Recent demographic data suggests INFPs constitute approximately 4-5% of the population, outnumbering INFJs at a pace of three to one. INFPs are idealistic, humane, creative, imaginative, random, quirky, and individualistic.
INFPs possess a strong moral and humanitarian bent. They generally see themselves as special individuals, equipped with a unique blend of skills and abilities that they hope to use to make a difference in the world. Many feel, however, that they don’t know themselves well enough and have yet to find their proper place in the world. They feel that increasing their self-knowledge will allow them to act with greater confidence and commitment.
INFPs may opt to apply their gifts and abilities in any number of venues—religious, artistic, social, academic, or otherwise. They serve as change agents in ministry, health care, psychotherapy, non-profit organizations, and other human service domains. Those with a more artistic or academic bent may opt to explore and express their values and ideals in the arts, social sciences, or humanities.
Many INFPs emphasize the ways they are special and different from others. This is generally founded on a peculiar blend of feelings of rejection and uniqueness. This is somewhat ironic in light of the stress they place on the equality of all human beings. It’s as though they want to have it both ways, on the one hand, endorsing our shared humanity, while on the other, seeking special recognition for their status as extraordinary and unique individuals. INFPs want to help and be close with others, but not to the point of losing themselves.
In expressing their felt uniqueness, some INFPs assume an eccentric appearance. They may pepper themselves with tattoos, experiment with unusual or variegated hairstyles, or sport numerous body piercings. Other INFPs will vie for a plainer or unkempt appearance, expressing themselves through a reduction of effort rather than through bizarre embellishments. Female INFPs, for instance, may forgo what they see as the unnecessary hassle of applying of make-up, managing longer hair, or other stereotypical feminine practices. Many are aptly described as “earthy,” both in appearance and lifestyle. INFPs often opt for rather meager or Bohemian living arrangements flanked with second-hand furniture and decor. They are willing to forego Se luxuries for the sake of their ideals. Frequent sex, fine meals, and extravagant vacations are generally lower on their list of needs.
Although body types do not always closely correspond to personality types (especially in females), there is sufficient evidence to suggest that INFPs are naturally more disposed to an ectomorphic build. If mesomorphs are envisioned as square and chiseled and endomorphs as rounder in shape, ectomorphs can be pictured as more linear and lanky. While it is not all that unusual, at least in the Western world, to encounter INFPs who have taken on a rounder shape, rarely are they heavily muscled. ISFPs are more prone to mesomorphy than are INFPs.
Like ENFPs, the mind of an INFP can move at a frenetic pace. They can be restless, anxious, moody, and plagued by erratic sleeping patterns. And while they may complain about having a restless mind, the fact is that they often don’t feel comfortable when their inner waters are too still. Many INFPs depend on and come to expect a certain level of emotional intensity. For better or worse, they feel they are not fully alive without a stiff emotional cocktail in hand. They may seek out, even if largely unconsciously, experiences that arouse or intensify feelings of passion or inspiration. They may turn to drugs, relationships, novels, poetry, music, or movies–whatever it takes to jump-start their emotions and achieve their desired level of intensity.
When feeling inspired, INFPs may disappear for hours on end, immersing themselves in painting, writing poetry, composing music, and so on. If they had their druthers, they wouldn’t function according to calendar or clock, but would have complete freedom to follow their own cycles. INFPs feel most alive when they can pursue their passion without regard to time or obligations. Because of the structured nature of modern society, however, doing so is not always easy or feasible. This can be a frustrating reality for INFPs, especially for those who fail to structure their lives in a way that provides sufficient time for uninterrupted time alone.
Since their Feeling is introverted in direction, INFPs may not even look like Feeling types when viewed from without. They express their judgments through their Thinking function (Te) and can sometimes seem cold and aloof. Despite the introversion of their Feeling, it is generally no secret to others when they are being moody or touchy. They may sulk without ever giving reasons why.
When functioning in Ne mode, INFPs can be surprisingly witty and chatty. If feeling inspired or otherwise in good spirits, they may even be mistaken for Extraverts. If you’re lucky, you might catch an INFP breaking out into song and playing air guitar in his or her pajamas. Such displays exemplify their innocent, childlike side, a feature they share with INTPs.
The NFP preference can be associated with the right cerebral hemisphere, which is oriented to people, the body, emotions, and the natural world. The “right brain” is attuned to non-verbal communication—facial expressions, body language, and verbal intonation. It tracks the emotional subtext of communication, screening for discrepancies between what is said and what is physically expressed. This allows INFPs to accurately perceive and decode nonverbal communication—to “read” people—and adapt themselves accordingly. INFPs read people quickly and instinctively, while naturally modifying their tone, body language, and verbiage in response. Through this instinctual reading of others, INFPs get a sense of whether an individual is authentic and trustworthy. More than anything else, INFPs dislike pretense and disingenuous, since this runs directly against their penchant for authenticity.
INFPs have a sort of chameleon-like quality that allows them to blend and find commonality with others. People generally find INFPs non-threatening and easy to be around. This somewhat belies the nature of their inner world, which is constantly evaluating “likes” and “dislikes.” When one of their core values is threatened, however, INFPs can be quick and firm extraverting their judgment, showing others a rarely seen side of themselves.
INFPs can also be good facilitators of conversation. They are not showy storytellers or entertainers, but display a genuine interest in knowing and understanding people at a deep and personal level. Toward this end, they instinctively ask questions that prompt others to dig beneath the surface, to consider things they might not otherwise consider. An INFP friend of mine, for instance, prefers to forgo the customary “How are you?” in favor of “Are you happy?”
Because of they of their genuine interest in and easy way with people, others may suddenly find themselves disclosing a wealth of personal intimacies to the INFP. Hence, INFPs may serve as a veritable dumping grounds for others’ emotional problems, even those of complete strangers. Forced to carry the weight of others’ emotions, as well as their own, some INFPs can have a tragic or melancholic air about them.
Many INFPs place high value on religion or spirituality. While some may feel at home within the more conventional religious communities (assuming they are not overly exclusive or intolerant), others are compelled to look beyond traditional mainstays, seeking the divine on their own terms and in their own unique fashion.
Of all types, INFPs are among those most explicitly concerned with achieving a holistic balance of mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Toward this end, they may attend any number of self-help, “human potential,” or bodywork seminars. Such holistic practices may also serve as attractive and viable career paths for many INFPs. They may find their niche in alternative or complementary medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, Reiki, etc. Others might opt to study psychology, nursing, or ecology.
INFPs are also drawn to all sorts of creative endeavors—poetry, music, dance, drama, creative writing, the fine arts, even architecture. Creative expression is in many ways the lifeblood of artistic INFPs. Creative work not only provides INFPs an enjoyable sense of absorption, but an opportunity for self-discovery and self-expression. For many INFPs, aesthetics is less important than authentic expression of their inner world (something they often struggle to do with words). For this reason, outsiders who equate art with traditional conceptions of beauty may too quickly overlook the value and message of the less conventional works of INFPs.
INFPs can struggle when it comes to balancing work and family. I personally know a couple of INFP stay-at-home mothers who enjoy designing and hand-crafting items and selling them on the Internet. Both have high energy levels, at times staying up much of the night working on their designs or websites. When viewed from without, their lives can appear quite frenetic and chaotic. Both would say, however, that their creative work is what keeps them relatively sane, even if depriving them of much desired sleep.
Overview of INFPs’ Functional Stack & Type Development
INFPs’ functional stack is composed of the following functions:
Dominant: Introverted Feeling (Fi)
Auxiliary: Extraverted Intuition (Ne)
Tertiary: Introverted Sensing (Si)
Inferior: Extraverted Thinking (Te)
INFPs’ type development can be roughly divided into three phases. These phases unfold in accordance with the differentiation and development of their functional stack: Phase I (convergence; Fi), Phase II (divergence; Ne), and Phase III (reconvergence; Si/Te).
Phase I (teens-20s)
Early in life, INFPs tend to be highly, even naivly, idealistic and quick to judge (even if keeping most of their opinions to themselves). In this phase, they have yet to grasp the bigger picture of reality. While their Fi confers a strong sense of right and wrong, their moral sensibilities have yet to be fully enlightened by the larger picture of the world that comes from the use and development of their Ne. Unfortunately, INFPs who have yet to move out of this first phase are not immune to outside pressures regarding career or relational decision-making. Like INTPs, they are susceptible to naively signing up for relationships or careers that they later come to regret.
Oh I forgot to write how much this site is insightful and awsomeee!
Hi Im a 16 years old “infp”, I have a feq questions that are a bit selfish if u dont mind:
1.I have to wait till my 40′ so I can have a fulfilling life? there is nothing to do to accelerate growth?
2. Would stuff like football team or chess will help me grow my weaker functions?
thank you very much!!
Hey there, I think it’s great that you’re already interested in typology at your age. That alone will help to accelerate your growth. I think life experience is quite important for Perceiving types to find themselves, something which can require a fair amount of time. However, I think taking on certain leadership roles and practicing being open and forthright with your thoughts and ideas can help to speed things up a bit. Reading and engaging in stimulating with conversations with others will help you develop your Ne and self-reflection will obviously engage your Fi. Chess obviously requires a great deal of Te strategy, but I’m not sure I’d connect it with personal growth. In answer to your question, no I don’t think you have to wait until your forties to live a fulfilling life. Each stage of growth is fulfilling in its own right. Remember that the journey is equally important as the destination (especially for P types:)). Thanks for posting! AJ
thank you!
I thought I would share an insight on percieved patterns. I have observed from observations on forums, that when people who are INFJ, and I wonder if this applies to folks who are INTJ also, speak of observing patterns, they are often speaking about something that has a time line running through it ie. based upon this event or behavior occuring now, one can predict the following will probably occur at some future date, where my patterns are different. I look at time line containing patterns as vertical patterns, where my patterns are horizontal. My perceived patterns are like if attribute A is present then I can safely predict that attribute D and H are probably present also.
An example of using horizantal patterns to predict behavior: once I was visiting our local grocery store, and the check out clerk, probably in high school judging from her appearance, was complaining that she had been working there so long that she was hearing the songs again. When she said this I asked her what instruments she played. She gave me a startled look and said, “Violin and Cello, how did you know to ask that?” I told her that her complaint about remembering the songs gave away that she had musical intelligence.
Another example. On a forum, there was a discussion between some INFJ folks and INFP folks about what constitutes patterns, and what makes things related. The INFJ folks were talking about tree root systems, and how some trees will share nutrients, and water in the root system, etc. where to the INFP folks the extent of the pattern is much larger, like for instance if a tree has something carved into the bark, then the pattern extends to the person who carved it, and what kind of house did the carver live in, and what kind of personality did the carver have and how did that motivate him to carve on the tree, and when did he carve and what was he facing in his life, and what impact did his carving have on the health of the tree etc., where to the INFJ folks, the carving and the people who carved etc was all extenuating circumstance having nothing to do with their tree pattern.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share these differences. Some of the points you make are understandable in light of the functional stack of these types. INJs move convergently from Ni to Te/Fe, accounting for the linearity in time you described. INPs move divergently from Ti/Fi to Ne, resulting in an expansion of options or what you describe as “larger patterns.” These issues can often be detected in the writing style of these types as well. INJs writers tend to use clear lines of delineation and precise definitions, whereas INPs writers employ what has been dubbed “holistic spiraling.” I hope to write a post on this sometime down the road. Thanks again! Drew
After reading and considering your post I am wondering if Inferior Te can explain a cycle I go through all the time, and have wished I could find a way to make it stop cycling. I slowly over time build up confidence to be out going and outspoken, and it works for a while, but Te evidently has little regard for other people’s feelings and I eventually overstep some boundary, and get my feelings deeply wounded by the response of someone else, or else I hurt someone else, and when I discover I have done that I feel deeply mortified. Whenever this happens, In the past, whenever this has happened, I slammed on the brakes, and deeply withdrew, either to heal my wounded feelings, or to try to figure out how to avoid having this happen again. As I have gotten older, I have learned how to be more careful with my Te and not let it get out of control most of the time.
Thank you so much for your comments. I think your analysis makes perfect sense and adds to our understanding of INFPs. The nature of the inferior function is often all or nothing. As you indicate, too much Te can be hurtful to others making it important for INFPs to find a good balance between Fi and Te. Thanks again, AJ
Your website has been very enjoyable to read, especially the INFP section. Growing up, I went from wanting to be a paleontologist to archeologist to artist to veterinarian to teacher…. Then I ended up getting married at the very young age of 20; and after being “just” a housewife for awhile, I figured out I LOVE photography. It’s a creative endeavor that I can actually make money at (which was the main reason I gave up on the idea of being an artist in the first place.) https://www.facebook.com/koerner.creations.photography The business side of it gets rather tedious, but that’s life. Not everything is going to be enjoyable!
Your website has given me a better understanding of myself & my quirks, and also explains the huge personality clashes I’ve had with my husband. I’ve always gotten along well with most people & grew up with an intellectual Idealist for a dad. I am an INFP married to an ESTJ, so we couldn’t be more opposite of each other if we tried. I was really attracted to his outgoing personality, and he thought I’d be as good as anyone to do practical housewife chores for him (which I don’t mind). After 6 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that we may never have a deep connection or have a whole lot in common; but I can, at least, learn how to live more practically & not take his criticisms so personally.
I originally poured myself into photography to get my mind off of the conflict. It didn’t help matters much, since it was essentially “running” away from the problem instead of trying to face it & work things out. I’ve since cut back on the home business, so I can focus more on making our marriage run smoother.
We’ve both been reading about our personality types & can actually laugh now about our differences. We still have a lot to work through and get settled. It’s not that I don’t mind having someone to keep my head in reality more as long as it’s not jerked roughly out of the clouds!
All that aside, I’m curious about something. Is it possible/normal for an Idealist, to be mistaken for being a Rational by those looking on? Emotional outbursts make me uncomfortable & withdraw, so I’m not the best person to dump problems on; and most people describe me as being inexpressive & stoic (except when noticeably moody about something). Another example would be when I saw a long balloon strand blowing around in the sky at a wedding, I commented to someone that it reminded me of a DNA strand. He laughed & said that sounds like something you’d think; and then went on to say, it reminded him of one of those dancing Chinese dragons. I ended up feeling like an unromantic nerd!
Anyway, thanks so much for the wonderful website! It’s been interesting coming to a better understanding of things, and to see that there are others out there with a similar struggles & quirky personality.
Thank you so much Sarah for sharing your story. I think you’re spot on in suggesting that photography is one form of creative work that people are willing to pay for. Regarding your question, I think it is fairly common for INFPs to appear outwardly stoic or unemotional. This phenomenon is well explained by type theory, which suggests that INFPs’ Feeling function is introverted (Fi) while their Thinking function (Te) is extraverted. So what you describe is perfectly consistent with a normal INFP presentation. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the site and hope you find the time to contribute more to the discussion in the future. AJ