Is The New Term “Otrovert” Really Just a Description of Healthy INFJs?

You may have heard that there’s a new kid on the block in the world of personality theory. Not Extravert, not Introvert, not Ambivert. Do we even need more than that? I asked the same question and discovered this new term “Otrovert” being used to describe the way many people experience “otherness.” However, the more I read about Otroversion, the more it sounded to me like a description of what it’s like to be an INFJ navigating this world with healthy boundaries in place.  

So I went to The Otherness Institute website and thought okay, I’ll bite. I took the test and received this message:

Hi, BECKY GREEN.

Your score is 217/280.

You are an Otrovert.

Being a true explorer, I jumped right in comparing this new idea to the tried-and-true ones we already have about INFJs. Spoiler: lots of people seem to be relating hard to Otroversion but I think it’s a redundant term. I’ll explain why in a moment – but first, here’s the rundown.

What is an Otrovert?

Psychiatrist Dr. Rami Kaminski coined the word “Otrovert” (from the Spanish otro, meaning “other”) to describe someone who is unable to belong to a group and is misunderstood in our “togetherness-minded world.” He describes Otroverts as “empathetic and friendly, yet struggle to truly belong in social groups” or, more simply, as “eternal outsiders.”

Otroversion is not a disorder, he says, and does not represent a lack of social skills. Rather, it’s an innate trait that is part of someone’s identity. Dr. Kaminski founded The Otherness Institute where you can learn all you want to know about Otroversion, and his book, The Gift of Not Belonging was released just this year. The web is buzzing with discussions, praises and criticisms of this new idea.  

The questions I want to explore are: how are INFJs like Otroverts? And are they similar enough that they describe the same personality? 

To figure this out, let’s take the core qualities of Otroverts that Dr. Kaminski lays out for us in his book and compare them to healthy INFJ descriptions. There are four, and they go like this.

Qualities of Otroverts Versus INFJs

1. Otroverts are not joiners

Otroverts are not communal and don’t feel an affinity to any group. So they don’t join clubs, churches or political parties. Even when they try, they don’t identify with the group’s shared values and ideas. 

Otroverts can blend into any setting, so other people may not notice them as being on the outside. But they grow tired when they try to appear as if they fit in. They prefer to find a connection with just one person, and that connection can be very deep.

What about INFJs? Well, they have this same skill to blend in and got the nickname “social chameleons” because of it. INFJs also grow tired when they feel the need to relate to others in a way that compromises their authenticity. They are often part of a small circle of close friends but remain very individualistic and, if they are healthy INFJs, they will not go along with the crowd to please others. They will follow their own path instead of joining everyone else on the road more travelled.

2. Otroverts are observers

Otroverts feel like outsiders in any group, so they observe and never truly participate. The feeling is an uncomfortable one for them. Since they can’t relate to any shared identity, they can see themselves as misfits. As an outsider, they will hang back and watch the people around them, taking in their words, their behavior and their overall vibe. If they observe someone with whom a more meaningful connection seems possible, they will be open to that.

What about INFJs? Do I need to say that INFJs feel like outsiders? While INFJs may join a club or go to parties occasionally, they still have this underlying feeling of being different all their lives. From the outside looking in, INFJs are constantly observing. Their observation skills are honed by their dominant function Introverted Intuition (Ni), which gives them access to an inner landscape where connections and patterns are perceived, and they trust those insights because they are visceral. I believe that INFJs are the most intense observers among the Myers and Briggs types, in the sense that they’re highly intuitive observers who perceive patterns, meanings and emotional undercurrents in people and situations.   

3. Otroverts don’t conform

Otroverts aren’t interested in the latest fashions, the recent block-buster movie, or whether living room styles are demanding more gray this year. They couldn’t care less about societal norms and are not concerned with pop culture unless it somehow relates to one of their deeper pursuits, say, if the latest Oscar-winning movie was about their life-long interest in consciousness.

What about INFJs? This is exactly like INFJs who are already seen as the “weird” ones and, by their own admission, are fascinated by the strange, the mysterious, the fantastical ruminations of their active mind. They typically prefer that world to anything pop culture could ever offer them. The healthy INFJ who keeps their Extraverted Feeling (Fe) in check does not conform under pressure but is authentic and accepting of their own way of being. They are emotionally stable, keep good boundaries and will not betray themselves by buckling to society’s expectations.

4. Otroverts reject the “hive mind”

Otroverts are not interested in the “hive mind” because they care only about their own way of thinking. They feel no allegiance to collective movements because “group think” tires them and keeps them from the unique perspectives that are theirs alone. They would rather stand by themselves and be left out than abandon their individuality and their own original ideas.

What about INFJs? Is there anything more original than ideas emerging from Introverted Intuition? The production of unprecedented thought is Ni’s favorite activity and an INFJ breaks ground within their mind’s universe of new images, scenarios and ideas every single day. I’m not saying they are all good ideas, but they are definitely original to that INFJ and mark their individual experience and journey. So, again, is this another quality that describes the INFJ well, making the term “Otrovert” a bit superfluous?

Dr. Kaminski’s View of Introversion

To give this more context, I want to consider Dr. Kaminski’s take on Introversion. He seems to steer away from Introversion and Extraversion being an energy orientation as its primary focus in favor of something else that many of us, myself included, don't fully grasp.

I discovered I was an Introvert over 20 years ago when we were having a difficult time educating the world about what that term meant.  The word “loner” was still being used, we were still being called weird and anti-social, and people couldn’t understand why Introversion had nothing to do with being shy.

Fast forward to June of 2025 when Dr. Kaminski’s book came out. One thing I noticed is that he seems to change Carl Jung’s definition of Introversion (basically that Introverts focus their energy inward on their internal world of thoughts and feelings, rather than outward on the external world). He still uses the Jungian I/E definitions to some degree, but frames them as  energy experiences inside groups. So, while Introverts get drained in social environments, and Extraverts get energized in social environments, both terms still categorize people by their communal experiences as part of a larger group. Otroverts, on the other hand, experience groups differently and therefore exist outside those communal experiences. 

This is interesting, and I know it strikes a chord with a lot of people. But, among other claims, Dr. Kaminski asserts that “Introverts find it extremely difficult to forge deep one-on-one relationships with others and shy away from opportunities for emotional intimacy …”  What??  

When I read this, it felt like I was going back in a time machine to the days when the face of an “Introvert” was most commonly the one on the news who had just committed murder. Reporters would say “The neighbors said he was a loner and had no friends…” I remember the discomfort I felt at the thought of being misunderstood, again, because of how we were seen in those days.

So I’m asking for patience from our dear readers as I am a seasoned (okay, old) woman who doesn’t think Dr. Kaminski has an accurate picture of Introversion. And I know he doesn’t have an accurate picture of the uniquely nuanced experience of INFJ Introversion.

Perhaps I can’t see the difference between the new idea of Otroversion and the INFJ experience because:

• He claims that his new term “Otrovert” is different from Introvert because his view of Introversion is different from the one we have come to know, or
• I am subjective as an INFJ and have my own experience and expression of Introversion that neatly matches his Otrovert personality, and so I am not an objective judge.   

The INFJ’s Expression of Introversion 

It’s no secret that the INFJ, leading with dominant Ni and supported by secondary Fe, moves towards warm relationships that are deeply treasured and intimate. Fe connects us with people and Ni, the superpower of our type, promises depth and meaning in the relationships of our choosing. Healthy INFJs won’t tire themselves with surface connections because that threatens the energy we need to explore and be ourselves.

So the whole Otrovert way of being matches the unique expression of Introversion that a self-actualized INFJ enjoys, but not the more general version of Introversion defined by Dr. Kaminski, which differs from the theory developed by Carl Jung.

Consider these characteristics of the Otrovert. For me, they match precisely with the healthy INFJ who puts the right boundaries in place with self-awareness and self-love:

• Their own individuality always wins over group identity.
• They value deep, one-on-one connections.
• They are emotionally stable with a sense of self separate from group opinion.
• They are socially capable but still feel different from others, like an outsider.
• They recharge alone with their own thoughts and/or quiet activities.
• They must be free to express their original ideas authentically.

A Tentative Conclusion

Dr. Kaminski is clear about how valuable the Otrovert is to society even as they reject societal norms. Given the support and freedom they need to carve out their own path in life, Otroverts will make contributions to the world that could otherwise be destroyed. This sounds so familiar to me since we have been encouraging INFJs in this same way for the 20-plus years that I have been following personality theory. Even so, I am open to this newly identified type if someone can show me significant distinctions between the NiFe (INFJ) personality, and Dr. Kaminski’s Otrovert … but as for now, I’m not seeing it.