# Differences between ISFP and INFP?



## JungyesMBTIno

ISFPs come off as way more emotionally grounded, I think, than INFPs in my experiences with both. ISFPs tend to lay out there true feelings and values with greater ease often, since aux. Se is so concrete in nature, and coupled with inferior Te, makes the conditions of their feelings more easily applicable to any situation as it is happening, while the INFPs seem to juggle a lot of feeling possibilities to the point that weeding out those that involve negative impacts on their feelings can happen too late when something that strikes a nerve comes up, although they tend to have the upper hand with redirecting the impact of the moment on their feelings to some other possibility to dispel the issue from taking over the moment, while ISFPs get trapped more in the moment dealing with what negatively harmed them and have trouble escaping this so easily by ignoring the moment in favor of possibilities that never happened that might be able to support their feelings. The tertiary Ni (aka the tertiary is the "fight-and-flight" function) of ISFPs gives them the upper hand with switching perspectives to cope with blows in the moment, while the tertiary Si of INFPs gives them the upper hand with falling back on personal experiences to cope with what might appear to be a _possible_ blow to their Fi (so they might compare this to something worse that happened before and relive that and be able to handle the current situation better).


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## MissNobody

Grunfur said:


> Really? Because I thought I just liked the artistic element to it and listen to the band. I'm sure others who aren't "IN" would too. There are many reasons why a person would use a certain avatar. I don't see how you can associate that with personality type. That seems like quite a slippery slope. Certain art isn't even exclusive to personality. ISFP, INFP and INTPs can all enjoy the same type of music that I listen to. I base that off of an actual study on music/personality type.


Yep I'm sure they can like the same art and listen to the same music, but do they get something different from it? One might connect with the lyrics more than the music, one might get one meaning from the lyrics whilst the other gets a different meaning. One might be drawn to the colours in a painting, another might be drawn to a specific feature of the painting like the person in it or the scene etc.


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## Grunfur

umbrellasky said:


> Yep I'm sure they can like the same art and listen to the same music, but do they get something different from it? One might connect with the lyrics more than the music, one might get one meaning from the lyrics whilst the other gets a different meaning. One might be drawn to the colours in a painting, another might be drawn to a specific feature of the painting like the person in it or the scene etc.


Yes, but since art is all subjective you can perceive different things from it and simply enjoy that based on acquired taste. If someone is exposed to blue for an extensive period of their life, they might enjoy the color. That has less to do with personality type than it does to the environment and things people are prone to grow up around. Saying that you have a certain avatar based on personality is pretty absurd to me. How can someone acquire something the same subjectively if they experience different things?


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## DJeter

Grunfur said:


> Yes, but since art is all subjective you can perceive different things from it and simply enjoy that based on acquired taste. If someone is exposed to blue for an extensive period of their life, they might enjoy the color. That has less to do with personality type than it does to the environment and things people are prone to grow up around. Saying that you have a certain avatar based on personality is pretty absurd to me. How can someone acquire something the same subjectively if they experience different things?


It's maybe 50/50, but I find avatars that depict real images, visceral real-life images, often reflect Se usage.


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## TheGirlWithTheCurls

Grunfur said:


> How can you determine MBTI type by an avatar? Seems pretty absurd to me.


Yeah fair enough haha, but I think what he meant was it just seems a bit more Sensing, rather than Intuition. Like you know those threads posted like "Guess the MBTI of the person above you by their avatar" ? I think that's what he was going by, if that makes sense.


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## Inguz

Grunfur said:


> Yes, but since *art is all subjective* you can perceive different things from it and simply enjoy that based on acquired taste. If someone is exposed to blue for an extensive period of their life, they might enjoy the color. That has less to do with personality type than it does to the environment and things people are prone to grow up around. Saying that you have a certain avatar based on personality is pretty absurd to me. How can someone acquire something the same subjectively if they experience different things?


 Actually, no, I do think personality type do play _some_ part in music taste for example.


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## Grunfur

Inguz said:


> Actually, no, I do think personality type do play _some_ part in music taste for example.


I said that. But it is still very broad and not definite. ISFP, INFP and INTPs are most into rock/heavy metal for example, but there are a lot of ESTPs who are into that. And not every single one of them enjoys that.


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## Inguz

Grunfur said:


> I said that. But it is still very broad and not definite. ISFP, INFP and INTPs are most into rock/heavy metal for example, but there are a lot of ESTPs who are into that. And not every single one of them enjoys that.


Ah, but I didn't intend it as broad as that. When I'm comparing What are you listening to ISFP vs INFP version I feel that I could listen to a lot of, or at least understand that some may like what's in the ISFP one, while the INFP one feels a bit alien to me, I don't understand it. Even if it's in a similar genre.


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## Grunfur

Inguz said:


> Ah, but I didn't intend it as broad as that. When I'm comparing What are you listening to ISFP vs INFP version I feel that I could listen to a lot of, or at least understand that some may like what's in the ISFP one, while the INFP one feels a bit alien to me, I don't understand it. Even if it's in a similar genre.


Well a lot of INTPs who has similar music tastes as me will not listen to the same sub-genre or whatever. And sometimes an INFP can listen to the same music as me. Music has a lot to it, but there are many reasons as to why one would appreciate music. There isn't a single reason for liking a particular artist or genre. With that said, a load of ESFJs can like the same music as me. Its not easy to base artistic preferences off personality.


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## Grunfur

JungyesMBTIno said:


> ISFPs come off as way more emotionally grounded, I think, than INFPs in my experiences with both. ISFPs tend to lay out there true feelings and values with greater ease often, since aux. *Se is so concrete in nature, and coupled with inferior Te, makes the conditions of their feelings more easily applicable to any situation as it is happening, while the INFPs seem to juggle a lot of feeling possibilities to the point that weeding out those that involve negative impacts on their feelings can happen too late when something that strikes a nerve comes up, although they tend to have the upper hand with redirecting the impact of the moment on their feelings to some other possibility to dispel the issue from taking over the moment, while ISFPs get trapped more in the moment dealing with what negatively harmed them and have trouble escaping this so easily by ignoring the moment in favor of possibilities that never happened that might be able to support their feelings. *The tertiary Ni (aka the tertiary is the "fight-and-flight" function) of ISFPs gives them the upper hand with switching perspectives to cope with blows in the moment, while the tertiary Si of INFPs gives them the upper hand with falling back on personal experiences to cope with what might appear to be a _possible_ blow to their Fi (so they might compare this to something worse that happened before and relive that and be able to handle the current situation better).


That is the longest sentence I've ever read.

I guess something to add to that is INFPs are more likely to get an idea and base their personal feelings off that, whereas specific actions a person makes will be felt by an ISFP and form their own idea of what this action is about. After-all ISFPs do have Ni. Sometimes an ISFP will get mad at someone for something that they assume a person did, because of their Ni. Usually INFPs are more critical of themselves and it is more difficult to express their feelings. This is why a lot of INFPs can become depressed easier than an ISFP.


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## Inure Penumbra

i think you're isfp because of your avatar too..


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## Zero11

Grunfur said:


> Yes, but since art is all subjective you can perceive different things from it and simply enjoy that based on acquired taste.


Your lack of Ni is pretty obvious :wink: we deconstruct the existing patterns on a subjective basis.


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## Grunfur

Zero11 said:


> Your lack of Ni is pretty obvious :wink: we deconstruct the existing patterns on a subjective basis.


And that changes things how?


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## Zero11

Grunfur said:


> And that changes things how?


I found out that there is already a existing pattern for each type but the approach to this can´t be properly explained :laughing: such a fruitful perceiving experience 

It exists and the certainty about it is not only just more a gut feeling. The Avatar is mostly a representation of your Type, unconsciously or consciously. 

- prefered visuals / styles
- prefered scenes
It is a further help in addition to the writing style (a piece of the puzzle :mellow


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## Grunfur

Zero11 said:


> I found out that there is already a existing pattern for each type but the approach to this can´t be properly explained :laughing: such a fruitful perceiving experience
> 
> It exists and the certainty about it is not only just more a gut feeling. The Avatar is mostly a representation of your Type, unconsciously or consciously.
> 
> - prefered visuals / styles
> - prefered scenes
> It is a further help in addition to the writing style (a piece of the puzzle :mellow


That's true, but people still experience different things, so that means, regardless of type, we all base our subjective experience off different things than others and form some sort of attachment to it.


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## Sam Gross

So you see a picture. I would see the picture, I be like, "ok, what about it?" because I see a picture. Plain and simple.
Se.

Can you TRY to find hidden meaning? Durr, of course. It's not that hard to find something in a picture and make it symbolic. It doesn't take 30 seconds to find enough stuff in a picture to think of some mystic, symbolic thing(for lack of better language), but they give that time on tests. But, here is where you get the answer, is it natural to take the 'search for the meaning' mindset? Not for me. What about you?

Hope this helps. I ran away from my Se for a long time because it was so strong and powerful in me. Only recently have I realized just how fitting it really is to me.


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## sopranopera

Hello! I've been a little worried if I'm a mistyped ISFP lately (I've taken the test and got INFP numerous times, and reading through the INFP description I am always saying, "That's so me!" but I just read through details of ISFPs and... yeah.
I'm going to do it... if that's alright with you - can you help me see if I'm really an INFP or ISFP? I'm awfully sorry if this isn't the right thread to do this, but since I am here and someone might be able to help me... I said, go for it.

_*1) What aspect of your personality made you unsure of your type?
*Reading through pages of what the types are like, some types are a bit like each other, and this is the case with INFP and ISFP. I read some articles and posts online about ISFP and felt like I related to them, in a way. Like being action-oriented, having an affinity for beauty and aesthetics, adoring nature and animals... being sympathetic, etc.*

2) What do you yearn for in life? Why?
*I long for independence. I need to know that I am independent; autonomy is very important to me. I can't stand to be tied down without it being my choice... if that makes sense. I am also extremely compassionate and even the slightest idea of someone dying or being hurt or even feeling sad affects me. So I want to help others as much as I can - my dream is to volunteer or work somewhere I can make a difference.* 
**
3) Think about a time where you felt like you were at your finest. Tell us what made you feel that way.
*I don't think I've reached my "finest" yet. But so far, it was probably on two instances of my life. The first when I went to protests and fought for what I believed in and I just felt like I was making a difference. The second was during this past summer, where I had no school whatsoever, no worries about having to study, and I just spent my time watching movies, reading novels, cooking, playing with my dog all day, etc. and feeling free of worries. Both seem so insignificant - but as I said, I don't believe I've reached a time in my life so far where I've been "my finest".

*4) What makes you feel inferior?*

Sometimes, it's when the outcome of a situation is not the one that was expected of me. For instance, we had a quiz in English last week and I wasn't familiar with the material we were studying (and were being tested on) due to neglect... thus I did badly on it, while it's the subject I enjoy the most. I suddenly felt so inferior and almost embarassed compared to everyone else who had done well even if they don't feel as passionate about literature as I do. I also feel inferior when I become too shy to help someone who might need me and then someone just jumps up to them and assists the person in need. *

5) What tends to weigh on your decisions? (Do you think about people, pro-cons, how you feel about it, etc.)
*Almost always how I feel about it. My head plays no role in my heart - I always follow the latter. But I do think about things, I'm sensible and logical; but not as sensible and logical as I am sensitive and feelings-oriented. 
*
6) When working on a project what is normally your emphasis? Do you like to have control of the outcome?

*It depends on the nature of the project! I usually let things go at their own pace, if that makes sense. I don't always have a certain idea of what my outcome should be; I just act, most of the time.*

7) Describe us a time where you had a lot of fun. How is your memory of it? 
*Hmm... we had a debate in class one time, regarding how we felt about the death penalty. I am against it, but I supported it in this instance. Most of the kids in the class were against it, about five were neutral and didn't want to be part of the debate, and only two of us "supported" it. (I didn't really... I'm very much against it) I only did it because I knew that if I were in the team that was against the DP, I'd never have a chance to speak about the issue, and kids who would be very extroverted would be the only ones doing the talking and I'd just sit back and not do anything. When the other girl in my team left because of an illness, I was left alone, opposite fifteen other people who were supporting something different to what I was. But instead of finding that worrying, I suddenly felt relaxed and at ease. I talked about my arguments supporting it and managed to convince four out of the five kids who didn't want to participate to be part of my team. And we won the debate! I was feeling ridiculously happy, even though it was something I did just so I could do what I was passionate about... yeah, you probably think I'm weird - but doing something is better than doing nothing.
*
8) When you want to learn something new, what feels more natural for you? (Are you more prone to be hands on, to theorize, to memorize, etc)
I am a singer/musician, so combining what I want to learn with one of those makes it very easy for me. But because that is impossible most of the time, if it's something I must learn even though I don't care for it (like math, or science) I try to memorize it but it never works (That is why I'm terrible at both subjects). If it's something I am learning willingly, I take in all the information I can about it just learn it easily. 

9) How organized do you to think of yourself as?
*I'm very organized in my mess. I don't have an organized bedroom, there's sometimes books flipped open on the floor and piled clothes on a chair and an unmade bed. I know where everything is, and that makes me content. I like making my bed occasionally and I sometimes enjoy doing housework, but I just don't care for it sometimes. I wouldn't leave my room really dirty or smelly without cleaning it up, though! But I have nearly all my books in a bookcase, perfectly organized, and I hate it when people misplace them. I am a perfectionist in a way; but I'm not organized. *

10) How do you judge new ideas? You try to understand the principles behind it to see if they make sense or do you look for information that supports it?*
I judge them through things I already know and compare them, and then I look for information that supports it. *

11) You find harmony by making sure everyone is doing fine and belonging to a given group or by making sure that you follow what you believe and being yourself?
*The second one.*

12) Are you the kind that thinks before speaking or do you speak before thinking? Do you prefer one-on-one communication or group discussions?*
I sometimes think before I speak, other times I don't. It's very fickle in many ways. I prefer one-on-one communication or being by myself. Groups exhaust me as they're so hard to control and make them see things your way.*

13) Do you jump into action right away or do you like to know where are you jumping before leaping? Does action speaks more than words?*
I need to know where I am before leaping, but when I do, I jump into action right away. Action means more than words - "It isn't what we say or think that makes us who we are. It is what we do".*

14) It's Saturday. You're at home, and your favorite show is about to start. Your friends call you for a night out. What will you do?
*"Thank you, but I'm quite busy at the moment. Maybe we could do it another time?" or if they're incredibly persistant, "Why don't you just come here? We can all watch TV or hang out". If the latter, it's basically just going to be me watching my favourite show and the others doing other stuff and socializing, but feeling happy with the situation. But it's usually the first one. I'm not really fond of going out unless there's a purpose to it. I wouldn't really want to miss the latest episode of my favourite show just to go out with friends. *

15) How do you act when you're stressed out?
*I sometimes get awfully angry at the people around me, which makes me feel really angry at myself at the same time; snapping at them for the littlest things, for instance. I sometimes cry. But the feeling of being stressed out doesn't really go away until I either have a breakdown of tears or until I sleep it off. Both usually do the trick. 

*16) What makes you dislike the personalities of some people?
I dislike people who judge someone before they know them, I hate bullies, I dislike anyone who is manipulative and nasty, people who lack compassion and sympathy for others, people who don't care for basic rules like civility, people who don't respect others... and a lot more, actually. But if their virtues make up for them, I can sometimes overlook these. But I really can't be friendly with someone who flatly tells me to, "get over it" when I'm depressed or someone who has power to do good in the world and change it in a good way but cares for far more superficial things. 

17) Is there anything you really like talking about with other people?
*I like talking about past experiences on situations, movies or shows or books I like, wondering what the future might bring, etc. but I'm more of a listener and an observer, sometimes.
*
18) What kind of things do pay the least attention to in your life
*I don't mean this in a gross way, but I don't take great care of my personal hygeine. I don't take showers every day and I might spend a whole weekend wearing the same clothes at home if I don't happen to go out for some reason. I just neglect it because it doesn't feel that important to me. I'm not saying I smell or I'm disguisting - I just don't care that much for it (don't worry, I change my underwear and I do take at least two or three showers a week). I also don't pay attention to things that don't intrigue it. I can see past the meaning of certain things easily, but if something hasn't captured my attention, I don't pay much attention to it.
*
19) How do your friends perceive you? What is wrong about their perception? ? What would your friends never say about your personality ?
*I don't really have that many friends. They're more like close acquintances than people I can fully trust and look up to and have them feel the same way about me. A "friend" of mine keeps trying to change me (I suspect he's an ESFP, but I'm not sure) like he always bugs me about straightening my hair or wearing more fashionable clothes rather than cute and comfortable outfits that make me happy. He keeps insisting on giving me a makeover; another friend of mine is the same way. She insists I should cut my almost waist length curly hair shorter because it's more fashionable and she says that more guys would be interested in me if I conformed to their standards. I just say no to both; I can't and won't be changed unless I want to. I am very strict about that. I don't care about fitting other people's standards and doing what is expected of me, I want to do what I want (without really harming anyone, though, I'd never want to make someone feel sad or upset because of me). Today a friend and I were talking about having difficulties working with groups and I said, "When they grouped us up last week it felt as if my word had no contribution to the conversation you guys were having and as if I'm not respected between you..." and she just said, "You always feel that way, no matter what the situation". There's people around me who see me as woefully naive, sweet and extremely innocent (all of which are partly true) and others who see me as an emotionless robot, a machine with no feelings. It is incredibly hurtful. Some make fun of me even if they think we are close, because that's how they deal with things. I wish they'd understand that I have different priorities than they do.*

20) You got a whole day to do whatever you like. What kind of activities do you feel like doing?*_
Whatever I like? Yay!  I feel like going on flower fields and listening to happy music and drawing and running around by myself. Then I'd go somewhere with animals and I'd play with them until I got tired. Then I'd walk around a quiet town listening to music on my iPod and I would finally reach a small cafe. I would have a book with me, perhaps a classic, and I'd stay there for hours with a cup of hot cocoa. Then I'd play the piano and sing at the top of my lungs, maybe perform in a musical... Then I'd paint a little more, do weird hairstyles with my hair, spend time reading with my dad, if possible I'd arrange to meet my online friends, I'd watch movies, I'd travel, I'd do gardening, I'd go have a lively debate with someone who is a talented speaker, I'd do things I'm passionate about. I'd procrastinate a bit. Then I'd try on period costumes. And so much more.

Thank you! If anyone can help me, I'd be grateful.


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## Acerbusvenator

@sopranopera make a new thread.
It's not nice to hijack someone else's thread 
And the rules tell us that we shouldn't revive an old dead thread.


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## sopranopera

Acerbusvenator said:


> @_sopranopera_ make a new thread.
> It's not nice to hijack someone else's thread
> And the rules tell us that we shouldn't revive an old dead thread.


Oh, I'm awfully sorry! I was just looking through threads and found this and didn't think that they'd mind... it's not that old, it's only from September 2012!  But thank you for the note! I will make a new thread ASAP.


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## Queen Qualia

BroNerd said:


> Yes there are some important differences.
> Do you relate more to Se or Ne?
> 
> Se
> Extraverted Sensing: Experiencing the immediate context; taking action in the physical world; noticing changes and opportunities for action; accumulating experiences; scanning for visible reactions and relevant data; recognizing “what is.” Noticing what was available, trying on different items, and seeing how they look.
> 
> Ne: Extraverted iNtuiting: Interpreting situations and relationships; picking up meanings and interconnections; being drawn to change “what is” for “what could possibly be”; noticing what is not said and threads of meaning emerging across multiple contexts. Noticing the possible meanings of what you might wear: “Wearing this might communicate…”




LOL, I do all of these.


But definitely ISFP.

Edit: sorry, didn't realize this was an old thread


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## TheGirlWithTheCurls

FiguringItAllOutAsAlways said:


> LOL, I do all of these.
> 
> 
> But definitely ISFP.
> 
> Edit: sorry, didn't realize this was an old thread


All good, I like reading peoples opinions anyway


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