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INFP or INTP?

Mondo

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I am fairly confused about which type I actually am.
I am comfortable with using logic and uncomfortable with expressing emotion but I am definitely capable of understanding feelings and feel that in my social relationships, I emphasize harmony over efficency. I am interested in NT things, but I know that one of my main focuses is relationships, which is part of why I became interested in MBTI.

How I would describe my reasoning process is that I always have a 'gut feeling' about what feels right or what feels wrong. However, I often use logic to analyze these gut feelings and decide from there what seems more likely.

INFP or INTP? Who knows?

A part of it is that I most often test as INTP, but when looking at the profiles
Here's how I think this should work out.

Feel free to ask me any questions that you think will help me understand the differences between Thinking and Feeling and from there, I can decide what type I am most likely am.
 

Nocapszy

no clinkz 'til brooklyn
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The best advice I can give (given the information above) is that you're searching for the wrong things.

Don't look for differences in T and F, look for differences in INTP and INFP.

Look at as much as you can of either type. Find the things they have in common, and then find the things that contrast.
 

Totenkindly

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hmmm... we need to start compiling these INFP/INTP threads and see what actual definitive rules could be drawn... :)

I am fairly confused about which type I actually am.
I am comfortable with using logic and uncomfortable with expressing emotion but I am definitely capable of understanding feelings and feel that in my social relationships, I emphasize harmony over efficiency. I am interested in NT things, but I know that one of my main focuses is relationships, which is part of why I became interested in MBTI.

Well, none of those definitive in regards to type. You can be an INFP who can feel your way through conventional logic, and you can be an INTP who can think your way through relationships.

How I would describe my reasoning process is that I always have a 'gut feeling' about what feels right or what feels wrong. However, I often use logic to analyze these gut feelings and decide from there what seems more likely.

Gut feelings smack of Perception functions, not judgment ones. (Conventionally this is attributed to iNtuitive functions... but Sensation functions can also be used to see all the details at once in something and thus result in a gut instinct. Sensates normally act on the instinct without really needing to articulate it, iNtuitives tend to articulate the instinct to themselves first or while acting.)

Feel free to ask me any questions that you think will help me understand the differences between Thinking and Feeling and from there, I can decide what type I am most likely am.

Well, an INFP friend of mine and I are going through some difficult emotional times. When he is stressed, he often gets stuck in emotion lock in a way that I do not. While we both have "defective emotional responses" to things that we both can recognize as defective, he can't overcome his and needs people literally with him or talking to him to keep him from being swept away or he just loses himself. While I value people offering strength to me and giving me advice to stay on track, if I don't get it, I still agonize and meanwhile just stick with my thoughts even when my feelings are bad.

(So I think through my feelings, he "feels" through his thoughts. If that makes any sense at all to you.)

I do not mean to say Feeling=feelings, it's actually about values, but wherever "personal values" arise from do seem to be coming from a similar internal place as feelings do, and sometimes people even get confused as to what values they actually hold vs what feelings they are experiencing. (That is sort of another topic though.)
 

Mondo

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I often find that I strongly desire reassurance from other people to get out of an 'emotional lock'. I have learned how to get around this though and am capable of 'using my thoughts' to get past emotion, but I subtly search for reassurance first always. Being a male, it is very different how I work stuff like this out. Most females I know who are stuck between T & F are almost always T types.. it is just part of the whole 'gender stereotype' thing.

I read both the INTP and INFP descriptions. Both types sound pretty cool. However, I think that INFP fits me better at this point. In high school, I thought I was a certain T but that was because I was practically molded into an "NT" stereotype. The only people who would think that I am an F type back home are my parents, but that is more so because I'm not "Thinking" enough (both TJ types). Since college, I realized how much more I let my feelings get to me than many other people (all T types).

Also, I tend to get along better with SF types than ST types. However, this may be simply because SF's are friendlier people overall and are more tolerant of my ideas than the ST's. Interesting how many people have the same problem though.

If I am an INFP, I have a weak F function and vice versa.
 

mippus

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If I am an INFP, I have a weak F function and vice versa.

Why do you put this so negatively? I'd say you would be an INFP with a strong T-side or vice versa...:yes:
 

INTJMom

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I am fairly confused about which type I actually am.
I am comfortable with using logic and uncomfortable with expressing emotion but I am definitely capable of understanding feelings and feel that in my social relationships, I emphasize harmony over efficency. I am interested in NT things, but I know that one of my main focuses is relationships, which is part of why I became interested in MBTI.

How I would describe my reasoning process is that I always have a 'gut feeling' about what feels right or what feels wrong. However, I often use logic to analyze these gut feelings and decide from there what seems more likely.

INFP or INTP? Who knows?

A part of it is that I most often test as INTP, but when looking at the profiles
Here's how I think this should work out.

Feel free to ask me any questions that you think will help me understand the differences between Thinking and Feeling and from there, I can decide what type I am most likely am.
The fact that you have an avatar with someone aiming a gun says NOT INFP to me.
 

Tallulah

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The fact that you have an avatar with someone aiming a gun says NOT INFP to me.

I don't know about that...the only INFP I know IRL is obsessed with 24, and though she's against guns and war, she is able to separate reality from fiction. Her favorite character on the show is a woman who definitely knows her way around a gun. :p
 

INTJMom

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I don't know about that...the only INFP I know IRL is obsessed with 24, and though she's against guns and war, she is able to separate reality from fiction. Her favorite character on the show is a woman who definitely knows her way around a gun. :p
The INFP I know won't let us even say the word Pokemon in her house!
(because they're too violent)
 

Mondo

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If you finish this sentence, I think we might be able to offer more help.

That's a good point lol. :doh:
Haha!

What I was going to say was that I usually test as INTP but I think the INFP profile fits me more as a whole. When it comes to human relationships, I often play the role as the guy who listens to people's problems and gives advice. I was talking to someone who is also interested in MBTI and he believed that this was more F than T, because the INTP would be bothered by listening to the 'same problems' over and over again and consider the whole ordeal to be useless, since the INTP desires for 'efficiency' while the INFP desires for 'harmony', I know that at times, people are just looking for reassurance and not necessarily any solution to their lives. I always test as T though, since some of the questions include: Do you like logic? Do you value justice over mercy? etc. These are things I believe in, but I don't know if that necessarily makes me a T.


Also, I love "24"!! The suspense of that show is incredible. I haven't met too many people who have watched "24" and said that they disliked it. Jack Bauer is the man! :party2: 24 is for ALL personality types, I say!
 

Tallulah

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The INFP I know won't let us even say the word Pokemon in her house!
(because they're too violent)

Holy cow. I'm kind of glad I don't know that person. :D

What I was going to say was that I usually test as INTP but I think the INFP profile fits me more as a whole. When it comes to human relationships, I often play the role as the guy who listens to people's problems and gives advice. I was talking to someone who is also interested in MBTI and he believed that this was more F than T, because the INTP would be bothered by listening to the 'same problems' over and over again and consider the whole ordeal to be useless, since the INTP desires for 'efficiency' while the INFP desires for 'harmony', I know that at times, people are just looking for reassurance and not necessarily any solution to their lives. I always test as T though, since some of the questions include: Do you like logic? Do you value justice over mercy? etc. These are things I believe in, but I don't know if that necessarily makes me a T.


Also, I love "24"!! The suspense of that show is incredible. I haven't met too many people who have watched "24" and said that they disliked it. Jack Bauer is the man! :party2: 24 is for ALL personality types, I say!

I'm INTP, but I have learned that some friends just want the comfort, rather than the solution. My kneejerk reaction is always to help them find a solution, though. It makes me feel useful. I can just hug them and sympathize, but it feels a little awkward, and I'm always amazed that that seems to be enough for them. The closer I am to the person, though, the more I'm able to just sympathize. Also, some friends I feel comfortable with hugging randomly, and some I don't, and it doesn't always have anything to do with how much I care about them. It's just the way our personalities mesh.

I only know one INFP IRL, but she comes off as cuddlier than I probably do, even though she's very smart and more vocal about stuff like politics and hot-button issues. I tend to intimidate people until they know me better. Or rather, until I let them know me better. ;)

24 is awesome, especially Season 5! But Season 6 sucked like a giant sucking thing. I'm hoping they've learned from their mistakes, dangit. :doh:
 

Snowey1210

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What I was going to say was that I usually test as INTP but I think the INFP profile fits me more as a whole. When it comes to human relationships, I often play the role as the guy who listens to people's problems and gives advice. I was talking to someone who is also interested in MBTI and he believed that this was more F than T, because the INTP would be bothered by listening to the 'same problems' over and over again and consider the whole ordeal to be useless, since the INTP desires for 'efficiency' while the INFP desires for 'harmony', I know that at times, people are just looking for reassurance and not necessarily any solution to their lives. I always test as T though, since some of the questions include: Do you like logic? Do you value justice over mercy? etc. These are things I believe in, but I don't know if that necessarily makes me a T.

I can relate to this problem also, as I feel I'm pretty much in the same situation. In general I use logic to govern my life, I do think things through however I need to have this governed by feeling in some form. Feeling gives me reason whereas Thinking gives me understanding, and in my mind I find it impossible to seperate the two.

In terms of beliefs I too am quite logical. Science makes a lot of sense to me, however there is something inside me that hopes that concepts such as love, and contentment arn't merely chemical reactions governed by our brains. To live in this manner would to me be akin to living in a vaccuum, as after all we would never truly be able to control our actions, and thus be devoid of all meaning. So therefore I like to think (we control our actions), and feel (that they mean something).

So I feel I'm in the same boat that many others are in. INTP or INFP? who knows? I'm either an INTP overanalysing or an INFP being overly emotional.

Just as a side note, I hate that Mercy vs. Justice question. How am I supposed to make a sound judgement out of context? A man stealing bread to feed his starving family I would grant mercy, but a man who drowns babies should suffer the consequences of his actions. Too subjective to possibly answer.
 
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Ezra

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How many people have trouble with deciding which of these two types they actually are? I swear the majority of What's my Type? posts are dedicated to discussing the issue. There should be a sticky solely for distinctions between the INTP and the INFP.
 

Colors

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:laugh: It is somewhat ironic as the type descriptions can tend toward "INFPs are fluffy, sensitive artiste-poets" and "INTPs are brilliant, emotionless robots". It's probably because outwardly INTPs and INFPs aren't so different. Maybe if the descriptions were more nuanced, it would be more clear?
 

Totenkindly

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Just as a side note, I hate that Mercy vs. Justice question. How am I supposed to make a sound judgement out of context? A man stealing bread to feed his starving family I would grant mercy, but a man who drowns babies should suffer the consequences of his actions. Too subjective to possibly answer.

True, sometimes context really makes questions like this difficult.

I find a better mercy/justice question to be simply, if you know someone is in the wrong about something (having said or done something that they shouldn't have), if you decide to let them off and have mercy, do you feel worse about it than if you would crack the whip and let them have exactly what they deserve?

Mercy/Justice people can force themselves to pick the other option (either being merciful or else giving people what they really did deserve)... but they usually cannot live with the choice, it will eat at them.

I experienced this T/F thing in an argument I recently had to endure between two friends. Both were upset and exasperated. The F felt like the T had betrayed someone's trust and simply wanted to be heard, empathized with, given some sign that she was understood... she wasn't even sure what she wanted, from a practical standpoint; meanwhile, the T kept saying (truthfully), "I already apologized, there's nothing else I can do now, I've promised to do something different in the future, why can't we just move on? Why are you still going on about this?"

So there was a very clear T/F conflict: The F's values had been violated and she didn't feel reconnected yet with this person, the T was trying to just "fix the problem" and technically everything had been remedied, therefore the problem should have been over.

Now, in general, INxPs share the Ne ... so that imaginative flexiness really colors both types to look similar. Both can see the possibilities, have a broad view of the situation.

But in an evaluation, the INFP usually can't help but somehow reconnected with the person, encourage them, nurture them, even if they technically feel the person did something wrong. meanwhile, the INTP might want to be merciful but will usually struggle with giving the person more than they deserve because it feels so dishonest. Both will probably be torn.
 

Mondo

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Lol, it is so tough to tell whether my values are based on how I feel or are they based on reason. I do not know. I think it's a mixture of both.
I am still confused and think that I may just be an INXP.. haha!
 

INTJMom

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Lol, it is so tough to tell whether my values are based on how I feel or are they based on reason. I do not know. I think it's a mixture of both.
I am still confused and think that I may just be an INXP.. haha!
This is an interesting puzzle that you are trying to solve.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think values can be based on feelings or reasons. The opposite of values is standards, unchanging, unrelenting, unbending standards.

A person who makes a decision based on values is most likely to put themselves into the situation to imagine what effect the decision will have on the people involved, and then decide accordingly. They take the people, and their lives, into account.

A person who makes a decision based on standards purposely removes themselves from the situation and makes a decision solely based on the rules, regardless of whose feelings it hurts, or who it inconveniences.

I used to get so offended that people would dare get upset at me for a decision I had made. I used to think, "Your feelings aren't supposed to matter!" I thought they were weak.

I have since learned to work a little empathy into my decisions every now and then, though it's very unnatural and uncomfortable. I don't feel like I'm good at it, but I've come to see that mercy is a good thing, and doesn't mean someone is weak.
 

Mondo

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I am bringing this post up because after some self-reflection, I realize that T types can be highly emotional. The question is whether they prefer to let emotions get in the way or not.
I think I might be a T who thinks that is logical to always consider other people's feelings. An NT can be empathetic. An NT can use intuition as a strong guide just as an NF can use reason as one.
For some of these reasons, I am thinking of returning to the NT side and just saying that I am a somewhat 'immature NT'.
 

INTJMom

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I am bringing this post up because after some self-reflection, I realize that T types can be highly emotional. The question is whether they prefer to let emotions get in the way or not.
I think I might be a T who thinks that is logical to always consider other people's feelings. An NT can be empathetic. An NT can use intuition as a strong guide just as an NF can use reason as one.
For some of these reasons, I am thinking of returning to the NT side and just saying that I am a somewhat 'immature NT'.
In my experience, "T" determines what criteria I use to make decisions or judgments. I don't CARE if you have a good "reason" or excuse for breaking that law. You BROKE that law, and now you are going to pay the penalty for breaking that law. It's as simple as that.

I have been known to be just as hard on myself, as on everybody else, or harder. My feelings should not have an impact on my decisions. Feelings are fleeting changeable things that are an unstable standard to use.

I HATE when people disregard rules and laws. I should not be the only human being on the face of the earth who is required to obeys rules and laws. EVERYBODY should have to. Anyway, that's what "T" "sounds like" in my head.

Now that I'm 49 though, I have learned the value of "mercy". Sometimes mercy is a better solution than judgment. But having said that, I have a horrible time trying to make a decision based on "F" rather than "T". T is so much easier to use. It's so black and white.
 

duende

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I HATE when people disregard rules and laws. I should not be the only human being on the face of the earth who is required to obeys rules and laws. EVERYBODY should have to. Anyway, that's what "T" "sounds like" in my head.

Thats what it sounds like in my head when someone's law-breaking impacts me and makes my life harder. Generally, however, it sounds more like "That is a stupid law, and it makes no sense to obey it. If I'd been in her shoes, I'd have broken it, too!"

Harking back to an earlier sub-topic:

Snowey said:
Just as a side note, I hate that Mercy vs. Justice question. How am I supposed to make a sound judgement out of context? A man stealing bread to feed his starving family I would grant mercy, but a man who drowns babies should suffer the consequences of his actions. Too subjective to possibly answer.

I was slightly gobsmacked when I read this, because it is so very different from how I interpreted that choice. I actually like the justice/mercy question because it made me think, and what I thought was along the lines of "If there were justice, there would be no need for mercy." My response was not to think of whether to extend justice (punishment) or mercy (leniency) to a wrongdoer, but to ponder what the implications of those two concepts are in a system. I chose justice, because in a just system, all people will have their basic material needs fulfilled and no one would be in a position to take advantage of others or to hoard resources. Laws and rules would be just, and equally applied to everyone. Mercy, on the other hand, is something that is dispensed from on high, whether that be from a deity, king, judge or parent. It implies that the one who gives mercy has power over the one receiving. The laws and rules could be anything, in such a system, and could not be equally applied. Why, because unless laws and rules are strictly applied in most cases, there is nothing against which to compare mercy. You can only be merciful to one person if you have been unmerciful to others, because if mercy applies to everyone, it ceases to *be* mercy.

It never occurred to me to think of it in terms of individuals...does that mean I get an "F" in F?
 
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