Similarities and Differences between INTP's and INFP's

42472 Views 33 Replies 21 Participants Last post by narawithherthought, Aug 10, 2014

daydreamingsince1992

Discussion Starter · Jun 7, 2010

This year I had a wild experience of rooming in college with a fellow INFP. When I first met her I thought we had crazy similarities, we loved the same music, enjoyed the same classes, shared the same major, both liked photography, and were into writing. However, I soon found that our the way we perceived things was completely different. She based her opinions and made decisions solely on feelings (Strong Feeler) and everything I did was revolved around my thinking analysis of things (Strong Thinker). Although these differences caused a cross in communication and understanding at some points, after some time we came to know and understand how the other functioned and became quite the dynamic duo. We became best friends and did everything together, the only time spent apart was when we had to go to classes. With this being said, we would have the same exact day which would lead to us ultimately thinking about the same things, so much sometimes it was almost creepy. One of us would bring up something on their mind that had occurred and the other would confess to thinking about the same thing.. the only difference was the way we interpreted those thoughts. It's as if we were on parallel train tracks, the only difference being the energy fueling our trains.

..I thought it would be interesting to get some feedback from other INFP's who have been friends with INTP's or vice versa. Input would be lovely!

Save

Reactions: 5

1 - 2 of 34 Posts

periculosa

· #16 · Jun 11, 2010

icicle84 said:
Man, that relationship sounds like the relationship between me and myself.

I'm an obvious I, a pretty obvious N, and an obvious P. But the T/F scale is almost balanced (more often, I come out F, but not by a big margin at all).

I really don't try to type my friends a lot, and the few whose personalities I know aren't INFP or INTP. I have some friends who I think are both of those, but they're not really into psychology, so I don't try to make them take the tests.

Still, the scenario makes a lot of sense.

Wow, a kindred spirit. Years ago I took the MBTI and came up INTP. I recently retook the test and came up INFP. The last test I took I came up 50% T and 50% F. I went through a brief period not certain if I am P or J, but now believe I am a P. I now truly believe I am a hybrid type, INFP/INTP...

I have a best friend I only know through the internet (we met on a political blog), who identifies himself as an INFP. This in itself is pretty darned funny because he is an architect...no, I don't mean the archetypical label for an INTP. I mean that is what he does for a living. But he is much more comfortable in the world of metaphor and poetry than I am, though I'd argue that we are equally good writers.

I actually suspect we both are of the same mixed type. He once wrote that we possess the keys to unlock something in the other, that we seem to be destined to discover things within ourselves that we would never have found if we had never met. He openly admires me for my ability to reason and research; I equally admire him for the poetic power of his writing. I see the both of us trying to emulate what the other does so well. In T and F, we perfectly complement each other; in my view, T and F are the keys he envisioned.

On the other hand, he's also complained that I think too much. I have only obliquely complained that I don't always understand his metaphors. He probably gets a real charge out of the thought that he can stump a person with an advanced degree in English literature...wtf, he probably SHOULD get a kick out of it...

Still, it is a blessing to meet someone who understands me. And it was the biggest compliment when he told me that I was one of the few people he had ever met who understands him.

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 2

periculosa

· #17 · Jun 11, 2010

OrangeAppled said:
Glad to hear things are going better between you guys. :happy:

-----------

The OP describes my experience with INTPs well, except the trains went off the tracks & collided at some point :crazy:. The INTPs could be emotional clods with a belligerent side, which does not come across as intelligent nor logical to me, and my sensitivity was too much at times for them to navigate (probably because they could not pick up on the early signals that they'd gone too far, & so they kept digging the hole deeper...).

INTP clods?! Ouch, OrangeApplied, that just SO hurts...that's my F talking

The belligerent part unfortunately makes sense. In high school I was mercilessly picked on for being a "brain." But the brain in me could not resist but to prove what fools they were, and sarcasm became my stock in trade. Gadflies didn't do so well in history...take a look at what happened to Socrates, after all. It took me years to learn that compassion and empathy are excellent tools to get people to like others, and that perhaps I should not use intellect as a means of domination.

Still, a sarcastic dig can be great fun. My Facebook quote is "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." a quote by Friedrich Schiller made famous in Isaac Asimov's novel The Gods Themselves.

Save

1 - 2 of 34 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month