[throughtheroses]

Hello everyone! I'm a long time lurker, but I've finally decided to just create an account and see what happens.

I'm an INFP 4w3-7w6-9w8 sx/so who has known about these tests for almost four years now and was operating under the illusion of being an ENFP until quite recently. I'm still not sure how I mistook myself for an extravert, all things considering, but so it goes. It's especially funny to me because of the classic stereotype of most INFPs being mistyped and in denial.

It turns out that one of my strong INFP ideals was of myself as an extravert, despite every piece of evidence to the contrary. (I act like an ENFP when I'm happy or with friends, which was the source of my confusion. Needless to say, I actually spend most of my time alone.) After weeks of soul-searching and agonizing over every detail of my personality, I have finally accepted my true introverted self.

I also have some degree of both wings in my 4, for those of you who are familiar with the Enneagram, but I'm more comfortable projecting the 4w3 image (a thought process that makes me think that the 3-wing is dominant).

I'm currently a college student double-majoring in Classics and Art History, which I absolutely adore. I also write quite a bit and dream of being a novelist some day. If any of you are interested, my tumblr username is the same as here, @throughtheroses. I'm always looking for more people to follow.

It's nice to meet all of you! I'm glad to be here--if you'll have me, anyway.

 

[ArmchairCommie]

Hello everyone! I'm a long time lurker, but I've finally decided to just create an account and see what happens.

I'm an INFP 4w3-7w6-9w8 sx/so who has known about these tests for almost four years now and was operating under the illusion of being an ENFP until quite recently. I'm still not sure how I mistook myself for an extravert, all things considering, but so it goes. It's especially funny to me because of the classic stereotype of most INFPs being mistyped and in denial.

It turns out that one of my strong INFP ideals was of myself as an extravert, despite every piece of evidence to the contrary. (I act like an ENFP when I'm happy or with friends, which was the source of my confusion. Needless to say, I actually spend most of my time alone.) After weeks of soul-searching and agonizing over every detail of my personality, I have finally accepted my true introverted self.

I also have some degree of both wings in my 4, for those of you who are familiar with the Enneagram, but I'm more comfortable projecting the 4w3 image (a thought process that makes me think that the 3-wing is dominant).

I'm currently a college student double-majoring in Classics and Art History, which I absolutely adore. I also write quite a bit and dream of being a novelist some day. If any of you are interested, my tumblr username is the same as here, @throughtheroses. I'm always looking for more people to follow.

It's nice to meet all of you! I'm glad to be here--if you'll have me, anyway.

Greetings and welcome to PerC! This forum is a great place to discuss the various personality theories and interact with like-minded people so I hope you like it here. That's cool how you are majoring in Art History, I'm an aspiring historian myself though I tend to focus on political developments more then art. If you want any more information about Enneagram then check out these links:
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/how-the-enneagram-system-works/
http://personalitycafe.com/type-4-forum-individualist/65604-type-four-individualist-timeless-description.html

It's nice to meet you too and I hope you discover more about how awesome you are! :kitteh:

 

[throughtheroses]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

 

[Acrylic]

It turns out that one of my strong INFP ideals was of myself as an extravert, despite every piece of evidence to the contrary. (I act like an ENFP when I'm happy or with friends, which was the source of my confusion. Needless to say, I actually spend most of my time alone.) After weeks of soul-searching and agonizing over every detail of my personality, I have finally accepted my true introverted self.

Hahaha that sounds like what might be applicable to me. I have the same situation, and I'm kind of sort of thinking the extroverted part is just 'performance' based... I like the idea of performing, either in an improv or stand-up comedy thing... but that I myself, as a default, apart from a performing setting, am actually INFP. The 'performing' may look extroverted, but is actually self-contained to the activity itself, with no bearing on whether the person themself is extroverted. So I might not really be 'extroverted' as a default... I can be that if it's a situation for it, or if the person I'm with is introverted and extroversion is called for... but that I'm not actually like that as a default.

It's just hard to get to that conclusion of what I actually am because I'm more like a chameleon that takes the shape and form of whatever the situation calls for lol. But, yes, if I'm not 'reacting' to someone else, and if I'm in a 'vacuum' where you can only see my default state, apart from the shape it takes in reaction to someone else... I would probably be an INFP lol.

Stephen Colbert took the Myers-Briggs test. When he got his new show, a common question was "who is Stephen Colbert really?", because in his old show The Colbert Report, he played the part of an over the top conservative (when he's actually anything but lol) So when he started The Late Show with Stephen Colbert a few months ago, he did this series of videos called "Who Am Me?", and in one of them took the Myers-Briggs. Aaaaaaand... he's an INFP!! lol. One might say "but he's hosting an audience every day, how can he be introverted"... but looking closely upon it (he's one of my heroes) I can see the default introverted nature underpinning there.

To get to the part where he finishes the test and gets told he's an INFP, go to 7:29 lol.

I'm glad to be here--if you'll have me, anyway.

Actually, no, we will not have you. Because you preceded that with announcing that you're glad to be here, before offering your being here to us in order for us to formally declare whether we'll have you or not.

Which, as Emily Post has very well laid out, when it comes to etiquette that is a CARDINAL sin.

 

[throughtheroses]

Hahaha that sounds like what might be applicable to me. I have the same situation, and I'm kind of sort of thinking the extroverted part is just 'performance' based... I like the idea of performing, either in an improv or stand-up comedy thing... but that I myself, as a default, apart from a performing setting, am actually INFP. The 'performing' may look extroverted, but is actually self-contained to the activity itself, with no bearing on whether the person themself is extroverted. So I might not really be 'extroverted' as a default... I can be that if it's a situation for it, or if the person I'm with is introverted and extroversion is called for... but that I'm not actually like that as a default.

It's just hard to get to that conclusion of what I actually am because I'm more like a chameleon that takes the shape and form of whatever the situation calls for lol. But, yes, if I'm not 'reacting' to someone else, and if I'm in a 'vacuum' where you can only see my default state, apart from the shape it takes in reaction to someone else... I would probably be an INFP lol.

...

Actually, no, we will not have you. Because you preceded that with announcing that you're glad to be here, before offering your being here to us in order for us to formally declare whether we'll have you or not.

Which, as Emily Post has very well laid out, when it comes to etiquette that is a CARDINAL sin.

Well, then I guess it's back to Tumblr for me. Obviously no one cares about etiquette there.

Your identity crisis is almost exactly what I was agonizing over, by the way. The only real difference that I can think of is that I have a tendency to 'perform', but only when brought on by outside influences. I never seek it out on my own and generally think of it as an inconvenience when all is said and done.

I do act incredibly silly and happy-go-lucky with my close friends, though. When I took the personality tests for the first time in my senior year of high school, I was picturing my circle of friends for all of the "How do you behave in a group?" questions. Now that I'm finishing up college, though, I have a much more realistic conception of a 'group', and I tend to think of it as a random assortment of people... that it turns out I would NOT seek interaction with, unless I had to or they made the first move.

I kept going back and forth on Who is the real me??? and all of that. It's definitely an intriguing question, whether the 'real' somebody comes out when alone or with friends or with a randomized group. I kind of fell out of love with MBTI during my personality crisis, to be honest. It's all so... subjective.

Like what is the quantifiable difference between internal and external orientation? What does that even mean???

It especially doesn't help that the cognitive functions for INFP and ENFP are so close, or that most ENFPs self-identify as ambiverts and are known as the "most introverted extraverts". Where is the line drawn?

 

[tanstaafl28]

@throughtheroses

WELCOME!

ENFP and ENTP are both considered to be the most: "...introverted of the extroverts" in case you weren't in the know. It's our extroverted intuition that seems to keep us entertained alone for hours, but at some point, we want to pop up and see what's happening around us.

It doesn't mean you aren't an INFP, just food for thought. Your enneagram has two withdrawal types sandwiched by an outgoing, optimistic type. Your instinctual subtype stacking would tend to indicate you're very intense and have an interest in being social. I would think you're probably ambiverted.

 

[throughtheroses]

ENFP and ENTP are both considered to be the most: "...introverted of the extroverts" in case you weren't in the know. It's our extroverted intuition that seems to keep us entertained alone for hours, but at some point, we want to pop up and see what's happening around us.

It doesn't mean you aren't an INFP, just food for thought. Your enneagram has two withdrawal types sandwiched by an outgoing, optimistic type. Your instinctual subtype stacking would tend to indicate you're very intense and have an interest in being social. I would think you're probably ambiverted.

Thanks for the response. I actually love types with strong Ne.

On a literal level, I'm definitely ambiverted to some degree. I really do enjoy exploring other people's mindsets and can be very friendly. The thing is, I need vast quantities of alone time and almost never seek out social contact (except my best friend), because I just generally don't want to be bothered and want to do my own thing. I don't have that drive to go-go-go in life, either with people or activities. I also loathe organized events and leave them as soon as possible. 90% of the time, INFP fits me more than ENFP.

That being said, my inner sx definitely complicates things. I'm intimidated by large groups, but I love interacting one-on-one and have a tendency of forming a series of intense friendships with people. I still need time alone to recharge, but it's not as much of a problem if I'm with someone I'm really close to. Do you know if it's an observable thing that sx types tend to be more or less ambiverted?

 

[BelladonnaPoe]

Hi! I'm new to! Its nice to meet you! Not that I didn't already know you or anything like that.

 

[throughtheroses]

Hi! I'm new to! Its nice to meet you! Not that I didn't already know you or anything like that.

It's totally not like we know each other in real life or anything. ;P

 

[stone100674]

Hello and welcome to Per C.

 

[tanstaafl28]

Thanks for the response. I actually love types with strong Ne.

On a literal level, I'm definitely ambiverted to some degree. I really do enjoy exploring other people's mindsets and can be very friendly. The thing is, I need vast quantities of alone time and almost never seek out social contact (except my best friend), because I just generally don't want to be bothered and want to do my own thing. I don't have that drive to go-go-go in life, either with people or activities. I also loathe organized events and leave them as soon as possible. 90% of the time, INFP fits me more than ENFP.

That being said, my inner sx definitely complicates things. I'm intimidated by large groups, but I love interacting one-on-one and have a tendency of forming a series of intense friendships with people. I still need time alone to recharge, but it's not as much of a problem if I'm with someone I'm really close to. Do you know if it's an observable thing that sx types tend to be more or less ambiverted?

Sx 4s are perhaps the most surprising of all the enneagram with their ability to draw others in, or push people away, depending entirely on their mood at the time. I've said this before, but I've seen a rather diminutive female Sx 4 completely dress down a rather large and aggressive male 8. They can be every bit as intimidating when they want to be. They can also disappear nearly as well as a 9. 4, 6, and 8 are what we call "reactive" types, and for good reason!

 

[throughtheroses]

@stone100674

I love your signature. Loquerisne latine?

[HR][/HR]
@tanstaafl28

Sx 4s are perhaps the most surprising of all the enneagram with their ability to draw others in, or push people away, depending entirely on their mood at the time. I've said this before, but I've seen a rather diminutive female Sx 4 completely dress down a rather large and aggressive male 8. They can be every bit as intimidating when they want to be. They can also disappear nearly as well as a 9. 4, 6, and 8 are what we call "reactive" types, and for good reason!

Your description of the 4 you know is hilarious, because it fits me extremely well. I'm a very petite, pacifistic person, but I do somehow tend to become intimidating when someone makes me angry (which isn't often, thankfully). It's probably from growing up with brothers. I have a well-honed sense of justice and can't stand feeling slighted. I like to think of it as my inner Te rearing its authoritative head.

 

[stone100674]

@throughtheroses

I learned some Latin when I was young partially because I come from a family of Anglican priests, but also because my mother stressed that in order to truly understand the English language you need to understand its root languages.

As far as speaking Latin; I was never fluent but I used to be able hold a conversation with my maternal uncle, ( a priest) but not anymore.

 

[throughtheroses]

@stone100674

Well, I'm currently finishing up a degree in Classical Civilization, and I've been taking Latin since high school. It's always nice to come across someone who knows what I'm talking about!

 

[stone100674]

@stone100674

Well, I'm currently finishing up a degree in Classical Civilization, and I've been taking Latin since high school. It's always nice to come across someone who knows what I'm talking about!

Then you will be pleased to know that there are others. :happy: There are a few ISTJs and some others I have bumped into around the forum.

 

[AshOrLey]

Hello hello hello! I'm also an INFP, and new here as well haha. :blushed:

It's just hard to get to that conclusion of what I actually am because I'm more like a chameleon that takes the shape and form of whatever the situation calls for lol.

I relate so much to this. I heard somewhere that chameleon is an INFJ thing, so that was the first time I ever started quesitoning whether I was truly an INFP but thankfully I have heard a lot of other INFPs go through this same thing. I still only prefer my true self, though. Like, I naturally find myself adapting to every personality type I am conversing with, this is so hard to combat. But I mostly prefer speaking in my true self. I wonder if there is a difference in which INTJs don't mind adapting, while INFJs do?