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INFP vs. ISFP(Ne vs Se).

L

LadyLazarus

Guest
Well, I'd like to start this thread off by restating elaborating on the title, as of late, or better said, for quite a some time now I have been having difficulty deciding between INFP and ISFP in regards to my type, in reality, I feel the best way to describe me would be a mishmash of the two; that is to say, I feel like I am both and neither simultaneously.

In regards to that (from what I understand of them)I also feel like I use both Se and Ne on an a nearly, if not, completely equal level, even though I am fully aware of the fact that, that sort of thing clearly does not fit into the framework of Myers-Briggs.

In regards to stereotypes(yes I know,these are never a good thing to get into, but how could I resist?This is as system founded almost completely on stereotypes, after all.), I do enjoy drawing/sketching, playing musical instruments, and very much enjoy writing(although, I was never in honors or formally taught "how to write" per se, due to laziness and incessant ditching in my younger years.).However, I will say, that I do not relate to the "gentle" stereotype both types seems to carry.

Although most of my book ideas tend to stay within the confines of my head, where I twist and shape them, rendering them almost unrecognizable before tossing them aside due to being not perfect enough.The furthest I've ever gotten in regards to bringing my ideas to life, so to speak, on the page, has been writing a few pages of the introduction before again tossing them because they where not good enough. I know where I want to go in the grand scale of things, I know where I want to take the plot, what I want it to say, but it's the journey of having to link all the little parts together where I falter most tangibly, I have no patience for the random tidbits unimportant to the main plot line.

Anyway, back to the main idea, my younger sister is an INFP 9w1, and I feel like I am much more assertive, pessimistic/realistic, and overall life-hardened in comparison.
While my mother, is an ISFP 6w7, and in comparison to her I feel more secure/steady, more sensitive, more inclined towards artistic pursuits, less paranoid, slightly less aggressive, more fanciful/romantic, and more dramatic.

So to finish this admittedly long winded question off, based off what I have shared here(or from my other threads if you so desire), what would you say my type is?

I am very much appreciative of anyone who took the time to actually read the gargantuan piece of shit above, as well as anyone who can offer some insight.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
How do you relate to Ni in comparison to Ne?

I don't think I have a very good grasp on Ni, patterns tend to slip past me pretty easily, Ne is a lot more of a familiar process in comparison.
I can usually come up with several solutions to a problem, I think it most tangibly manifests itself in my test taking abilities, as I am usually a very good guesser because I tend to take on problems at several angles.
 

Doctor Cringelord

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
20,567
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I
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9w8
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sp/sx
My gut reaction after reading your post was ISFP...but I'm probably wrong.

I'll ask a question similar to what [MENTION=18664]Stansmith[/MENTION] asked:

How do you relate to Si; how do you relate to Se?

Also, which can you pinpoint more in your psychological makeup, behavior, and life experience?

I think determining one's tertiary and auxiliary is often the key to unlocking their type.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
My gut reaction after reading your post was ISFP...but I'm probably wrong.

I'll ask a question similar to what [MENTION=18664]Stansmith[/MENTION] asked:

How do you relate to Si; how do you relate to Se?

Also, which can you pinpoint more in your psychological makeup, behavior, and life experience?

I think determining one's tertiary and auxiliary is often the key to unlocking their type.
Well, I can't say, from what I know of Si, that I relate to it all, I'm not sentimental nor do I care about what happened yesterday,and I care very little for tradition.

Se is much more relatable than Si, I am a pretty impulsive person overall, my knee-jerk reaction always tends to be to act, I am very much into instant gratification and am very impatient as well as often reckless.
Although, I don't relate to all that crap about sports that seems to be related to it at all.

I think Se has been more influential in my life.

Out of curiosity, what about my post made you think ISFP?
 

Redbone

Orisha
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
2,882
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ENFP
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sx/so
You're pretty young, yes? So you may not be able to relate to Si that much.

How do you become when very stressed?
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
You're pretty young, yes? So you may not be able to relate to Si that much.

How do you become when very stressed?

Correct.(How'd you know?)
That would make sense.

I become very drill sergeant-like so to speak, I tend to get uncharacteristically serious and bossy as well as lash out.
 

skylights

i love
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
7,756
MBTI Type
INFP
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6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
ISFP sounds more likely; sx-first is rarely gentle.

The point about Si and age is interesting. I know a few Si-dom/aux on the forum have pointed out that Si is one of the most curious functions in terms of what input leads to what output - the "mechanism" of how it works remains steady, but input heavily determines output because Si is experience-aggregating... someone with strong Si would tend to be more influenced by a past outcome than others. Still, theoretically at least, Si should present itself even in the youngest as a tendency towards experiential learning, gathering data through trial and error, utilizing that gathered data, storage of concrete data points (what, where, when), and an affinity for comfort and regularity. It would be static and past-present referential in comparison to Se being dynamic and present-anchored experimental.

That stress-behavior is so characteristically FP to shadow TJ, I relate :)
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
ISFP sounds more likely; sx-first is rarely gentle.

The point about Si and age is interesting. I know a few Si-dom/aux on the forum have pointed out that Si is one of the most curious functions in terms of what input leads to what output - the "mechanism" of how it works remains steady, but input heavily determines output because Si is experience-aggregating... someone with strong Si would tend to be more influenced by a past outcome than others. Still, theoretically at least, Si should present itself even in the youngest as a tendency towards experiential learning, gathering data through trial and error, utilizing that gathered data, storage of concrete data points (what, where, when), and an affinity for comfort and regularity. It would be static and past-present referential in comparison to Se being dynamic and present-anchored experimental.

That stress-behavior is so characteristically FP to shadow TJ, I relate :)

That explains that.

Hmm yes when you put it that way I can see some Si within myself though not on the same magnitude as Se.

Yeah I think I do turn into an ExTJ in a way, for a bit when I'm stressed.
 

skylights

i love
Joined
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Messages
7,756
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so/sx
That explains that.

Hmm yes when you put it that way I can see some Si within myself though not on the same magnitude as Se.

Yeah I think I do turn into an ExTJ in a way, for a bit when I'm stressed.

Lol, yeah, exactly. I turn into STJ for sure.

If you are in fact S, at least in my opinion it makes sense for you to feel some relation to both Si and Se, though of course one will be stronger. There is a lot of commonality between the two... the most substantial being operating more in the tangible world, using tangible data to navigate. Being an FP would make it a little less concrete, since F is a bit "floaty", but both Si and Se are influenced by tangible environment and influence tangible environment.
 

OrangeAppled

Sugar Hiccup
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Comparing Si & Se or Ni & Ne is the wrong way to go about it, IMO. Neither IxFP type is characterized by their tertiary.
I don't have the time or inclination at the moment to discuss the difference between Se & Ne, but I may come back at a later time, if I feel like it. Or just give me a call via a mention if you wanna this input. I had a long discussion with myself the other day in which I clarified all the functions & distinguished them from one another succinctly, but now I have forgotten the details; nonetheless, I am sure I can recall the gist.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
Comparing Si & Se or Ni & Ne is the wrong way to go about it, IMO. Neither IxFP type is characterized by their tertiary.
I don't have the time or inclination at the moment to discuss the difference between Se & Ne, but I may come back at a later time, if I feel like it. Or just give me a call via a mention if you wanna this input. I had a long discussion with myself the other day in which I clarified all the functions & distinguished them from one another succinctly, but now I have forgotten the details; nonetheless, I am sure I can recall the gist.

In a way I get that, I don't think my tertiary function is very evident or gets much use.

Alright, I may just take you up on that a bit later, thanks for the offer.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
Lol, yeah, exactly. I turn into STJ for sure.

If you are in fact S, at least in my opinion it makes sense for you to feel some relation to both Si and Se, though of course one will be stronger. There is a lot of commonality between the two... the most substantial being operating more in the tangible world, using tangible data to navigate. Being an FP would make it a little less concrete, since F is a bit "floaty", but both Si and Se are influenced by tangible environment and influence tangible environment.

Yeah I think that would explain why I don't feel either extremely grounded and concrete or extremely conceptual, I also think being a 4 attributed to the confusion as well as I've heard most NF's are 4's.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
Thanks guys, I think I'll stick with ISFP for a while.
 

Evo

Unapologetic being
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In regards to stereotypes(yes I know,these are never a good thing to get into, but how could I resist?This is as system founded almost completely on stereotypes, after all.)

I think ISFP. But it's still probably too soon.

IMO the bold is not a stereotypical thing that an INFP would say.

They don't want to be put in a box at all. And ISFP's tend to just laugh at that, even though they don't want to either. ISFP's are not as adverse to them as INFP's (stereotypically speaking of course ;) )

However, I will say, that I do not relate to the "gentle" stereotype both types seems to carry.

Many of the ISFP's I know, don't either. ISFP's do have a tendency to be cynical. And this can take that "gentleness" way out of focus. I personally think that ISFP's become this way because they are extremely sensitive and gentle when they're young but life's circumstances make them feel like they have to be tougher. I knew an ISFP that was beat up every single day for 2 years in school...and his gentleness is almost all gone. (He is still way more sensitive than I am in comparison though...so that's what I mean by "takes it out of focus." I think perspective can be lost, unless you're comparing them to a "harder" type.)

Just like when I think of 6's being sensitive, they are way less sensitive than 2's and 4's in general.

Anyway, back to the main idea, my younger sister is an INFP 9w1, and I feel like I am much more assertive, pessimistic/realistic, and overall life-hardened in comparison.
While my mother, is an ISFP 6w7, and in comparison to her I feel more secure/steady, more sensitive, more inclined towards artistic pursuits, less paranoid, slightly less aggressive, more fanciful/romantic, and more dramatic.

Yea, this comparison is what I mean. To me it sounds like you're an ISFP from this paragraph.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
I think ISFP. But it's still probably too soon.

IMO the bold is not a stereotypical thing that an INFP would say.

They don't want to be put in a box at all. And ISFP's tend to just laugh at that, even though they don't want to either. ISFP's are not as adverse to them as INFP's (stereotypically speaking of course ;) )
Haha yeah I get what you mean, I think INFP's tend to take that sort of stuff a lot more seriously than I do.:shrug:

Many of the ISFP's I know, don't either. ISFP's do have a tendency to be cynical. And this can take that "gentleness" way out of focus. I personally think that ISFP's become this way because they are extremely sensitive and gentle when they're young but life's circumstances make them feel like they have to be tougher. I knew an ISFP that was beat up every single day for 2 years in school...and his gentleness is almost all gone. (He is still way more sensitive than I am in comparison though...so that's what I mean by "takes it out of focus." I think perspective can be lost, unless you're comparing them to a "harder" type.)
Yes I thinks that's what happened to me, life made me realize I have to keep my sensitivities hidden.
Also,I think what's left of my gentleness does accidently seep out from time to time, so I don't think I look quite as tough as say a T might.I also think it may have something to do with being Sx first as well, like skylights said,I don't think I was really ever extremely gentle or anything,from what I remember anyways.

Yea, this comparison is what I mean. To me it sounds like you're an ISFP from this paragraph.

Yeah I think I'm a lot more similar to my mother vs my sister, who I feel is my total opposite.
Hmm yeah I think I'm too grounded and cynical to be an INFP, from what I've noticed with my sister they seem to trusting and optomistic(well at least the 9w1's are).

Thanks for your input.:)
 

greenfairy

philosopher wood nymph
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I too really think ISFP. Everything point to it. The not taking yourself too seriously, being grounded and cynical, gentle but aggressive at the same time, skipping school, really creative but just not caring too much about rules, your short and concise answers, and observation instead of speculation.
 
L

LadyLazarus

Guest
I too really think ISFP. Everything point to it. The not taking yourself too seriously, being grounded and cynical, gentle but aggressive at the same time, skipping school, really creative but just not caring too much about rules, your short and concise answers, and observation instead of speculation.

Yeah now that I think about it again, it all seems to be pointing in that direction.
 
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