[mad]

INFP became INTP as a shell?

Well, without further delays to not bother you all, I've been questioning if I'm an INFP instead of an INTP. Two years ago I was typed as an INTP, last summer as an INFP and right now as an INTP again.


The problem is every time I typed myself, I was going through some sort of external over stimulation as for instance when typing as an INTP I isolated myself from my peers and when as an INFP I was in a relationship. The thing is, I don't know if I ''acted'' as an INTP to protect myself from the external world as a way of keeping myself from getting hurt. Till around 13-14 years old, I could pratically say I was a very caring person about others. Everyone used to tell me I was very sweet and sometimes not being that manly. By that time, I started isolating myself from everyone due to some personal problems and questions in my life. I became very cold and I did not care about anyone else other than myself. I hurt many people with my seriousness and by not caring about their opinions or the consequences of my acts. I've always been very shy and reserved so I never questioned my I letter. But when I got into a relationship, one that was very dear to me (even though it did not end well) I felt like I could be myself again: I became very clingy, sometimes (most of the times :tongue over emotional and fantasized a lot about the future. I opened up myself a lot, something I hadn't done for a while.
As everything in life, it ended. And at that time, I got back into my shell again of apathy and rebellious behavior towards other people feelings.
As a kid, I identified myself very much with the IFP childespecially the being part and not dealing well with criticism and clinging to my parents in a search for approval and affection than being overly independent.


A couple of months ago, I dig deeper into the MBTI thing and even though I related a lot to the INTP, I think there was a part of my personality that I started hiding so to better fit (because even though I don't like to admit it, I just want to fit in, be appreciated and understood) in INTP, especially my emotional part. Something I remembered just now: people say I'm very cold but I never liked that adjective: I always thought of myself as very emotional, even emotionally unstable. So as I was saying, I crunched my emotional side to better fit the type and tried very hard to be logical and rational and I really believed I was being so. Turns out many of my behaviors throughout the years I've been very irrational and making decisions with my heart especially on critical moments. Lately, when I was, once again, trying to make decisions logically I was told I was being close minded and irrational, something I never considered I could be, until now. One specifically thing I didn't relate with INTPs was the way they saw loved. How they would detach from their loved one and be emotionally dry. I think of myself as a very dependable person and relate much more with the perfect dreamy romance.

To sum it up I could say I identify more with the search of a place in the world for me than with the search for the truth.

I don't know if being much more comfortable to write this in the INFP subforum is a hint or just that I'm relying on your F side. :laughing:
Am I an INFP in denial? Or may I just be going through an depressive/love lacking period of my INTP life and overreacting the whole thing?

PS: Thank you all for having the patience to read this wall of text and if you could help me even better.:blushed: And sorry for my poor use of English and grammar.

 

[LittleLionMan]

Well personality types are ways that you process information.I had the same problem thinking that I was a thinker and not a feeler.And usually only you can determine what you are but it sounds as though external influences are clouding your judgement.Personally the way I was able to tell I was a F was because when I heard something that broke one of my values I would lash out sometimes illogically.I mean so if your one to "snap" if you hear something that you don't agree with then you very well could be a F.

P.S(Not saying that if someone breaks your values you'll always "snap" but only your more prone to "snap")

 

[Vin The Dreamer]

Hey, my story is very similar to yours! I was kinda having the same dilemma, but I almost always typed as an INFP. I'd say it has more to do with your core, so to speak. Over the years I learned to be very logical and objective, but it didn't feel completely myself. Basically, I think that in my heart I really am a dreamer, and my values are more important to me than logic or objective truth.

So if you really think that at your core you are an INFP, and that this "Thinking" side was developed later as a shell, then I would go with that.

And if you want, you can read more about the cognitive processes associated with INFP and INTP to understand the two types better. A lot of members here seem to recommend that.

Good Luck! =)

 

[dreamygirl]

I have typed as an INTP sometimes. My Te side is very well developed, and I use it to analyze and pick problems apart a lot.

Tests often ask you about your behaviour, not your actual thoughts and how you end up making decisions.

The key difference between deciding if you are INFP or INTP is to look at the cognitive functions.

INFP uses Fi/Te - at times we rely more on Te than on Fi. In my case it was probably encouraged by my parents, who are both Te (ESTJ and INTJ) and I find that when people do not understand me as an INFP, or in an impersonal environment such as school or work, I will state my reasons clearly and objectively with Te, as it deals with objective facts mainly it's hard for people to run all over you when faced with a logical step-by-step description.
In this way, I use my Thinking side as a shell also. It's still being an INFP though, I just use my logical side to communicate when I don't want to expose my personal values, morals and thoughts.

INTP uses Ti/Fe - these two functions are very very different, regardless of which one you happen to show outwards or use at a given moment.

You should look further than the MBTI (which make an INTP and INFP seem just one letter apart) and read up on the cognitive functions themselves, to see which ones you prefer using.

Also don't look too much into the descriptions of different personality types, although they are mainly accurate, they generalize and we are all individuals. Those descriptions are good when you know yourself well and are wanting to understand and develop yourself more, but they are not so good if you think you as an individual should find a perfect fit in the description.
A lot of those descriptions describe either an ideally developed "healthy" individual (which no person can live up to perfectly), or how an unhealthy individual might behave (usually with helpful advice on how to work on those shortcomings).

Cognitive Functions The stickies on this forum is a good start if you have never come across the cognitive functions, rather just the MBTI letters.

 

[krentz]

From an intuitive perspective your post screams INFP to me, though I could be wrong. Having a more pronounced Thinking function as a result of emotional upheaval or withdrawal isn't all that unusual. I think a lot of us have experienced something similar at some point. Also, as Fi is by its very nature an introverted function, we're rarely as outwardly emotionally demonstrative as certain other types. One could be forgiven for paying more attention to my reserved self-expression and mistaking that for an unemotional nature. My Feeling preference expresses itself more subtly than that; particularly being that it isn't always about 'feelings', as such.

I always try to separate natural behaviours from learned ones. Though it's true people do grow and change throughout their lives, I feel as though the person I was as a child was among the purest and most undiluted expressions of my core personality. The rest is just, ehh, refinement.

 

[Vin The Dreamer]

From an intuitive perspective your post screams INFP to me, though I could be wrong. Having a more pronounced Thinking function as a result of emotional upheaval or withdrawal isn't all that unusual. I think a lot of us have experienced something similar at some point. Also, as Fi is by its very nature an introverted function, we're rarely as outwardly emotionally demonstrative as certain other types. One could be forgiven for paying more attention to my reserved self-expression and mistaking that for an unemotional nature. My Feeling preference expresses itself more subtly than that; particularly being that it isn't always about 'feelings', as such.

I always try to separate natural behaviours from learned ones. Though it's true people do grow and change throughout their lives, I feel as though the person I was as a child was among the purest and most undiluted expressions of my core personality. The rest is just, ehh, refinement.

This whole post kinda hits home to me, especially that last paragraph.

 

[mad]

The stickies on this forum is a good start if you have never come across the cognitive functions, rather just the MBTI letters.

Some of the best articles I've read so far. At least non-biased since they can apply to different types. I can relate with Ne and Si (though both pertain to INFP and INTP ) and especially with Fi. Oh boy, I really am a Fi-dom. :tongue: I also related with and identified some of my behavior after reading how shadow Te works. (Apparently I cant post the url because I haven't enough posts - lulz. But if you google ''MBTI: Form of the Inferior by siuntal'' you can find it.)


Nevertheless, thank you all for your insights.

Edit: In one of my many moments of boredom, I decided to see which of the 24 subtypes of INFP fitted me better and the results pointed as PINF - The false INTP or IPNF - often mistaken for an INTP. I almost giggled. Twice.