Heh, actually I have seen INFP's in a variety of ways. Probably the most important way that I haven't seen one though, is that I haven't seen an INFP doing heroin and depressed to the point of suicide. Curt Kobain may be INFP, but I would never say he's the poster child for INFP. This is the point I am trying to get across.
Even a depressed/bitter INFP is quite different from any you seem to have met. Normally, INFPs filter their Fi in communication to avoid giving unnecessary offense. Otherwise it can come across as quite extreme and usually judgemental, just as an INTP not filtering their Ti tends to come across as cold and critical. When an INFP is depressed/bitter, or if (for some reason) they just don't care about the opinion or feelings of the person they are talking to, they won't bother to filter their Fi pronouncements. This generally comes across as very confrontational, especially since they tend to ignore as dishonest the usual courtesies.
You have to remember that all of the things I've said about INFP are in comparison to ISFP. In truth the two types are quite similar. If my post seemed like an exaggeration of INFP it's because I am trying to point out differences that are often slight between the two types.
Everything that you've said in your post that applies to INFP applies even more so to ISFP. Can INFP's be confrontational? Sure, but ISFP's are more so. Do INFP's feel a need to express themselves? Certainly that desire is strong, but it's also just as strong in the ISFP. Generally INFP's and ISFP's express themselves in different mediums, but music is one medium where they can seem fairly similar.
Any sources on these, or were you just hoping to slip them by me like the sly ENTP you are?
Anyway, it may be true. I have no idea where you get it from, since I've read many profiles on both types and have seen
nothing to support your assertions. I can't say for sure from experience, since I only know one confirmed ISFP -- my sister. However, she is very rarely openly confrontational, opting instead for the passive-aggressive route. She is also not especially inclined towards creativity - preferring performance.
Heh, I'm not trying to portray an INFP as a caricature. I'm simply comparing two similar types and in doing so it may sound like I'm turning small differences into large ones.
"He could never be confused with someone wearing rose colored glasses."
[Mini-rant]Cambridge dictionary definition of
look at sth through rose-coloured glasses: "to see only the pleasant things about a situation and not notice the things that are unpleasant"
That's the one that gets my goat. Depressed/bitter INFPs
do not look like they are wearing rose colored glasses. If anything, they swing the other way. Many normal INFPs do not wear rose-colored glasses (or at least, not always). Not all INFPs are optimists, even though they are idealists. You can't be strongly idealistic for very long at all before life shows you in no uncertain terms that the world does not work like that. Which is not to say that INFPs abandon their ideals -- they are just very aware that the world can be an extremely sucky place which is highly incompatible with their ideals. Indeed, the loftier the idealism, the more uncomfortable the shortfall.
It's hard to argue from my position. It's all relative, and I am an INFP, after all. If I say "We INFPs are not that nice and sweet and fluffy", you can just say "Yes you are, you just can't see it." What can I say to that?[/mini-rant]
It's a moot point anyway, since I can mirror your argument and say "If INFPs are avoidant of conflict and idealistic in nature, so too are ISFPs." INFPs are far more likely to write a song about it, though. INFPs are frequently described in all profiles as inclined towards lyricism, poetry and philosophical pursuits. ISFPs far less so. In fact, many profiles make a special point of saying that ISFPs are particularly averse to those pursuits. Here's what one profile says comparing the two types: "ISFPs are less fantasy-oriented than INFPs. These types are often confused, however, INFPs lean strongly to daydreams, poetry, prose and more philosophical pursuits; ISFPs often live out 'id' experiences
rather than writing or even talking about them [Italics mine]."1 Here is what another site has to say in comparing the two types: "ISFPs also resemble INFPs in needing to achieve intensity of feeling. The focus, however, with the ISFPs seems to be more on the sensuous side than the meaningful side. The ISFP is orgastic, in the sense, demanding of life that it provide the excitement and pleasure of drinking deeply at the Dionysian well. Not revelry (that is the forte of the ESFP) but experience is what attracts the ISFP to these kinds of activities.'"2 imo, Cobain's lyrics and music were far more driven by a "the meaningful side" (or the lack of meaning) than "the sensuous side". Interestingly, that site also has this to say about ISFPs: "ISFPs are not articulate. They communicate through action. They do not verbalize their meanings, but, for example, offer a lovely flower and a smile. Their actions speak of the pastoral and the bucolic." Does that sound like it's describing a lyricist? Not to me.
In short, I'm not at all sure on what basis you are making the distinctions you make between ISFPs and INFPs, or even how you characterize either. If you have any links that would be useful to me in understanding where you are coming from, I would be most grateful. Or are you talking from personal experiences with both types? If so, are they confirmed (by self-test, at least) representatives of these types, and are they a sample large enough that you feel reasonably confident in adjudging them representative?
1-
ISFP Profile
2-
ISFP - The Aesthete