1. Type/Gender/Age (gender/age are optional of course!)
INFP / Male / 22
2. I've often heard ENFP's are the most introverted types, and that INFP's with strong N can mistake themselves for ENFP's. ENFP's, do you relate to the title of introverted extravert? INFP's: same question but in reverse.
Have I ever mistaken myself for an ENFP? No. Never.
Last time I took a test that broke down the strength of my functions as an INFP, my Ne scored stronger than my Fi. But I've never even once though I was an extrovert, yet alone an ENFP. If anything based on what I've seen, ENFPs think they're INFPs because they confuse their Fi for Introvertedness.
And if I'm being brutally honest, I think it stems from ENFPs who want to be INFPs because they think it's cool or that INFPs are liked more than ENFPs. I really don't understand how Introversion and Extroversion are so complicated. If you gain energy from being around others, it's Extroversion. If you have to expend energy to be around others, then it's Introversion. It's not rocket science. That should be the easiest possible letter to figure out.
So I don't get that. If you're an ENFP, be an ENFP. Own it, live it, be it. Go out and run for president, play a saxophone on late night TV. Have an affair with an intern. Define marriage. Reform healthcare. And whatever else Bill Clinton did.
3. How does your auxilary function manifest itself?
It makes me extremely good at seeing big pictures while also respecting the smaller parts. It's what enables my political beliefs (Minarchist and/or Right-Wing Libertarian) and philosophical beliefs (Individualist).
It also lets me make obscure connections, some of which don't even exist when I explain them to other people. But when I can make them work, they're very creative connections. I'm also a writer, so that helps a lot. It gives me enough control over symbolism that it isn't blatantly obvious, which other writers can have trouble with.
4. How would others describe you? How would you describe yourself?
Others: Caring, Creative, Sensitive, "Sport" (from A Wrinkle in Time), Diplomatic
Self: Empathetic, Individualist, Space Cadet
5. How do you react to being put on the spot?
Ugh, I hate it. At first I get a terrible case of Deer-In-Headlights Syndrome, just staring at them with my mouth open for probably about ten seconds (feels like so much longer), then I get nervous, starting shaking, fumble with words... it pretty quickly devolves into a windstorm of nerves and confusion and awkwardness for everyone involved. Nobody knows what I'm trying to say, I just keep throwing words and phrases at the problem until it seems like an appropriate amount of space has been filled.
Example: Trying to order food in Subway is basically me confidently saying what type of sandwich I want, what type of bread, how long, what kind of cheese, cringing when I say 'Merican, then staring at them when they ask how I want it toasted.
Today I said "toasted", and they stared back at me, then asked if I wanted only the bread toasted or the whole thing toasted. I said the whole thing, had no clue what they were talking about when they tried to make small talk about how they liked this type of sandwich, then I mistook it for a question and for some reason he showed me the chicken. Then I was already asking for lettuce and tomatoes before he was ready to toast it, at which point he explained to me again how he'd be toasting it (without veggies, which I thought we had already agreed on when he asked if I wanted the "whole thing" toasted, but whatever).
I won't even get into yesterday at the Panda Express, when I brain farted and forgot what an egg roll was called, so I kept saying things with "egg" in front (egg noodles, egg things, egg lettuce) while making a hand gesture to demonstrate that it was oblong...
6. How does your inferior manifest itself?
It's almost explicitly used for figuring out motivations for a person's actions. I'm a huge Ayn Rand fan for her way of looking at behavior (particularly kindness towards others). In that way, it pretty much goes into working out problems and finding empathy for otherwise un-sympathetic people.
It also goes towards looking at where people are coming from in their arguments and being able to respect their arguments while disagreeing with them. For example, I can't stand Communism, but I have a deep respect for Lenin because of how devoted he was to what he believed was the answer to the world's problems.
7. How do/did you perform in school? What were your strengths and weaknesses as a student?
In high school I had a 2.7 or 2.8 GPA, mostly made Bs and Cs, though I made As in my AP English classes. On my ACTs I made a 27 or 29, my lowest score being Math and my highest scores being the highest possible scores in English and Writing.
Gen Ed classes bored me, and I mostly slept through them. I didn't talk at all, had no interest in them, I usually either doodled, wrote stories, or slept. In my AP classes or classes I enjoyed, I always did well, and usually had too much fun. I talked a lot, joked, contributed heavily to discussions, and really got into the material.
In college, I graduated with a 3.2 or 3.3 GPA, and at least a 3.5 in my major (I'm a member of the International English Honor's Society). I had a lot more trouble with literary analysis (which now I'm decent at) than with rhetorical analysis (which I'm pretty good at), but I focused on creative writing. My minor was basically an interdisciplinary study on the cognitive processes behind symbolic and creative systems (basically, how our brain learns systems like grammar, alphabets, numbers, music notes, etc).
The only classes I ever did poorly in were Math and German, but mostly because I never found a foreign language that interested me, and I've always sucked at Math.
8. Do you journal/blog? What are the things you usually focus on in your journal. I ask that in a general sense, I'm not looking for specific events on your life you wrote about, but if you don't mind including specifics, feel free.
I used to all the time, but lately I haven't bothered with it. I need to start doing it again soon.
A lot of times it would be just writing down my feelings, particularly about people who bothered me and events that annoyed me. Mostly it was back before I got into actual writing, way back during the Myspace Era. Facebook, mostly I say what I'm thinking and be done with it. Twitter doesn't amuse me at all.
These days when I really want to write something personal, I do a nonfiction piece. So...
9. Do you have an easy time hiding your feelings from others? When do you usually hide your feelings?
I used to think I was terrible at it, but now I know I'm very, very good at it. When I had my first relationship, I was terrified of telling my mom I was gay. I was obsessed with it for months, and I was always convinced that she was seeing right through me. Then when I broke down in tears and finally told her how I'd been in a relationship with a guy, that I was terrified of her disowning me, etc, she was completely blindsided. She'd had no idea that any of it was going on or that anything was even bothering me. It was so sudden that she really had no clue how to deal with me going full meltdown right in front of her.
So after that I started realizing that not only am I pretty blank at surface level when it comes to my emotions, but that I have a very, very wicked poker face.
10. What types do you click with the best, what types do you clash with worst?
I click best with INFPs. I do decent well with ENTPs. Two of my best professors (who I keep in touch with still) are ENTPs. But by far I'm best with other INFPs. I also do well with ESFJs, especially my mom.
I have a lot of trouble with Js. It's not too bad with xNFJs, but it's there. My best friend is an INFJ, but she's so agreeable that it's a non-issue. Other INFJs I've had some pretty tense discussions with in classes. I'm very bad with immature INTJs, and my grandmother is an ESTJ. I love her, but me and her are on completely different wavelengths, and when we try to communicate (even about how we need to learn to communicate better) things break down pretty fast. We get along because we both believe in loyalty to family members (other than the complete lunatics), and because she's my memaw, but we're very obviously opposites in personality.
So xxTJs, with XNTJs in particular when they're immature. I'm terrible with those, and they very quickly melt through my very deep reserves of patience.
11. How do you feel about sex? Is it a positive healthy thing in your life?
I'm a virgin still, dating another virgin long distance. Both of us are holding out for marriage (or an equivalent thereof), but we do still mess around together.
I think sex without the relationship to back it up is one of the most unhealthy things you can get involved in, and once you cash in your V Card it only gets tougher to deal with. Like, once you have sex, dealing with it yourself is just never good enough anymore, and sex-seeking becomes an issue that wasn't there before. I have no doubt that sex is that big of a difference, but why start down that road when you don't have that special person to stumble down it together?
12. How do you make friends (Geographical convenience/mutual interests/shared values)? Do you tend to initiate the friendship, or does it just sort of happen?
It just sort of happens. Mostly it's a personality thing. I get along best with agreeable people who are homebodies and don't spend much time out on the town. A large fraction of my friends are on the internet.
I'm shy, so I typically don't initiate. One of my really good friends from school half-jokingly threatened to kill me over critiques I had for one of her stories in our first creative writing class together. Then I drew a smiley face on a Post-It note and we got to know each other better. We're both a bit odd (she's well on the road to being a cat lady), so it works out.
13. Same question as 12, but about romantic relationships.
Two relationships, both over the internet.
The first one just happened, the second was intentional, with me doing the initiating.
14. Do you mind being alone?
"Alone" is a funny word.
Do I mind being away from groups of people or neighbors? No, not even remotely. I hate crowds and get extremely nervous around the average person.
Do I like being independent and away from EVERYBODY? No. I live at home with my family, and have no plans to change that any time soon. We're a close family who relies on each other. I don't mind getting my space for a few hours when they go to the store or to doctors' appointments, but I would never want anything more than that. I don't even like them leaving town for a few days.