• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

INTP v. ENTP

Argus

New member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
658
MBTI Type
ENTP
I only mentioned it because I think it's interesting that ENTPs and INTPs give off such different vibes. INTPs being the quintessential NT, and ENTPs verging on being SPs.

Unfortunate but true, we do have tenancies to resemble our bane - the SP.
I think this takes some people back and give's them that "kind of psycho" vibe from ENTP's.


I think there is, but honestly it would probably be best if you could try to pinpoint your function order yourself.

I third this. They haven't proven themselves to be very reliable.
(They always type me as an ESFJ.)
 

Xander

Lex Parsimoniae
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,463
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w8
OMW, quit dicking about, stop over complicating and just post. The type usually becomes apparent.

As for what you've posted thus far, INTP would be my guess hence how whether you're one or the other matters. And no that doesn't mean you're antisocial. I love people but it's their brains I like to meet, the rest of them is mere transportation for the brain.
 

yenom

Alexander the Terrible
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
1,755
ENTP would be much similar to ESTP and ENFP
INTP would be similar to any INXX and IXTX type (except ISTJ)
 

Kasper

Diabolical
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
11,590
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
So I pretty much type as an INTP, although I have a drive to change the world through my ideas. I love to be alone, but I am very friendly with people I meet. I have an obsession with logic and love making people laugh. Some people think I talk too loudly and too much while others believe I am an extremely quiet person. I am not shy in the slightest. I sometimes skip school because I dread social contact. The MBTIkid description ENP on personalitypage.com fits my childhood self much more accurately than ITP. Yet the INTP description fits me MUCH more than the ENTP description.

How can one distinguish between an ENTP and an INTP?

I thought I was an INTP for a long time because every common definition that isn't associated with MBTI for the word extroverted did/does not fit me. Dom Ne is not very people friendly.


ENTP would be much similar to ESTP and ENFP
INTP would be similar to any INXX and IXTX type (except ISTJ)

As an ENTP I disagree. While I appreciate and adore many ESTPs and ENFPs I do not relate to them or their way of thinking at all, I relate closer to other NT types, INTPs in particular.



Can't be bothered writing anything specific about INTP vs ENTP but I have written some stuff before that I'll recycle in case it helps.

To explain my extroversion this is what I find happens;

When in isolation: I enjoy my own company, it’s comfortable and I can concentrate on what I want to do and get lost in my head, however, I know that I can withdraw into myself more than is healthy for me if I do this for too long, too much time on my own leads me to feeling slightly depressive, the ‘underwater’ feeling rara wrote about is what happens.

The healthiest and most productive state for me is when I get out and socialise, it doesn’t have to be substantial and activities can be more effective than being with and talking to people. Problem is I like feeling comfortable so I don’t always do this which leads to me feeling down and not wanting to go out which leads me to feeling worse and so on, once I am out and socialising I feel great and want to get out and socialise more often but making myself do this in the first place is the hard part.

The following things happen because of my E;
  • I liven up in unfamiliar settings, going new places can make me feel as though I want to leap out of my skin, I love the feeling of excitement and nervousness I can get when about to enter into the unknown.
  • I liven up when I have someone to give my energy and attention to, I love people and enjoy being able to get to know them and pull them apart trying to figure them out, generic small talk annoys me though so I have to direct conversations to things that interest me.
  • I have a wider selection of interests than most introverts would have, this is because I need change and a greater stream of external stimuli to avoid boredom. I delve into them quite deep but I don’t stick with them (stupid P) for too long.
What extroversion means to me as an ENTP is that I feel alive when I'm constantly moving from one interesting thing to another. Doing the same thing over and over again bores me, talking to people who aren't interesting to me bores me, shallow/passionless chit-chat bores me, social tradition bores me, seeing things through to completion bores me.

I want to explore and discover and follow random tangents as they come up, spontaneity and movement without over planning totally excites me. I need newness and/or adventure to grab my interest and give me new energy. This however is largely unseen.

Reading this is the best way for someone to understand what's happening in my head, I don't act loud or excitable or over the top in any way so people don't always know when my E is in it's element and energising me, it's inside my head.

These are some of the points that have stood out to me as exclusively introversion and the opposite of what an extrovert would experience;
  • The idea that you will eventually feel tired and drained even when talking to people whose company you enjoy, the conversation can be enthralling but if it goes on long enough at some point you will retreat into your head and get quiet, or if you can, leave and find your own space to recharge. At the end of socialisation you are less energised then when you started.

  • One of the reasons these conversations are draining is because your preference is to think about what is being said before responding thus you are in a way exerting more internal energy than the average extrovert.

  • In line with thinking before speaking, you do not need to verbalise thoughts in order to fully understand them.

  • You have narrower but deeper interests.

  • Exerting your energy outwardly through social interaction is your kryptonite. Your focus is on conserving energy.

The other things about disliking small talk, having a rich inner world and needing space etc are things that are not unique to introverts imo as an extrovert who feels the same way.
 

onemoretime

Dreaming the life
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
4,455
MBTI Type
3h50
An INTP doesn't care one bit what other people think of them. An ENTP says that they don't care what other people think of them, but secretly does care very much.
 

Fluffywolf

Nips away your dignity
Joined
Mar 31, 2009
Messages
9,581
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
An INTP doesn't care one bit what other people think of them. An ENTP says that they don't care what other people think of them, but secretly does care very much.

We generally don't care what the general public thinks of us. But there are individuals to whom we rather prefer being in higher -, than lower regard.
 

onemoretime

Dreaming the life
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
4,455
MBTI Type
3h50
We generally don't care what the general public thinks of us. But there are individuals to whom we rather prefer being in higher -, than lower regard.

Exactly. We think it's the natural state of things for everyone to be friends with each other.
 

Xander

Lex Parsimoniae
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,463
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w8
An INTP doesn't care one bit what other people think of them. An ENTP says that they don't care what other people think of them, but secretly does care very much.
Errm how you wish to be perceived is not really an MBTI thing as much as it is a FIRO-B thing. I know an ENTJ for example who is very much concerned with what you think.
 

Fluffywolf

Nips away your dignity
Joined
Mar 31, 2009
Messages
9,581
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Errm how you wish to be perceived is not really an MBTI thing as much as it is a FIRO-B thing. I know an ENTJ for example who is very much concerned with what you think.

Keep your Ti in check, you're drifting away. :D

I think he has a point, at least once he reworded what he meant that is. It is true that INTP's do not seek affirmation because they feel they need it. Ofcourse we still appreciate it, but ultimatly it's no issue for us. As long as we have our own affirmation. And ENTP's are different in that aspect.
 

EcK

The Memes Justify the End
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
7,707
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
738
Going by similarities might be a good way for non archetypal individuals.
like, while i can see myself to a degree in estps and intps, I just could not in a million years think of myself as having anything to do with an infp or an intj.
 

onemoretime

Dreaming the life
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
4,455
MBTI Type
3h50
It's one of the main differences in social orientation - E's need others to recognize their particular strong skills ("gaining energy from others") while I's have no such need ("expending energy around others").

An ENxP needs people to recognize how great their ideas are. An ESxP needs to have others around to reinforce their experiences. An ExFJ needs others around to take care of and appreciate them, while an ExTJ needs others around to organize and form a smooth cohesive group.

On the other side, an IxTP would rather concentrate on mastering something. An IxFP would rather explore the ins and outs of their own existence. An ISxJ would rather concern themselves with what's right and what's wrong. An INxJ would rather discover paths previously unknown.
 

Asterion

Ruler of the Stars
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
2,331
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
On the odd occasion, I have gone full out introvert. I'll go without talking to people for a while, I'll get myself absorbed into things like learning or absorbing some kind of entertainment. Usually when I'm like this, I'm feelin a little incompetent because I've been talking to people who just know so much, and I'd like to be able to know the same (not to mention, it's a great way to pass time and prepare for uni). It's an enneagram 5 imitation, but not nearly as strong.

And then something comes up, an opportunity to start something fun or an invitation to something and I start being drawn back to reality. It's time to go have fun, I start to seek things that are new and entertaining, I basically become an ESXP... that might just hold back from spitting off a building or something though, that's just indecent.

There's also a fair middle ground, what was said above seems to ring true, I expect everyone to be friends, I'll randomly babble about with people and stuff -all the usual gregarious things.

That first phase can get pretty bad sometimes, I can get snappy and bitter. I don't like being caught in that state, I'll mostly try to patch it up and try to act like the middle ground.

Anyway, ENTPs and INTPs are pretty similar thinking wise, the differentiation between the two is kind of obvious when you put them up against each other, but individually it might be harder to break apart. I find that my brain is scattered and all over the place, seeking novelty more than understanding. For example, I found out that people made a little machine that drives about the place gobbling up slugs to power itself. I think some INTPs out there love discovering that kind of stuff too though.
 

Blank

.
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
1,201
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w6
My younger cousin is an ENTP, and back in the day when we hung out, we were like peas in a pod.

He tended to be more goofy and all over the place with his humor, and I would get anchored on one thing and wanted to explore it thoroughly. I think that's an easy way of distinguishing INTP vs. ENTP thought processes.
 

RaptorWizard

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Messages
5,895
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
ENTP has been suggested for my type before and I agree ENTP can look like INTP because both are very good at taking indefensible positions in debates and making arguments for them and they both tend to like to talk a lot and articulate quite a bit though the capital difference is ENTP is more practical when applying their logic and theories like the ISTP or INTJ since they want to make thigns work in the real world and the INTP is more theoretical and is just satisfied with the understanding the underlying philosophy of the subject of inquiry. I am honestly either an ISTP, ENTP, INTJ or probably most likely INTP, and in order of stregnth it would go TPNI, ENTP being the second closest type followed by ISTP, so I will admit it can be tough to tell the difference between the INTP ENTP and ISTP types along with INTJ.
 
Top