[Adriana]

I'm unsure of my type again. I can't figure out what my function order is, which functions I use, if I'm just an unhealthy type, or if I should leave the cognitive functions theory for what it is altogether. Every now and then I think I understand how the functions work and how to recognize them, but other times (such as now), I really couldn't tell, and different descriptions of the functions seem to contradict and I can't make much of Jung himself either (his description of Fi anyway).

Secondly, I'm beginning to feel like I'm the odd one out here on the INFP board and I become very disagreeable sometimes, irked by lots of things. For example, I notice threads and posts that have a sort of angsty self-pitying undertone, while I am more practical in that I identify the problem and ask myself what could be done to change it. Not that it's black-and-white...

I'm quite sure I'm an introvert because my interest gravitates toward my inner world. I'm a daydreamer, preferably lost in thought, staring out of the window, not seeing.

Then there's this:

Jung postulated that when the dominant function in an individual is any one of the four, the inferior function will, by definition, be its partner in that pair. In other words - if Sensation is the dominant function, iNtuition in that individual will be inferior, and vice versa - if iNtuition is the dominant function, Sensation will be inferior. Similarly, if Thinking is the individual's dominant function, Feeling is, by definition, that individual's inferior function, and vice versa.

If anything, my inferior function would be Sensing, meaning my dominant function is iNuition, and since I'm introverted that function would be introverted, making me an INxJ, which would never have entered my mind going by the stereotypes (huge procrastinator over here!). But iNtuition has always been the one function (either introverted or extroverted) that triggered the most interest within me, so...

That said, I'm only almost 18 and suffer from lots of growing pains, meaning my behavioural displays aren't exactly definite and it's hard to tell when I'm being myself and when not, and what that even means.

So, help? I thought maybe you guys could have some insight since I post here regularly.

---

(I'm tagging @adagio because he has his doubts about me, too.)

(And please don't say 'You're questioning your type so you must be an INFP' crap, I'm an adolescent for the just-risen Christ's sake, I'm supposed to be questioning my identity! Thanks...)

(I'm so sorry this thread is so egocentric. I don't like it either, but I hope you understand.)

(This thread now has a thumbs up icon, to my horror. I thought I clicked the :-( emoticon so I don't know what happened there!)

 

[FaveteLinguis]

If anything, my inferior function would be Sensing, meaning my dominant function is iNuition, and since I'm introverted that function would be introverted, making me an INxJ, which would never have entered my mind going by the stereotypes (huge procrastinator over here!). But iNtuition has always been the one function (either introverted or extroverted) that triggered the most interest within me, so...

Are you identifying with Ni as your first function then? If so, then INFJ or INTJ comes to mind here just based on what you said.

 

[Adriana]

Are you identifying with Ni as your first function then? If so, then INFJ or INTJ comes to mind here just based on what you said.

Basically, yes. But I believe to be an NF, so INFJ. But I'm confused because I've always thought I was a Ne user, J was never an option. I identify with both Ne and Ni. (Meaning I want have both. I think?)

 

[FaveteLinguis]

Basically, yes. But I believe to be an NF, so INFJ. But I'm confused because I've always thought I was a Ne user, J was never an option. I identify with both Ne and Ni. (Meaning I want have both. I think?)

Aha, well this is the point where tests and stereotypes get shitty. People can identify with both all day, but they're still different in how they operate. Unless this system has unspoken rules, you can only have one or the other.

This is probably a good thread to try determining which of those functions you have: http://personalitycafe.com/cognitiv...iled-descriptions-each-function-attitude.html

If need be, check the differences between Fi and Fe as well. If you have Fi, then most likely you are INFP, if Fe, then INFJ.

 

[Adriana]

Aha, well this is the point where tests and stereotypes get shitty. People can identify with both all day, but they're still different in how they operate. Unless this system has unspoken rules, you can only have one or the other.

This is probably a good thread to try determining which of those functions you have: http://personalitycafe.com/cognitiv...iled-descriptions-each-function-attitude.html

If need be, check the differences between Fi and Fe as well. If you have Fi, then most likely you are INFP, if Fe, then INFJ.

Yes, but this is sort of the point where I already read what feels like a million articles and threads on the functions and I found that those descriptions that weren't incomprehensible, were inconsistent with other descriptions, only worsening my confusion. And I already read that particular thread about 4 times in the last half year. It didn't help.

What I'm saying is, I don't understand how I operate. I sort of know the cognitive functions theory, but it doesn't fit with how I perceive the functions within myself. Or, I do, I get things like "oh, this must be Fi" or "that was a Fe thing" but then I realise that's not right because you can't do both and I'm confused with it all -- did I misidentify it, or is the system wrong?


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As quoted from the http://personalitycafe.com/articles/84275-cognitive-function-ne-vs-ni.html thread:

"Gifts Differing" by Isabel Briggs Myers defines Ni and Ne as [page 81]:

Ni - Uses the objective situation in the interests of the inner understanding.
Ne - Uses the inner understanding in the interests of the objective situation.

Ni - Regards the immediate situation as a prison from which escape is urgently necessary, and aims to escape through some sweeping change in the subjective understanding of the objective situation.
Ne - Regards the immediate situation as a prison from which escape is urgently necessary, and aims to escape by means of some sweeping change in the objective situation.

Ni - Receives its impetus from outer objects but is never arrested by external possibilities, being occupied rather by searching out new angels for viewing and understanding life.
Ne - Is wholly directed upon outer objects, searching for emerging possibilities, and will sacrifice all else for such possibilities when found.

Ni - May be creative in any field: artistic, literary, scientific, inventive, philosophical, or religious.
Ne - May be artistic, scientific, mechanical, inventive, industrial, commercial, social, political, or adventurous.

Ni - Finds self expression difficult.
Ne - Finds self expression natural and easy.

Ni - Greatest value lies in the interpretation of life and the promotion of understanding.
Ne - Greatest value lies in the promotion and initiation of new enterprise.

Ni - Requires the development of balancing judgement, not only for the criticism and evaluation of the intuitive understanding, but to enable it to impart its visions to others and bring them to practical usefulness in the world.

Ne - Requires the development of balancing judgement, not only for the criticism and evaluation of the intuitive enthusiasms, but also to hold it to the completion of its various activities

The Ni descriptions really fit me in comparison to the Ne ones. I wonder what INFPs think of these descriptions.

 

[okaydrifter]

"If anything, my inferior function would be Sensing, meaning my dominant function is iNuition, and since I'm introverted that function would be introverted, making me an INxJ"

i don't understand... why can't this be an INFP?

 

[kyliecarefree]

I think you'd do better focusing on the Enneagram than the MBTI. It's true that all teenagers in some sense question their identity, but what separates Fours from the general population is the sense of "difference" that they feel from others; that they feel they're missing something. I think the following paragraph from the Enneagram Institute explains it well.

Self-discovery is an extremely important motive for Fours because they never feel that their sense of self is strong enough to sustain their identities, particularly if they need to assert themselves. Because their feelings change so readily, their sense of identity is not solid, dependable, in their own hands. They feel undefined and uncertain of themselves, as if they were a gathering cloud which may produce something of great power or merely dissipate in the next breeze. Fours can never tell how the next moment will affect them, so it is difficult for them to count on themselves. Something is missing in the self, something they cannot quite put their fingers on, but which they feel they lack nonetheless.

I'm a Four as well, and I think our search for self is inextricably tied to that thing we feel we're missing. Ask yourself, what are you really searching for? A solid sense of identity, a feeling of wholeness? What do you think you're going to find that you haven't already read in a book or on the internet?

I don't think you're going to find what you're looking for in MBTI, or the Enneagram, or anywhere else. No type can capture the beauty and complexity of a human being; no type can tell us what we really are at our cores, or what our essence is. No type can fill the void that your uncertainty and sense of "missing"-ness has created. The Enneagram calls it envy, and I think that's fairly accurate. We envy in others what we feel we don't have in ourselves. We compare ourselves to others and inadvertently perpetuate the feeling that somehow what we are is not right (Even if those comparisons put us in a flattering light, the sense of pride we feel stems from a lack of internal self-worth).

What will fill the void is self-acceptance. Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop criticizing yourself because of your different-ness and stop praising yourself for your different-ness. Let being you be okay, let your actions and reactions be acceptable. Let them not be in relation to other people. The video below touches on this at 29:40, and touches on the "missing" part of the Four at 9:30. I think the woman in blue (Janette Blakemore) really understands the importance of accepting yourself and allowing yourself to be okay as you are.

You compared yourself to the other INFPs on the forum. They seem self-pitying, and you refuse to pity yourself. You're different from them, it's true. But we're all different from each other. Whether your lack of self-pity makes you not an INFP, or just more advanced in the use of your Te is up for you to decide. I find the MBTI very limited - it may, to a point, accurately describe some of our virtues and flaws, but the allowance for so much diversity within types makes it a very inexact science. At the end of the video (49:30) Janette talks about the diversity of the Enneagram as well, and the continuing mystery of self. She says "A trait of the Four is having the constant question, 'Who am I?'" and goes on to discuss that as she matured she began to be more open to not knowing who she is, letting go of that search, and embracing the mystery. Maybe you should think about heading in that direction as well.

 

[Adriana]

"If anything, my inferior function would be Sensing, meaning my dominant function is iNuition, and since I'm introverted that function would be introverted, making me an INxJ"

i don't understand... why can't this be an INFP?

According to Jung himself, if your fourth function is Sensing, your first function has to be iNuition. If your first function is introverted, your fourth function has to be extroverted, and vice versa.

The INFP's first function is introverted Feeling, so the fourth function is extroverted Thinking. So, if my fourth function is Sensing, then I can't be an INFP by definition.

 

[okaydrifter]

oh nevermind you're talking about that other stuff. i thought you just meant that you had a stronger intuition than sensing in general, and were also introverted. i was gonna say "yeah infps use intuition and are introverted..?" haha

 

[Adriana]

@kyliecarefree Thank you! That is a wonderful post!

I sort of forgot about enneagram (things tend to move to the back of my head, forgive me), so I hadn't considered it. The bits of the video I watched really rang true, and it made me afraid I'll never be finished looking for/creating my identity, but then again, I heard someone on the radio say that teenagers often think they'll get somewhere/be someone later in life, and that they're not already living it like it's going to be, but that adultness is just the realisation that 'this is it' and there is no 'one day'.

I still see this whole search for myself as something that will be completed one day, just like I want to find out my type because I want to organise behaviour and personalities (as if they will ever be completely organised). I know what you're saying about embracing the mystery, and it's the direction I should be going in, but I'm not there yet. The idea of letting go feels like throwing an unopened present into the garbage, but it's a present that takes a lifetime to unwrap.

 

[illicit iridescence]

Hey, so we not only have in common that we live in Dutchlands, teh, but we're "lost INFP's" now as well. xD

I mean... Well when I first came here I was trying to understand whether my type was INFP or INTP (since that was what the tests had given me). I learned my type surely wasn't INTP, so I came to believe it was INFP. I guess I could say that over the past 3 months or so, I was 60-90% sure of my type. There were times I could relate so well to the INFP's functions and profile descriptions, and times that I could not.

I'm fed up with it. I've taken it upon me to try to type myself and come to a conclusion in a month or 3. I don't really know if it's a reasonable amount of time, my current job can take quite the energy out of me, and I know what it feels like to read and read and read and not be able to make anything out of it, so I've started a break about 2 days ago (I kept thinking about my type a couple of times per day, which can be pretty annoying). I've started to blog a little, need to keep all the information somewhere. But yah, I'm taking it slowly now.

(You can read up a little on it here: http://personalitycafe.com/infj-forum-protectors/92282-hey-werent-you-infp-o.html, posted in the INFJ forums.)

So, I know what it's like to not "know your tag", even if you yourself are really against tagging (in the sense of it being limiting, leaving out options for growth/change/improvement etc).

Well, you're 18, so you're not necessarily young and not necessarily old That could be a factor in your typing problem. Some say one's not 'matured' until one hits 25. But hey, don't worry, I'm 30, so yah. And then there's the idea that people undergo a 'change' every 7 year or so... I mean. Age can be a factor, but I'd say don't let it weigh it too much on your soul xD

You could do the uhm, actualized vs preferred vs attraction type test, which tells you exactly that: your actualized type vs your preferred type vs the type that you're attracted to. My results of course came out garbled, telling me bout half the times I took the test my actualized type wasn't INFP. But maybe it will give you results that give you some security. The link is somewhere here http://personalitycafe.com/infp-for...een-actualized-preferred-attraction-type.html

I think one of the things you need to keep in mind when you analyze yourself going by the functions, is that all 4 (if not all 8) MBTI functions are at work all the time. MBTI is only a theory that puts those functions in order. According to MBTI, E/I and J/P are not functions, they're also not scales (or at least not conventional scales as I think we know them). J/P tells you whether your judging or perceiving function in your 4 letter code is extra/introverted. E/I just points at the dominant one.

In the end, it is about preferences. A type of cognitions ('thinking') that you prefer, it should be obvious through statistics thus how often they occur, not necessarily one that you like the most or rings true the most (that might be more your preferred type's function).

Maybe you're going through a phase, I don't know. But should you come to conclusions about your type, I'd like to know ^^ Also, if you wish, if I ever do I could let you know.

Don't worry and good luck ^^

 

[Anubis]

I relate to what you said.

I think it has to do with our enneagram type 4. We long to be individual, but at the same time we want to brand ourselves because we need a solid sense of identity to be content. But i've never felt content and I would be scared if i felt content. If I feel content, the journey is over and my creativity has no drive. I don't think we're necessarily unhealthy, it's all just part of the process of truly understanding ourselves.

Don't let MBTI define you. I call myself INFP on this forum, but I truly don't relate to anyone on this forum and this probably because of our type 4. Enneagram is much more useful for certain personalities.

 

[Ode to Trees]

In addition to being INFPs we are more much more; individual beings with our own set of problems, daily family/social dynamic changes, changes in mood states, stress, etc. Consequently, our posts might look black and white and with angsty self-pitying undertone as well as even cynical undertones. These could be temporary projecting states or a sign of some kind of mood change (there is a lot of impulsiveness as well when you suffer from anxiety and depression - which is not an expected characteristic of an INFP).

The thing is how one finds an outlet for their thought processes (they are sometimes storm of thoughts, and one's is keeping a lid of such pressure cooker tight so that they do not escape into RL environment) when you are overwhelmed bottled up inside INFP? If there is no social support, a lot of the negativity will be posted here. In the real life, an INFP does not seek people to complain or talk about their problems, they try to work them inside unless they have a very trusted friend or a family member. They will hardly ask for an advice as well. Rarely ask for help, but will give it.
Furthermore, being angsty and self-pitying often correlates with mood of the individual not with its type. The forum is a sort of an outlet = as I said INFPs for a long time keep everything bottled up. If you see their faces, you would not notice inner states as much as in another type; sometimes floodgates open - emotions, cynicism, and anger come out. Who will understand if there are no other outlets in the real life? = INFPs here. There is only so much that an idealist can take. I had been on INFJ forum (not here on PerC) where I had seen a lot of black and white thinking, a lot of fighting actually, it felt like gates of hell opened, which it does not mean they all are like that, but I think the environment was not moderated enough. Internet communication and IRL communication sometimes could be two very different things. I have INFJ sister who tends to think black and white depending on her mood state, and while she is practical in some things, she is very inflexible and rather stubborn in others.

I do not even recognize myself from 8 months ago, neither does my family; I became much more reactive (not as compliant as I used to be, not as much conflict avoidant as I used to be; not as much calm and quiet sufferer as I used to be). Something traumatic did happen to me, and I started to behave differently, which does not change the fact that I am still INFP.

 

[Adriana]

Hey, so we not only have in common that we live in Dutchlands, teh, but we're "lost INFP's" now as well. xD

I mean... Well when I first came here I was trying to understand whether my type was INFP or INTP (since that was what the tests had given me). I learned my type surely wasn't INTP, so I came to believe it was INFP. I guess I could say that over the past 3 months or so, I was 60-90% sure of my type. There were times I could relate so well to the INFP's functions and profile descriptions, and times that I could not.

I'm fed up with it. I've taken it upon me to try to type myself and come to a conclusion in a month or 3. I don't really know if it's a reasonable amount of time, my current job can take quite the energy out of me, and I know what it feels like to read and read and read and not be able to make anything out of it, so I've started a break about 2 days ago (I kept thinking about my type a couple of times per day, which can be pretty annoying). I've started to blog a little, need to keep all the information somewhere. But yah, I'm taking it slowly now.

(You can read up a little on it here: http://personalitycafe.com/infj-forum-protectors/92282-hey-werent-you-infp-o.html, posted in the INFJ forums.)

So, I know what it's like to not "know your tag", even if you yourself are really against tagging (in the sense of it being limiting, leaving out options for growth/change/improvement etc).

Well, you're 18, so you're not necessarily young and not necessarily old That could be a factor in your typing problem. Some say one's not 'matured' until one hits 25. But hey, don't worry, I'm 30, so yah. And then there's the idea that people undergo a 'change' every 7 year or so... I mean. Age can be a factor, but I'd say don't let it weigh it too much on your soul xD

You could do the uhm, actualized vs preferred vs attraction type test, which tells you exactly that: your actualized type vs your preferred type vs the type that you're attracted to. My results of course came out garbled, telling me bout half the times I took the test my actualized type wasn't INFP. But maybe it will give you results that give you some security. The link is somewhere here http://personalitycafe.com/infp-for...een-actualized-preferred-attraction-type.html

I think one of the things you need to keep in mind when you analyze yourself going by the functions, is that all 4 (if not all 8) MBTI functions are at work all the time. MBTI is only a theory that puts those functions in order. According to MBTI, E/I and J/P are not functions, they're also not scales (or at least not conventional scales as I think we know them). J/P tells you whether your judging or perceiving function in your 4 letter code is extra/introverted. E/I just points at the dominant one.

In the end, it is about preferences. A type of cognitions ('thinking') that you prefer, it should be obvious through statistics thus how often they occur, not necessarily one that you like the most or rings true the most (that might be more your preferred type's function).

Maybe you're going through a phase, I don't know. But should you come to conclusions about your type, I'd like to know ^^ Also, if you wish, if I ever do I could let you know.

Don't worry and good luck ^^

We have quite a lot in common, I noticed before that I really like the way you think (the general meaning I mean, not the Jungian). It makes sense, the way it is all organised as well.

So, I read your "weren't you an INFP?" thread, and what you describe there seems like 'the rest of the iceberg' which's tip I write about later in this post.

That test you mentioned is familiar, I think I took it a long time ago but I don't remember what I got other than that my actualized type wasn't the same as my type of attraction. Anyway, I couldn't be sure about where I stand on a 1-5 scale of 144 different traits. Like: "I am scheduled". Well, yes, to an extent, but I couldn't tell for sure if I don't know what 1 would be or what 5 would be. An extremely scheduled person who goes on a spontaneous date once or twice a week would regard himself as not very scheduled for this reason. Another 143 of those problems and we have a very untrustworthy result for sure.

I relate to what you said.

I think it has to do with our enneagram type 4. We long to be individual, but at the same time we want to brand ourselves because we need a solid sense of identity to be content. But i've never felt content and I would be scared if i felt content. If I feel content, the journey is over and my creativity has no drive. I don't think we're necessarily unhealthy, it's all just part of the process of truly understanding ourselves.

Don't let MBTI define you. I call myself INFP on this forum, but I truly don't relate to anyone on this forum and this probably because of our type 4. Enneagram is much more useful for certain personalities.

I've had experiences of being completely content with my identity, there and then. It was wonderful, blissful. Zen-like. The idea of having put a finger on it doesn't scare me at all, neither does the idea of reaching the destination. It appeals to me and I don't think it's at all unlikely that I will experience it again.

The thing is how one finds an outlet for their thought processes (they are sometimes storm of thoughts, and one's is keeping a lid of such pressure cooker tight so that they do not escape into RL environment) when you are overwhelmed bottled up inside INFP? If there is no social support, a lot of the negativity will be posted here. In the real life, an INFP does not seek people to complain or talk about their problems, they try to work them inside unless they have a very trusted friend or a family member. They will hardly ask for an advice as well. Rarely ask for help, but will give it.
Furthermore, being angsty and self-pitying often correlates with mood of the individual not with its type. The forum is a sort of an outlet = as I said INFPs for a long time keep everything bottled up. If you see their faces, you would not notice inner states as much as in another type; sometimes floodgates open - emotions, cynicism, and anger come out. Who will understand if there are no other outlets in the real life? = INFPs here. There is only so much that an idealist can take. I had been on INFJ forum (not here on PerC) where I had seen a lot of black and white thinking, a lot of fighting actually, it felt like gates of hell opened, which it does not mean they all are like that, but I think the environment was not moderated enough. Internet communication and IRL communication sometimes could be two very different things. I have INFJ sister who tends to think black and white depending on her mood state, and while she is practical in some things, she is very inflexible and rather stubborn in others.

Yes! You described it well, and I think that is exactly the point! The feelings INFPs post about are just general feelings and thoughts, inconsistent and inconclusive. But when I post things, for example in the confession thread, it's so much different. It's like how some poets describe the feeling of having made a poem: they have been able to capture the essence of the feeling, the essence of the truth, compressed in a few lines. It does not describe everything, but everything that you would feel needs to be described, can be derived from it. This is different from an analogy, because it's not just any anology, it is THE analogy. I wouldn't need an outlet for emotions, I would need a compressor, and when I'm upset, I'm happiest when I can compress my thoughts and feelings until it is a compact, understandable, managable idea.


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I should say that the more I now, with a new state of openness to the idea of being a J type, read about the functions, the more sense it makes for me to have the function order of Ni>Fe>Ti>Se instead of any other combination with Ne.

I think I'm going to do something else for some time, and by then I will probably have decided on what I am. You can't knead a bread forever, instead you should walk away and let it rise.

 

[adagio]

Sorry so late. I had computer woes, now resolved.

@Adriana, Yes, I have mentioned that you're not like most INFPs in that you're very sensible and matter of fact, not muddleheaded or angst-ridden like most of us, but I don't think you should fret over it. As a matter of fact, I think it's a terrific plus! I realise you're probably looking for a sense of identity, a sense of belonging, and it was very important to me at one time to label myself too, so I understand your query but, maybe in your case it's not that simple. As others have said here, no system will describe everyone exactly because we're all individuals having different histories and likes and dislikes.

I really haven't delved into MBTI or Enneagram all that much, and like you, I find I also don't fit exactly into the INFP box, but I relate to the folks here and feel comfortable here so I hang out here. I find the Enneagram Type 5w4 also very true of me, so I spend some time over there too.

Sorry I can't be more helpful on this, but we'll continue to ponder the question in our PMs.

Stop criticizing yourself because of your different-ness and stop praising yourself for your different-ness.

Could you have meant to write, start praising yourself .... ?

 

[mushr00m]

All I can say is that I am in the same boat aswell. Hopefully we will figure it out sooner rather than later

 

[TrueNorth]

I grew up with a well-developed Te, so I didn't really feel like an INFP for many years. It doesn't make me less of an INFP, just a more well-rounded one. That's always a possibility for some of you fence-sitters.

 

[Theodore]

I'm starting a new type: [email protected]#$. Join us.

 

[Ode to Trees]

Yes! You described it well, and I think that is exactly the point! The feelings INFPs post about are just general feelings and thoughts, inconsistent and inconclusive. But when I post things, for example in the confession thread, it's so much different. It's like how some poets describe the feeling of having made a poem: they have been able to capture the essence of the feeling, the essence of the truth, compressed in a few lines. It does not describe everything, but everything that you would feel needs to be described, can be derived from it. This is different from an analogy, because it's not just any anology, it is THE analogy. I wouldn't need an outlet for emotions, I would need a compressor, and when I'm upset, I'm happiest when I can compress my thoughts and feelings until it is a compact, understandable, managable idea.

Not many INFPs express themselves badly as I do in a written word. I somehow manage to say not what I mean, and it comes as something else. It seems. Ha, Ha. What I meant it is that infps do act as pressure cookers with their emotions waiting to explode [due to meekness, avoidance of conflict, not feeling a need to disclose in the real life) - they are not going around seeking support as much as Fe users - like my sister INFJ that will disclose to me exactly what she feels and seek support. She will not always listen to it, but nonetheless she will ask for it.
Also Fe users account and see themselves sometimes through the words, terms, and opinions of other people. It is very important to them what others think because some of them will form the opinion (perhaps it is more about seeking affirmation) about themselves based on other peoples’ opinions. This could be troublesome if other people opinions about them are wrong (I noticed this in my INFJ sister). What is more, there could be a cognitive dissonance in a greater amount than in INFP, if the other person’s opinion is opposite to my sister’s concept of self especially if such as person who gives her opinion or criticism is a person of knowledge and authority/expertise in some field important to her (e.g. art).
Some INFPs sometimes "explode" [feeling some many emotions at the same time in the quantity sense and depth of them] WHEN IT IS TOO MUCH FOR THEM TO HANDLE them, due to the fact that their emotions and thoughts are being bottled up inside, and this is a safe place [infp forum] to expressed them and let those feelings and thoughts known. I did not mean it in the way making them coherent inside – there are too many thoughts and possibilities floating in INFPs minds to be organized and compressed to the point of having a very clear idea of one’s emotions. INFPs emotions and thoughts are sometimes too complex that they do not know what they make of them or called them a proper name. Some will let themselves be very reserved even here probably due to negative experiences in the past (Si), and will not disclose.
You are right when some of our verbal expression is not that consistent - it seems so to other types because they do not account in the fact that some INFPs writing could be sometimes scattered due to our thoughts being scattered too) and inconclusive because our thought processes are difficult to express to some of us. My thoughts on different things are present and not connected to what I am writing even now. We see many possibilities and not just one sometimes satisfy us as the ANSWER TO someone’s question, or not one possibility gives us an ultimate and complete description of our own emotional states. Not all of us are like this - some express themselves excellently.
The thoughts that I have, and those that I am able to express do not equate in intensity, complexity, and richness. When I am writing here, I do not feel as pressured to be concise, clear, and formatting my sentences in a correct form as I had to in my business classes (oh the misery).
Furthermore, you are right when you say "It's like how some poets describe the feeling of having made a poem: they have been able to capture the essence of the feeling, the essence of the truth, compressed in a few lines. It does not describe everything, but everything that you would feel needs to be described, can be derived from it"

This is how my INFJ sister writes in her poems. The communication in general is clearer, concise, almost sharp, and it sometimes seems to me as INFP as piercing almost. The judgments are clear, and there is no beating around the bush or apologizing, but straight to the point, and I feel “ouch” when she judges me. On the other hand, abstractions, analogies, and metaphors much more easily to come out in a written word for INFJs.

 

[illicit iridescence]

We have quite a lot in common, I noticed before that I really like the way you think (the general meaning I mean, not the Jungian). It makes sense, the way it is all organised as well.

So, I read your "weren't you an INFP?" thread, and what you describe there seems like 'the rest of the iceberg' which's tip I write about later in this post.

That test you mentioned is familiar, I think I took it a long time ago but I don't remember what I got other than that my actualized type wasn't the same as my type of attraction. Anyway, I couldn't be sure about where I stand on a 1-5 scale of 144 different traits. Like: "I am scheduled". Well, yes, to an extent, but I couldn't tell for sure if I don't know what 1 would be or what 5 would be. An extremely scheduled person who goes on a spontaneous date once or twice a week would regard himself as not very scheduled for this reason. Another 143 of those problems and we have a very untrustworthy result for sure.
[...]
I should say that the more I now, with a new state of openness to the idea of being a J type, read about the functions, the more sense it makes for me to have the function order of Ni>Fe>Ti>Se instead of any other combination with Ne.

Heh, the more I know, the more questions I have. ^^

I can't really exactly point out what it is, but yeah I have this feeling we sort of write and therefore possibly think in a similar fashion.

The Likert scale (1-5 scales) are sort of convenient but not really convenient at the same time. I think that it's better for some questions (or tests) to have a 1-4 scale, which force you to choose. I think it becomes problematic if you start imagining what other people think is 'standard', or in your example, what is 'scheduled'. If you only compare your 'scheduledness' to one person, and say, 'organizedness' to another, you get a very skewed perspective. Thus, you'd have to compare your 'scheduledness' to a handful if not more people. And use all of them for all the other questions as well. I think it is better to try to imagine how your life would look like if it were really scheduled and compare it to your life as it is, to choose 1-5. Or choose on instinct. I've heard it said, in the case of multiple choices tests/exams, when people pick an option and change/correct it to another later, they're usually right the first time.

Also, I usually take tests a couple of times on different times of the day. I look at the average of those results, it gives me a better idea of "what I am" than just looking at one result.