[Wayfarer]

Differences between ISFP and INFP?

What are some distinguishing characteristics between ISFPs and INFPs?

I've been on the fence recently about which of these two personality types is a better match for me, and I've tested as both on various occasions.

It basically boils down to me not knowing which Perception function is stronger, Se or Ne, and reading descriptions of them hasn't helped me decide.

 

[Kito]

There's a particular way I understand the perception functions.

Se - It is
Ne - It could be
Si - It reminds me
Ni - It means

When in an everyday situation, observe what your initial instinct is. Don't think about anything else other than what you think as soon as you see something. Let's take a tree, for example. Se will see the details of the tree, the leaves, the branches and the shapes and patterns they make up. It enjoys the vivid colours, the scent of the leaves, the feel of the bark.
Ne, instead, will connect the tree to possible meanings and interpretation of it. Often Ne users use metaphors to describe what they see, as opposed to Se which just describes what it is. Ne sees the possibilities and future ideas the tree holds, often jumping from idea to idea, which could have anything to do with the tree.

If you look at either of those and think "Huh?" then it's probably an alien function to you, meaning you don't use it as much as the other.

I struggled with this a while back, and here's something somebody told me that convinced me I'm a Se user. I hope you don't mind me using it, Coke.

My INFP friend thinks about the issues going around the world and has a YouTube channel dedicated to it. He links various issues to non-related issues--an Ne trait. My ISFP friend has a vivid imagination of a beautiful magical place. She is very into Disney, due to the fantastical nature of the film. She loves the stories, animation, voice acting, and every little detail about the films. My INFP friend sees past this, and notices the issues and ideas that are present in the films. For example, in Snow White, the ISFP friend loves the look of the place, the characters, the sheer imaginative grand scale the film contains. My INFP friend loves the idea portrayed in the film--don't trust old hags.

 

[LiquidLight]

http://personalitycafe.com/whats-my-personality-type/93577-clarification-type-am-i-infp-3.html

At the bottom of this thread I detail how Se works vs. Si, that might help. INFPs are Si-types ISFPs are Se-types. (We really should not try to compare Ne vs Se since they are different processes altogether that do two totally different things). Many people often are dismissive of the Sensation aspects of INFP (focusing only on Fi/Ne) but Si is very important distinction, just as the Ni of ISFPs distinguishes them.

 

[Wayfarer]

Thank you both for sharing.

DANGER: Incoming wall of text!

The more I reflect, the more INFP resonates with me. From what I've read, Ni is the perceiving function that sounds the most foreign to me.

The reason I think this has been tricky for me is that I've been cultivating my Se over the past two to three years. Some combination of being drawn to appreciate the present moment when exposed to nature, occasional meditation, and consciously forcing myself to become present when I catch myself getting too caught up in my thoughts about future possibilities / what might be.

My first instinct tends to be looking beyond what's presented on the surface, to see what the surface object reminds me of - drawing connections between my observation of an object with seemingly unrelated topics or thoughts that I had been considering, and gleaning some new insight about those thoughts or topics.

The only example of the above I can think of at the moment happened three weeks ago, after I broke out of a vicious mental cycle of self-loathing. As I mention in my post there, as I was walking down the street on the way to grab lunch one day at work, I stumbled upon two guys talking about an upcoming fight (perhaps MMA or wrestling - I don't follow either). They were disagreeing about who they think would win the fight, and they kept escalating, neither one of them willing to back down, until they were more or less yelling at one another. This scene reminded me of the mental sh*tstorm I had recently escaped from, and after making the parallel between the two, I couldn't help but burst out laughing at how silly my dilemma looked in comparison, reflecting upon it after the fact.

IMO, it's the not the best example, because it doesn't convey quite what I mean, but I can't think of any better examples right now, so it'll have to do.

I'm also aware that I've been much more emotional than normal the few couple weeks, which most likely influenced my prior cognitive function and MBTI tests. During that time frame, I noticed that I was much more likely to a) choose an answer within 3 seconds or less, based on my gut feeling, and b) that I tended to pick more "extreme" answers (1 or 5, rather than 2-4). I read somewhere that, generally speaking, people tend to pick the more moderate/in-between answers (e.g. "Somewhat Agree") when answering quizzes, rather than the extreme options ("Very Strongly/Completely Agree"). For all I know, I might have been intentionally (yet subconsciously) picking the extreme options more often just to spite that tendency and go against convention.

Also, I find it interesting that the recent left-brain/right-brain quiz I completed pegged me as 49% left brain, 51% right brain. I was assuming that one side of my brain "should be" largely dominant. However, the nearly 50-50 result feels right. I'm not sure I can think of any examples, nor express it, but I do feel like I have a decent balance of both sides of my brain - like I can be either or.

 

[HonorableGoblin]

I have aux Ne and when I see a tree, I do usually just see a tree. I can easily imagine it as something else and come up with several different possibilities, but I usually have to decide to do that. Sometimes I'll have a spontaneous association, but not constantly.

That being said, I love your short function descriptions. Spot on.

If I'm told to be creative- "it is" is boring. "It could be" is exciting, and "it reminds me" also feels very familiar. "It means" requires more certainty than I'll ever have and seems presumptuous, so I might play it for laughs. Anyway, I'm getting carried away here. Just wanted to say that I love your short descriptions, but I think your long description of Ne is a bit over the top. (which is understandable since you don't have it).

For the OP: The main differences I've noticed between me and my ISFP family members is that they are more literal and more likely to take things at face value than I am. Also, they get restless with too long spent talking about theories and possibilities and want to do something instead. I actually think that a good way to tell between isfp and infp might be in how many different interests you have and how committed you are to a chosen course of action. Ne tends to have a lot of different interests and spend less time becoming expert at any of them. Ne also may have trouble committing to a chosen path because of seeing all the other possible, equally viable paths. As I understand it, Ni is more interested in perfecting skills in one or a few interests and is less tempted away from a chosen course of action. (but I'm not an Ni expert).