# Can someone explain to me in simple terms the difference between an INFP and INFJ?



## Artisticviewpoint (Jan 22, 2012)

I keep reading these articles about the difference between an INFP and an INFJ but I just... can't seem to grasp the difference. They seem the same to me. Can someone describe to me actual, _concrete_ examples of what an INFP would do differently from an INFJ, and vice versa? Like don't say "Well their auxilary functions are blah blah blah", but rather "Well, an INFP in a group situation would most likely do THIS while an INFJ would do THIS..."

Or something like that. It would really help.

Thanks.


----------



## apatheticus (Nov 15, 2011)

Best solution -- visit this website:

infjorinfp.com

It is an excellent resource, and it'll tell you everything you want to know.


----------



## Dreamer777 (Jan 15, 2011)

In a group situation, if an INFP feels like one of their inner ideals/beleifs/values are being violated, it could cause the INFP to storm out, or erupt like a volcano to the shock of everyone who thought the INFP was such a nice gentle creature. An INFJ would adjust themself to fit in with the group like a chamelian. If it is a group that the INFJ is not fond of, then the INFJ is not going to stick around, but they will be polite about shying away, where as an INFP will "go off" and doesn't care about how bad they may look. Whereas the INFJ cares about how they look/behave, and also is more respectful to people who have different opinions/beliefs. That is the use of Fe, INFJ's can feel how they affect other's feelings, and they can put themself in the other's shoes and feel what they are feeling, even sometimes to the great discomfort of the INFJ because they feel like they are peeping into what they consider the privacy of a person, cause they themselves are very private and respect privacy. They have a tendency to "know" others even when others haven't figured out themself yet, and they are good at predicting outcomes but won't necessarily ever admit what they know/think/feel/"see", again because they think it's private to that person plus sometimes they will second guess their own thoughts if they are accurate or not, plus they don't like confrontation. In short, i think the INFJ doesn't like to do onto others as they would not like others to do onto them, the golden rule. As idealists and humanitarians, they choose a group to identify with and be defenders, protectors, and activists for, and not mainstream society. INFP's see the whole human race as "the group" without breaking it down to sub groups, INFP's have more of world oneness vision to fix the whole entire human race and see them live as one, loving, caring and respectful to one another. INFP's are strong Fi, so we believe if each person gets healed in their heart, then everyone will live together as one in kindness. INFJ's are strong Fe and more into a subgroup thing, not the whole entire human race. They tend to choose whatever subgroup interests them and then see the rest as the ones who cause the distress to this or these sub groups. (Kinda like conspiracy theory, i think Tupac was a strong INFJ, and he was exposing the Illuminati the few rich who rule the governnments of the world and control governments, like the Free Mason Lodge kinda thing, they think that is why Tupac was killed by the Illumati, and as you can see the Stock Market collapse was caused by the rich who control the stock market, to set the world up for socialism, that's why you hear all the talk of Obama trying to turn the USA into a socialilst country, etc.... However i think it's more in the stress eruption of the inferior function of the INFJ that more turns them into conspiracy theorists?? not sure...

INFP's love to enjoy and breathe in nature, rain, etc, and enjoy the hear and now with those things, to stop and smell the roses, whereas INFJ's are too busy thinking in their head to realize to stop and smell the roses, sometimes they don't even see some of what is around them, unless it's something exciting and stimulating impulsively from people usually and they will jump right in without caring about consequences at that point, usually people not nature. INFP's will indulge in nature like lost in a fantasy dreamworld. 

Michael Jackson's Never Never Land Ranch is an example of an INFP.
i think Mother Theresa is an INFJ cause she greatly defended the cause of the group she was interested in, the orphans, but she didn't really stop to smell the roses and float around sometimes in la la land. She was always very intense and serious.
Princess Diana seemed to be an INFP, cause she would stop and smell the roses and float around la la land sometimes with her boys, and she could sit one on one with aids patients, landmine survivors, etc and cry with them so to speak and love on them and hug them. Different typology sites say different things, some say she's an INFJ, but i don't see that, i'm an INFP and i feel like she's my 100% soul sister, i understand her completely, even when she had an affair, i know how hurt and misunderstood she felt by her husband and his palace family, she is so Fi! Mother Theresa is Fe, she didn't consider her own feelings, INFJ's don't even really understand their own feelings much...

Michael Jackson is so Fi! some say he is INFJ, i say no way!  he is INFP!

hope that helps some  and INFJ's please feel free to correct anything i said regarding INFJ's that you don't agree with, i would really appreciate it, i love to learn more and more on personality types.... thx..


----------



## donkeybals (Jan 13, 2011)

Honestly, I think of infj's as more of an aggressive version of an infp. Both are really similar. People like getting into the function process and say infp's are fi dom (make decisions based on the way they feel) and infj's are ni dom (connect the dots on everything). And are completely different. However, in my experiences they are similar, I view infp's of a more laid back version of an infj.

In an arguement for example:

infp will argue based on the way they feel about something and how it fits their values
infj will argue based on what is right

In lots of cases the infp is more likely to "give in" some infj's are really to fight to the death.


----------



## Artisticviewpoint (Jan 22, 2012)

Oh, this is perfect! Thank you so much, guys, you really answered my question.  I think I'm definitely an INFP, then. I mean, I share a few traits with the INFJ (the ability to see subgroups, be polite about differences in opinion etc.), but for the most part I'm definitely an INFP. I get lost in la la land easily, have a strong affinity for nature, and definitely have a strong moral system. So thank you again! Especially you, Dreamer777- you went really indepth and that's exactly what I wanted. You're awesome.


----------



## Hycocritical truth teller (Aug 29, 2011)

@Dreamer777

Youdescribed very well INFJs - really impressed here, having one of my best friends INFJ and my boyfriend being an INFJ i can completely agree with you

and @donkeybals also correct about arguments - as much as i noticed that is how Fi users discuss (best friend Fi dom) and how INFJ think when arguing about smth - and yes they want "justice" and it makes them mad when things are unfair


----------



## Hycocritical truth teller (Aug 29, 2011)

Artisticviewpoint said:


> I keep reading these articles about the difference between an INFP and an INFJ but I just... can't seem to grasp the difference. They seem the same to me. Can someone describe to me actual, _concrete_ examples of what an INFP would do differently from an INFJ, and vice versa? Like don't say *"Well their auxilary functions are blah blah blah", but rather "Well, an INFP in a group situation would most likely do THIS while an INFJ would do THIS..."*
> 
> Or something like that. It would really help.
> 
> Thanks.


Many people would disagree (as i experienced often) but for me this is even better way of seeing which type is who...
personally i tried that kind of approach many times (used also functions - but mostly examples) and honestly it served me very well


----------



## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

Artisticviewpoint said:


> I keep reading these articles about the difference between an INFP and an INFJ but I just... can't seem to grasp the difference. They seem the same to me. Can someone describe to me actual, _concrete_ examples of what an INFP would do differently from an INFJ, and vice versa? Like don't say "Well their auxilary functions are blah blah blah", but rather "Well, an INFP in a group situation would most likely do THIS while an INFJ would do THIS..."
> 
> Or something like that. It would really help.
> 
> Thanks.


Except everyone will have a different experience. Two INFJs will not react the same way. I would suggest picking up Lenore Thomson's book she has some very good examples of INFJ vs INFP. But suffice to say the two are not alike and the only reason people think they are alike is due to Kiersey tagging them as NFs and the shared letters INF. But in reality its more like INFP are Feeling types (living in the world of their own judgments) and INFJs are intuitives (live in the world of their intuitions). 

As far as real world examples that will vary wildly from person to person as type is actually deeper than most people think. Type is more about a pattern of thinking or conceptualizing, than it is about how someone comes across in everyday life, so if you're just looking for real-world examples you're bound to be misled. Any type can exhibit any behavior depending on the circumstances, their persona, the conditions they grew up in, socialization, life experiences, intelligence, etc. That is not what type is about (though that's what most people are actually interested in). 

The reason people give you functional answers is because unless you are only interested in social roles or temperament or the masks people wear or their personas (which is what most of personality assessments attempt to measure) then you can basically just make up your own description and call it INFP or INFJ. But Jung (and even the Myers Briggs folks) lay out a pretty decisive functional criteria for what makes an Introverted Feeling type versus a Introverted Intuitive and they are really not alike.


----------



## Dreamer777 (Jan 15, 2011)

Hycocritical truth teller said:


> Many people would disagree (as i experienced often) but for me this is even better way of seeing which type is who...
> personally i tried that kind of approach many times (used also functions - but mostly examples) and honestly it served me very well


Speaking from an INFP standpoint, many different angles are necessary (such as casual descriptions from other's perspectives, the different website descriptions of personality types, the actual 8 cognitive functions, what they mean and how they work, and how they fit in with a type, some of how the pairs of functions work together, the eruptions of the inferior function, the lack of understanding the shadow function (the "devilish" function) of the inferior function, but not to the point of overwhelming complexity that would lead to indecisiveness on which type is a person, or take away from the simplicity of understanding the basics. My mind works like a problem solver, and my values are to see people happy and healed, and for the whole human race myself included to have fun and a happy life without hurting one another, so in putting these 3 dynamics together of how i function and what end result i want from my functions, i then set about to helping the person understand their personality type for them to be happy and healed, as they will realize how valuable their skills and strengths are to the human race, what they are, how to use them effectively, how to respect other's skills and talents, how to tolerate other types more in realizing those others valuable importance of those others skills and talents to the human race, to appreciate others more, etc... If we get too complex with the pairing of functions etc, we may never reach a proper conclusion of the person's type, thus the whole entire MBTI can be thrown away in the garbage at that point because then it has no value. The MBTI has great value, and without it, we would not even be here on this site having any of this fellowship and conversations, it is a strong foundation of what this site is built up on. It's just that each person is unique, no 2 of the same type is exactly alike, different ones score different percentages in cognitives, have different upbringings, different cultures, experiences, different ages and stages in life, etc, but all in all, yes, we do have a dominant personality type, along with some of the ways from other types, but their is one dominant type we are strong in. I don't think we should lose sight of that by being overcomplicated in analysis and then drawing no proper conclusion, that creates confusion... that's my strong opinion...


----------



## Hycocritical truth teller (Aug 29, 2011)

Dreamer777 said:


> Speaking from an INFP standpoint, many different angles are necessary (such as casual descriptions from other's perspectives, the different website descriptions of personality types, the actual 8 cognitive functions, what they mean and how they work, and how they fit in with a type, some of how the pairs of functions work together, the eruptions of the inferior function, the lack of understanding the shadow function (the "devilish" function) of the inferior function, but not to the point of overwhelming complexity that would lead to indecisiveness on which type is a person, or take away from the simplicity of understanding the basics. My mind works like a problem solver, and my values are to see people happy and healed, and for the whole human race myself included to have fun and a happy life without hurting one another, so in putting these 3 dynamics together of how i function and what end result i want from my functions, i then set about to helping the person understand their personality type for them to be happy and healed, as they will realize how valuable their skills and strengths are to the human race, what they are, how to use them effectively, how to respect other's skills and talents, how to tolerate other types more in realizing those others valuable importance of those others skills and talents to the human race, to appreciate others more, etc... If we get too complex with the pairing of functions etc, we may never reach a proper conclusion of the person's type, thus the whole entire MBTI can be thrown away in the garbage at that point because then it has no value. The MBTI has great value, and without it, we would not even be here on this site having any of this fellowship and conversations, it is a strong foundation of what this site is built up on. It's just that each person is unique, no 2 of the same type is exactly alike, different ones score different percentages in cognitives, have different upbringings, different cultures, experiences, different ages and stages in life, etc, but all in all, yes, we do have a dominant personality type, along with some of the ways from other types, but their is one dominant type we are strong in. I don't think we should lose sight of that by being overcomplicated in analysis and then drawing no proper conclusion, that creates confusion... that's my strong opinion...


i would agree with this - its mostly all the facts i also use when typing someone
only thing that happens to me very often is that my friends happen to be between E or I type...and its almost impossible to determinate which cognitive function they are using as dominant and which as auxiliary...and no, they dont want the test
so me and my coffee buddy often have doubts. Somehow people around us are prone to be ambiverts lol
Anyway but its also very easy for some people...and when i do have problems i tend to look outside the functions into descriptions and then get back to functions. But many different description because some descriptions are very similar on some pages (for types INFJ and ENFJ for example) 

And about being over-complicated 
personally i just take facts from wherever i can get them ...when i need them and which one i need in that moment
if someone gets to complicated you can might as well type person in the end in all 16 types

and what you said "no 2 of the same type is exactly alike" is completely true
for example i know two ISFP gals -their personal order of function is quite different (ofc Fi dom but one is Fi, Fe, Ni, Se,...etc. and the other one Fi, Ti, Se, Te, Fe...etc.). You can see why they are both ISFP when you type them but they are very different as a persons. 
Personally I find generalizing and in the same time personalizing very interesting feature about types. You do type people in 16 types, but also in the same tame you are comparing individual side. Seems like one emphasizes the other and vice versa.


----------



## Worriedfunction (Jun 2, 2011)

Dreamer777 said:


> *Snipped*


You just gave a perfect description of the problems ive been having with the theory. I tend to overcomplicate things for myself.


----------



## Dreamer777 (Jan 15, 2011)

Worriedfunction said:


> You just gave a perfect description of the problems ive been having with the theory. I tend to overcomplicate things for myself.


i notice you show INTP by your user name, but i see you as ENTP!  

i say this because your cartoon at the bottom and the quote following it seem so ENTP rather than INTP! ??


----------



## Dreamer777 (Jan 15, 2011)

Worriedfunction said:


> You just gave a perfect description of the problems ive been having with the theory. I tend to overcomplicate things for myself.


I just came back to this post, and i see you have INFJ, actually the cartoon and saying under it could pass for INFJ, do you feel now that INFJ is your true type??


----------



## Worriedfunction (Jun 2, 2011)

Dreamer777 said:


> I just came back to this post, and i see you have INFJ, actually the cartoon and saying under it could pass for INFJ, do you feel now that INFJ is your true type??


I do actually and it's because of a sudden realisation or understanding of what I believe the functions to be.

Here is a pasted version of something I said to someone else upon realising this revelation:

Incidentally I was dying to come back on here at two in the morning last night, I had a sudden epiphany that made me realise I might just be an INFJ. And I really wanted to tell you lol. If im truely honest id have been happy to be ANY type as long as the functions made sense.

In any case, what ive realised is: Ni IS there; in fact it is so there I overlooked it. But in reality I spend an enormous amount of time pondering and getting in-depth with a single idea or topic in my mind that I have picked up somewhere. I still pick things up and gain sudden understanding off only a small amount of data, but I think that is what any intuitive does.

My social shortcomings when I was younger could easily have come from underdeveloped auxillary Fe, if Ni isn't tempered by an auxillary it can get lost in itself and become completely unexpressed. I know this very well because when I was younger I used to just get lost in my own head with ideas and thoughts, but they would always be specific as opposed to bouncing from one to the other ala Ne.

I am individualisitc, but I have learned it from the experiences in my life and while im still occasionally influenced by the group, (albeit in really subtle ways like certain mannerisms), I am far more self aware because ive thought about it using Ni and saw the value in both keeping the peace and at the same time keeping a part of yourself separate, instead of trying to define myself by others in a rather shallow manner. Sometimes I do...hide a little bit behind a metaphorical wall though
Another thing ive noticed is that I tend to drift off in conversations, when I speak to people unless im really in the moment, perhaps using a little bit of my inferior Se, I tend to just trail off while I think for a second and consider the information in my head. I can think fast, but I prefer to think deeply and get to the bottom of something, for that reason I sometimes make grave errors in judgement when rushed.

Not to mention you said you didn't see Ti in me, but Ti is an introverted function so it wouldn't be readily observable, if you actually look at my posts and if I think about the way I interact with my ideas, I do tend to put more emphasis on hunches backed up by a little bit of correlating data as opposed to Te, inferior or not, which wants the facts, irrelevancies and all. This is because Ti often just wants the things that support the idea, whereas Te wants to know if it has it's facts straight, including anything irrelevant so as to not miss any mistakes.

In fact in an INTJ like yourself I think this is what inclines the type towards theoretical thinking because that big ole dominant Ni is looking at each idea in full and exploring it..sieving it right down to the best possibly realisation. Aux Te exacerbates this by taking hold in a forceful manner, it wants to know how this idea can be applied, what are the facts and actualities surrounding it, it fine sieves it even more until something, (ok really obvious and cliche example but it seems to suit my purpose), like the Big Bang Theory comes out.

In an INFJ, the aux is Fe so it is more people focused, ive realised this in myself during my last job, I wanted to preserve peace amongst the staff, but at the same time I was deeply interested in the thoughts behind their motives and the reasons some of them didn't mesh together very well.

Lastly of course is inferior Se. Ive been forced to use this a lot lately because ive been helping my dad and his friend with a loft extension, ive noticed with Ni I tend to see practical solutions to very specific problems, like a door frame being too far out for a door to shut properly, but I only realise this after thinking about it for a while.

My dad on the other hand is a Se dom I believe, possibly even ESTP an INFJ's opposite, he sees solutions to practical problems far faster than me. "

* Of course I could always be wrong but above all I definitely detect Ni, it's just so damn hard to explain in a clear manner; it's like a slightly subconscious instinct that tends towards the metaphysical, I have an idea and it picks at it like a crow picking at the corpse on the gibbet, I suddenly find that ive come to an answer on something ive been thinking about for a long time, without really being aware of how I found the answer......

Of course.....I could be wrong.*


----------



## Dreamer777 (Jan 15, 2011)

Worriedfunction said:


> I do actually and it's because of a sudden realisation or understanding of what I believe the functions to be.
> 
> Here is a pasted version of something I said to someone else upon realising this revelation:
> 
> ...


I think ur perfectly right! You got that Ni thing real strong! and your cartoon and quote suit INFJ too, it's just the exploring side made me think ENTP cause they love to travel and explore and they can be magical in their own way too, but INFJ's by far are more prone to seeing the world very magical and see all those amazing invisible wonders like in your quote, like no other type can, INFJ's are truly very amazing!  Complex to understand, but really amazing, at least to me an INFP, i think INFJ's are truly unique and amazing! Not that i understand them that well, but i understand them enough to know as to me an INFP that i find them interesting and amazing! As an INFP speaking.


----------

