fluctuate between INFJ and INTP?

[LcDel]

So I was labeled as an INTP by the MBTI, and was startled at how the description of an INTP personality sounded just like me. However, when I stumbled across an INFJ summary, that sounded exactly like me, too. Of course both differ from me in some ways, but for the most part they both feel right on the mark, if leaning slightly towards the INTP side of things for the lack of those "feelings of disembodiment" that INFJs allegedly feel. I do enter a somewhat out-of-body state, but that's only when i'm trying to analyze my own actions and feelings.
Is there some sort of middle ground that I'm unaware of? Has anyone else seen themselves as a part of both?

 

[noksve]

I guess I'm going through that now. I used to think I was an INTP, but just recently I took a test and I got INTJ, and same thing, I felt like both matched me in some way. I guess that in the end we humans aren't just cubes you can put in exact slots, and trying to live one's life so it fits into one exact definition seems like forcing it a little bit to me, so I just let it be (and sometimes take the test from time to time to see if I get something different, lol).

Oh wait, INFJ? Well, I haven't read it, but I guess what I said still applies?

 

[intpz]

Borderline personality, but not sure if that can be the case with both F and J against T and P.

Personally, I categorize people who get different results (or your case) as not evolved personality-wise yet. On the other hand, there are some personalities that think differently because they get to know somebody, or are in a different mood, or "use" a different mindset network, etc..

 

[MissQuote]

Yes. If you mooshed INTP and INFJ together that would be me. Leaning more towards INTP most of the time.

 

[LcDel]

Borderline personality, but not sure if that can be the case with both F and J against T and P.

Personally, I categorize people who get different results (or your case) as not evolved personality-wise yet. On the other hand, there are some personalities that think differently because they get to know somebody, or are in a different mood, or "use" a different mindset network, etc..

I'm sixteen, so yes, I may not be fully evolved yet. However, I definitely think that I'm more in that alternate mindset category (probably due to friends or mood, as you said). Thinking about it after you brought up the idea, it definitely seems like me, especially because the chameleon/mirror aspect of the INTP applies to me very strongly.
I definitely have something new to think about now..

 

[intpz]

I'm sixteen, so yes, I may not be fully evolved yet. However, I definitely think that I'm more in that alternate mindset category (probably due to friends or mood, as you said). Thinking about it after you brought up the idea, it definitely seems like me, especially because the chameleon/mirror aspect of the INTP applies to me very strongly.
I definitely have something new to think about now..

intpz's glad that he's released something useful and potentially smart into the wilderness.

 

[Darby]

I've never tested anything other than INTP (although much of it probably has to do with personal bias), but I share many personality traits of the INFP. My mother is an INFP and it may be that much of it has rubbed off on me.

"Generally thoughtful and considerate, INFPs are good listeners and put people at ease. Although they may be reserved in expressing emotion, they have a very deep well of caring and are genuinely interested in understanding people. This sincerity is sensed by others, making the INFP a valued friend and confidante. An INFP can be quite warm with people he or she knows well.

INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. If they must face it, they will always approach it from the perspective of their feelings. In conflict situations, INFPs place little importance on who is right and who is wrong. They focus on the way that the conflict makes them feel, and indeed don't really care whether or not they're right. They don't want to feel badly. This trait sometimes makes them appear irrational and illogical in conflict situations. On the other hand, INFPs make very good mediators, and are typically good at solving other people's conflicts, because they intuitively understand people's perspectives and feelings, and genuinely want to help them"

This comes off the Portrait for an INFP.

It describes me really well in most situations, however, I'm not like this all the time at all, just as with being an INTP, I don't fit the mold 100%, 100% of the time.

 

[LcDel]

I've never tested anything other than INTP (although much of it probably has to do with personal bias), but I share many personality traits of the INFP. My mother is an INFP and it may be that much of it has rubbed off on me.

"Generally thoughtful and considerate, INFPs are good listeners and put people at ease. Although they may be reserved in expressing emotion, they have a very deep well of caring and are genuinely interested in understanding people. This sincerity is sensed by others, making the INFP a valued friend and confidante. An INFP can be quite warm with people he or she knows well.

INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. If they must face it, they will always approach it from the perspective of their feelings. In conflict situations, INFPs place little importance on who is right and who is wrong. They focus on the way that the conflict makes them feel, and indeed don't really care whether or not they're right. They don't want to feel badly. This trait sometimes makes them appear irrational and illogical in conflict situations. On the other hand, INFPs make very good mediators, and are typically good at solving other people's conflicts, because they intuitively understand people's perspectives and feelings, and genuinely want to help them"

This comes off the Portrait for an INFP.

It describes me really well in most situations, however, I'm not like this all the time at all, just as with being an INTP, I don't fit the mold 100%, 100% of the time.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if each MBTI type under I for Is and E for Es greatly applies to a person in some way or another be it during certain situations, mental states, etc. I could really relate to your second paragraph, but not (usually) the third. I've had people tell me I might be an INTJ, and then I've had others say that I'm undoubtedly INTP. I suppose it's just a matter of what fits you overall, as, like you said, most don't fit the mold 100%.

 

[Dapper Dan]

Remember that types really only represent a set of preferred functions. What you do with those functions may vary wildly from person to person, but you should be able to decide which type you are by determining which functions you seem to prefer.

In the case of INTP and INFJ, the Perceiving functions are switched (INTP has Ne and Si, INFJ has Ni and Se). If one fits better than the other, you may have your answer.

INTP and INTJ should be even easier, since not a single function is shared between them (INTP is Ti, Ne, Si, Fe and INTJ is Ni, Te, Fi, Se).

 

[Architect]

No, your actual type isn't fluctuating, but how you view yourself, either presently or who you want to be, or how you think you should be, is fluctuating.

I wanted to be an INTJ or INFJ, that was my idea of myself. Reality was that I was an INTP, as became apparent through seeing my natural behavior over time.

 

[Cogwulf]

I think INFJ is romanticised to some extent by INTPs, I think the descriptions tend to align with what we would like to be if we had the chance. I think it basically appeals to Si-Fe, if that makes sense.

Alternatively, it may be that many of us are F types without realising it. Feeling seems completely alien to me and I always test very low in all tests for F, but sometimes I wonder if I actually am using F but my conscious mind is rationalising the process.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

So I was labeled as an INTP by the MBTI, and was startled at how the description of an INTP personality sounded just like me. However, when I stumbled across an INFJ summary, that sounded exactly like me, too. Of course both differ from me in some ways, but for the most part they both feel right on the mark, if leaning slightly towards the INTP side of things for the lack of those "feelings of disembodiment" that INFJs allegedly feel. I do enter a somewhat out-of-body state, but that's only when i'm trying to analyze my own actions and feelings.
Is there some sort of middle ground that I'm unaware of? Has anyone else seen themselves as a part of both?

MBTI's INTP and INFJ both share the Ti/Fe pair of functions as introverts. In INFJ, being auxiliary / tertiary they are less stable than the dominant(Ni) when it comes to a person's attitude and demeanor, therefore type expression(besides the dominant) in a person may seem to fluctuate and hint at Ti dominance.

 

[Darby]

I wouldn't be surprised at all if each MBTI type under I for Is and E for Es greatly applies to a person in some way or another be it during certain situations, mental states, etc. I could really relate to your second paragraph, but not (usually) the third. I've had people tell me I might be an INTJ, and then I've had others say that I'm undoubtedly INTP. I suppose it's just a matter of what fits you overall, as, like you said, most don't fit the mold 100%.

For the most part only the first part and last part of the third paragraph really fits. However often times I can tell I just want to get out of an argument or dispute, and trying to put my brain into it is like smashing it into a spinning sanding wheel. It just isn't working because regardless of how much I know my brain should solve the problem, I just don't care what the truth is. That, and I become painfully bad at differentiating feeling that things are a good idea and having them actually be a good idea. It only happens when something really eats at me and I'm feeling particularly insecure about something.

As far as the functions go, the only one I have almost no doubt I use regularly is Ti, I'm going based on the definition of the functions described here. But ongoing analysis is pretty much the entirety of my being. I would need better definitions of the individual functions to differentiate any further between which ones I use.

 

[Darby]

Well, I just redid the test since I've been working through a lot of personal stuff recently as well as the fact that it's been at least a year since the last time I did it and was curious how I would type and if it would change.

You can probably guess why I pulled this thread up out of the thread graveyard, I got INFJ. That, and many of the functions I typed significantly different for. I used to always type in the high percentages (about 75%) for both N and P, with about 50% in I and really low (25-0%) for T. This time I got 44% I, 75% N 25% F and 1% J.

I'm not totally sure how much these percentages fluctuate on a regular basis, but dropping about 70% off my P-ness seems like a lot. If we count 25% as fair game for fluctuation it makes sense a little bit, all of the INTP, INFP, INFJ, INTJ descriptions fit me pretty well depending on the circumstances that I'm in at the time. Even reading the descriptions of the individual functions I don't feel a particular pull to any side when reading them. Except for Ti, I'm pretty sure I use Ti over Te. That and I have no doubt one of the Ns is either primary or secondary. The rest is too all over to really tell.

Going through the Functions 100 thread I'm beginning to think perhaps I am INTP, I just have a painfully suppressive Ti-Fe relationship.

 

[LcDel]

Well, I just redid the test since I've been working through a lot of personal stuff recently as well as the fact that it's been at least a year since the last time I did it and was curious how I would type and if it would change.

You can probably guess why I pulled this thread up out of the thread graveyard, I got INFJ. That, and many of the functions I typed significantly different for. I used to always type in the high percentages (about 75%) for both N and P, with about 50% in I and really low (25-0%) for T. This time I got 44% I, 75% N 25% F and 1% J.

Wow, that's something to think about. I wonder if your results will change again if you take the test in another few months or so. I suppose when people's mental states get unbalanced as yours probably did with the personal stuff, their personality changes, too. I took the test in September and last week and got the same answers, but neither were at particularly landmark-ish times of my life.

 

[GYX_Kid]

If you had to choose one out of the following,

Spongebob Squarepants, South Park, or Tim and Eric ?


(left to right catering from most Ne to most Ni)


I'm not really 100% serious with that connection ....there must be better examples to use

 

[Darby]

Every winter I do a lot of personal introspection, and look at who I've been and who I'd like to be. This usually comes with a crippling sense of uselessness and my life not working (which tends to be the motivation for all the personal work).

I've also been working on my S functions more as I've never been a "here and now" sensory type of person. and I tend to go through work on my F functions automatically as relationships come and go and friends change (these things also only seem to happen during winter).

If you had to choose one out of the following,

Spongebob Squarepants, South Park, or Tim and Eric ?


(left to right catering from most Ne to most Ni)


I'm not really 100% serious with that connection ....there must be better examples to use

Who is Tim and Eric? and I used to enjoy Spongebob and South Park, but now I find both don't really attract my humor areas much any more.

Also, after finishing the Function 100 sticky I think I'm probably INTP, the other things just don't describe me well enough. I have no doubt I'm an N type, without much doubt as to being I, the "compass" describes me almost perfectly which points me in the P direction, which ultimately gives me INXP which is more or less what I thought before, except that Fi just doesn't sound like me, and neither does Te really. I have too much Ti-Fe retardation going on to be anything else.

EDIT: Oh god, if this really is the Tim and Eric you were referring to, I think I'm most definitely not Ni.

 

[GYX_Kid]

Tim and Eric is a show that an INFJ I know finds hilarious, and that I usually don't understand as much. It seems extremely Ni...I think (?)

 

[snafupants]

Shows like Seinfeld and Dead Like Me and Curb Your Enthusiasm may typify Ni absurdist, metafictional, existential humor, whereas shows like Ren and Stimpy and South Park and How I Met Your Mother might be more sporadic, idea-spaghetti Ne based. There's this bizarro, inappropriately self-referential, Woody Allen-like, knowingly awkward facet to Ni humor that's perhaps on display during Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Stephen Colbert's show seems to rely more on ridiculousness and props and overdone catchphrases, which seems Ne oriented. One type isn't necessarily more sophisticated or entertaining than the other, but Ni humor appears more cerebrally goofy whereas Ne humor is more carnivalesque and rapid-fire.

 

[Darby]

Shows like Seinfeld and Dead Like Me may typify Ni absurdist, existential humor, whereas shows like Ren and Stimpy and South Park might be more sporadic, idea-spaghetti Ne based. There's this bizarro, inappropriately self-referential, knowingly awkward facet to Ni humor that's perhaps on display during Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Stephen Colbert's show seems to rely more on ridiculousness and props, which seems Ne oriented. One type isn't necessarily more sophisticated or entertaining than the other, but Ni humor appears more cerebrally goofy whereas Ne humor is more carnivalesque and rapid-fire.

hmm...well I sometimes like Seinfeld, Dead Like Me was alright, and I probably would have kept watching if I hadn't forgotten what it was called. However I do prefer Colbert, at least in a general sense, I'm not much for political humor in the first place. I figure tastes in humor have to do with all of the functions though. I tend to find the more slapstick physical comedy to be boring, repetitive, and doesn't get my brain churning. I watched one of those Tim and Eric episode things on youtube and my thought was "oh god, this is painful" but I assume it's supposed to a "haha, this is awkward, and why are they touching each other like that, it's so weird and absurd. Their actions are so out of place and he clearly feels violated, haha" I prefer "haha, existential angst, like nobodies felt THAT before, haha." That and if I delve into the awkwardness of human interactions, I enjoy humor based on situations, rather than actions. It has more to do with people trying to figure things out in difficult situations and ultimately making things more awkward, rather than people doing things to make things awkward and weird and then watching other people freak out about it.

I think. Maybe. I don't really know.

EDIT: OOH, I DO like How I met Your Mother

 

[GYX_Kid]

Ne humor, definitely more carnivalesque as described, more about constant stimulation by connections between objects and random appearances in the external environment. Isn't Woody Allen supposed to be ENTP? He probably does the self-referential perception anyway.

With Ni humor maybe you have to kind of understand the concept of a more nebulous internal universe, but intuitively and not just laid out in description like I just did.

 

[TheGreenLink]

If you fluctuate between INFJ and INTP, you are almost certainly an INFJ. I see it roughly as following:
Ni - Ti can easily appear to be Ti dominant because Ni can handle theory well. This ability to handle theory can enhance Ti to the point of appearing to be Ti dominant (this is observation AND experience on my part). Ti dominants will differ from Ni - Ti in that they don't really care to do anything with their knowledge besides use it to gain more knowledge. Ni dominants learn for the sake of implementing the knowledge in some way or for some agenda.
Ti - Si cannot appear to be Ni dominant because Si is based on "concrete" information, whereas Ni is based on "abstract" information. That is, Ti - Si will have much more respect for fact/theory and less for conjecture, whereas Ni will PREFER conjecture because that is its main way of doing things.