[LK.mr]

I'm analyzing a person who was typed as INFP and ISFP in different MBTI tests in different years. Particularly, I see him as a turbulent INFP because of certain features.

He is a perfectionist person, who demands a lot and gets upset about small mistakes in his abilities. If he feels like he wasn't good enough, he's sad. He's very shy and takes a long time to get out of the shell and get to know, but becomes funny and playful with close friends and he's very idealistic about things, whether it's love or death, in addition to going far in the future through some imaginative scenarios and it's quite common to see it with a landscape face. He is incredibly artistic, sings well, draws, paints, developed a love for dance (where he had to receive help from a teacher to be able to express emotions in his dance), has a romantic, deep writing that comes to sound melancholic. He doesn't see himself as good at writing, but he's amazing! He ends up being reluctant to show his work, taking a long time to reach a level of "perfection" for him. He is also very insecure, living in a dilemma about himself, as if he had two versions of himself: one incredible and the other insignificant. He also always ventures into new hobbies, and devotes himself to them. Practice physical exercises and have fun with extreme sports, despite being lazy and procrastinating a lot. He likes to have his free time, but gets along with a routine if he has an important reason. He is a passionate man, free spirit, emotional and sentimental, even on the surface he seems sere.

I'm an assertive INFP, I see many things in common with him, likes, views, some behavior trends. I know that ISFPs and INFPs can be difficult to differentiate, specially cuz' about the Fi, how can I know what type he is?

Thanks for your help!

 

[burningsoul]

The middle two functions would help you differentiate. An INFP would primarily stay in his head and not in this world while an ISFP would be more in touch with immediate reality around him. This goes with lived values and the state of emotional harmony around him. If the environment is not conducive to emotional harmony both types would withdraw. But the withdrawal would be different. If the environment is positive the ISFP would calmly go along with it while INFP would act quirky and enthusiastic. I cannot read much from his activities because as an INFP yourself you are idolizing your friend. I do that too; it's not a criticism.

Apart from that, future predictions would be more scattered and immediate for someone with Ne (at second position) and clear and precise but often inaccurate with Ni (at third position in function stacking). My wife is INTJ. I see her Ni working with uncanny accuracy while my brother is ISFP and his Ni is usually off the target. As an INFP you must be able to see if your friend is capable of contributing to hypothetical discussions. My brother just can't. He just listens which frustrates me. On the other hand I have this friend, an ENFP, and she is so spot on with brainstorming just about anything. That's Ne. I think you should have plenty of information to decode about your friend here. That if you are yourself an INFP. Sometimes people mistype, which makes it very hard for me to communicate because I alter my communication depending on the type I see I am talking to.

 

[Enistery]

In my experience, INFPs are typically more scatterbrained and 'head in the grounds' type of people. ISFPs are usually more grounded. My INFP friends are usually fairly quiet before jumping in with a completely unrelated tangent that's often rooted in the humanities, whereas my ISFP friends tend to notice what's going on around them a little bit better. ISFPs are more like the 'silent observer' types while INFPs are the 'emotional daydreamers.'

Your friend sounds more INFP to me, although for superficial/stereotypical reasons.

 

[alexhales]

I'm not explaining this well, but ISFPs tend to have that natural Se "confidence" and charm about them - they're usually very sense focused and not as overwhelmed by the world, and tend to be well informed about "street smarts" and stuff like that. INFPs don't naturally present themselves like that (if they do it's probably a learnt skill) they feel so overwhelmed by the world and struggle to live and be present in the moment.

 

[LeafStew]

Well it's easy, if they use Ni/Se they are ISFP and if they use Ne/Si they are INFP.