# Is an NF ever really SURE about their type?



## Kate7 (Jul 29, 2010)

Hi there, it seems to me that NF's have the MOST trouble deciding once and for all which frigging type they are! 

Why is that? And is there anyone out there who thinks they can describe each of the NF's in a short, sweet way that really pinpoints each of them so you know INSTANTLY which one you are??

Thanks, look forward to chatting with you all


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## minkaybell (Aug 15, 2010)

are you kidding? we're the most sure. As an INFP, i just _knew._


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## viva (Aug 13, 2010)

I have to agree with the above. I have never doubted my type... which, in some ways,_ makes_ me doubt it because it seems so bizarre that an indecisive person like me would be able to figure out their type with such ease. :tongue:


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## Hastings (Jan 8, 2011)

Only the INFPs.


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## Tad Cooper (Apr 10, 2010)

I think extraverted NFs have the hardest time with type XD I definitely did. Maybe because we let other people's opinions get in the way of gut instinct?


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## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

I am NT and I had a terrible time deciding. I thought I was INFP for the longest time. I considered ENTP, ISTP, INFJ...I think a lot of people are unsure when they first come in and have a weaker grasp on what the functions do.


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## uniqueh (Dec 18, 2010)

Idk... at least I am an NF even tho sometimes I think I am a thinker, not sure either am I introverted or eksoverted and sometimes I am not sure am I more P or J.
Well ENFP 4w3 or something like that seems to closest thing, not sure about it and either I dont care..... anymore. :dry:


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## Kate7 (Jul 29, 2010)

Gosh, thanks for all those comments  

So it seems INFP's have an easier time 'telling' ... would that be right, in general?

I struggle between ENFP or ENFJ or INFJ or even sometimes I wonder if I am a whole diff type altogether, I think I've considered them ALL at one time or another.

I know one should just give up and 'not care any more' but for some reason I do. I guess in some ways, knowing what type you are gives you 'permission' to really run with it and not try and squash yourself into other moulds which, as an NF, you do naturally, just to get on with poeple and life. We are quite good at being whatever is necessary in situations, I think. What do you guys think?

Also, I struggle with who I WANT to be, and who I really am. I'm not sure if our 'true' type is the one we want to be - the one we relate to in our imagination, when we are (if we could be) at our most free-est. Or if our 'true type' is how we actually act every day, no matter how restrained (by good things as well as bad) those actions may be. What say you?


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## Tad Cooper (Apr 10, 2010)

Kate7 said:


> Gosh, thanks for all those comments
> 
> So it seems INFP's have an easier time 'telling' ... would that be right, in general?
> 
> ...


I had the whole "I dont want to be... because...", but in the end you just have to accept yourself, probably why typing gets easier as you get older! I think we all have an outer shell type which people see if they aren't close to us (such as at work and school), mine's ESFP usually! The proper type, ENFP, comes out around people I';m close to and trust.



uniqueh said:


> Idk... at least I am an NF even tho sometimes I think I am a thinker, not sure either am I introverted or eksoverted and sometimes I am not sure am I more P or J.
> Well ENFP 4w3 or something like that seems to closest thing, not sure about it and either I dont care..... anymore. :dry:


 Haha, I have that problem. Everyone around me is very sure of their type and it's only now I know mine! I also can't figure out my enneagram type really, probably 4w3 or 4w5, but could be 7 or 6 too!


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

I tested & still test INTP a lot, but once I understood the functions, I knew I was INFP & did not look back. I still have playful "what if" thoughts, but I don't seriously consider other types. I think it's a big fat myth that NFPs have the hardest time figuring out their types or resist being labeled most. All that idea does is promote inaccurate criteria for typing people; indecisiveness about types does NOT an NFP make. Why else would the most frequent type on this board be INFP? It seems we easily & readily identify with our type.


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## Kate7 (Jul 29, 2010)

OrangeAppled said:


> I tested & still test INTP a lot, but once I understood the functions, I knew I was INFP & did not look back. I still have playful "what if" thoughts, but I don't seriously consider other types. I think it's a big fat myth that NFPs have the hardest time figuring out their types or resist being labeled most. All that idea does is promote inaccurate criteria for typing people; indecisiveness about types does NOT an NFP make. Why else would the most frequent type on this board be INFP? It seems we easily & readily identify with our type.


I identify with INFP in theory, but in practice, when I meet other INFP's, they are so quiet that I can't believe I am one. I am quite warm and social and friendly, you see. I am also intense and introspective, hate answering the phone and am happy with just a few friends etc. But you wouldn't know that unless you knew me well. I wonder, that's all, whether NF's are generally able to relate to others and so end up wondering which person they really are. Is it the 'social face' or is it the private one.

I think the most frequent type on this board is INFP just because we love this kind of thing so much, people analysing, and also because we like communicating with others in writing. It just TOTALLY suits us!


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## timeless (Mar 20, 2010)

I'm pretty sure I'm an INFP, although I do feel a strong connection to ENTP.


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## Mulberries (Feb 17, 2011)

It took me a while to arrive at INFP. I got INFJ and INTP quite a few times, but now having done the cognitive functions test I'm pretty sure I'm an INFP because of the high Fi. For whatever reason my signature results don't indicate that...

There's quite a bit I don't relate to in my type's description though.


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## byebyecitybyebye (Feb 25, 2011)

nevermore said:


> To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.
> 
> - Woody Allen


That is one of my favorite quotes.


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

Kate7 said:


> I identify with INFP in theory, but in practice, when I meet other INFP's, they are so quiet that I can't believe I am one. I am quite warm and social and friendly, you see. I am also *intense and introspective, hate answering the phone and am happy with just a few friends* etc. But you wouldn't know that unless you knew me well. I wonder, that's all, whether NF's are generally able to relate to others and so end up wondering which pers[on they really are. Is it the 'social face' or is it the private one.


I would suggest considering ENFP again......well, at least _I_ am the opposite of you. I CAN be warm & friendly, but you wouldn't know that unless you knew me well :laughing:. I also relate to almost no one..... it seems ENFx types relate to others well though.

Also, everything in bold is NOT at odds with extroversion, FYI. I think people have the idea that if you're a thoughtful person who is complex internally & need some down time that you must be an introvert, because the stereotypical extrovert is painted as a sort of shallow, constantly-on-the-go loudmouth, which is NOT accurate. It's really about where the focus of your thoughts are, how you are most _mentally_ stimulated/energized (when thinking alone or interacting with others), how quickly you're taxed by interaction (you could say that Is have a much lower threshold) and how quickly you tire of being alone and/or unstimulated by something outside of your own mind (Es tend to get bored faster). Of course, not all Is are reserved socially, but they do tend to run down faster. Anyway, just some things to think about.... And definitely look more into the cognitive processes themselves.



> I think the most frequent type on this board is INFP just because we love this kind of thing so much, people analysing, and also because we like communicating with others in writing. It just TOTALLY suits us!


Oh, no doubt....MBTI is a DREAM for INFPs :laughing:


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## Brodyman (Feb 17, 2011)

One trip through the INFP forums and I knew I was home!

I did four different MBTI tests and they all said INFP... not sure why I did 4 if I was so sure... but there it is... time to stare awkwardly at something...


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## LeafStew (Oct 17, 2009)

I think I'm INFJ but I sometimes have doubt about it since cognitive function test said I was INFP. I never really tested INFJ on MBTI test or cognitive function test but it just seams to fit. I'm an organized person and I tend more to replicated pattern on new things which is quite Ni instead of creating new patterns.

For some reasons I got high Ne,Ni,Fi,Ti and kinda low Fe,Te on the cognitive functions test go figure...


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## MissJordan (Dec 21, 2010)

Well, I think NFJs might be okay.

Decision-making usually comes down to your Judging strength.

However, society has a tendency to deem NFs as 'non-desirable' personalities. There's the intellect of the NT, the perserverance of the SJs and the whatever else of SPs (I hate SPs).

The attributes that make you great usually get cast aside as unimportant, so maybe NFs don't _want_ to be NFs. 

<- Closest friends are always NFs...


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

I would have expected NFs to be the most certain of their type, because I think we naturally put a lot of thought into who we are even before learning about personality types and without the help of any tests or profiles etc. I think we would be likely to have an intuitive-emotional sense of identification with our own kind, which I think is something we naturally search for and therefore when we find it it really makes an impression. In my limited experience NFs get really excited and into the whole personality thing, NTs often do too, but aren't quite as passionate about it, and the SJs and SPs are usually just kind of like "oh, uh, ok whatever, next?" The ones I've asked to take the personality test are usually not really that interested or excited by the results. 

So one possibility is that NFs in particular really CARE about finding their true type, and put a lot more thought and effort into exploring this. It seeems to me (I could be wrong, and I haven't done much reading of the other forums) that more frequently the other types just take whatever the test say they are and don't really worry about it after that. 

Here's some thoughts I recently posted in another thread about this:
I have rather wondered if INFPs are more likely to have trouble figuring out what type they are - or accepting and settling into it - ironically since I think we're also naturally inclined to understand ourselves and seek that understanding. But I think we can often be confused for a few reasons.

1) modern 'western' society anyways, isn't terribly hospitable to us, and so we perhaps more than certain other types, have had to stretch ourselves to find a semblace of fitting in - enough to get by. We may have been forced to change a bit, or be actively trying to change who we are into another type that is seen in a more possitive light

2) Guys aren't generally expected by culture to be "Feelers" there are connotations attached to these terms which aren't accurate.

3) We tend to be so good at identifying with others and understanding other people's perspectives, that sometimes we can truely feel and experience like others around us, which can make it hard to tell what is really naturally US, as opposed to our ability to reflect other people. I know personally I'm good at getting a sense of the 'flavor' of someone's communication style and adopting it when talking to them - which can make me look different from my natural self.

4) I think Introverted Judging functions seem to be very concerned with consistancy. For INFPs this plays out in wanting to be consistant with our inner self, so I think the 'inconsistancies' we see in ourselved seem particulaly glaring to us. So we question whether we really are who we think we are, or if maybe really we're this other way. We can often focus on those inconsistancies so much we take for granted the majority of how we really are - even having trouble seeing ourselves clearly.

5) we have ideals at our core, and an important part of our personality type is striving to be our ideal. So, if we idealize traits that don't come naturally to us, we're going to strive to be that way and be reluctant to accept not being our ideal - that's a huge thing for us to deal with, perhaps a lot harder than it may be for other types.

6) I also wonder if most people thing of Feeling primarily in the way it appears as Fe, while Fi may not look as stereotypically like a Feeler because it's less directed toward the outside world.

7) there also sometimes seems to be some mistakes between iNtuition and Thinking, particulaly with cultural expectations for intellectuals to basically be NTs, I think Ns who are academically inclined often assume they must be Ts because somehow we don't think scholars, scientists, and serious philosophers could possibly be 'mushy, weak, illogical, feelers' (expectations which are totally wrong).

I really think that overall INFPs would be pretty likely to just "know" their type, but I also think we can be pretty picky about the profile descriptions, and don't want to just say our type without adding a few ammendments so people don't get the wrong idea.


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## Empurple (May 20, 2010)

Kate7 said:


> We are quite good at being whatever is necessary in situations, I think. What do you guys think?


I was throwing around the possibility just yesterday that possession of 'N' is almost a multi-function - not that it is superior (I don't mean that) - but perhaps it has the most chameleon-like aptitudes. Like a sponge it absorbs whatever ability it needs at the moment and finds a way to assimilate other functions, mimicking them...sometimes to the point that it can cause identity confusion. It would be very hard to substantiate this idea, though.


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## Razvan (Dec 17, 2009)

minkaybell said:


> are you kidding? we're the most sure. As an INFP, i just _knew._


That's exactly what I was thinking. :laughing: I knew how I was, only before I took the test, I saw I was different than most and thought I was weird in many ways, wanted to change many things to fit with the rest. Now I know I need not change, but use those differences to become myself, to become better.

So yeah, after I took the test and read the description, it was fitting so well with all my experiences, I knew too it was so right. And it _feels right_! :happy: In fact, this is what better describes what happened. Everything started to feel right.


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## pageofadiary (Jan 3, 2011)

I wasn't sure about my type for quite sometime. I didn't believe I was INFP, I thought I was ENFP. Every test told me otherwise though. I think it's due to me being a 6w7 that I tend to be skeptical about almost everything.


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## sungod (Mar 12, 2011)

I am constantly doubting myself.. thinking.. Maybe I've changed... I feel SOOO different than I did last month, let alone last YEAR... but no, I keep retesting with tests all over the internet.. I'm the same schmuck


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## Nynnu (Apr 22, 2010)

Well..... Just simply compare both of my MBTI results: the one being displayed on top on my avatar and my signature.

Nuff said....


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## silverlined (Jul 8, 2009)

This one is not sure of her exact type but I absolutely know that I'm an NF.


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## Empurple (May 20, 2010)

Nynnu said:


> Well..... Just simply compare both of my MBTI results: the one being displayed on top on my avatar and my signature.
> 
> Nuff said....


I, too, rage against what my test says, but I've never seen an ENFJ test as INTJ - interesting.


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## Nynnu (Apr 22, 2010)

Empurple said:


> I, too, rage against what my test says, but I've never seen an ENFJ test as INTJ - interesting.


Actually, I just engaged in a discussion with another ENFJ today. She was tested as ENFJ, INFJ, ENTJ and INTJ in just within a year of time.

Both of us agreed that it was caused by stress at work.


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## Jwing24 (Aug 2, 2010)

INFJ. Just makes sense and other than maybe 2x where I tested INFP, I have tested INFJ.


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## kateykinz (Nov 19, 2009)

I have high Fe, Fi, Ne and Ni and have been doubting my type for well over a year now because I can't work out which of them is natural and which has been developed through socialization. I started out as INFP, then switched to ENFP, in recent months have been sure I am an INFJ but have just realized that my Fi is natural but well hidden and my Fe learned and inconsistant, which has come as quite a shock since it wasn't long ago that I told someone that Fi-doms scare me :laughing:


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## unico (Feb 3, 2011)

I found my type (INFJ) easy to figure out and felt further confirmed when I read Jung's Psychological Types and learned more about the different orders of functions.


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## mariana_sueli (Jan 6, 2011)

I don't think I ever feel sure of my 'type'...I sometimes feel I don't even have a type to be honest


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## nottie (Mar 2, 2011)

Nah, I was uncertain at first due to thinking I was an introvert and then not understanding the difference between N and S. But, now that I know, I _know._


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## Razvan (Dec 17, 2009)

Nynnu said:


> Actually, I just engaged in a discussion with another ENFJ today. She was tested as ENFJ, INFJ, ENTJ and INTJ in just within a year of time.
> 
> Both of us agreed that it was caused by stress at work.


In your case(s), I guess the differences appeared because you answered the questions thinking about a particular situation, like work? 

I am a different person at work, I act more like a thinker too, because the nature of my job sometimes requires it, but I still put a lot of soul, so I would still consider I act like an F. It's a matter of how much energy I consume to do something, I can see which requires the least amount of energy and which requires the most amount...what comes natural and what doesn't. So I'm pretty sure I'm an INFP, when I first read it, it all made so much sense, everything just fit into place.


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## hasenj (Sep 23, 2010)

I sometimes doubt, and wonder if I'm maybe INTP. I find myself rather comfortable around NT stuff (computers, physics concepts, philosophy, etc).

I'm not always sure if I really am a feeler; I have a hard time connecting with people. But I'm pretty sure of my idealism, and I always think about romance. Two things I fantasize about: changing the world, and intimate romance.

I don't define myself as a rational. I mean, I do think that I am rational, but I don't go around boasting about how I'm rational and other people are not - it defeats the point. I don't know hot to describe it but it just feels wrong. Where as it seems that NTs emphasize their rationality and define themselves by it.


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## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

hasenj said:


> I sometimes doubt, and wonder if I'm maybe INTP. I find myself rather comfortable around NT stuff (computers, physics concepts, philosophy, etc).
> 
> I'm not always sure if I really am a feeler; I have a hard time connecting with people. But I'm pretty sure of my idealism, and I always think about romance. Two things I fantasize about: changing the world, and intimate romance.
> 
> I don't define myself as a rational. I mean, I do think that I am rational, but I don't go around boasting about how I'm rational and other people are not - it defeats the point. I don't know hot to describe it but it just feels wrong. Where as it seems that NTs emphasize their rationality and define themselves by it.


You can only really tell by the cognitive functions. Not all NT's go around boasting about their rationality, or define themselves by it. Some NF's are into computers, physics, philosophy. And many NT's are very idealistic...and a few of us even care about romance! :laughing:


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## hasenj (Sep 23, 2010)

> You can only really tell by the cognitive functions.


Well, I decided by reading the profiles. INFP fits me way more than INTP.

I'm also somewhat skeptical about cognitive functions. (I've written about them here before). Basically My F is Fi and my T is Ti; not in line with the canonical interpretation at all. I have some Te (negative) and pretty much no Fe.


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## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

Well, I find it really difficult to know what I am right now. When I tested for the first time ever, I came up as an INFP, but I didn't think anything of it because it was "just another okcupid test". When I tested again (and again and again and again......etc....) half a year ago and keeping testing, I tested always as an INFJ. Now I'm afraid of maybe still being an INFP. But the cognitive functions test I took today told me again that I'm an INFJ. But then again: I can relate to INFP (too)... 
Other people said I might ne INTP or ISFP. But I know I'm not an S and I don't relate to the stuff on the INTP forums...
And everything's f***ed up... (sorry). :frustrating:


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## Razvan (Dec 17, 2009)

It's normal to relate to INFPs, we share a lot, NFs are very alike, what exactly do you find so f***** up?


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## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

Razvan said:


> It's normal to relate to INFPs, we share a lot, NFs are very alike, what exactly do you find so f***** up?


lol...oh, sorry if (IF) that came across in a different way than I meant it to. :blushed:
Uhm...I was referring to myself mainly. That I need to know "what" I am and it was about the fact that I'm typed so differently by some people...and yeah...basically this.

I got some feedback from some fellow INFJs. :wink::crazy: And I'm at peace with it - for now. :laughing: 

But I'm glad you think it's normal to be able to relate to you. :blushed:


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## hasenj (Sep 23, 2010)

I relate a lot to INFJs. Youtube videos of INFJs tend to be the most interesting


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