THE EPIC BATTLE OF E VERSUS I (nfp)

[Eckhart]

Well, I obviously don't know how long you are already dealing with it. My post wasn't meant in a negative way that you wouldn't think enough about it. The MBTI stuff is just not always easy to understand, and you can get many things wrong I think. I think especially I vs E can be difficult sometimes. You don't necessarily have to force now a letter on your own just because I say so, but I think it helps to know the own type and the fact that you think about it already for so long and open the thread says to me that you have some interest in it too, although it is (understandable) a bit annoying for you to be open on that one letter still

Well, when I look at the list and give my own opinion (others may feel free to criticize my thoughts), then I think that not all things listed are necessarily indicators of I or E. Your points for I actually all sound very much like I. The last point that you get nutty more when you are long time alone than you are when you are long time not alone doesn't have to mean much. I can get frustrated / annoyed / bored / nutty too when I am alone for longer time. I guess most people don't want to be lonely all time. I think also F vs T plays into that. As F you are in some way people-focused, and when you are not with people at all then it can be difficult too.

On the other hand I see several E points written down by you that don't really have to mean anything. You like team sports etc., but you don't hang around with them all day long all the time I guess. I like team sports more than individual sports too (well, actually I don't like doing sports myself mostly at all but that's another story...), and I guess many I's do so too. Again that might be also some F vs T-thing.

May I ask what you want to do usually as first when you come home from work / school / whatever? In a workshop I visited once about MBTI that was one example question which should give some first indication for I or E.

Liking to be in center of attention may be more typical for E than I, but as I say, there are several I's who are on the stage etc. too. I think that nervousness stuff can be brought under control when you have enough self-confidence, practice etc.

The following things (hope I didn't forget one) are neither I or E imho:

0 i am often the planner of social events in my group of friends, despite being an *nfp
1 i like to talk and gossip about people
2 i would usually rather do something with a friend than alone
3 when i was younger, i would always think before i spoke, because i didn't speak with peers much. now that i do, i forget to think before i speak and say rather dumb things sometimes
4 i have a very wide group of acquaintances

0-2 don't point to any type (1 maybe more to F than T, but not really more for E than I). To 2, do you mean with one of your close friends or would you also rather do something with someone that you don't know that well yet (one of your acquaintances)? 3, well, I think that is also a matter of self-confidence. If you feel more self-confident then you maybe talk more openly about things. I on the other hand tend to speak fast before thinking when I am very nervous or under stress. 4 again can also just mean that you get along well with other people. I usually have no problem getting along with people either as an I, but I wouldn't call them my friends, and I wouldn't really do much stuff with them if there is not a closer friend with me too. Unless of course that is an interesting person which could develop into a closer friend, or we would maybe really do something very interesting but then I go there because of the activity and not the people there, which is untypical though.

Functions tests seem to be to me inaccurate often, but if it was accuracte then it would correlate with ENFP, yes.

 

[skylights]

thanks Eckhart :]

i think you're right. i AM introverted. i went to a big gathering today and really paid attention to my behavior and thought and energy levels, and that sealed it for me.

but i've also been asking my closest friends and family about types and they've consistently voiced that the enfp descriptions are far more like me, just not the parts about being super outgoing or very energetic.

so here's my example... bold describes what's NOT me.

infp:
creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings, prone to quitting, prone to feelings of loneliness, ambivalent of the rules, solitary, daydreams about people to maintain a sense of closeness, focus on fantasies, acts without planning, low self confidence, emotionally moody, can feel defective, prone to lateness, likes esoteric things, wounded at the core, feels shame, frequently losing things, prone to sadness, prone to dreaming about a rescuer, disorderly, observer, easily distracted, does not like crowds, can act without thinking, private, can feel uncomfortable around others, familiar with the darkside, (what is the darkside?) hermit, more likely to support marijuana legalization, can sabotage self, likes the rain, sometimes can't control fearful thoughts, prone to crying, prone to regret, attracted to the counter culture, can be submissive, prone to feeling discouraged, frequently second guesses self, not punctual, not always prepared, can feel victimized, prone to confusion, prone to irresponsibility, can be pessimistic.

enfp:
outgoing, social, disorganized, easily talked into doing silly things, spontaneous, wild and crazy, acts without thinking, good at getting people to have fun, pleasure seeking, irresponsible, physically affectionate, risk taker, thrill seeker, likely to have or want a tattoo (got one about a year ago ), adventurous, unprepared, attention seeking, hyperactive, irrational, loves crowds, rule breaker, prone to losing things, seductive, easily distracted, open, revealing, comfortable in unfamiliar situations, attracted to strange things, non punctual, likes to stand out, likes to try new things, fun seeker, unconventional, energetic, impulsive, empathetic, dangerous, loving, attachment prone, prone to fantasy.


i also really do think that my Ne is more dominant than my Fi, or at least they're pretty much tied for dominance. just looking at the way i cognitively process and behave, Ne comes first. though i've read a lot that Fi is hard to explain. anyway, maybe a high level of Ne is part of the reason for these discrepancies...

and maybe also there are just many varieties within infp, and i happen to be on the optimistic, social, thrill seeking side. i am an enneagram 7, after all.

 

[Chloe]

if you are absolutely sure about being enneagram 7, i dont think you are infp because infps are (almost??) never 7s.... not everybody is stereotypical example of their type.
if you look at the people, if there is 60% or more Es, not all of them are extremely extraverted like Es profiles indicate, maybe 20% of people are obvious Es, other Es are more quiet but still Es because they are energized by interaction etc.

 

[skylights]

if you are absolutely sure about being enneagram 7, i dont think you are infp because infps are (almost??) never 7s.... not everybody is stereotypical example of their type.
if you look at the people, if there is 60% or more Es, not all of them are extremely extraverted like Es profiles indicate, maybe 20% of people are obvious Es, other Es are more quiet but still Es because they are energized by interaction etc.

hm, well, it's possible that i'm a 4w3 - maybe it's the same case as enfp/infp in that i've just identified with the more outgoing description because sadness/shame/guilt are fairly unfamiliar territory to me, and i'm kind of an adrenaline junkie. lol

 

[21%]

Hi

I think you sound like an ENFP. I've got an ENFP friend and she's pretty individualistic and needs a lot of alone time, which she calls "Me time" and she spends it doing solitary things like reading or giving herself a pedicure. You don't have to be super energetic to be an extrovert, the same way you don't have to hate people to be an introvert. Extroverts just feel energized by people. They don't necessarily have to go out and seek contact with people.

If you don't identify even a little with the sadness/darkness thing, then you're probably not an INFP.

 

[Eckhart]

Well, I am not used to Enneagram, so I cannot really tell. I just gave you my opinion on your written list. You alone can give your best fitting type at end, and when you feel you are an Introvert then maybe your Enneagramm is wrong, or you are just a bit outside the usual image of INFP.

Just saying that I don't want to mislead you or so.

 

[skylights]

Well, I am not used to Enneagram, so I cannot really tell. I just gave you my opinion on your written list. You alone can give your best fitting type at end, and when you feel you are an Introvert then maybe your Enneagramm is wrong, or you are just a bit outside the usual image of INFP.

Just saying that I don't want to mislead you or so.

no that's ok! i really appreciate your input. it helps to hear different opinions than the ones i've heard circulated within my own mind 100 times, lol.

 

[skylights]

well maybe this is why i've had trouble


i just took a functions test and it came out like this:

extraverted Intuiting (Ne) ************************************************ (48.4)
excellent use
introverted Intuiting (Ni) **************************************** (40.2)
excellent use
extraverted Feeling (Fe) *********************************** (35.1)
good use
introverted Thinking (Ti) **************************** (28.1)
average use
extraverted Sensing (Se) ************************* (25.7)
average use
introverted Feeling (Fi) ************************ (24)
average use
extraverted Thinking (Te) *********************** (23.8)
limited use
introverted Sensing (Si) ************** (14.7)
unused

lmao i am strange
or i answered poorly
or this test is fucked up, one of three

though apparently having trouble deciding your type/feeling like an outsider resonates with ENFP/INFP
sooooo lol

mostly i just thought someone else might laugh at these results too

 

[Eckhart]

I think the Test is fucked up (if it is the same I did, it seems so). I have done it once too when I started here, and I had also nonsense in it.

 

[Chloe]

well maybe this is why i've had trouble


i just took a functions test and it came out like this:

extraverted Intuiting (Ne) ************************************************ (48.4)
excellent use
introverted Intuiting (Ni) **************************************** (40.2)
excellent use
extraverted Feeling (Fe) *********************************** (35.1)
good use
introverted Thinking (Ti) **************************** (28.1)
average use
extraverted Sensing (Se) ************************* (25.7)
average use
introverted Feeling (Fi) ************************ (24)
average use
extraverted Thinking (Te) *********************** (23.8)
limited use
introverted Sensing (Si) ************** (14.7)
unused

lmao i am strange
or i answered poorly
or this test is fucked up, one of three

though apparently having trouble deciding your type/feeling like an outsider resonates with ENFP/INFP
sooooo lol

mostly i just thought someone else might laugh at these results too

but what did test tell you ? ENTP??

 

[skylights]

but what did test tell you ? ENTP??

yeah. which isn't terribly off when i read the description, but i'm wayyy too much of a feeler to be a T.

 

[Chloe]

yeah. which isn't terribly off when i read the description, but i'm wayyy too much of a feeler to be a T.

and did you figure out are you 7 or 4 in the end?

i mean, you said sadness is unfamiliar to you, i dont think you can be 4 and say that... because 4s like all feelings even feeling of defectiveness is pleasure in some way....
do you like being busy?

 

[skylights]

and did you figure out are you 7 or 4 in the end?

i mean, you said sadness is unfamiliar to you, i dont think you can be 4 and say that... because 4s like all feelings even feeling of defectiveness is pleasure in some way....
do you like being busy?

yeah you know i've just kind of been avoiding the enneagram

sadness is... well sometimes i'll listen to a sad song (but i always associate a happy ending with it - like it's an okay sad song if i know that it turns out all right in the end) and have a little sniffle, but i don't understand that very deep-rooted despair, no. i understand longing, yearning, desperation... those are all places i have been. but not defectiveness, not despair. i feel like... i dunno, i feel like life disproves that despair. i get being there emotionally, which i have, but i don't understand recognizing it for what it is and staying there. i think it's valuable to have hit rock bottom emotionally because then you're familiar with it, then you understand that it can't get any worse. (this is the problem, though, i'm optimistic even in my darkest moments). i really fit the 4w3 to a T otherwise.

anyway... someone said i seemed like a 6w7 sx or a 9w8 sx recently. so i was reading about those until i decided i was frustrated with the enneagram and would just ignore it lol

thanks for asking

oh but busyness -- yes, i like it. but i need downtime too, or i get very drained. in any case i handle being very busy better than having nothing to do. if i have nothing to do then i make myself busy with things like learning about the MBTI and posting on forums

 

[Chloe]

yeah you know i've just kind of been avoiding the enneagram

sadness is... well sometimes i'll listen to a sad song (but i always associate a happy ending with it - like it's an okay sad song if i know that it turns out all right in the end) and have a little sniffle, but i don't understand that very deep-rooted despair, no. i understand longing, yearning, desperation... those are all places i have been. but not defectiveness, not despair. i feel like... i dunno, i feel like life disproves that despair. i get being there emotionally, which i have, but i don't understand recognizing it for what it is and staying there. i think it's valuable to have hit rock bottom emotionally because then you're familiar with it, then you understand that it can't get any worse. (this is the problem, though, i'm optimistic even in my darkest moments). i really fit the 4w3 to a T otherwise.

anyway... someone said i seemed like a 6w7 sx or a 9w8 sx recently. so i was reading about those until i decided i was frustrated with the enneagram and would just ignore it lol

thanks for asking

oh but busyness -- yes, i like it. but i need downtime too, or i get very drained. in any case i handle being very busy better than having nothing to do. if i have nothing to do then i make myself busy with things like learning about the MBTI and posting on forums

you could also be type 3 because you score so 2nd to 7. do you relate to anything about 3?
by busy i meant you know PRODUCTIVE, like, achieving, or planning what will you achieve, how will you improve yourself, it's a bit robot-like in 3s, draining. Or how you handle defeat?
i mean i dont see anything against 7, but if you think you arent..

anyway... i think you'll be surer about your mbti type if you figure out enneagram type...

i think it's valuable to have hit rock bottom emotionally because then you're familiar with it, then you understand that it can't get any worse. (this is the problem, though, i'm optimistic even in my darkest moments).

omg, thats exactly how I view it. I am also very optimistic and it actually proved wrong because I am prone to self deception, like "it will all get better" and then when it doesn happen, i still am thinking like that, and it happened that i sinked even deeper. But I agree on hitting rock bottom, there IS value to that for sure... when you have nothing else to lose... and only thing that's left is to gain your self back

 

[skylights]

you could also be type 3 because you score so 2nd to 7. do you relate to anything about 3?
by busy i meant you know PRODUCTIVE, like, achieving, or planning what will you achieve, how will you improve yourself, it's a bit robot-like in 3s, draining. Or how you handle defeat?
i mean i dont see anything against 7, but if you think you arent..

anyway... i think you'll be surer about your mbti type if you figure out enneagram type...

probably true. though i think after talking to a lot of enfps and reading about all the functions i should be a confirmed enfp. it all fits. yay !

i relate a lot to 3 (i relate to all of the numbers but 1, 2, and 8 though, haha) but yeah but i'm not really productive enough to be a 3 i don't think :sadface: lol... i mean i am actually pretty productive, but it's always sort of accidental, not really in the planned and polished way i think a 3 would go about it... i have a good resume and have academic honours am published and stuff (wow i am not trying to be obnoxious sorry) and i can make it look really neat and polished but underneath it was a lot of rushing and not as glamorous as it sounds?

omg, thats exactly how I view it. I am also very optimistic and it actually proved wrong because I am prone to self deception, like "it will all get better" and then when it doesn happen, i still am thinking like that, and it happened that i sinked even deeper. But I agree on hitting rock bottom, there IS value to that for sure... when you have nothing else to lose... and only thing that's left is to gain your self back

haha oh lord i know what you mean. i like to tell myself like, no worries, you think it'll be really bad but in truth it's going to be fine... see this is where the enneagram confuses me, in my head i get anxious but my gut tells me everything is okay and i trust my gut more, so i'm like, shut up head, you're going to be fine -- which would make sense, except i think my "head" is actually NeFi and my "gut" is actually TeSi... lol... but anyway, it usually actually isn't as bad as some of the situations i envision, but then sometimes, it's worse - and i maintain external calm, but inside i'm a panicky little ball of AGHHHH, lol. and of course i use finessing skills and logic and empathy and work it all out, but man, that moment where you realize it really is as bad as you feared? ugh. it's like all that guilt i tried to ignore finally catches up to me.

 

[Chloe]

probably true. though i think after talking to a lot of enfps and reading about all the functions i should be a confirmed enfp. it all fits. yay !

i relate a lot to 3 (i relate to all of the numbers but 1, 2, and 8 though, haha) but yeah but i'm not really productive enough to be a 3 i don't think :sadface: lol... i mean i am actually pretty productive, but it's always sort of accidental, not really in the planned and polished way i think a 3 would go about it... i have a good resume and have academic honours am published and stuff (wow i am not trying to be obnoxious sorry) and i can make it look really neat and polished but underneath it was a lot of rushing and not as glamorous as it sounds?

you dont need to be successful to be a 3, not at all. I know many 3s who are not successfull. Myself included, last few years I am not successful. You just need to strive towards that. Like.... have fear of failure....
and the bolded is exactly what 3 would do, make it look better than it is....

haha oh lord i know what you mean. i like to tell myself like, no worries, you think it'll be really bad but in truth it's going to be fine... see this is where the enneagram confuses me, in my head i get anxious but my gut tells me everything is okay and i trust my gut more, so i'm like, shut up head, you're going to be fine -- which would make sense, except i think my "head" is actually NeFi and my "gut" is actually TeSi... lol... but anyway, it usually actually isn't as bad as some of the situations i envision, but then sometimes, it's worse - and i maintain external calm, but inside i'm a panicky little ball of AGHHHH, lol. and of course i use finessing skills and logic and empathy and work it all out, but man, that moment where you realize it really is as bad as you feared? ugh. it's like all that guilt i tried to ignore finally catches up to me.

haha, happens to me exactly like that. i am extremely "it will all work out great" and closing my eyes to all problems until theybecome big as Moon, and then I just think that's the way it should be "everybody has Moon in front of their Sun, making it all a bit dark" (not talking about astrology, lol).... and moments when i realize it's all very bad are very short, soon i come back to rose-coloured self delusion..... and in the end I dont deal with problems, just run away from them... I can admit it here but as soon as I close laptop I forget they exist.

 

[skylights]

you dont need to be successful to be a 3, not at all. I know many 3s who are not successfull. Myself included, last few years I am not successful. You just need to strive towards that. Like.... have fear of failure....
and the bolded is exactly what 3 would do, make it look better than it is....

lol yeah i'm kinda bad about that... but i think i've figured out for sure that i'm a 7. i'm not really afraid of failure itself, just that failure would close off options for me, you know? not that majorly failing would be fun, it'd kind of suck and it'd be embarrassing for sure, but i'm way more afraid of being cut off from stuff.

lol well maybe back to reading again

haha, happens to me exactly like that. i am extremely "it will all work out great" and closing my eyes to all problems until theybecome big as Moon, and then I just think that's the way it should be "everybody has Moon in front of their Sun, making it all a bit dark" (not talking about astrology, lol).... and moments when i realize it's all very bad are very short, soon i come back to rose-coloured self delusion..... and in the end I dont deal with problems, just run away from them... I can admit it here but as soon as I close laptop I forget they exist.

haha yeah... mostly i figure if i just do something else and pretend its not there, itll just not matter... yeah that doesn't work well either... :blushing: