ISFP or INFP?- You decide

Hey fellow people of different psychological persuasions,


What was once a fun personality test has now become a personal obsession to figure out which type suits me best. After extensive testing and soul-searching I concluded that I am an IXFP. However there is significant overlap with INFP and ISFP, and I feel like I’m teetering on both at the same time. Therefore, I’d like an outside opinion if possible.

Let me begin by saying that I have a very difficult time expressing myself verbally, and so I turn to writing in order to organize and express my thoughts at my own leisure. However, my thoughts are so muddled that even writing them down coherently is a chore in and of itself. As an example, I must have revised this paragraph at least ten or more times in order to accurately and thoroughly explain what I am trying to get at…wow, I barely even started writing and I’m already getting bored and frustrated with this….time to take a break.

Okay, I’m back…So, I’m not sure where I’m going with all of this, but the point is that I pretty much suck at communication. That is why I like to express myself through action and random acts of whatever. Moving on…in order to make this as clear as possible, I’ll just go ahead and make a bulleted list of personal attributes which may help in distinguishing ISFP from INFP:


-I hate reading, unless it is something incredibly fun, interesting, or personally relevant. I also suck at comprehension and tend to skip around out of boredom.

-I’m not an intellectual and have a hard time learning and absorbing bookish knowledge. I am instead a hands-on learner who likes to figure things out on my own rather than following a specific procedure.

-I have exceptional organization skills and can clean house like there’s no tomorrow. Again though, there is no plan of attack…I improvise as I go along.

-I am very detail-oriented when it comes to things that I care about, but I also get annoyed by people who are so caught up in the details that they miss out on the big picture.

-I hate it when people ask me vague questions, and so I want them to be as specific as possible. On the flip side, I don’t answer questions specifically and tend to be vague and indirect with my answers.

Example: What’s your favorite color?
Practical Response: Blue
My Response: I don’t know. Probably blue…I guess. It depends on my mood. I normally prefer blue, but sometimes having too much blue around can make things seem a bit cold and frigid. So I might want to mix it up a bit sometimes. Anyway though...I would say blue in general, but, you know, it depends.


-I am great with tools and hands-on activities…except sports, which I suck at (mainly due to lack of care and initiative.) I am also technically-oriented, but I really don’t care how things work. I care more about the uses and implications of technology than how things operate.

-I have a natural affinity for aesthetics, and being a creative and artistic person, I tend to channel that affinity through visual, yet highly abstract art forms that are interpretations rather than depictions of reality.

-I am constantly daydreaming, and I spend more time fantasizing about ideal scenarios than I do putting them into practice. My quest for ideal perfection makes me realize how lame my own reality is, and so I become irritable and depressed thinking about my own perceived inadequacies, as well as the monotony that surrounds me.

-I am very reserved and have a very difficult time connecting with others. I don’t show my emotions and often appear cold and aloof to strangers. Because I can’t reciprocate warmth and emotion, my relationships tend to suffer when emotional intimacy is required of me. Getting personal with me is like pulling teeth, but when it comes to non-personal matters, I can be very playful and sometimes outgoing if I’m around the right people.
(It is for these reasons that I’ve been mistaken as a Thinking type, when in actuality, I am very concerned about maintaining harmony in relationships and base decisions on how they affect others. I just lack the emotional supportiveness that most Feeling types tend to possess.)

I also have a feeling of detachment, in that, rather than deriving pleasure from physical sensations while taking in the world around me, pleasure seems to be derived more from within (through idealizations, perhaps). It's hard to explain, but heck, at least I gave have it a shot.

I’m sure I’m leaving out some things, but it’s already past 7:00 AM and I haven’t been to bed yet. I wonder if bizarre sleeping schedules have anything to do with personality type?…just a random rhetorical thought.


So yeah, any input would be awesome....Peace out.

If you find your head more in the clouds, always thinking of ideas and possibilities, spend a lot of time daydreaming, and therefore have trouble staying in the present, idealise a lot of how things could be or improve....put a lot of meaning and patterns into things, trust inspiration (as opposed to experience) then you could be pretty sure you're an INtuitive.

You sound more S to me since you are hands-on and organized. ISFP's are also idealistic!

You sound just like an ISFP I know. Actually, almost exactly like... How odd.

ISFP, stereotypically.

I got an ISFP vibe....

Want exact reasons why? I'll explain I will try to explain in a relatively logical manner if you want me to, though it tends to be rather difficult for me to breakdown things that I "see" and "visualize" via my Ni.

-I am great with tools and hands-on activities…except sports, which I suck at (mainly due to lack of care and initiative.) I am also technically-oriented, but I really don’t care how things work. I care more about the uses and implications of technology than how things operate.

-I have a natural affinity for aesthetics, and being a creative and artistic person, I tend to channel that affinity through visual, yet highly abstract art forms that are interpretations rather than depictions of reality.

-I have exceptional organization skills and can clean house like there’s no tomorrow. Again though, there is no plan of attack…I improvise as I go along.

-I am very detail-oriented when it comes to things that I care about, but I also get annoyed by people who are so caught up in the details that they miss out on the big picture.

-I hate it when people ask me vague questions, and so I want them to be as specific as possible. On the flip side, I don’t answer questions specifically and tend to be vague and indirect with my answers.

Very much ISFP, these are what stood out.

You sound very ISFP. The vagueness you describe seem more a result of P than of N.