[MBTI General] How to tell the difference between ISFP and INFP?

[BlueScreen]

Wooah, yeeeeahh maannn, that's riight!

. It's not a general rule. Just a common trend I noticed.

 

[ajblaise]

For some reason this attitude is oddly attractive to me. I know...I'm hopeless.

So you're hippie friendly? Good to know.

 

[Lauren Ashley]

So you're hippie friendly? Good to know.

Heh. Most of my friends are ENxPs (It must be the rad clothing ). So I guess that's a yes. As long as they don't smell.

 

[ajblaise]

Heh. Most of my friends are ENxPs (It must be the rad clothing ). So I guess that's a yes. As long as they don't smell.

The smell thing is a myth! Unless at a 3-day music festival, regular showers are normal, I swear.

 

[Lambchop]

In my experience:

My ISFP son is VERY artsy. He loves to paint and he loves photography and plays the guitar in a band. He just picked up the guitar one day and started playing it. He is always on the cutting edge of fashion. Even though I don't always love the clothes he picks, he ends up looking "cool" in a way I can't explain. He has an eclectic style, but when he puts it all together...it is very asthetically pleasing. His room is way cool. He is very down to earth. He's quiet, but can come out with such funny things that it blows my mind. He also has these crazy "older than his age" insights that are based totally on common sense. He craves freedom. He very much wants to be his own person. He hates the confines of school.

My INFP is very abstract. He lives in his head alot. Kind of dreamy and idealist and not very down to earth. He is creative in writing and he writes wonderful stories that he composes in his head. He dresses very conservatively and not necessarily "trendy" like my son. He likes to have "causes" that he can throw himself into (my son does this to a much lesser extent.) He daydreams a lot. He is very funny, but his sense of humor is unique and original. I thought his sense of humor was weird at first.

They are both quiet and like their own space though. And they are both very kind hearted and like doing things for other people.

 

[dotdalidot]

The INFP will probably come across as either more esoteric or analytical while the ISFP will come across as either being more "down to earth" or visably artsy.

This this this. Also, INFPs tend to talk more about "weird"/strange/random what have you, things, whereas the ISFP is more practical. I mean sure, ISFP talk about "weird" things, but usually when the "weird" or "strange" or "random" whatever, thing is brought up, then they go with the flow.

Also, ISFP tend to have a more bubbly type of vibe, whereas INFP have either a melancholy or a more subdued vibe, most of the times.

These are all my experiences btw, take with grain of salt please.

 

[Lambchop]

This this this. Also, INFPs tend to talk more about "weird"/strange/random what have you, things, whereas the ISFP is more practical. I mean sure, ISFP talk about "weird" things, but usually when the "weird" or "strange" or "random" whatever, thing is brought up, then they go with the flow.

Also, ISFP tend to have a more bubbly type of vibe, whereas INFP have either a melancholy or a more subdued vibe, most of the times.

These are all my experiences btw, take with grain of salt please.

I agree!!!

 

[sonickel77]

I'm dead even between INFP and ISFP, have a bit of both tendencies.

Leaning towards ISFP because I'm more comfortable sharing activities with friends than going deep and meaningful. Love jobs where I can get out and use cameras, musical instruments, lighting equipment, etc. And if I wasn't so fat I'd be totally funky dressed.

 

[riel]

Reading both ISFP and INFP descriptions, I tend to display both..but I believe I'm more ISFP because I hate philosophy and when things get abstract, I tend to zone out and leave the matter for a while. I also learn more effectively when pictures/graphics or a hands-on approach is taught. I like to make abstract art and appreciate nature/aesthetically beautiful things very much. However, I don't have a good fashion sense, and the people around me asks why I'm always frowning(even when I feel perfectly happy), and I tend to daydream a lot of what I would like to happen in the future...so sometimes I doubt I'm ISFP.

 

[OrangeAppled]

From youtube, this is pretty classic INFP from the ones I've known. The facial expressions after 0:43 are signature.

YouTube - Personality Tests and INFP-ness

There are almost no ISFP videos on youtube though .

Holy crap, that girl stole my voice & manner of speech!
I'm far more stylish though

I'm an INFP who is very into aesthetics, creating tangible art (if I can focus long enough to do it), and maintaining autonomy. INFPs can be as much visual artists as ISFPs.

However, I am at core, very idealistic, obsessed with all things ethical, and use a lot of metaphor and symbolism to communicate. The physical realm can feel surreal, while my imagination feels real, and I have difficulty being in the moment.

An INFP approach to art is likely going to be more conceptually thought out and an ISFP may take a more in the moment approach. INFPs will emphasize symbolism, and an ISFP may emphasize pure aesthetic value. An ISFP fashion designer will often say they are going to allow the fabric to "choose what it wants to become". It's sort of creating with the impulse of the moment. If it's beautiful and stirs feeling, then mission accomplished. Think of Jackson Pollack and his approach to painting.

An INFP will likely have some complex concept (such as an entire story built around the emotion they want to evoke through the design) before they being physically making anything. It seems that ISFPs are more prolific artists in this sense, because they dive into the hands on part faster, whereas INFPs may over-think it, lose interest, and never realize their idea.

 

[Ulaes]

infps seem less socially adapted than isfps. isfps blend in and tend to be more charming. infp occasionally say something uncomfortably weird.

 

[OrangeAppled]

infps seem less socially adapted than isfps. isfps blend in and tend to be more charming. infp occasionally say something uncomfortably weird.

haha....this is true. ISFPs seem too cool for school, and INFPs are just the weirdos

 

[sonickel77]

Then I am INFP then!

Damn. I really don't want to be an uncool nerd...

 

[wolfy]

There is an old thread that Heart started where IFP listed their likes and dislikes. Read that.

 

[KLessard]

How would you tell the difference between these two?

I don't know if this will be helpful, but I have a first hand experience on this. I was INFP as a child. My ESTJ mother's persistent influence turned me into an INFJ by the time I was a teenager, but today, I would think it's fair to say I'm in between J and P, trying to make the best of each preference.

When I was 9 (and still pretty INFP), my ISTJ brother married an ISFP. She is a virtuose pianist and became my new piano teacher. I was all in awe about her, full of respect and admiration. She was very kind to me and took me places sometimes (bike rides, movies, shopping). I was surprised at how well we communicated and understood things in a similar way. We got along quite well musically speaking, both having an intuitive way about hearing and remembering music, creating back vocals and so on. We shared the same odd, dreamy and imaginative childhood experiences. We loved the same books.
Very often, when I felt the need to share something personal and meaningful that my ESTJ mother would never understand (or care to understand) I would go to her, and she was pretty receptive.

My sister-in-law cries all the times when she watches a movie. It rarely happens to me (the movie has to touch me very deeply) but it happened once when I saw a tv-movie about Joan of Arc (Joan of Arc is an INFP archetype). I shared my feelings with her about it (she had watched it as well) and she admitted she was quite indifferent to it. Joan's spiritual passion meant nothing to her. That is one of the events that made me understand our difference.
Also, I was often surprised at how adventurous she was, always trying new things, while I prefered to trust the things I loved and knew well. I noticed how, even as a good Christian, she did things that seemed borderline immoral/illegal to me, without seeing anything wrong in it.

 

[Snuggletron]

Then I am INFP then!

Damn. I really don't want to be an uncool nerd...

well...that's just too bad then.

 

[Giggly]

I don't know if this will be helpful, but I have a first hand experience on this. I was INFP as a child. My ESTJ mother's persistent influence turned me into an INFJ by the time I was a teenager, but today, I would think it's fair to say I'm in between J and P, trying to make the best of each preference.

When I was 9 (and still pretty INFP), my ISTJ brother married an ISFP. She is a virtuose pianist and became my new piano teacher. I was all in awe about her, full of respect and admiration. She was very kind to me and took me places sometimes (bike rides, movies, shopping). I was surprised at how well we communicated and understood things in a similar way. We got along quite well musically speaking, both having an intuitive way about hearing and remembering music, creating back vocals and so on. We shared the same odd, dreamy and imaginative childhood experiences. We loved the same books.
Very often, when I felt the need to share something personal and meaningful that my ESTJ mother would never understand (or care to understand) I would go to her, and she was pretty receptive.

My sister-in-law cries all the times when she watches a movie. It rarely happens to me (the movie has to touch me very deeply) but it happened once when I saw a tv-movie about Joan of Arc (Joan of Arc is an INFP archetype). I shared my feelings with her about it (she had watched it as well) and admitted she was quite indifferent to it. Joan's spiritual passion meant nothing to her. That is one of the events that made me understand our difference.
Also, I was often surprised at how adventurous she was, always trying new things, while I prefered to trust the things I loved and knew well. I noticed how, even as a good Christian, she did things that seemed borderline immoral/illegal to me, without seeing anything wrong in it.

Yes, this was very helpful. Thank you.

Then I am INFP then!

Damn. I really don't want to be an uncool nerd...

Bah. There is no such thing as uncool.

 

[neptunesnet]

Doesn't seem ENFP. Holding a dreadlock and passionately saying, "this is my identity" rules out almost all Fi types. Or at least I know NFPs wouldn't be likely to do it.

...I've done it.

 

[JivinJeffJones]

Some more pointers on how to tell them apart (drawn mostly from myself and my ISFP sister):

1. Regarding the "cool-looking" thing, I think ISFPs pay more attention to outward details -- to what looks good and is fashionable. So they're likely to give more thought to what they wear and what it says about them. INFPs are more likely from what I've seen to dress as nondescriptly as possible within the parameters of whichever subculture they most closely identify with. I think INTPs do this too.

2. ISFPs don't have a lot of sales resistance. They're suckers for product-placements.

3. INFPs usually consider themselves somewhat "philosophical". ISFPs don't. This is probably the quickest and most effective way to tell them apart.

 

[brainheart]

I can look cool every once in awhile. But not consistently. I'll go through phases where I think things like, "I should buy more avant-garde clothes and wash my hair more than once a week," and then I kind of forget. I basically have a uniform- I loved it when I was in school and wore uniforms, by the way, it was the most liberating thing ever- and a couple of times of year I'll add on to it. But the clothes I do have are fairly cool, I'm not roaming around in Dockers and polo shirts or anything, but not super cool. I checked out a Vogue the other day when I decided I needed to express my inward identity a little more outwardly and it just depressed me; I couldn't get into at all. It just seemed like a waste- not that I don't appreciate fashion sense in others, mind you. It's just not something I want to preoccupy myself with, or spend money on. As long as I don't look like a super-dork, all is good. I'd call my look counter-culture lite.

I can be 'cool' and well-liked, however; but typically the people who think I'm cool think so because I don't seem to give a shit about the things most girls seem to care about, or they like how smart I am, whatever. So not your typical culturally-approved standard of cool would be my guess. 'Nerdy-cool'.

I am not a sucker for advertising. I am a sucker for ideas, to add onto what jjj says.