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[NF] Differences between INFP and ENFP?

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So much hinges on their etype.

I don't know any infps, so...

(sx/so) enfp 1s blow me the hell out of the water, supernova style, especially wing 2s (more common than w9s?).
Able to match up with e3 enfps' rolling stoneness, stupid ideas with my stupid observations.
Not surprisingly, enfps aren't exempt from exhibiting an exaggerated set of personal ethics, artificial sensitivity like any other nf, but both they and infps have an especially tough time, particularly when e6, in identifying internal blind spots they denounce in others, avoiding Don Quixote shits around the bush.
e7 enfps often miss my unflagging optimism, quick to misinterpret dryness as pessimism, though it's all peaches before that point. I recommend spending time with them over me anyday. Know how to dress up in toucans, pleasant, good company, chug that wine baby. So long as you know how to consistently fake a smile, you're safe.

Generally easy, probably would go with either e3 or 7 (maybe 1) if all the doors were locked, though I feel something like a covert enfj with an oversized dustrag over my head, actively evaluating fuckall interacting or not, but usually interacting, directed, hardly ever not paying attention to everything else but whichever. Most people I know know know are intps; seems like there's a more productive dynamic happening there, with the enfp serving as a sort of sugarfree substitute for an esfp. Likewise, seems like there's more mutual intrigue, personally, with entps, though as an entourage of one, I'm not sorry for eating your uncle.
 

Amargith

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This is how I decided I was ENFP. I was an INFP-wannabe for a very long time, and my Ne=my Fi when I take those (flawed) tests, but the way in which I use those functions as well as the others, the role they play in my life, not the strenght of them, was what told me I was ENFP

Skylights, I :heart: the visual representation. I relate to both though. With the INFP-one, I mostly relate to the more drawn images, especially the last one on the right, and least to the first on the left, and with the ENFP ones I relate to the top two only.
 

Betty Blue

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ENFP feels like:
33c7wna.jpg

WOW!
 

Santosha

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Maybe someone should start a thread (or we could derail this thread =P) to focus on what types of things INFP's and ENFP's typically think about. Then again, I'm not sure how successful that might be with Ne dom and aux hehe. Here is something else I wanted to mention, I read through all my INFP buds FB posts last night, more often that not... their status update would involve how they FEEL, how they FEEL about things in life, and their closest family memebers and friends. My ENFP friends status updates will focus on current events ALOT, laws they disagree with being passed, making fun of religion or politics, things they are going to do that day, etc. Even from the status updates you can see one focuses more on the external and one on the internal.

Also, that inability to focus that I see in my ENFP's isn't ADD, its quck mental connections from one idea to the next. For instance, I was reading a book on Deepak Chopra a while back, and brought it up to my ENFP friend. Within a few minutes we went from a few of Deepak Chopra's concepts on lifestyle habbits, to ones energy, to auras, to scientifically documented auras, to places that you can get an aura reading done, to how that equiptment is BS, to how those places also do psychic/tarot card readings, to how our last readings panned out, to the food one of those stores makes, to how we now should to to that store and get a cream cheese and spinach quiche :D (This was within 10 minutes).. but if I had brought this same book up to my INFP friends.. 10 minutes later I would have probably still been discussing the actual book, lol.

I really do think their is observable difference in ENFP/INFP .. and I you seeemd to come off very ENFP (online)
 

Thalassa

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My ENFP friends status updates will focus on current events ALOT, laws they disagree with being passed, making fun of religion or politics, things they are going to do that day, etc.

I relate to this.
 

Esoteric Wench

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If you go by function theory, the difference is Ne or Fi dominance, and whether you use Te or Si more.

Talking or being social has fuck hell all to do with it.

Ne gives ENFPs a more external focus, even if they aren't very socially extroverted.

I agree with Marmie Dearest here. The way to differentiate between INFP and ENFP is to look at function order dominance.

INFP - Ne > Fi > Te > Si
ENFP - Fi > Ne > Si > Te

I'd say that one of the biggest differences I notice between my INFP friends (which includes my BFF) and myself, is the use of Te versus Si as a tertiary function.

In other words, an INFP's tertiary Si bugs the crap out of my tertiary Te. For example, my INFP friend and I may be talking about how to go about doing something together... like say organize a book club.


  • ENFP's Te - I will come up with a very logical and orderly plan (even bullet pointed) about what has to be done. Then, I'm ready to do it. Once I have a plan in place, I don't want to discuss it ad infinitum. I'm ready to execute. <- This is Te in a nutshell. I seem to be able to execute a plan more readily and without going through all sorts of Si reflections and connections.
  • INFP's Si - My Te approach is in stark contract with my INFP friend who wants to spend a lot of time discussing how our book club compares with other book clubs, if it is the right kind of book club, what should a book club be doing. Of course, I consider all these variables as well. But Si is about the ability to link present experiences to past experiences in search for a connection. This Si approach comes before the crisp, clean execution of my Te. I've been told by my INFP BFF that my Te-ness sometimes overwhelms her Si. She feels like I'm pushing her to do something before she's had adequate Si reflection time.
Another difference I've noticed is that INFPs seem to guard themselves from outside social intrusions far more than I would.Just one example, my INFP BFF has her facebook page set with what I call "all kinds of crazy" privacy settings. For example, she's got it set so that people can't download her pictures. I'm like, "Well what do I care if someone downloads a picture of me?" Neither approach is right or wrong. It's just that sometimes it puzzles me that she is so... suspicious perhaps... of social interactions. Then again, I've gotten myself in trouble for not being "suspicious" enough.
 

Elfboy

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INFP 9w1 feels like

or perhaps a more heroic INFP 1w9 would feel something like this

and an INFP 4 feels more like this

however, a pissed off INFP with the wrath of Fi evoked feels more like this



ENFP 7s come across more like this

ENFP 8s come across like this
 

Elfboy

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on second thought, INFP 1w9 feels more like this
 

skylights

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Skylights, I :heart: the visual representation. I relate to both though. With the INFP-one, I mostly relate to the more drawn images, especially the last one on the right, and least to the first on the left, and with the ENFP ones I relate to the top two only.

thanks :)

and ah, interesting! i relate to both sets too... i figure since Ne/Fi Fi/Ne, that was to be expected.

i wanted to catch the "feeling" of interacting with INFPs vs ENFPs... i don't know if i did that. i would be curious to hear from others. i do not relate as much to the lower pictures either - somewhat i do, but not as much as the uppers - but i do know some ENFPs - probably e7w6 and maybe e2w3 - who definitely "feel" like the bottom two pictures, respectively. oh, though, actually, i know an ENFP who probably doesn't fit any of those pictures. she's more like...

2afera0.jpg


showed her the enneagram one day, she ID'd as 5. odd type for an ENFP, but could be possible. she's definitely thinking triad.

oh. well. that could be interesting. ENFPs i know well (as in, i know 100% are ENFP) IRL feel like:

lv0b9.jpg


^ 7w8, best guess 7w6

OMFG.jpg


^ 4w3 i think

788f5d9f5b83f701924b01795f26dfe4-d307k6m.jpg


^ unsure of etype. 6w7?
 
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Elfboy

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ENFP 4w3 feels like
 

flameskull95

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INFPs are shy in a different way, - in other words ENFPs can open up about this anxiety but INFPs are more likely to fumble and make everything awkward if they try to.
 

tkae.

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yes, but ENFPs are often described as having various introverted tendencies not present in other extroverts

You're overthinking it.

That's the problem with the ENFP/INFP divide. People otherthink it.

One of my best friends I had pegged as an INFP, then I find out she lives in a dorm room with three other girls. I wouldn't have thought anything about it, except that she turned down a one-person apartment for her four-person one.

I asked her how she could possibly live with three other people when she had the option of a single apartment, not understanding how an INFP could ever live without their privacy. She said it's because she got lonely and preferred living with roommates.

Find out a few days later that she's tested as an ENFP.

Basically, INFPs get their energy from periods of solitude and privacy, i.e. introversion, where extroverts get their energy from social situations and extrapersonal experiences, i.e. extroversion.

It's all about how social stimuli affect us: to an INFP, social situations of any kind are incredibly draining (EDIT: it's immediate and noticeable. A recent experience was when my teacher's son, who has Asperger's, cornered me in a conversation, and after five minutes of his machine-gun-suppression-fire-style conversation I could already feel my xNFP ability to empathize give way to a stress that had me wanting to just tell him to shut the fuck up, and as guilty as I felt about it the weight of it all had me physically exhausted and my typical social niceties, such as smiling and nodding and looking interested, dropping like flies in pesticide gas). To an ENFP, social situations are regenerative and refreshing. Otherwise, there's no fundamental difference.

The differences you're thinking of are the ways that the different effects of social stimuli affect our behavior.
 

skylights

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tkae. said:
To an ENFP, social situations are regenerative and refreshing. Otherwise, there's no fundamental difference.

no, this is not true.

not to be mean at all. :)

i just want to make that very clear because i think it's a major source of confusion for ENFPs.

ime, sometimes social situations are regenerative and refreshing. not always. sometimes they are too much and make my head hurt. i have a relative who has some psych issues and he does interrogation-style communication sometimes too. he's very sweet and genuine, but it still makes me want to run away. sometimes i love big parties; sometimes i have had enough. i need time to myself pretty much daily or i get agitated. however, i also need in-depth engagement and interaction with people, otherwise i go totally nuts in about 72 hours (unfortunately i have had to experience this before). but this is why ENFPs get confused and think they are INFPs. we are not always as outgoing as profiles say.

as an interesting sidenote, i have noticed that ENFJs are often like this too. they need significant amounts of alone time. everyone needs some, of course, but more than the average extravert. they are more clear extraverts due to Fe, however. they initiate and direct people.

extraversion and introversion are cognitive measures. not social.

as far as i understand it, the difference can be boiled down to:
  • INFPs have an easier time - expend the least energy - looking inside themselves.
  • ENFPs have an easier time - expend the least energy - looking at connections that occur outside their own minds.

hence social situations are often more regenerative and refreshing for an ENFP. if we're alone too much we get stuck in our heads, recirculating the same information over and over again, which is bad news. i'm guessing that's why your friend wanted to live with people. i know i wouldn't want to live alone unless i was friends with my neighbors and had several friends i knew nearby. however, social situations can often involve pressure, restrictions, expectations, judgment, a whole lot of loud noise, and other things that make them require more energy than being alone, even for an extravert.

personally i am more N than i am F, which is why i never really felt "right" with INFP profiles even though i always tested INFP. i notice that most introverts seem to really know when they are introverts, though. i would think a general rule of thumb is that if someone is wondering if they are ENFP, they probably are. not always, of course. but i've seen more ENFPs misidentify than vice versa.
 

Elfboy

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You're overthinking it.

That's the problem with the ENFP/INFP divide. People otherthink it.

One of my best friends I had pegged as an INFP, then I find out she lives in a dorm room with three other girls. I wouldn't have thought anything about it, except that she turned down a one-person apartment for her four-person one.

I asked her how she could possibly live with three other people when she had the option of a single apartment, not understanding how an INFP could ever live without their privacy. She said it's because she got lonely and preferred living with roommates.

Find out a few days later that she's tested as an ENFP.

Basically, INFPs get their energy from periods of solitude and privacy, i.e. introversion, where extroverts get their energy from social situations and extrapersonal experiences, i.e. extroversion.

It's all about how social stimuli affect us: to an INFP, social situations of any kind are incredibly draining (EDIT: it's immediate and noticeable. A recent experience was when my teacher's son, who has Asperger's, cornered me in a conversation, and after five minutes of his machine-gun-suppression-fire-style conversation I could already feel my xNFP ability to empathize give way to a stress that had me wanting to just tell him to shut the fuck up, and as guilty as I felt about it the weight of it all had me physically exhausted and my typical social niceties, such as smiling and nodding and looking interested, dropping like flies in pesticide gas). To an ENFP, social situations are regenerative and refreshing. Otherwise, there's no fundamental difference.

The differences you're thinking of are the ways that the different effects of social stimuli affect our behavior.

so then what do you call someone who enjoys spending most of their time alone and is seriously drained by crowds, but occassionaly desires to be an attention whore. do INFPs have occasional "I want to be an attention whore" moments?
 

tkae.

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so then what do you call someone who enjoys spending most of their time alone and is seriously drained by crowds, but occassionaly desires to be an attention whore. do INFPs have occasional "I want to be an attention whore" moments?

Just because we're drained by social interaction doesn't mean we don't need it. All humans need some degree of social interaction, just like plants need water.

Even cacti need water. They just can't handle too much of it, as opposed to a plant in the rain forest, which can't handle a lack of it.
 

Chiharu

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I always thought of myself as an introvert because I have a few close friends and spend so much time in my own head. However, I find conversation really stimulating and hate being alone for extended periods of time. When I'm upset, people and conversations make me feel better, where long-term introspective searching feels exhausting and usually leaves me frustrated and disgusted. I think this may be a good sign that you are ENFP, but that's just my pet theory.

What really made me decide that I was ENFP rather than INFP was the description of our backwards logic, how we understand the details through understanding the final product. I've been like this since I was really little, even in learning how to tie my shoes. If you use/understand this logic, you're probably ENFP.

As to the xSTJ connections... I notice that ISTJ only comes out when I'm really, really, really stressed and pissed off, where as I come off as ESTJ through the "Ne-Te bitch slap" [xD] someone mentioned before much more readily and easily. So that might be something for ENFPs in doubt to consider.
 

OrangeAppled

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I just posted this in a Fi thread, but I found this quote very informative & clear about a major difference in the general mindsets of ENFPs and INFPs. Contrary to what people might assume based on function order, with ENFPs being N-dom and INFPs being F-dom, ENFPs are more people-oriented because their Fi is in support of an extroverted function, Ne, which is concerned with the external world, exploring it & its connections & creating new ones. However, an INFP's Ne is in service of Fi, meaning its focus is to find/invent external concepts/connections which help give form to feelings outside of the self, to form concepts on "the human condition" as opposed to simply knowing themselves. So INFPs are more idea/concept-oriented, which makes sense, being that we are introverts who are energized by our own thoughts far more than interaction.

Lenore Thompson said:
It's instructive to compare these types (INFPs) to ENFPs, who share the same two functions but understand life very differently. ENFPs rely on iNtuition to gauge the nature of the external context and Feeling to recognize the value of the people in it.

INFPs approach reality from the other way around. Introverted Feeling prompts them to hold unconditional human value, and they use iNtuition to figure out what that means in terms of their existential context.

Also, in regards to that last point I touched on, all people will get tired from interaction at some point. Every human needs rest, time alone, etc. The difference is where your threshold is at. An INFP will have a much lower threshold for becoming tired from interaction/external stimuli, and a much higher one for staying focused/entertained by their own thoughts (they won't get bored or start brooding so quickly). An ENFP has a higher threshold for stimuli/interaction, so they can endure more, but they may also get bored more quickly or find themselves depressed when alone with their own thoughts too much. At some point though, an ENFP will need time alone & an INFP will want company. It's a matter of figuring out where your threshold is & which you tend to tire of faster, which for many may seem quite balanced without close inspection (as most are not extreme E/I).

I typed this up for another forum, and it's 100% observational, but it still might prove useful.

Me (yeah its lame to quote yourself..whatever) said:
Outside of the demeanor differences which mainly stem from I/E differences, I find a few differences in thinking as well.

Leading with Ne, an irrational process, I find ENFPs less likely to introspect as deeply on matters, quicker to jump to conclusions, and have less restriction on their whims, which can get them into trouble (both in what they say & do). On a positive note, they are less likely to hesitate when new positive opportunities arise & don't over-think to the point of being inhibited.

Leading with Fi, a rational process, INFPs tend to be more introspective, filtering their intuition in search of what is truly significant & meaningful. This basically makes them less prolific with ideas, or at least in expressing or realizing them. It also adds a level of being inhibited. I definitely would not say INFPs are less open to newness (in some areas, I find myself MORE open than some ENFPs I know because it boils down to a matter of values), but simply more judicious. This can actually make an INFP more responsible & grounded than ENFPs in some ways; the Ne whims are checked by a Fi sifting of importance. As a downside, it may inhibit the INFP to be overly cautious, not because they are not drawn to novelty, but because they see the negatives too easily & have over-thought it.

With Te as tertiary, ENFPs can have a bossy streak, can state opinions more strongly than they even feel, but can also be exceptional at impromptu organization & leadership. INFPs will appear more easy-going. But they have Te as inferior, which leads to a weird critical, perfectionism that pops up under stress or when the INFP has deemed something important.

Inferior Si in ENFPs seems to result in bouts of sappy nostalgia and fear of change when under stress, both of which are atypical of ENFPs since it's not an everyday mentality for them. I see this less often in INFPs. Tertiary Si in INFP results in these great moments of being grounded, which for the "ultimate idealist" is rather priceless. As mentioned above, there is an aspect of caution that anchors Ne to avoid rash decisions. The past lessons come to mind, and the INFP makes better decisions, being both aware of the past trends & future possibilities. Si also works creatively for INFPs, which means there's out-of-character attention to detail, especially in creative projects or the INFPs' "causes". On a negative note, this occasionally makes an INFPs' work seem heavy-handed & overwrought.
 

nolla

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It's all about how social stimuli affect us: to an INFP, social situations of any kind are incredibly draining

I don't see it this way. I think it is about how much social stress there is. If I hang out with people I know well and like, there is no social stress, no facades, I don't need to impress anyone or even think about how I present myself. I can be in a situation like this for a long time without feeling exhausted. But, if I the social situation demands me to conform to a role, I get exhausted very fast. I think the quality of the relationships is much more important than the time spent with people.
 

Elfboy

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You're overthinking it.

That's the problem with the ENFP/INFP divide. People otherthink it.

One of my best friends I had pegged as an INFP, then I find out she lives in a dorm room with three other girls. I wouldn't have thought anything about it, except that she turned down a one-person apartment for her four-person one.

I asked her how she could possibly live with three other people when she had the option of a single apartment, not understanding how an INFP could ever live without their privacy. She said it's because she got lonely and preferred living with roommates.

Find out a few days later that she's tested as an ENFP.

Basically, INFPs get their energy from periods of solitude and privacy, i.e. introversion, where extroverts get their energy from social situations and extrapersonal experiences, i.e. extroversion.

It's all about how social stimuli affect us: to an INFP, social situations of any kind are incredibly draining (EDIT: it's immediate and noticeable. A recent experience was when my teacher's son, who has Asperger's, cornered me in a conversation, and after five minutes of his machine-gun-suppression-fire-style conversation I could already feel my xNFP ability to empathize give way to a stress that had me wanting to just tell him to shut the fuck up, and as guilty as I felt about it the weight of it all had me physically exhausted and my typical social niceties, such as smiling and nodding and looking interested, dropping like flies in pesticide gas). To an ENFP, social situations are regenerative and refreshing. Otherwise, there's no fundamental difference.

The differences you're thinking of are the ways that the different effects of social stimuli affect our behavior.

if it's really that simple, I'm clearly INFP, but I don't think it is. the intensely Ne-Te communication style, weak feeling preference, ease with conflict and strong Te all point to ENFP. perhaps INFPs being mistaken for ENFPs is just as common as the reverse
 

Thalassa

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I think orangeappled hit the nail on the head with her functional application of the differences. This is crucial because ENFPs can very often seem like social introverts (or at least borderline), apparently, it seems quite common - especially from the ENFPs on this site.

I really relate to the "bossy streak" and stating opinions strongly, even if sometimes I don't mean them as much as it might seem.

I also follow whims, own a jump to conclusions mat with significant wear and tear, and have deep bouts of nostalgia.

Elfboy, if you aren't an ENFP, I'll eat my goddamned hat.
 
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