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[NF] INFP vs INFJ

Azure Flame

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What's the difference between INFJ and INFP?

I have my own ideas but I'd like to hear what everyone here thinks.
 

21%

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Fe vs Fi.

Once you know what they are about, the difference is as clear as day -- I still can't believe I thought I could be INFP :blush:
 
S

Society

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Fe vs Fi.

Once you know what they are about, the difference is as clear as day -- I still can't believe I thought I could be INFP :blush:

out of curiousity: what is it? how would you explain it to someone out of the typology bubble - none of our local jargon?
 

21%

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out of curiousity: what is it? how would you explain it to someone out of the typology bubble - none of our local jargon?
Are we talking about INFJ vs INFP or Fe vs Fi?

Anyway, in my experience, since Fe is concerned with "the greater good" -- whatever that might be, there's always at least a little bit of pushiness as they try to nudge you along the 'correct' path. This may seem a bit forceful, but "the greater good" is almost always open to negotiation.

With Fi, there is a sense of aloofness -- not in a bad way -- and they are more "what you do is your business", as well as "what I do is my business".

Sorry for such a vague answer. Feel free to ask for clarifications. :blush:
 

Standuble

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Fi - Determines and measures the values of the self - what one feels is right, what one finds fulfilling, what makes one happy etc. It provides extensive feedback data which includes value level, variance between multiple values (to determine which is most valued) and any variance in how much an object is valued by the self compared to previous points in time. Note: I find it functions best WITHOUT adding emotions into the mix as emotions can compromise the measurements and value determination.

Fe: A system of values derived from outside/emulation of the values in pre-existing systems. Note: that Fi users can have mainstream values but these come into being via Se or Ne (and usually possess a variance from the mainstream somewhere within.)
 

skylights

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INFJ: Ni + Fe. Emphasis on abstract thinking, conceptualizing the future, and growth over time. Careful management of their relationships with others, emphasizing interpersonal harmony.

INFP: Fi + Ne. Emphasis on internal values, emotional tone, and depth of feeling. Enjoy exploring the outside world, listening to others' stories, and self-discovery.

I agree that 21% hit on something important with INFJs are more pushy but open to collective reasoning while INFPs are more live and let live but more stubborn when it comes to personal values.

INFJs are more polished externally while INFPs are more mutable.
 

LittleV

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INFJ’s will exert their ideals with the consciousness of management.

INFP’s will express their views with the consciousness of values.

INFJ’s, with their Ni and Fe, have a comfortable command on personal time.

INFP’s, with their Fi and Ne, have a comfortable command on personal scope.
 

sulfit

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Ni + Fe: lateral, associative thinking
Fi + Ne: vertical, analytical thinking
 

En Gallop

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Fi - Determines and measures the values of the self - what one feels is right, what one finds fulfilling, what makes one happy etc. It provides extensive feedback data which includes value level, variance between multiple values (to determine which is most valued) and any variance in how much an object is valued by the self compared to previous points in time. Note: I find it functions best WITHOUT adding emotions into the mix as emotions can compromise the measurements and value determination.

Exactly. :) I'm a very unemotional INFP - a large part of the reason I thought I was INTP until very recently. I have a very analytical, reasonable way of seeking out the things worth living for.
 
S

Society

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here's a more interesting question:

what would you say that INFPs & INFJs share in terms of personality & character traits?
 

Southern Kross

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here's a more interesting question:

what would you say that INFPs & INFJs share in terms of personality & character traits?
There's a lot. We're both:

Idealistic
Introspective
Empathetic
Concerned with the essence of things (especially when it relates to people) - Holistic thinkers
Perceptive and insightful when it comes to human behaviour
Often creative and/or imaginative
Value-oriented
Private and tend to hold back our inner selves - can be rather enigmatic
Emotionally complex
Stubborn
Inclined to be perfectionistic
Inclined to seek out what is meaningful
Good listeners
Sensitive
Advocates for our beliefs
Concerned about humanity as a whole
Prefer harmony and don't handle conflict well

There's probably a lot more but this is all I can think of at the moment.
 

mintleaf

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INFJ: Ni + Fe. Emphasis on abstract thinking, conceptualizing the future, and growth over time. Careful management of their relationships with others, emphasizing interpersonal harmony.

INFP: Fi + Ne. Emphasis on internal values, emotional tone, and depth of feeling. Enjoy exploring the outside world, listening to others' stories, and self-discovery.

I relate almost equally to both. :shrug: But this is actually a good differentiation.

INFJs are more polished externally while INFPs are more mutable.

For me, this is the easiest way to distinguish between an INFJ and INFP. I'm pretty sure that I only know one INFJ, so this is just anecdote, but his mannerisms and thought process are predictable to the point that it resembles caricature. It's not that INFPs are more dynamic in general, but it seems like our patterns of expression are. My impression's been that INFJs are better at keeping a rhythm while INFPs start and stop and switch directions erratically, feeling more of a need to edit and reboot.

INFJ’s will exert their ideals with the consciousness of management.

INFP’s will express their views with the consciousness of values.

INFJ’s, with their Ni and Fe, have a comfortable command on personal time.

INFP’s, with their Fi and Ne, have a comfortable command on personal scope.

*applause*
 

OrangeAppled

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INFJ: Ni + Fe. Emphasis on abstract thinking, conceptualizing the future, and growth over time. Careful management of their relationships with others, emphasizing interpersonal harmony.

INFP: Fi + Ne. Emphasis on internal values, emotional tone, and depth of feeling. Enjoy exploring the outside world, listening to others' stories, and self-discovery.

As an INFP, the bolded is really relatable to me. I feel like INFPs get pegged as more emotional for some reason (not true; even my INFJ ex noted HE was more emotional. I think it's an individual thing), and more people-focused (not true either). It's too soft & squishy for me. I use the word "values" for sake of clarity too, but I always dislike the way it sounds so static. It starts to sound like Si "should be likes" to me, a kind of collection of experience/facts which strike an individual & which they use to decide what life should be like & what to prioritize - very SiJe.

I'd say the emphasis for INFPs is sussing out meaning & significance, especially in terms of the human condition. In dealing with the outer world, it's exploring potential in yourself, others & opportunities to meet ideals, which often center on morals, aesthetics, spirituality, and general human issues. Also pursuing novelty, manifesting our sense of meaning/significance in creative ways, upholding our integrity (sometimes with innovative ways; finding the hidden doors, so to speak),

EDIT: Not finishing our sentences cuz we suddenly jump to another train of thought. Muwhahaha!

INFJs are more polished externally while INFPs are more mutable.

I agree with the last sentence....but in words it's hard to hit on just what that is. For instance, a very famous INFP, Audrey Hepburn, has a very elegant, polished image. But her communication & demeanor & way of dealing with life is more of the "mutable" you speak of.

There's a lot. We're both:

Idealistic
Introspective
Empathetic
Concerned with the essence of things (especially when it relates to people) - Holistic thinkers
Perceptive and insightful when it comes to human behaviour
Often creative and/or imaginative
Value-oriented
Private and tend to hold back our inner selves - can be rather enigmatic
Emotionally complex
Stubborn
Inclined to be perfectionistic
Inclined to seek out what is meaningful
Good listeners
Sensitive
Advocates for our beliefs
Concerned about humanity as a whole
Prefer harmony and don't handle conflict well

There's probably a lot more but this is all I can think of at the moment.

Agreed. I find us two different creatures in many ways, but it's way easier to "see" than describe. The most obvious differences between me & my ex INFJ were the P/J behavioral stuff. I was (am) spontaneous & improvising with a more fluid demeanor, and he was more strategical with his time & efforts and had a more stiff demeanor. Again, it's hard to put into words, because I am very quiet & detached mood-wise from a situation, which could look stiff, and he could be more of a chameleon socially which might seem fluid (adapting to expectations - very Fe). But it was more of an "air" I'm speaking of.
 

Z Buck McFate

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INFJ: Ni + Fe. Emphasis on abstract thinking, conceptualizing the future, and growth over time. Careful management of their relationships with others, emphasizing interpersonal harmony.

INFP: Fi + Ne. Emphasis on internal values, emotional tone, and depth of feeling. Enjoy exploring the outside world, listening to others' stories, and self-discovery.

I agree that 21% hit on something important with INFJs are more pushy but open to collective reasoning while INFPs are more live and let live but more stubborn when it comes to personal values.

INFJs are more polished externally while INFPs are more mutable.

Sorta like OA, I relate to the bolded about this^ INFP description- though I will say that I think there’s a different part of others’ stories we pick up on generally (and I can see how it might seem like Js aren't listening to Ps, for the same reason that it feels like Ps aren’t listening to Js- I suppose we pick up most on that which we relate to as ‘priority’, and it can differ).

When it comes down to it, I think the self-actualization of individuals is equally important to both INFx types. I agree with OA that the differences seem to be largely J/P- but as far as social fluidity, I want to argue that’s more of social variant thing. I guess I'd agree that INFJs can seem more 'polished' in that we're less reluctant to make waves and disrupt the flow- but I think of social fluidity as 'participating in social interactions smoothly' and (if that's what OA meant) I think that's more social variant.


I *think* the biggest difference I’ve noticed is that INFPs will be inclined to want to break things down and discuss ‘potential improvement’ immediately in fragments as they surface- it isn’t disruptive to them to stop the flow of the external world, in fact it seems more disruptive to expect them to adhere to flow where they spot flawed fragments and they can’t stop to discuss it; whereas INFJs are more inclined to go with the flow, quietly taking mental notes to work through those ‘potential improvements’ internally- it disrupts that internal freedom to interrupt the external flow of events. INFJs do notice the flawed fragments (where something is not ‘fair’ to the individual)- it’s not that we don’t notice them, we do- we just aren’t very good at stopping what we’re doing and discussing it in fragments like Pe’ers are inclined to want us to. We take note of them and set to work assembling all the components surrounding that fragment to build a whole system around changing the flaw- introverted perception makes us instinctively aware of how many extraneous components are involved with those flawed ‘fragments’, and so it’s very difficult for us to examine them in isolation the way Pe’ers do. It’s like INFPs (Pe) want to use introverted judgment to discuss the tip of the iceberg immediately, while INFJs prefer to coast on existing Fe rules while we compile what our intuition is telling us the whole underneath of the iceberg looks like before we bother discussing it. If that made sense.

I really do think, though, that both INFPs and INFJs are equally interested in values and self-actualization (and everything [MENTION=5871]Southern Kross[/MENTION] listed)….it’s just that we start in different places.

eta: also probably the thing about chocolate, mentioned a few posts up.
 
A

A_priori

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There's a lot. We're both:

Idealistic
Introspective
Empathetic
Concerned with the essence of things (especially when it relates to people) - Holistic thinkers
Perceptive and insightful when it comes to human behaviour
Often creative and/or imaginative
Value-oriented
Private and tend to hold back our inner selves - can be rather enigmatic
Emotionally complex
Stubborn
Inclined to be perfectionistic
Inclined to seek out what is meaningful
Good listeners
Sensitive
Advocates for our beliefs
Concerned about humanity as a whole
Prefer harmony and don't handle conflict well

There's probably a lot more but this is all I can think of at the moment.

Yeah I would agree with the above:

The INFJ can appear as an FI Dom and the INFP can appear like an FE Dom. If you look at the socionics model, the ID and EGO functions of both types are both strong. I think that there is a bit of a misconception out there that we are quite differnt when in reality I personally haven't seen this to be true.
 

Southern Kross

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Agreed. I find us two different creatures in many ways, but it's way easier to "see" than describe.
I know, right? That's why I didn't initially answer the OP. I wanted to see what others said, then try to figure out what the hell to write.

Well, here's what settled on the bottom:

I think there's more of an engaged, directedness about INFJs. They're more focussed on delving into the specifics. They take the people, ideas or situations immediate in front of them and mine each individually for revealing clues. They are purposeful in what they choose to focus on and are very conscious of their affect on people and things. They are highly aware of the connection between what is and what can/will be, which encourages them to actively make a difference to the world around them. There's a stability and clarity of mind to them. They attempt to find ways to reconcile the complexities of life and gently "chart the course" to where we need to go. All this means they're more attentive, clear-headed, deliberate, directly engaged, affective, insightfully anticipatory, comprehensive in depth, and tend to be more overtly warm and emotionally adaptive.

INFPs are more diffuse in their attention and more removed from the world around them. When they examine individual people, ideas or situations they do so in pursuit of universal truths, and with the full weight, scope and context of the endless amounts of (perhaps, seemingly disparate) information gathered in their heads. This focus on the universal makes them generally more interested in exploring "people in the abstract" (as someone around here once put it). They will observe, consider and draw attention to varying modes of perception without necessarily committing to a single position. They seek to quietly move, inspire, reveal and persuade by creating/providing the impressions and stimulus to induce self-revelation in others. They're more expansive and inclusive in what they accept as input. This makes them more free and fluid (as OA put it) in their nature, often grounded only by their strong personal axioms. All this means they're more detached, dreamy, indirect, embracing, cautiously evaluative, insightfully revealing, comprehensive in breadth and perceptually adaptive in their thinking.

Hopefully, this is all relatively accurate. :shrug:
 

Siúil a Rúin

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here's a more interesting question:

what would you say that INFPs & INFJs share in terms of personality & character traits?
My sister is a Fi-dom, and likely INFP, so I have one deeply personal lens through which to compare the types. I wouldn't say it is Fe vs Fi anymore than saying it is Ni vs. Ne. Both comparisons are equally relevant.

My sister and I have long discussions about the philosophy of aesthetics because she is a visual artist and I am a composer. We were best friends growing up. She has always been more intensely passionate about her values and possesses more certitude than me in her internal world. I have more of a tendency to become detached (Ni) and observe ideas from many vantage points always searching for the core concepts. She experiences a more focused, intense empathy than I do in which she will feel great concern for one of her fish that is being bullied by another fish. I would say that her feelings and ideas are deeper and more personally focused than mine. Mine are more evenly distributed. I will feel less empathy for the fish, but will tend to feel a more evenly distributed empathy that is more general, but not as deep. She can have too much empathy for destructive people, and I will tend to have a little more capacity to create boundaries with people who have destructive issues.

Her thinking and ideas are more specific and settled than mine, and these are very holistic containing strong coherency. My thinking is more approximate, almost statistical in nature - fuzzy logic, but also strives for coherency. I would describe her thinking like the crystals formed by frozen water with delicate, precise data points. Mine if more like water in its fluid state.

Her emotions are deep, personal, internal, and she has some tendency towards projecting her goodness and sensitivity outward in her empathy. This allows her to overlook the negative aspects of others. For this reason, when she does detect negativity, she will create a stronger wall against it. I tend to internalize negativity from around me, and so my empathy tends to internalize what I encounter and can at times lose a sense of my own self and what I am feeling. I think she forms more archetypes in her mind, while I search for core concepts, so that has a similar quality to it.

We are both considered rather gentle people, can feel sympathy readily, spend time dreaming and thinking inside our minds, and we both focus on creative expression to share that inner world with others, and we both focus on trying to understand the whole picture.
 

Azure Flame

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Here are my lame generalizations.

infj = crude, don't take themselves seriously
infp = not crude, take themselves seriously
 

Siúil a Rúin

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My last post focused on comparing the internal worlds of myself and my sister, so I will compare the external worlds as well.

She has had more trouble fitting into external systems like education. Both of our learning styles are different from the norm, but it was harder for her to adapt to the educational system and so she even had school phobia. Interestingly enough, she still attends a church and I don't, but I would say that the INFJ will tend to be more capable of matching the requirements of an external social system. I have always been seen as organized and goal oriented, although also very laid back. We both tend to be non-controlling of other people.

I have also tended to be placed in situations where I am organizing events that involve people. For my composition recitals, I always had to work out rehearsals, get performers, etc. She focused on a creative expression that was more individual in nature. This might not apply to type, but she had an easier time making a few close friends. I tended to smile a lot of people and was sometimes elected to school office, but I almost never had a close friend and felt deeply lonely most of my life.

So I would say by comparison that the INFJ is more structured externally and fluid internally, while the INFP is more structured internally and fluid externally, but they tend to share an overall demeanor and values.
 
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