# Uh, is this thing I just read about INFPs true?



## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

melody5697 said:


> I just saw somebody on some forum say that INFPs are social butterflies. I skimmed through the rest of the thread and nobody said it wasn't true. But aren't social butterflies usually extroverts? I only found out what a social butterfly is last night, so I may be mistaken, but a social butterfly wouldn't be described as quiet, right? And INFPs are quiet, right? Am I confused about something, or are all the people who posted in that thread confused?
> ...This is supposed to be in the INFP subforum. I guess I misclicked.


My infp bff is much louder than I am( I'm an extrovert ). And if comfortable with the right people and situation she can be a social butterfly ( like if people were to bring a stranger to her bday party she'll make the stranger feels welcome / when she's interacting with her students/ if she's with me and I introduce her to someone I'm close with ( I'm guessing I'm her comfort zone ) . However - I wouldn't call her a social butterfly - she's quite private and reserve for the most part and quite selective on who she let enter her life - unlike me- she knows who to avoid and can dismiss people first impression wise much faster than I can . 



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## Turlowe (Aug 4, 2014)

this exactly^^


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## TheJ (Aug 3, 2015)

I am not a social butterfly. I tend to give positive feedback and encourage intelligent discussions but rarely do I start them or are the "main part" in them.


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## Blessed Frozen Cells (Apr 3, 2013)

I can be a social butterfly but I don't want to be one lol I'd rather hang out with two people the most at a time because too many people exhausts me.


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## misfortuneteller (Apr 4, 2015)

IxFJs are the social butterflies and can be mistaken for extroverts because of how open they are but that's because of their aux Fe.


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## Sponsor (Oct 2, 2015)

I can understand that, I love my time alone and I need it, I can spend one month without talking to anybody, but I also love my friend and when I'm with a group of people I like I can be very extroverted but t's actually a fake extroverted because I'm creating a extroverted character, I believe that I do this just because I need some attention or whatever...


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## EccentricSiren (Sep 3, 2013)

I'm an INFP, and I can be quite social in the right contexts. I'm also more on the ambiverted side. I think an INFP can really open up around like-minded people or with other people perceived to be weird, or other people who just get their ideas. That's kind of how I am. I'm really shy in some settings, especially those that seem really business-like and formal. But put me in a room full of artists or a gathering of hippies or somewhere where everyone's "weird" and I suddenly want to talk to everyone and find out who they are and what they think and what they find interesting. Or I might just observe them in utter fascination, depending on the day.
I came across a discussion here on PerC about a celebrity who is often typed as INFP. Someone who had known him personally in high school said something along the lines of "He was always life of the party. There's no way he's an introvert." And I thought, "Really?" I can be the life of the party, and I was pretty much all through college. Not the life of the frat parties the ESxP types always did really well at, but the parties with my friends and even people who I didn't know but who seemed like they could be kindred spirits. And I think I was that way because I either bullied or ignored in school before I went to college, and in college, I finally felt accepted and I was all like "YAY! People like me! They actually want to hang out with me and they go along with all my kooky ideas!" The celebrity in question has said he was bullied until he reached high school, when he finally found like-minded people to hang out with. I don't know how this guy feels after the party, and that would be, IMO, a big question in sorting out if he's E or I. He might have a great time, but then prefer to do his own thing the next day, which is kind of how I am, or he might be all "YEAH! Let's do that again tomorrow! Or in 5 minutes!" which would make it very unlikely he's an introvert.
So all this rambling to say, yes, you can be a social butterfly and an introvert if you're in a setting where you're comfortable.


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

This does not characterize INFPs. Occasionally, certain subtypes, say a social 9, can take on this _appearance_ for a short period. For instance, my INFP e9 friend can flutter from person to person in (not groups...she zooms in on individuals...she is in no way the "center") larger social situations, and she is not shy. People readily like her and it doesnt occur to her that they wouldnt want to interact with her. I am burdened by a sense of being unwanted and having low energy to motivate me. So in such situations, I am the other stereotype - hiding in a quiet corner and counting the seconds until I can escape the situation. I like loud, chaotic environments when _I do not have to interact_, ie concerts.

However, the larger picture reveals that my friend does not do this regulalry and she has more close, one-on-one friendships than belonging to many social groups and having surface interactions. I think her substype makes her seek "merging" and she seems to do it rather well (whether she feels these are genuine connections or not is a different matter).


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## 318138 (Oct 1, 2015)

As an INFP, I'm anything but a social butterfly when it comes to spending time with people I'm not entirely comfortable with. 

However my closest friends always mistype me as an ESFP or ENFP, according to them I'm anything but the 'quiet and private' type. With my closest friends, they can call me up in the middle of the night to go to fishing or build a fort or prank on our neighbours and I would reply with an enthusiastic yes.


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