• 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.

ISFP or ISTP?

Markasin3

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
23
MBTI Type
IXXP
When I was younger, I believe I used to be an INFP, but as I grew I learned to think rationally on my feelings. Today I'm definitely not an INFP, but I am an ISFP or an ISTP.

Is it possible to be both? In my head, I find myself going back and forth between the two. I'm very sensitive to how others are feeling, but I also tend to use that information to find a rational solution.

I really love animals, but I don't prefer animals that eat other animals.

I tend to figure tools out very easily and have a knack for figuring out how people and things work.

I don't know if any of this helps.

By the way, I'm new here. Hi everyone.
 

sleepy

Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
536
Hello *wave*

Sure, the same way as people are bisexuals, they can be bitypoal.
 

Markasin3

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
23
MBTI Type
IXXP
If that's the case. Is there any special articles or websites that provide information about people with both?
 

sleepy

Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
536
I'm afraid not, have not found the time to make a paper on this and put it online. But you can ask specific questions and I can go more in depth about the specific mechanisms at play if you are curious as to why.
 

Markasin3

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
23
MBTI Type
IXXP
I just did the quick guide to double checking your type and I still got both results. The first question about being directive or informative... Well, yea. I do both of those equally. In many situations, one works better than the other and vice versa.
 

sleepy

Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
536
You checked me? *amused* What was your discovery? My type is rather weak I believe, and I fluctuate between other types. So maybe not the best to compare with.

Yea, that's the thing, with one type this works, then the other. But a true bi does both at once if needed.
 

wolfy

awsm
Joined
Jun 30, 2008
Messages
12,251
I tend to hover between both types. I think they are similar in a lot of ways, it's best to just go with the one that fits that little bit better. You aren't actually any one type, you identify with a type, so it is possible to identify with two types.

Anyway, at least you know that you ...
are SP
use an introverted judging function first
use extraverted sensing

Most of the use comes from these anyway. There isn't much to be gained from digging that little bit deeper. If you have any specific questions maybe I can help. I've thought about this a bit.
 

VagrantFarce

Active member
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
1,558
Do you feel out of place in emotionally charged situations and feel the need to not get involved or stay emotionally detached? Do you consider that sort of emotional detachment "empowering", in the sense that it enables you to see things "objectively" and as they "really" are? Even though, deep down, you want to be with others?

OR

Do you find it easy to understand what another person feels, and do you enjoy getting in tune with those emotions? Do you find it easy to recognise emotional needs in other people, and are you doing this all the time? Do you have deep-seeded desires to take control of a situation, but don't want to impose yourself on others?

Don't choose the one that you would like to be, choose the one that you are. :) Remember that ISTPs have Inferior-Fe, and have a deep-seeded desire to want to be in the lives of others - they're just not very good at dealing with those needs.

bonus (joke) question: Choose one of these!

[youtube=2QgFWXLN-ug]ISTP[/youtube]

[youtube=Rhfywi5Y8TM]ISFP[/youtube]
 

Grungemouse

Widdles in your cream.
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
577
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5
Extending from above, I think a contrast between dom-Fi and inferior-Fe should be outlined. This would be the main distinguishing factor.

ISTPs can be sensitive to other peoples feelings, but in a different way. They act like a child who has a record of breaking/losing their toys, and has been given one last chance with a new toy; "Oh crap, I better not screw this up and upset them like last time." Except they are sincere with the people who matter to them, but are aware of how clumsy they can be with peoples emotions and because of this they tend to feel very self-conscious and vulnerable. Thinkers are capable of caring for their people, but they have a bull in the china shop way about it. Feelers are generally more graceful in personal matters; it comes more naturally to them.

There isn't much information for me to mull over, but at the moment you seem more like an ISFP. Can you elaborate on your sensitivity towards people?
 

Markasin3

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
23
MBTI Type
IXXP
I'm finding it difficult to answer your questions VagrantFarce, but here it is. This is a bunch of information about me and it might be disorderly for your taste. It seems complicated to me, but maybe you guys will find it not as complicated.

I tend to stay emotionally detached, noninvolved in certain situations when there are people who I don't really know sitting around (Friends of my closest friends). When my friends get really excited, I tend to be emotionally detached too unless I was some how involved in the process that led to the excitement.

If we're joking around, I usually get really excited, but if something is wrong with me, which happens every now and then, I find excitement distracting, since I'm trying to figure out how to fix my problem inside my head.
When there's an argument that doesn't involve me, but involves people I'm close to, I keep to myself, even if I'm quick to find the solution and quick to understand reasons that led up to the argument on both parties. I don't like giving the direct approach to help, but I'd rather correct the situation in subtle ways. It may be getting into a similar situation myself and displaying how I might deal with it, or giving some articles to read with specific information on the issue at hand.

I find it important not to give my opinion, but to provide a healthy reasonable and, if all possible, correct answer to things. This is one reason I don't get involved in arguments, cause I need time to double check myself. I don't want to deal with it incorrectly.

But otherwise, I rather have someone else deal with the problem rather than me. I'm not one to put myself out there, but I do get a sense of joy figuring it out.

I find people and social situations fascinating. When I was growing up, I always thought about being a psychologist where I can figure people out. I would go to a cafeteria and just sit and observe people, and figure out little things about them just by the way they eat.

____
............ You know, just by reading that little bit about myself, I actually am very sensitive to how other people feel, but I find the need to be the controlled, calm person in any situation and not to allow my emotions to overpower any of that. Internally, I might feel an overwhelming sense of emotion but I force myself to hide it, and after a few seconds I start going into a Sherlock Homes mode. If I show emotions, its selective and appropriate for the time and situation for the reasonable betterment of the situation. Otherwise, I keep it to myself. If the timing is off, I don't show it.

A lot of times, I feel like a little kid who has to act like an adult. And this may sound weird, but you see it in television, when I myself have a terrible emotional problem, sometimes in my head, I have to talk to myself in third person. Like the reasonable adult side of me has to calm down and manage the emotional scared side of me. And I notice myself going back and forth.
________

I feel a need to show my artistic side too. Out of impulse... lol I don't know how much it will help in figuring me out, but, who knows, it might. Here's a work I did about a year ago. YouTube - Einstein's Dreams Teaser



As for your joke question... I don't like much violence and because of my moral standards and upbringing, I don't watch rated R movies, so I have to go with Where The Wild Things Are. However, I wouldn't watch the movie again because it was a bit overly emotional and left it up to interpretation. I didn't quite enjoy that. I wish it made a little more sense, but I seem I understand why the makers chose to do it that way, cause the book was that way too.
 

Markasin3

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
23
MBTI Type
IXXP
You know, I have to note that I have a lot of social anxiety, but I've been working with it and have gotten incredibly better with managing it in the past few years. This is often at the forefront of my mind.
 

VagrantFarce

Active member
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
1,558
I think it's easy to read both Ti and Fi into that post, Markasin.

:thinking:

I think the only way you're going to figure this out is if you decide for yourself. Look at these two descriptions (they're really good) and see which one you identify with most:

Ti said:
Introverted Thinking (Ti) often involves finding just the right word to clearly express an idea concisely, crisply, and to the point. Using introverted Thinking is like having an internal sense of the essential qualities of something, noticing the fine distinctions that make it what it is and then naming it. It also involves an internal reasoning process of deriving subcategories of classes and sub-principles of general principles. These can then be used in problem solving, analysis, and refining of a product or an idea. The analysis involves looking at different sides of an issue and seeing where there is inconsistency. We engage in this process when we notice logical inconsistencies between statements and frameworks, using a model to evaluate the likely accuracy of what’s observed.

Fi said:
I feel that my emotions are trustworthy. I use them to fine-tune my value system...I do this by waiting until I have a feeling, then checking it against what I believe I should feel. If the two are not consistent, I re-analyze why I believe I should feel otherwise. If it does not make sense or is inconsistent with the rest of my values, particularly the foundations of the value system, I alter the value until it is properly aligned. If the reason makes sense and retains an internal consistency with the rest of the value system, I figure out why I am feeling inappropriately. When I discover the core of the error, I can work to change the spiritual flaw in order to change the emotion. I continue focusing on appropriate attitudes until the actual emotion aligns with the value system again.

It really is just the difference between being in tune with logical coherence and emotional (or "spiritual") coherence. Which are you more like on a day-to-day basis?
 
Top