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[NF] Differences between INFP and ENFP?

Elfboy

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what are the fundemental differences?
 

Elfboy

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INFPs are introverted and ENFPs are extraverted.

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

Santosha

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I hope this thread gets hit alot, because I'd really like to see what others think as well.

Obviously, the biggest diff is the way they receive energy =) So that can be pretty tricky, because it's not easily observed. For instance, you could come across a shy or quiet ENFP that draws energy from social interactions and the external. You could also come across a social, talkative, engaging INFP. even the life of a particular group/party.. that goes home and re charges being alone. I think if the Fi/Ne are really close.. then the only other way to look for it is to look for the mini ESTJ in INFP's, and ISTJ in ENFP's. I've been told that under extreme stress an INFP can explode and go drill sargeant ESTJ mode, barking orders, and outwardly criticizing everyone and thing. ENFP's will become more quiet, and take on the role of "defender." INFP's will attack personally, and ENFP's will attack the idea or topic, impersonally. But even in this I find conflict, as there are times when I get quiet and defend, and times when I have turned into drill sargeant. Also, I've come across some discussion of ENFP's coming off as ESTJ's when they do the Ne-Te bitch slap. So how does one distinguish?

IRL, I know 2 INFP's and 2 ENFP's pretty well.. all of them being far into the preference. And there is a BIG difference between the personalitys. The INFP's are much calmer, appear to be more sensitive (only appear this way) and are more willing to go deeeeep into feeling discussions. They are a bit more polite, and always make sure their approach and words do not cause offense. They are especially pre occupied with this. The ENFPs are not as calm, hide their sensitivity better, and can go into deep conversations.. but much more likely to move topic to topic, scratching the surface. They are less aware of hurting others feelings (though still more aware than many people).. and they also bounce back quicker from an upset. I've been cut off while talking to my ENFP's many a times, I've never been cut off talking to an INFP. Also, I've noticed that the E's I know are openly communicative to all, even if they don't know them well, and the I's are a little more guarded with people they don't know.
 

Elfboy

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I hope this thread gets hit alot, because I'd really like to see what others think as well.
Obviously, the biggest diff is the way they receive energy =) So that can be pretty tricky, because it's not easily observed. For instance, you could come across a shy or quiet ENFP that draws energy from social interactions and the external. You could also come across a social, talkative, engaging INFP. even the life of a particular group/party.. that goes home and re charges being alone. I think if the Fi/Ne are really close.. then the only other way to look for it is to look for the mini ESTJ in INFP's, and ISTJ in ENFP's. I've been told that under extreme stress an INFP can explode and go drill sargeant ESTJ mode, barking orders, and outwardly criticizing everyone and thing. ENFP's will become more quiet, and take on the role of "defender." INFP's will attack personally, and ENFP's will attack the idea or topic, impersonally. But even in this I find conflict, as there are times when I get quiet and defend, and times when I have turned into drill sargeant. Also, I've come across some discussion of ENFP's coming off as ESTJ's when they do the Ne-Te bitch slap. So how does one distinguish?

IRL, I know 2 INFP's and 2 ENFP's pretty well.. all of them being far into the preference. And there is a BIG difference between the personalitys. The INFP's are much calmer, appear to be more sensitive (only appear this way) and are more willing to go deeeeep into feeling discussions. They are a bit more polite, and always make sure their approach and words do not cause offense. They are especially pre occupied with this. The ENFPs are not as calm, hide their sensitivity better, and can go into deep conversations.. but much more likely to move topic to topic, scratching the surface. They are less aware of hurting others feelings (though still more aware than many people).. and they also bounce back quicker from an upset. I've been cut off while talking to my ENFP's many a times, I've never been cut off talking to an INFP. Also, I've noticed that the E's I know are openly communicative to all, even if they don't know them well, and the I's are a little more guarded with people they don't know.

bold: no kidding. it's hard to tell the difference. while I don't want to turn this into a type me thread, I have a tough time telling if I'm an extravert or introvert

Extraverted Tendencies
- I have a very powerful "presence" about me
- I love to talk
- I am pretty intense (although this could actually be a case for the latter)
- my N preference is just about 100%, my F preference is like 10%
- I love to turn heads and get noticed
- I rarely take things personally
- my Si is terrible :(
- I've been told I'm a lot like Crim from .hack//sign
- I have no trouble speaking loud (although this could be because I am a classical baritone in training with a naturally large voice)
- I'm warm and friendly with strangers and often take the time to introduce myself
- I can go ENTJ business executive on peoples asses even though I'm a 19 year old NFP
- I wish I was pure and innocent... but I'm not.
- being assertive is not a problem either

Introverted Tendencies
- I have to be alone a lot. like, when classes are over, I'm like "ugh! I'm exhausted" and get back to my room where I can relax
- I don't know my cognitive extraversion, but I am socially introverted as hell. it's not that I'm shy or nervous around people (quite the opposite actually) but I much rather spend my time with 1-2 friends or alone
- I have trouble getting things done. most of the time I just want to sit there and daydream
- I spend most of my time listening to music in my room
- when I was younger, I was INFP-ish as hell
- I do NOT like to be disturbed
- similarly, I do like my roomate, but I'm constantly waiting for him to leave so I can be alone
- I was socially awkward as hell until recently
- I'm pretty low energy
- I tend to be more quite in large groups of people and rarely have any idea what is going on
- I zone out a lot if I'm not with people
- I go way more Fi-Si loop under stress than Ne-Te (although I kick some friggin ass when I do go Ne-Te)
- my self confidence is NOT natural.
- Donald Trump is supposedly an ISFP. sometimes I feel like an N version of him (minus the amazing business skills, lol)
- (I've heard this is associated with introversion) if I like a song, I will listen to it over and over again for hours. when I'm stressed, this become even more prevelant (Fi-Si loop perhaps?)
- I have a tendency to be with a group of people, then sporatically leave and come back about 15 minutes later and they're like "wtf?" I think this is an introvert thing

I really don't know what to think since my personality has changed so much since I was younger. up until 8th grade, I was a like Bastian Bux from the Neverending story and then all of a sudden turned Gordon Gekko entrepreneural 8/ choleric diva.
 

Thalassa

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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.
 

Elfboy

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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.

it's also said that ENFPs energy flows outward while INFPs energy flows inward (similar to the point you made)
 

skylights

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ENFPs like to post more in this thread. :tongue:




INFP feels like:

2u631n5.png
10e30oz.jpg


m7jp5.jpg
2mfhwrb.jpg



ENFP feels like:

65src6.jpg
33c7wna.jpg


24o1wuq.jpg
24yuwid.jpg
 

Noon

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skylights, where do you so consistently find such visual awesome?!
 

Savage Idealist

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Originally posted by Elfboy
Extraverted Tendencies
- I have a very powerful "presence" about me
- I love to talk
- I am pretty intense (although this could actually be a case for the latter)
- my N preference is just about 100%, my F preference is like 10%
- I love to turn heads and get noticed
- I rarely take things personally
- my Si is terrible :(
- I've been told I'm a lot like Crim from .hack//sign
- I have no trouble speaking loud (although this could be because I am a classical baritone in training with a naturally large voice)
- I'm warm and friendly with strangers and often take the time to introduce myself
- I can go ENTJ business executive on peoples asses even though I'm a 19 year old NFP
- I wish I was pure and innocent... but I'm not.
- being assertive is not a problem either

Introverted Tendencies
- I have to be alone a lot. like, when classes are over, I'm like "ugh! I'm exhausted" and get back to my room where I can relax
- I don't know my cognitive extraversion, but I am socially introverted as hell. it's not that I'm shy or nervous around people (quite the opposite actually) but I much rather spend my time with 1-2 friends or alone
- I have trouble getting things done. most of the time I just want to sit there and daydream
- I spend most of my time listening to music in my room
- when I was younger, I was INFP-ish as hell
- I do NOT like to be disturbed
- similarly, I do like my roomate, but I'm constantly waiting for him to leave so I can be alone
- I was socially awkward as hell until recently
- I'm pretty low energy
- I tend to be more quite in large groups of people and rarely have any idea what is going on
- I zone out a lot if I'm not with people
- I go way more Fi-Si loop under stress than Ne-Te (although I kick some friggin ass when I do go Ne-Te)
- my self confidence is NOT natural.
- Donald Trump is supposedly an ISFP. sometimes I feel like an N version of him (minus the amazing business skills, lol)
- (I've heard this is associated with introversion) if I like a song, I will listen to it over and over again for hours. when I'm stressed, this become even more prevelant (Fi-Si loop perhaps?)
- I have a tendency to be with a group of people, then sporatically leave and come back about 15 minutes later and they're like "wtf?" I think this is an introvert thing

I think you basically almost described me.

What I've noticed is that cognitive extroversion and social extroversion muddle things up and make a complete mess of everything, therefore there need to be clear distinctions that can verify between the two.

Also, in the same differences between Skylight's pictures (good job on those pics btw ;)), the outward persona (at least here on message boards) between ENFP's and INFP's tends to be very different, in a subtle way. Like has anyone ever pondered this thought; that if you split all the INFP's on this site to one side and all the ENFP's to the other, son't you see a certain pattern amongst them all?
 

Thalassa

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I'll paste something here that Professor Yukawa (from another personality forum)publicly replied to me when I was trying to differentiate between being an Ne dom and an Fi dom:

A lot of her answers are not about herself. They're about the world around her. The atmosphere, the experience, the moment. Most introverts usually center their attention more about what they want, what they think about themselves, what they feel about themselves. For her, however, despite her personal feelings, I see that her external orientation seems to take priority. She carries values that she personally believes in, however, she has a rather strong attitude in regards to the need to discover and share this with everyone (an Ne-like dominance attitude). An Fi dominant user is not very likely to express this, even with auxiliary Ne/Se. Most Fi-dominants are more self-absorbed (not in a negative way). They're usually not the type to go out of their way to discover and experience the world except as support for their Fi ways.

Personally, I believe you to be ENFP.
 

CrystalViolet

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Elf,
I share a lot of those characteristics with you, but I'm definitely INFP with some extroverted tendecies.
The person who mentioned the ESTJ shadow coming out in times of stress, ja, me and my shadow are quite good mates. Honestly, you could be an ambivert.
The biggest difference I can tell is that ENFP's have way more energy, and are a little more brash, and have shorter attention spans (sorry, ENFPs).
 

Elfboy

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I'll paste something here that Professor Yukawa (from another personality forum)publicly replied to me when I was trying to differentiate between being an Ne dom and an Fi dom:



Personally, I believe you to be ENFP.

I am leaning ENFP myself, although I relate 100% to the introvert side of the quote you brought up.
 

Elfboy

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Elf,
I share a lot of those characteristics with you, but I'm definitely INFP with some extroverted tendecies.
The person who mentioned the ESTJ shadow coming out in times of stress, ja, me and my shadow are quite good mates. Honestly, you could be an ambivert.
The biggest difference I can tell is that ENFP's have way more energy, and are a little more brash, and have shorter attention spans (sorry, ENFPs).

my attention span varies from short as hell (most of the time) to several hours, but this is probably more evidence for INFP
as for the energy thing, it also varies from low as hell to straight up opera diva levels of energy. this is probably evidence for ENFP
 

Thalassa

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Oh, if you have an attention span and can actually read and write for hours you couldn't possibly be ENFP.

Not true, bro, not true. That's not evidence for INFP.
 

Elfboy

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Oh, if you have an attention span and can actually read and write for hours you couldn't possibly be ENFP.

Not true, bro, not true. That's not evidence for INFP.

it's not that ENFPs can't concentrate for long periods of time, it's that sometimes I'm compelled to not focus at all and other times long to focus for hours on end. this seems more INFP-esque to me. that being said, I think I'm ENFP mostly because I exude a lot of outword energy that captures people (usually not in a good way). I also offend more people than I think most INFPs would (even on this forum lol) perhaps this is just my theatrical background as a singer and having watched hours of captivating, charismatic individuals and scanned their "aura" which I then incorporated into my own. that being said, I could a confident and assertive INFP also fitting this description.
 

skylights

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skylights, where do you so consistently find such visual awesome?!

hehe thanks, i'd say you do the same with your avatars!!

i use deviantart :)
 

Thalassa

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it's not that ENFPs can't concentrate for long periods of time, it's that sometimes I'm compelled to not focus at all and other times long to focus for hours on end. this seems more INFP-esque to me.

But why? I do this too. I'm either ADD all over the place and multi-tasking, or I get an entire ten page writing assignment done in a few hours, or study a film, series, or work of literature for several days or weeks.

that being said, I think I'm ENFP mostly because I exude a lot of outword energy that captures people (usually not in a good way). I also offend more people than I think most INFPs would (even on this forum lol) perhaps this is just my theatrical background as a singer and having watched hours of captivating, charismatic individuals and scanned their "aura" which I then incorporated into my own. that being said, I could a confident and assertive INFP also fitting this description.

Well, yes, in that regard you very much seem ENFP.
 

Elfboy

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But why? I do this too. I'm either ADD all over the place and multi-tasking, or I get an entire ten page writing assignment done in a few hours, or study a film, series, or work of literature for several days or weeks.



Well, yes, in that regard you very much seem ENFP.

still, other times I'm withdrawn as hell and seem like the token INTJ guy in the group. that is, until someone brings up something I'm interested in and then I turn into a little professor (well this is the natural tendency anyway). perhaps my outword energy is the result of being an 8 rather than ENFP. my INTJ 8w7 friend often has the same effect on people
 
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