[Ntuitive]

I'm spontaneous.

It is commonly believed that INFJs are not(?) spontaneous.
What kind of spontaneity are we talking about? When it comes to going out with friends and I'm not busy, then why would I not go? If you ask me, my ISFP friend is the one who isn't spontaneous. He likes to be alone and doesn't really like doing things out of the blue.
I'll make plans when necessary, otherwise what am I planning for?

Spontaneity.

What are examples of your spontaneity?

What are some examples of your planning?

Make these answers very relevant and specific because I really want to know. Take some time to actually analyze your answers too.

 

[TheRevaN]

Spontaneity means making a plan extremely fast using your creative self (lol what a definition )
That being said I don't see your point.

 

[Phoibe]

I think I understand what you're getting at. For a long time I thought I couldn't be a J because I didn't see myself as a very organized and unspontaneous person. I often make last minute changes, just because I feel like it at that moment. If someone calls me up to do something I have no problem doing things out of the blue. For example, this week I had planned to have dinner with a friend on Friday, but on Thursday an hour before dinner time I thought "Mh well why not have dinner today" so I called her up and we had dinner that day (haha a slightly lame example of spontaneous behaviour)

BUT
I have now come to realize that this type of "spontaneity" is still a planned one more or less. Just because I have nothing else 'planned' to do, means I already sort of accept the probability that something else might come up, and it's only then that i'm open for "spontaneity". As I don't plan much I have a lot of time for this "spontaneous" behaviour if you get what I mean.

However, I think that true spontaneity includes actions such as randomly deciding to paint some words on your wall. I would have to think about the words ten times, and then I'd still be mildly afraid of whether i'd still like it in the future etc .etc. For each (spontaneous) action that comes up I have to analyze all its implications and sides to it before I will actually take action. This analyzing can still happen within a short time frame ranging from a couple of seconds to hours, but I do have to analyze it before taking action. I know that the P friends I have often times don't analyze anything at all, and just do things without thinking too much.

So yes I do propose spontaneous and weird things in the heat of the moment. But the difference between my J and a P I assume is that I will always have given some thought to it beforehand. Mh, hope it makes sense, and I think i'll try to come up with a more specific example later

edit: but then again if I think of an INFP friend I have, she also seems far more controlled than I am. I am the one who usually proposes random ideas to do and I also like to try out random new things at a random time. So i'm actually not sure if what I said actually holds... Though I still believe it has something to do with analyzing things. The INFP friend doesn't overanalyze as much as I do, and therefore she might come across as more "floaty".

Ah well I have to give it some more thought

 

[LiteratureNerd]

You know, I always wondered why people don't expect me to be spontaneous. Yes, I like to organize and plan, but people don't seem to notice that I don't like to organize and plan my social life.

What are examples of your spontaneity?

If you call me up at the last minute and say, "Hey, you want to hang out? We can meet at <place> in ten minutes," I will most likely say yes (unless I'm buried in schoolwork and fast approaching a deadline). If we make prior plans to get together, I'm not terribly interested in planning everything we're going to do - I prefer to figure things out when we get there. Also, if we HAVE made plans of what we're going to do, and somehow those plans go wrong...well, I'm completely fine with winging it - I'll see it as a little "adventure."

One of my first dates with my boyfriend involved me taking him to my favorite place for lunch, and no plans beyond that. We wound up making up stuff we wanted to do on the fly, and it was a wonderful day. We both STILL talk about that day.

What are some examples of your planning?

I'm a meticulous planner when it comes to school - I have to be. I make out weekly schedules for myself, listing everything I need to get done, and breaking the work down by day. Since I'm doing distance ed, it takes even more self-discipline to get everything done and to remember what you need to do. My "planning methods helps me stay on track, get things done in a timely manner (when I'm good and stick to it), and I don't forget about any assignments. I'm lost without my little "planning" notebook. Making out those weekly schedules is actually therapeutic for me, too...I breathe easier. And of course I get that wonderful feeling of satisfaction whenever I cross anything off my list.

 

[Vivid Melody]

I'm not spontaneous at all but I'm an sp type 1. That's not to say I can't be fun though

What are examples of your spontaneity? All the examples I can think of at the moment involve eating large amounts of food...how sad lol.

What are some examples of your planning? I plan out my whole day in my head. I think about what needs to be done and I get it done as fast as possible. I have a routine I follow and I carry it out. I plan when and how I'm going to do things before an event etc. You know, normal stuff. I'm quite the perfectionist too. If something doesn't go exactly the way I planned, it annoys me until I make myself okay with it.

<<< Control freak right here.

 

[jd_]

I'm organized as far as time making goes. If I say I will be somewhere at some time, I am there. Also for trips, I like to be making good time... it annoys me if somebody is late by an hour, and that would mean we say (catch rush hour)
I have an idea that I want to eat and walk around, as opposed to doing tourist things... If I know I can "wing it" once there, I am fine. When I have no idea of it, I need to research it. In essence I am "planning" not to plan.
When I planned my trip to Europe, I had a sketch of possible times and days spanning the entire continent for 2 months. This is a "rough" plan though... and there is a difference. I am not going to freak out if it doesn't GO to plan, and I think others will do that. I already have such a rough plan outlined in my head for a trip next summer, and I'm sure knowing me, I will build upon this in my head.
When going to school, I remember knowing more about the academic department and requirements than did the advisers sometimes. I had already read every single course description, every single possible minor, overlaps, time schedules, what semesters things were offered, and for other schools as well!
I am okay making last minute plans because I intuitively know they will fit.

When I want an adventure, that is also different, I can certainly let the adventure happen.

Winging it is often like real time research, it is enjoyable to solve the problem of what to do. And given I know I can do it, I often plan to wing it.

Often my random ideas are ideas I have had in my head for awhile, when I see in reality that it is an opportune time to act those out, I will do it and this looks like spontaneity. But I often have things like roads, locations of restaurants memorized. I love looking at layouts of cities, subway maps, google maps, etc.

 

[Llamarider]

If going out to eat chinese food and then suddenly deciding to TP a person's car when the entire time you were supposed to be babysitting is not spontaneous, I don't know what is. haha
I mean, I'm not so organized and structured to keep a desk clean. But I do know where everything on that desk is, and its organized in a way that I understand easily.

I like taking spontaneous adventures every now and then.

I'd say spontaneous is being impulsive or unplanned. Perhaps it's gotta do with Se being the inferior in INFJs. But you know, even though I wouldn't prefer improvisation methods to handle more important matters, I have never disliked spontaneity.

 

[ohnoezitsjoez]

I am spontaneous myself at times. A mood strikes me, and I may just go.. driving, or just go out and do something, idk. It is a mood that strikes me. I like driving around my city and talking to myself. At $4 a gallon gas, this isnt very common

I am not spontaneous much with others because they rarely are spontaneous when im in the mood. If all the input they need from me is just riding in a car or whatever, then yeah thats cool. Much more input than that really drains me though.

 

[LiquidLight]

This is a big problem with MBTI culture. That P = spontaneous and J = structured. When we apply this to types though it all falls apart. For example, INFJs have Se a perception function as their inferior function. Meaning that they have a propensity to be quite Se-like when they want to be (even rivaling ESxPs) it just that because Se is acting mostly unconsciously the person may be largely unaware of its influence. You can describe INFJs as a really low-functioning Se-dom. Take the nuance and thoughtfulness that a Se-dom would have about sensation and just make it raw, animalistic and archaic, and you get the Inferior function of INxJs. It's just raw sense perception.

From Psychotherapy

The inferior Sensation of this type [Introverted Intuitive] also has difficulties in noticing the needs of the body, or being very uncontrolled about it. You know that Swedenborg even had a vision in which God Himself told him he should not eat so much! He ate, naturally, without the slightest self-discipline and with complete unawareness. Swedenborg was a typical Introverted Intuitive, the prophet or seer type, and he was coarse and uninhibited and impossible about overeating, and so once had a vision of God telling him that he should stop that! The Introverted Intuitive also suffers, as the Extraverted Intuitive from tremendous vagueness where facts are concerned.

When you see, for example , how sometimes an Introverted Intuitive stretches in the sunshine with such enjoyment of his inferior function, you have absolutely the feeling that he is like a dog sitting in the sunshine enjoying the sun or food; his Sensation is still on the level of a dog or cat or some other domestic animal.

So because Ni-doms have a very raw Extraverted Perception function there is nothing that stops them from being compulsive or spontaneous (other than Fe, really). Ni and Ti would really have nothing to say about this, so its no wonder why so many INFJs type as INFPs.

 

[Ntuitive]

However, I think that true spontaneity includes actions such as randomly deciding to paint some words on your wall. I would have to think about the words ten times, and then I'd still be mildly afraid of whether i'd still like it in the future etc .etc. For each (spontaneous) action that comes up I have to analyze all its implications and sides to it before I will actually take action. This analyzing can still happen within a short time frame ranging from a couple of seconds to hours, but I do have to analyze it before taking action. I know that the P friends I have often times don't analyze anything at all, and just do things without thinking too much.

This makes sense to me when I think about it. I'm not an impulsive type of person. Any quick decisions I make that might appear like spontaneity have thought or at least some sort of reasoning behind them and aren't completely random most of the time. And overall I'm more future oriented. The P has always been a grey area for me. I was INFX for a while until I understood Ni and Fe. Someone once said I was spontaneous in a good way, as if there is a bad way. I think she probably just meant even though I might do something unplanned I'm still thinking about what I'm doing and I'm in control of myself. I think. At least that's what I think of myself.

 

[Jamie.Ether]

I think the areas where people would accuse me of not being spontaneous would be where moral/character judgement comes into play.

If someone says "Hey, that movie isn't playing tonight. You wanna go iceskating instead?"
I would say "Okay, sure."

If I was at a party and a stranger walked up and said, "You're cute, can I have your number?"
I would say no.
Because I don't know the person and no matter how cute they are, I don't know what kind of person they are.

I've made some creative spontaneous decisions, like painting things, tailoring clothes, cutting/dying my hair. And sometimes I don't like the results, but oh well.
But if it's something that comes with moral consequences or legal consequences or puts my life in danger, I'm going to think about it first over being spontaneous. Which I think is the best choice.

 

[Killbain]

What are examples of your spontaneity? Well yesterday I booked a holiday on impulse to give my SO a surprise.

What are some examples of your planning? I'll plan the trip and points of interest, arrangments, transport, insurance etc to a fine detail

What are examples of your spontaneity? Some of the planning will go out of the window if something good comes up on the trip!

 

[unico]

I'm not very spontaneous and I attribute this partly to my autism -- I like rules, planning, and knowing what to expect. Occasionally I can do something with a close friend on a whim (especially if they just want to visit me or something), but I usually can't go really far places or do really complex tasks without some warning (so going to a museum in Chicago, for instance, is something I might be able to do if having a really stress-free day, but most likely I would want a couple days ahead of time to plan; I live 45 minutes from Chicago).