# Difference between INTP&INFJ



## Night & Day (Jul 17, 2010)

Sometimes I feel like a less judgmental INFJ with less "warm" feelings, and sometimes like an INTP with more openness to sympathy. It's so easy to confuse the two. What really makes an INTP and INFJ (both type 5) different?


----------



## myosotis (Jun 30, 2010)

I would say look up the difference between Ni and Ne.. they can look similar but they are different. INFJs are Ni-dom and INTPs have Ne in the aux position. A quick (but not necessarily accurate) way I personally use is to see if the person has a lot of different interests (Ne) or tend to focus more on one area (Ni). Hope that helps! 

Edit: Here is a good site for looking up functions:

http://www.enfpforum.com/Wiki/tabid/56/Default.aspx?topic=Cognitive+Functions


----------



## JungyesMBTIno (Jul 22, 2011)

> A quick (but not necessarily accurate) way I personally use is to see if the person has a lot of different interests (Ne) or tend to focus more on one area (Ni).


I find it interesting that people associate INTPs with having a lot of different interests. It seems like most of the ones I know have very limited obsessions that have always been very similar since childhood. Einstein's so the poster child for this (he was basically math and physics obsessed his whole life and couldn't have cared less about any of the other sciences). I always thought of INTPs as the ultimate specialists in their fields of interest for the most part (only one I know bucks this trend). I would say that Ni users tend to hyper-focus on single ideas more than Ne users though, who will more often consider many at once to derive a conclusion from something.


----------



## Lilykit (Jan 15, 2012)

I think that the issue here is the strength of the Ti in the INTP versus the strength of the Fe in INFJ's. Those are the functions they share, and the two that you seem to be struggling with. INTP's seem more interested in literal puzzles, whereas for INFJ's, people _are_ the puzzles and sometimes, there isn't a right answer. INTP's, in my experience, generally prefer an actual answer. INFJ's are more ... I don't want to say spiritual, but there's not really another word for it. INTP's see the spirituality, but don't connect with it as much. The INTP's use their internal world for facts, albeit their internal world is just glorious. INFJ's use their internal world to, if you'll pardon the cliche, get in touch with their soul.


----------



## Night & Day (Jul 17, 2010)

@Lilykit It's an odd thing that I relate to both of those INTP and INFJ contrasts you used, that's why I'm unsure. xD 

I should add that I'd test as INFJ all the time when I was 14-15. Maybe I just have a well developed Fe...


----------



## Lilykit (Jan 15, 2012)

Hmm. A new theory has come out that states children 7-13 only have three letters, and the secondary function develops with age. Perhaps that might be the way to determine this. When you were young, I'm assuming you were curious, since that's in both of the INJ and ITP personalities. I would give you links, but I haven't posted enough yet.

INJ's - off in their own little world, in a dreamlike quality. 
ITP's - take things seriously, seldom frivolous or flighty

That might be the deciding factor.


----------



## Night & Day (Jul 17, 2010)

Actually when I was younger (13 and under) I'd say I acted more like an xSFJ. I was much more outgoing and enjoyed talking to people I knew well. Although, I was still quite shy. I was more interested in having fun and being positively viewed by others. I can't recall what made me change into a much more serious and introverted person.


----------



## Lilykit (Jan 15, 2012)

Both the ITP and INJ child are said to be VERY curious and both ask many questions, and no one is completely introverted. You also said:


> enjoying talking to people I knew well.


 That suggests introvert to me. That, and the types you're asking about are Introverted. 

How good are you at understanding people? Not communicating or empathizing with people, but understanding them.


----------



## 1130211 (Jan 16, 2012)

Haha I know what you speak of. Perhaps you should understand a little about the J on the end of the personality types, it's ordered from greatest to least, and a lot of times people don't know that INTP is essentially a 'judging' type along with the counter-intuitive opposite INFP. What makes these types special is that they've superseded their J-typology with an P-typology. Even though these types judge they've allowed themselves to be perceptive-judgmental because they can shift from YES or NO, not formulate an opinion an stick with it: which J-types are known to do, (and not that it hinders their cognitive functions either in that respect).


----------



## Obsidian (Aug 10, 2011)

The differences are that one is a feeler and the other is a thinker, and that one uses Ni and the other Ne.

If you were testing as a feeler when you were younger, it seems unlikely to me that you would be INTP.


----------



## 27377 (Sep 20, 2011)

How detail oriented are you? INFJ are notoriously bad with details (including myself). I'm dating an intp and have sn intp bro, both are notoriously good with detail. Such ad when we talk about a topic such as politics. They will go into the details, the specific candidates, and start spewing facts. I on the other hand will talk about the general feelings I have for each candidate and how they might affect ppl.


----------



## Night & Day (Jul 17, 2010)

Lilykit said:


> Both the ITP and INJ child are said to be VERY curious and both ask many questions, and no one is completely introverted. You also said: That suggests introvert to me. That, and the types you're asking about are Introverted.
> 
> How good are you at understanding people? Not communicating or empathizing with people, but understanding them.


I think I understand people well. It's easy to understand where they're coming from and why. I can cope with their reasoning.


----------



## Night & Day (Jul 17, 2010)

peacenluv78 said:


> How detail oriented are you? INFJ are notoriously bad with details (including myself). I'm dating an intp and have sn intp bro, both are notoriously good with detail. Such ad when we talk about a topic such as politics. They will go into the details, the specific candidates, and start spewing facts. I on the other hand will talk about the general feelings I have for each candidate and how they might affect ppl.


Detail oriented...it depends. Sometimes I just don't care about the details but if something interests me then yeah..


----------



## Lilykit (Jan 15, 2012)

In the end, it's up to you, but I think you fit an INFJ more than INTP.


----------

