# Confused about my type: INFP or INTP?



## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

unleashthehounds said:


> The big one is 'avoiding confrontation'. That doesn't usually show up in INTP descriptions, but it always does in INFP ones.
> The other one is taking it personally when someone expresses a view that goes against my values, but that used to happen more so when I was younger then it does now.


So you don't generally argue for the sake of arguing or enjoy playing devil's advocate as they say INTPs do in many INTP descriptions? I suppose it isn't really part of the Ti function; why do the type descriptions seem so misleading, then? What is it with the people who write the type descriptions? It just seems so... oh, I don't know, unethical. This thread (and reading elsewhere on these fora) has turned my entire view of what the MBTI is, upside down.



unleashthehounds said:


> My INFP friend doesn't appear very touchy-feely at all. I made the same mistake as you, assumed she was a T because of that. When she took the test, she even tested as INTJ! But she doesn't fit the INTJ or INTP profile, but fits the INFP one very well. Normally she is very rational, except when she's upset. It was only after we had a very surreal fight did I make the INFP discovery!


Thanks for this. I probably can't control my behavior very easily when I'm upset, so it's hard to stop myself from doing what I'm going to do, but I'll try reflecting on my behavior next time I get upset. Might be able to provide myself with some insights into myself.



OrangeAppled said:


> I've posted a few times how I don't think most INFPs adopt beliefs arbitrarily; simply because it feels good or bad. Sure, it starts with a feeling, but there is a reasoning out of why that feeling exists (whether or not the INFP chooses to reveal that reason to anyone else...often they probably won't). Sometimes an INFP may be guilty of picking & choosing facts/data to support their belief & ignoring the rest, but that's not always or even often the case. Rather, the INFP evaluates to decide what is worth considering seriously.
> 
> The INFP has been called the "harmonizer clarifier", and that's describing an _internal_ process. There's a need for harmony of feelings (for them to coincide), and to clarify what these feelings mean. Obviously, that process involves reasoning.


Let me see if I got this right: INFPs adopt beliefs due to a feeling and come up with reasons to justify their beliefs. In order to come up with justifications for their beliefs, they might sometimes cherry-pick. But the INFP's belief still has its roots in a core sense of ethics even after having developed a rational basis? Is the justification, then, for the INFP's comfort and peace of mind?

Sorry, there's a lot of questions here... I guess I'm trying to figure out how INFPs think...


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## Seymour (Oct 19, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> Let me see if I got this right: INFPs adopt beliefs due to a feeling and come up with reasons to justify their beliefs. In order to come up with justifications for their beliefs, they might sometimes cherry-pick. But the INFP's belief still has its roots in a core sense of ethics even after having developed a rational basis? Is the justification, then, for the INFP's comfort and peace of mind?


I think description an Fi-based value judgments as just "a feeling" can underplay the nature of Fi. It's more than just a passing emotion or a whim... it's more on the order of congruence and resonance with one's deeper values. There's a kind of underlying sensation of "rightness" that an Fi judgment imparts. It can apply to things outside the moral sphere (like aesthetics), but there's still a sense of underlying harmony and rightness.

Conversely, when an action clashes with one's internal values, there's a feeling of wrongness or dissonance.

Often it can precede (and sometimes continue to elude) logical understanding. That doesn't make it inherently arbitrary despite being subjective. So even thought Fi can value emotions and tends to use them as barometer, Fi is not merely being emotional.


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> So you don't generally argue for the sake of arguing or enjoy playing devil's advocate as they say INTPs do in many INTP descriptions? I suppose it isn't really part of the Ti function; why do the type descriptions seem so misleading, then?


Ah, well that's different! I have no problem playing devil advocate, as long as I know the person I argue with isn't going to take it personally. I could be wrong, but arguing for arguments sake seems to be more of an ENTP trait than INTP.



> Let me see if I got this right: INFPs adopt beliefs due to a feeling and come up with reasons to justify their beliefs. In order to come up with justifications for their beliefs, they might sometimes cherry-pick. But the INFP's belief still has its roots in a core sense of ethics even after having developed a rational basis? Is the justification, then, for the INFP's comfort and peace of mind?
> 
> Sorry, there's a lot of questions here... I guess I'm trying to figure out how INFPs think...


If you read the description of Ti and Fi, they both seem similar in some respects. They are both described as rich, inner worlds. I am guessing the easiest way to tell them apart is that feeling can involve discomfort or pain, or feelings of good or bad. Ti is kinda neutral in those things. It can be affected by feelings, but it isn't comprised of them, if that makes sense?


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## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

> If you read the description of Ti and Fi, they both seem similar in some respects. They are both described as rich, inner worlds. I am guessing the easiest way to tell them apart is that feeling can involve discomfort or pain, or feelings of good or bad. Ti is kinda neutral in those things. It can be affected by feelings, but it isn't comprised of them, if that makes sense?


Sort of... I think I might just be mixing up feelings and values (nod to Seymour). F is more like values, but is unfortunately, and improperly, named feeling? Did I get it this time?

...I think I might be taking all of this in the wrong direction. While it might be helpful to figure out how Ti and Fi are used, and knowing how they're used provides great insights, it doesn't seem like knowing will really help me figure out if I'm more of an F or a T. (If I evaluate the feeling type as one based on a system of values, it doesn't seem to be of much help, because probably everyone has one, and if they don't, it's based on society's values. Plotting murder, kicking babies, and stealing, for example, I'm sure most people can pretty much agree is wrong.) As OrangeAppled said, I was and still am focusing too much on the tiny little details. What do I do now...?

Edit:
I think I sort of understand myself now. I'm confused because I have no religious faith, so I put a lot of my "faith" behind science, if I'm allowed to call it that. I'm often reminded in school that science is largely based on models, which seems like what introverted thinking types make. As such, I have... practice working with models because they're so common in science. Oh, and I really like Carl Sagan's Cosmos (I bet a lot of people do) possibly precisely because he puts meaning into my scientific beliefs, talking about how small this world is and how we should all just get along. I'm saddened when I read in my college/uni's newspaper that the majority students are here so that they can have prospects of making more money instead of making contributions to society. I've often expressed to those close to me that I want a job as a public servant; not for power, but to promote social welfare.

Hanging out in the INTP fora for most of last month has really put a dent in my usual lines of reasoning. Not that it's a bad thing; it's probably good to try to develop myself into a well-rounded person, psychologically. Also, upon some reflection of my past interactions with my friends, I've noticed that most of my friends are probably actually F types. Some are extraverted; others are introverted, but they're probably mostly F types. I've met at least one NT type, and he argued with me a lot, but in a friendly manner, clearly showing that he just wanted to reason something out and bounce ideas off me. I'd often get frustrated pretty quickly, though...

The other point of confusion I have is not sympathizing/empathizing with people in the moment. During a "normal" conversation, when people tell me about their woes, I generally do not seem to have the capacity to feel, so I often just apply canned responses to help the other person feel better. But when I'm by myself with all of my thoughts focused in my mind, I often... think about my interactions with people, to put it bluntly. I also often crave conversations with my closer friends, and although they're generally not deep and may even involve only small talk, simply interacting with them brightens my day.

Movies... While science fiction movies often spark my imagination, so I really like them, I'm more often drawn to drama or anything romantic that doesn't have sex scenes. I can tolerate a few, like the one in Titanic, but they're just not my thing.
<-- Wall-E, too, of course.

So... that's me.


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## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

I originally made this an edit to my previous post, but it's been a few hours since my last post, so I'm making a new one...

I was reading another thread, and I think I might have too many personas... to the point of deceiving myself, so I can't even look inside myself to find my _true type_. I put on different personas with different friends, with different groups of friends, at home, in different classes, on message boards like this one, and the list goes on.I'm never _actually myself_, becauseI _don't even know who I really am._ Probably the only constant is I'm quiet, but even that doesn't apply everywhere. This is disturbing to me, and I think finding out my type could either solve the problem, if I find my true type, or worsen it, if I find another type, like it, and put it on as yet another persona, which could be dangerous.

How do I sort through this mess and find my true type? I guess this goes back to my original issue: Ideally, I would be an NT. After I read some INTP descriptions, I liked the type so much that I started doing things and thinking in ways that I hadn't done before. But NT might just be another persona that I've put on to mask who I really am, and it might not...


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> I was reading another thread, and I think I might have too many personas... to the point of deceiving myself, so I can't even look inside myself to find my _true type_. I put on different personas with different friends, with different groups of friends, at home, in different classes, on message boards like this one, and the list goes on.I'm never _actually myself_, becauseI _don't even know who I really am._


INTP has what is called a chameleon tendancy where your outward personality alters in accordance to who you are with.
INFP has something similar, which they often refer to as 'putting on masks'

When you took the test, is your T/F did you come near 50%? Alot of people on this border have trouble deciding.

You may want to try the function test. It will test how strong each of your functions is (Ti, Fi, Ne, etc). This may help you understand the difference.


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## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

Yes! I do get 50-50 T/F pretty often. What's the function test?

Edit: Are they the two someone claimed was found on INTPforum? I tried the second one and it looks like the test-scoring script has been removed, so that was a waste of time. Now I feel discouraged from taking the first one.


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> Yes! I do get 50-50 T/F pretty often. What's the function test?
> 
> Edit: Are they the two someone claimed was found on INTPforum? I tried the second one and it looks like the test-scoring script has been removed, so that was a waste of time. Now I feel discouraged from taking the first one.


A function test is here:
http://www.cognitiveprocesses.com/assessment/develop_old.html


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## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

> A function test is here:
> http://www.cognitiveprocesses.com/as...velop_old.html


It doesn't look like it works. It just gives me a 404 error when I hit submit.


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> It doesn't look like it works. It just gives me a 404 error when I hit submit.


Well, that's annoying! It used to work :/

Anyway, did you check more boxes under Ti or Fi? Te or Fe?


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## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

I used the hand evaluation method you seemed to intimate and counted the number of checkboxes checked for each function. I broke ties by seeing which had a more even distribution of checked checkboxes in the five main questions for each function.

Here's what I got:
Fi > Te > Ne > Si > Ti > Ni > Fe > Se

So it looks like I have: Ti < Fi and Te > Fe.

Ti could stand to gain at most three more checkboxes checked, in which case Si and Ti would switch places: Fi > Te > Ne > Ti > Si > Ni > Fe > Se.
Fi could lose one, but it would still be first. I wouldn't add or remove any checks from Te or Fe.


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> I used the hand evaluation method you seemed to intimate and counted the number of checkboxes checked for each function. I broke ties by seeing which had a more even distribution of checked checkboxes in the five main questions for each function.
> 
> Here's what I got:
> Fi > Te > Ne > Si > Ti > Ni > Fe > Se
> ...


So looks like you are INFP with a strongly developed Te then!


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## retypepassword (Apr 11, 2010)

unleashthehounds said:


> So looks like you are INFP with a *strongly* developed Te then!


(emphasis added)
It all makes sense now! Somehow, I didn't notice that until you pointed it out: Te is INFP's inferior function.
I must have been confusing my Fi + Te for Ti (right?).


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

retypepassword said:


> I used the hand evaluation method you seemed to intimate and counted the number of checkboxes checked for each function. I broke ties by seeing which had a more even distribution of checked checkboxes in the five main questions for each function.
> 
> Here's what I got:
> Fi > Te > Ne > Si > Ti > Ni > Fe > Se
> ...



Yeah, this suggests INFP over INTP.

Again, don't get too hung up on details. The order of you test here is probably not your actual order of function usage, it's just how you see yourself (does that make sense?). You'll even find you'll test differently some days than others, just as with MBTI.

A lot of INFPs test pretty high on Ti & Ni, but they still test highest on Fi for the J function & highest on Ne for the P function. Trying to determine type by inferior functions will just confuse you more, so don't worry if you test higher on Te than say, Si.
http://www.cognitiveprocesses.com/assessment/surveyOriginal.html


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