Am I INTP or INFP?

[spectralvision]

I have taken the Jung/Briggs typology test multiple times and depending on how I answer a couple of "on the fence" questions, I either result in INTP or INFP (about 50/50) with an only marginal differntial in the T/F aspect.

It seems to me that the thinking/feeling dichotomy shouldn't be mutually exclusive or polar opposite as both objective analysis and emotion play an important part in how I interpret the world. Feelings and emotion are the impetus of my primary interests: art, social science and philosophy but it is all filtered through a process of sceptical analysis and cynicism.

The INFP profile gives a strong importance to a sense of morality and social service but being a firm empirical/scientific method proponent; "morality" is, to me, merely a human construct and I tend to sway more towards moralistic nihilism with the general drive of preserving harmony over chaos, only as it's most desirable for everyone but not for any higher cause. Also I have a profound sense of guilt if I hurt anyone, it's ingrained in my being. I am usually perceived as the "nice guy" despite being a-religious.

While art is what inspires me, I tend to rank Physicists as being purveyors of the highest form of knowledge. When I took Physics in HS I was very adept at learning the concepts while working out specific problems using algebra bored the tears out of me.

I am emotional and have a keen interest in the aesthetics of life yet am very philosphical and use rationale to ground my reality. Unlike some INTP's I am keenly aware of others feelings and social cues (despite being VERY shy) Where do I fall and are there others that fall on the cusp of INTP/INFP?

 

[Hadoblado]

Welcome.

The dichotomies are just shadows of your functions, you are correct to identify that they are not mutually exclusive.

If you want to identify your type, you should look to the functions.

Start here.

As you can see, INTP's and INFP's differ not only in that one is a feeler and one is a thinker, but in that the INFP uses Introverted Feeling and Extroverted thinking, while the INTP uses Introverted Thinking and Extroverted Feeling.

 

[ℜεмїηїs¢εη¢ε]

That is a pretty cool thread, I think I needed a better understanding of some of those functions myself.

@ op

To be honest, it's hard to tell what type you are judging from your post alone. You kind of have to figure it out on your own in my opinion. When I was trying to figure out what type I was, I looked around the different MBTI forums and this one just stood out to me right away. I had doubts, of course, but a further look at the functions confirmed it.

If your country doesn't block it then there are lots of MBTI videos on YouTube that are fairly helpful. I've linked a INFP vs INTP one below as an example.

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd5LHj2iL78

 

[Montresor]

merely a human construct and I tend to sway more towards moralistic nihilism with the general drive of preserving harmony over chaos

This about sums it up if you ask me.

 

[Hadoblado]

This about sums it up if you ask me.

Sums what up? Your position?

It describes me pretty well too (I'm not an INFP).

 

[ummidk]

^ think he was saying it sums him up as an intp...I was thinking it suggested the same, but I'm sure theres infp moralistic nihilisists out there, soooo...ye.

 

[Montresor]

Sums what up? Your position?

It describes me pretty well too (I'm not an INFP).

I was under the impression that the working theory is that Ti and Fe go together and are mutually exclusive of Te and Fi.

To me, that sentence, "summed up" a nice definition of Fe and Ti.

^ think he was saying it sums him up as an intp...I was thinking it suggested the same, but I'm sure theres infp moralistic nihilisists out there, soooo...ye.

yes thank you... as Hadoblado likes to put it: "there are two kinds of people in this world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data ..."

 

[Brontosaurie]

I was under the impression that the working theory is that Ti and Fe go together and are mutually exclusive of Te and Fi.

To me, that sentence, "summed up" a nice definition of Fe and Ti.

just curious: if Ti and Fe is summed up by nihilism and harmony/order, how would you sum up Fi and Te? deontology and chaos?

 

[Montresor]

just curious: if Ti and Fe is summed up by nihilism and harmony/order, how would you sum up Fi and Te? deontology and chaos?

Well now the first part of your post I reject because we're bordering on some contextual misrepresentations of what I initially said based on what was initially posted.

The second part however remains interesting in its own right. I would summarize Fi and Te as a process of systematically organizing society (including its people) to optimize productivity and efficiency from every angle, while allowing for certain impurities in the fabric (i.e. war and oppression) with serious, almost unspoken impositions on the self that transgressions are justifiable for the greater good.

deontology and chaos are as good as any.

 

[Hadoblado]

I was under the impression that the working theory is that Ti and Fe go together and are mutually exclusive of Te and Fi.

To me, that sentence, "summed up" a nice definition of Fe and Ti.




yes thank you... as Hadoblado likes to put it: "there are two kinds of people in this world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data ..."

I only use that when someone is refusing to even attempt the extrapolation. It was an honest question because I felt it was ambiguous and wanted to ensure we were on the same page. Thank you for your time.

 

[HsinHsin]

I had the same question and was really confused till now so, thank you.
My Thinking is 58% (Feeling is 42%) so I think I understand the frustration. I thought I was INFP because I am empathetic and emotional. 2 different tests indicate that I am INTP and I was kind of surprised. But then I felt everything started to make sense once I accepted the fact that I am INTP. On the other hand, when I imagined myself to be INFP, everything just seemed to be in chaos.

 

[Brontosaurie]

there's an uncontrolled bias in favor of thinking for many takers of mbti tests, imo.

 

[walfin]

Well now the first part of your post I reject because we're bordering on some contextual misrepresentations of what I initially said based on what was initially posted.

The second part however remains interesting in its own right. I would summarize Fi and Te as a process of systematically organizing society (including its people) to optimize productivity and efficiency from every angle, while allowing for certain impurities in the fabric (i.e. war and oppression) with serious, almost unspoken impositions on the self that transgressions are justifiable for the greater good.

deontology and chaos are as good as any.

Tthis actually makes some sense to me, an INFP. I have goals that are defined, partly, in relation to an understanding of a priori morality and natural rights, but how I would go about achieving those goals is purely logical/intuitive.

 

[PhoenixRising]

Check out some of the videos here. A very strong sign of Fi is a constant emotional tension around the mouth and a smile that draws upward toward the nose. Ti (with Fe) results in a more horizontal smile that goes out toward the sides of the face. If you are Ti-dominant, you will see a lot of pauses between articulation where all tension leaves your face.

 

[WALKYRIA]

Also, my guess, and just a guess is that INTP's with a strong Fe come off as INFP and actually are INTP 5w4.... and vice versa for intellectual INFP's( INFPs with strong Te).

I know I'm an INTP with strong Fe(I mean, I don't love to harm people's feeling unless it was the best thing to do !) , So I put a lot of importance on harmony and people not get hurted( it's also part of my education also and because I know what it feels to get hurted !) . But really I'm not an INFP, INFP use Fi.... so u need to see one to understand. Fi means, they are not able to be really objective. It's all about their subjective feelings.

Also, I find that INFP are paricularly sweet. They don't harm; while we INTP can somettimes be rude and not cooperative. We cannot be pushed to do something we don't want to do. INFP's can come of as weak.

 

[HsinHsin]

We cannot be pushed to do something we don't want to do..

Totally agreed.

 

[Steel Addict]

I have similar problem, though my qestion would be different. If it shouldn't be posted here then feel free to move it.

Is dividing people into 16 categories actually 100% accurate?
Is it possible that I'm in between INTP and INFP (Is it possible that one use inward feeling and inward thinking simultaneously)?
Might my personlity be uncertain now becouse it has developed to this level, or maybe I' ve never grown up and it still hasn't developed (I'm 20) ?
Is it common that one cannot specify his personality after careful studies?
Any other thoughts about this topic?

As you can image, when I take tests my T/F is alwasy really close. Most descriptions of both INFP and INTP suits me well. I would say more than 80% is accurate. To make it even more funny, I have a feeling that I might be an INFP, but when I think about it, it turns out that it's a little more probable that I'm an INTP.

If someone is interested I can write more about myself, but I doubt determining my personality via descriptions distorted while I try express them with words would be accurte. Still, I can do it. Anyway, answering my questions will be great help.

 

[Architect]

Is dividing people into 16 categories actually 100% accurate?

Dividing them into 2 categories - male and female - seems to work well enough.

 

[Steel Addict]

I know, I didn't mean an insult. Sorry. I thought about writing it differently but i didn't. Let it be what I thought:
"Why can't I find my personality?"
But this is even worse...

I had some time to think and that's what came to my mind:

It's a shame my first post on this forum was a crap. Expressing my thoughts is rather difficult, especially when it comes to topics I do not feel strong in, and I have failed. You treated me like a rubbish, but you had all rights to do it. You probably saw a lazy child who asks qestions aimlessly and makes mistakes. Maybe that is who I am. It will not be that bad in the end, if this is my answer. I wished to obtain some data, because I know neither many people, nor psychology, but I probably had to dig it by myself as I always did.

Besides, dividing people into male and female also isn't 100% certain, only number of cases that do not fit in is lower, and I think you know it. Personaly, i feel like this number might be even higher now, but I have no data so I can only guess. It also depends on your worldview. I am myself sometimes mistaken for a woman, despite I had never any intention of appearing femine. Once it even happend when I wasn't shaved. It was strange. Obvious examples would be people who question their gender identity and change their sex, remaining uncertain of their gender after operation. I do not know anyone like this though. Also The Left hand of Darkness and Wandering Son comes to my mind, they are only works of fiction, but they give me, an ignorat, some insight. I understand your reply was a joke, more or less, still, I felt need to comment.

Now, I think this whole MBTI stuff is not so important for me. It is helpful, but I can live on without helpful things. I might have taken it into consideration when planning my self-development, but I already know a lot and I suppose I'm developing well. What was the most important for me is probably learning differences between every type, their way of thinkig, which allows me to understand others much better now. I am myself. It looks like half the stories from my childhood told me this. Sometimes people really are stiupid.

Anyway, thank you, unexpectedly it was helpful.

 

[Ex-User (8886)]

INTP - don't like people
INFP - like people

The biggest difference between me and my INFP cousin.

 

[crippli]

INTP - don't like people
INFP - like people

The biggest difference between me and my INFP cousin.

More like:
INTP - Indifferent toward people(technical like/dislike)
INFP - Like/Dislike people (technically indifferent)

 

[Ex-User (8886)]

More like:
INTP - Indifferent toward people(technical like/dislike)
INFP - Like/Dislike people (technically indifferent)

what you mean saying "technically?"

 

[crippli]

what you mean saying "technically?"

Could be many things, solar systems, math, weather systems, all things that require more thinking and less emoting.

 

[Reluctantly]

INTP - don't like people
INFP - like people

The biggest difference between me and my INFP cousin.

And what if he's both?

Would it not be better to see the type inside the shades of grey than to pretend things are black and white? Because sure, it makes understanding easier, but does it speak the truth?