendly with everyone, or might they be especially interested in you?

To be honest, the best reply to these questions is probably, “Just ask them.” You can beg all your friends for advice, search the Internet for hours, and write a fifty-page dissertation on that last text message you got from your crush (“k thanks later”???) – and still have no idea how they feel about you.

But you already knew that, right? And if it were so easy to just walk up to someone and say, “Hey, do you like me?” – well, we all probably would have done that already, thank you very much.

So, with that in mind, here are our (very tongue-in-cheek) top tips on how to tell if someone is into you, by personality type.

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Architects

If they’re into you: You’ll have a sneaking suspicion that they disagree with you less than they do with other people. You may also occasionally catch them looking at you when they think you’re not paying attention.

If they’re not into you: Uh, trust us, you’ll know.

Logicians

If they’re into you: They’ll ask for your opinion on various topics, from climate change to abstract art to Southeast Asian history. You may feel weirdly flattered by their attention, even if you’re not totally sure why.

If they’re not into you: They’ll forget your name, even if you’ve already met ten times.

Commanders

If they’re into you: Don’t worry, they’ll ask you out. They may suggest a first date that shows off their skills or their surprisingly good taste – perhaps an outing to the archery range or dinner at some awesome restaurant that you’ve never heard of.

If they’re not into you: They’ll poke fun at you. And, because it all seems good-natured enough to them, they won’t understand why you get upset.

Debaters

If they’re into you: They’ll disagree with everything you say, just to get a rise out of you.

If they’re not into you: They’ll disagree with everything you say, just to get a rise out of you.

Diplomat Personality Types

Advocates

If they’re into you: They’ll give you a copy of their favorite book and say, “I know you’ll really like this” – even though you’ve never told them anything about your taste in books.

If they’re not into you: They’ll judge you so hard if they find out you don’t recycle batteries. (Seriously, though, you should.)

Mediators

If they’re into you: Let’s just say that anonymous love notes will be involved. And yes, those notes will be written in rhyming verse.

If they’re not into you: If you ask them out, they’ll have a really, really, really hard time saying no. In fact, they may marry you just so they never have to let you down.

Protagonists

If they’re into you: They’ll ask you on a first date that will last approximately six hours. At a minimum, expect to visit a museum, climb a mountain, and volunteer at a soup kitchen.

If they’re not into you: They’ll set you up with someone else. “Trust me,” they’ll say, “I’m really good at this.”

Campaigners

If they’re into you: They’ll want to spend as much time with you as possible, even if that means tagging along while you run errands. Also, even if you tell a joke that isn’t particularly funny, they’ll laugh so hard they start crying.

If they’re not into you: They’ll still want to be your friend.

Sentinel Personality Types

Logisticians

If they’re into you: It might take them a while to ask you out, but they will. And when they do, they’ll put a surprising (and touching) amount of effort into that first date. If they take you to a museum, for example, you’d better believe they’ve already read the exhibition catalog and can quote it verbatim.

If they’re not into you: Don’t worry, they won’t lead you on. At all. No coy smiles, no accidentally brushing your arm, nothing. Flirting is more or less a foreign language to these types.

Defenders

If they’re into you: They will wait so, so, so patiently for you to ask them out. Seriously, you’ll need to make the first move on this one.

If they’re not into you: You’ll catch them side-eyeing the clutter in your car/purse/backpack/office/etc. Yes, they’re judging you.

Executives

If they’re into you: They’ll give you a PowerPoint presentation about your potential relationship, including a slide titled “Mutual Benefits.”

If they’re not into you: You might catch them acting as if they’re your boss – even if you don’t work for them.

Consuls

If they’re into you: You won’t have to guess. These are the personality types who’ll ask you on a second date ten minutes into the first date.

If they’re not into you: They might rope you into a group outing so they can spend time with the person who is actually the object of their affection.

Explorer Personality Types

Virtuosos

If they’re into you: They’ll tolerate your presence – and maybe even seem to enjoy it.

If they’re not into you: They may walk away while you’re talking to them. Try not to take it personally.

Adventurers

If they’re into you: They’ll be kind and perhaps even warm toward you, but they won’t really open up until you paint pottery together.

If they’re not into you: They’ll avoid painting pottery with you as graciously and kindly as they can.

Entrepreneurs

If they’re into you: They’ll do their best to impress you – without making it super obvious that they’re trying to impress you, of course. They might put extra effort into their appearance, pick up the tab whenever you’re out together, or tell you all about the supercool thing they did last weekend.

If they’re not into you: They’ll ask you for an introduction to your friend/classmate/business associate.

Entertainers

If they’re into you: Expect some big gestures: fireworks, skywriting, horseback rides on the beach. But don’t be surprised if they show up late for nearly all your get-togethers.

If they’re not into you: They’ll still act like having a conversation with you is the highlight of their day, and they might even flirt a little, but – sorry to say – there won’t be any skywriting.

But do you “like” like this article?

Well, readers, what do you think? Do any of these tongue-in-cheek personality descriptions ring true? And how do you act when you’re into someone? Let us know in the comments section!

Further Reading

Online Dating – Does Your Personality Type Think It’s Pointless?

Three Ways Your Turbulent Personality Trait Can Mess Up a Date – And How to Fight Back

Can Romance Last?

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Comments

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A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
Yasssss!!! This so accurate. When i crush on someone they become my world. I see no one but them, i literally can't take my eyes off them, and ughhhh if they spot me staring. i try best to be around them. I want to know everything about them. I never been in a realtionship before but crushes are exciting to me And embarassing since when i get too excited i loose my brain, logic and control. That might be due to my age. I am a teenager but i am getting better. Does anyone have advices on how to act like myself around my crush or when i am nervous generally? I struggle with that.
ENFP avatar
Well it was true to a point..but then acting weird..naawww
A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
Now, i noticed i act not like myself but in a quite way
A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
The debater will never know if anyone likes them or not :(
ENTJ avatar
It's not about the Debaters. It's about us not being able to tell if they (the Debaters) are into us or not
A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
Of course I read it wrong.
ENTJ avatar
Haha, no worries! If we ever happen to like a Debater, things will be confusing (according to the article) :P
A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
Ok, as an Adventurer, (Turbulent) I wouldn't be brave enough to even go out and try pottery or art classes(even though I would like them). Genuinely took me a while before I realised it was about the actual personality types, not people who liked people who have those personality types. (I've never liked someone at school or anywhere else, the first situation is how I reacted when I thought one of my classmates who had been out for a few days looked cute, but then stopped/calmed down the next day (it never went past the first situation), I've only really "liked" people I probably just admire lol) what would I do?: 1. randomly gaze at you, it'll start like "Omg they're so cute/hot!!", then I feel like I don't have enough of them, so I look at them again. 2. If I like you enough, I'll make up thoughts of you in my bed or walking around in my living room (being hot, wearing really short clothes, having a crush on someone else and getting really excited when they see them) 3. and NEVER asking them out.
INFP avatar
The Debaters one was so funny! Anyways, how do you tell if a Debater is into you IN A FOOLPROOF WAY?
ENFJ avatar
To just ask wheter they like you or not - if you are prepared to walk away when they reject you. But the fact that you dare to ask will probably make you all the more interesting to them.
ENTP avatar
I don’t think there is a foolproof way to do anything, when it comes to romance.
A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
First off- LOOOL at Debaters. That is actually funny as heckle lol But for me personally, there are a few main ones. 1- I go out of my way to talk to you. As in if I have a class on the West Wing or my office is on the West side of the building and your class or job is on the east side, and there’s literally *ANY* conceivable possible reason I should be over there (Ope, I ran out of paper clips. Oops, I need a stapler. Oh darn I need to look on the other side of the building for some extra printer paper I forgot I keep in the drawer right under the printer, aw man I forgot my homework assignment for my next class in my home room even tho I already dropped all my supplies for third period off in the third period room, etc. lolol) that’s a clear one. 2nd is Eye Contact and a distinctly genuinely happy and expressive smile. I smile one way when I say “I hope you Have a nice rest of your day! :)” vs “Hey, I thought you did a great job at (blank activity) yesterday! :D” the former is something I’ll say to everyone I see no matter what time and place in public and you will see me say that to *MANY* people often if you see me wrapping up literally any conversation with anyone. The other obvious one is instead of trying to spark a debate or create a controversial discussion like I do with my normal friends all the time, I don’t around people I like like that. I try and cater way more to casual conversation and simple small talk *much* more than I would a deep debate about an intellectual topic they may not find interesting. 3- A bit less subtly, but less frequently, I’ll do something silly/stupid to try and get their attention, that seems like it goes against all pre conceived logic and reasoning and my rationalistic personality bc it does and hope I can get their attention for something. 4- Much more subtly and least common is sometimes I’ll get extremely quiet and like completely switch off my Extravertedness and outgoing friendliness and become a total shell of myself and go somewhere I don’t think you’ll notice me or pay attention to me so I can focus on calming myself down and neutralizing/stabilizing my emotional balance or thinking about something more rational and practical than a crush/love interest, or in some cases hope that someone will notice that I’m not myself/normal and come up to me and start a conversation about some incredibly distant idea not at all related to them even tho I’m totally thinking about that person lol
A grayscale avatar for an anonymous user
In other words, if I act different around you and think I have done something that may show interest around you in the past, if you can add those things together consistently, pretty good chance I at least find you interesting if nothing else. Lol