Tests and Other Things Left Behind
Apr. 22nd, 2004 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookofmirrorsWell, time for me to clean off my desktop again. I'm gonna go ahead and cut-tag it, though, 'cause it's just
Yeah, this would be about right. :)
what decade does your personality live in?
quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd
Well fucking DUH...
I don't wanna be Optimus. We always made fun of him for being such a goody-two-shoes...
I am Nazgul! Fear my wrath!
Which Ringwraith are You?
By Lisa
Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) -- no ordinary person (so says my MB profile, below), full of imagination and originality (ditto), shy and reserved *COUGH*sureiam*COUGH*), ambitious (actually, yeah), proud (of some things), self-confident (I certainly appear so, don't I?), hungers for new experiences (Sure, why not?), sometimes nervous (Who isn't?), has many complexities (Most people call those neuroses...), good memory (for what I want to remember), learns easily (what I want to learn), complicated love life (gods, I hope not!), wants to impress (always, especially if it makes people wanna fuck me).
*************************************************************************************
For these, I vascillate between being an INFP and an ENFP, so I put both. I didn't bother to take the test again to see which end I'm currently swinging towards.
INFP Profile
Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt
Profile: INFP
Revision: 2.4
Date of Revision: 20 Jul 03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I remember the first albatross I ever saw. ... At intervals, it arched forth its vast archangel wings, as if to embrace some holy ark. Wondrous flutterings and throbbings shook it. Though bodily unharmed, it uttered cries, as some king's ghost in super natural distress. Through its inexpressible, strange eyes, methought I peeped to secrets not below the heavens. As Abraham before the angels, I bowed myself..." --(Herman Melville, Moby Dick)
INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It's as though they live at the edge of a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities.
Yeah. I like to personify things quite a bit.
INFP children often exhibit this in a 'Calvin and Hobbes' fashion, switching from reality to fantasy and back again. With few exceptions, it is the NF child who readily develops imaginary playmates (as with Anne of Green Gables's "bookcase girlfriend"--her own reflection) and whose stuffed animals come to life like the Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse:
"...Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand..." (the Skin Horse)
Do the imaginary alligators I kept as pets as a child count?
INFPs have the ability to see good in almost anyone or anything. Even for the most unlovable the INFP is wont to have pity.
This is SOOOO true of me!
Rest you, my enemy,
Slain without fault,
Life smacks but tastelessly
Lacking your salt!
Stuck in a bog whence naught
May catapult me,
Come from the grave, long-sought,
Come and insult me!."
--(Steven Vincent Benet, Elegy for an Enemy)
Their extreme depth of feeling is often hidden, even from themselves, until circumstances evoke an impassioned response:
"I say, Queequeg! Why don't you speak? It's I--Ishmael." But all remained still as before. ... Something must have happened. Apoplexy!
... And running up after me, she caught me as I was again trying to force open the door. ... "Have to burst it open," said I, and was running down the entry a little, for a good start, when the landlady caught me, again vowing I should not break down her premises; but I tore from her, and with a sudden bodily rush dashed myself full against the mark."--(Melville, Moby Dick)
Of course, not all of life is rosy, and INFPs are not exempt from the same disappointments and frustrations common to humanity. As INTPs tend to have a sense of failed competence, INFPs struggle with the issue of their own ethical perfection, e.g., performance of duty for the greater cause. An INFP friend describes the inner conflict as not good versus bad, but on a grand scale, Good vs. Evil. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars depicts this conflict in his struggle between the two sides of "The Force." Although the dark side must be reckoned with, the INFP believes that good ultimately triumphs.
Yep, that would be me, too.
Some INFPs have a gift for taking technical information and putting it into layman's terms. Brendan Kehoe's Zen and the Art of the Internet is one example of this "de-jargoning" talent in action.
Functional Analysis
INFPs live primarily in a rich inner world of introverted Feeling. Being inward-turning, the natural attraction is away from world and toward essence and ideal. This introversion of dominant Feeling, receiving its data from extraverted intuition, must be the source of the quixotic nature of these usually gentle beings. Feeling is caught in the approach- avoidance bind between concern both for people and for All Creatures Great and Small, and a psycho-magnetic repulsion from the same. The "object," be it homo sapiens or a mere representation of an organism, is valued only to the degree that the object contains some measure of the inner Essence or greater Good. Doing a good deed, for example, may provide intrinsic satisfaction which is only secondary to the greater good of striking a blow against Man's Inhumanity to Mankind.
This is basically the case, but I tend to try to shape the essence and ideal into things that can be given back to the world. Probably a result of my swinging from I to E.
Extraverted intuition faces outward, greeting the world on behalf of Feeling. What the observer usually sees is creativity with implied good will. Intuition spawns this type's philosophical bent and strengthens pattern perception. It combines as auxiliary with introverted Feeling and gives rise to unusual skill in both character development and fluency with language--a sound basis for the development of literary facility. If INTPs aspire to word mechanics, INFPs would be verbal artists.
Hmmmm... this is both a strength and a weakness for me. It has given rise to what is almost its own language, which others sometimes have trouble following. Certainly it's poetic in its own way, and often childlike, but one needs to be around me for a while to really get it. Another thing I've noticed is that I have this tendency to say things that I later realize were probably very insulting, but since I said them with absolutely no malice, I didn't realize it at the time. Like the time I noticed some very large jewelry Jon Skoglund was wearing, and I told him, "That's so pretentious! It's perfect for you!" I think it was literally months later, when I had reason to recall the interaction, that it finally ocurred to me that he might not have been quite so pleased with my observation as I was in making it.
Sensing is introverted and often invisible. This stealth function in the third position gives INFPs a natural inclination toward absent- mindedness and other-worldliness, however, Feeling's strong people awareness provides a balancing, mitigating effect. This introverted Sensing is somewhat categorical, a subdued version of SJ sensing. In the third position, however, it is easily overridden by the stronger functions.
I guess that sounds about right. Not positive, though. I'm certainly flighty.
The INFP may turn to inferior extraverted Thinking for help in focusing on externals and for closure. INFPs can even masquerade in their ESTJ business suit, but not without expending considerable energy. The inferior, problematic nature of Extraverted Thinking is its lack of context and proportion. Single impersonal facts may loom large or attain higher priority than more salient principles which are all but overlooked.
I think this basically means I can fake it pretty well. Which I can. But I've gotten to the point that doing so is less and less appealing, and I find my ability to do so without letting pieces of myself slip in is becoming less and less, as well.
Famous INFPs:
Homer
Virgil
Mary, mother of Jesus
St. John, the beloved disciple
St. Luke; physician, disciple, author
William Shakespeare, bard of Avon
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Evangeline)
A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie)
Helen Keller, deaf and blind author
Carl Rogers, reflective psychologist, counselor
Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood)
Dick Clark (American Bandstand)
Donna Reed, actor (It's a Wonderful Life)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
Neil Diamond, vocalist
Tom Brokaw, news anchor
James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small)
Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)
James Taylor, vocalist
Julia Roberts, actor (Conspiracy Theory, Pretty Woman)
Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap)
Terri Gross (PBS's "Fresh Air")
Amy Tan (author of The Joy-Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife)
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Lisa Kudrow ("Phoebe" of Friends)
Fred Savage ("The Wonder Years")
Fictional INFPs:
Anne (Anne of Green Gables))
Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)
Deanna Troi (Star Trek - The Next Generation)
Wesley Crusher (Star Trek - The Next Generation)
Doctor Julian Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space 9)
Bastian (The Neverending Story)
E.T.: the ExtraTerrestrial
Doug Funny, Doug cartoons
Tommy, Rug Rats cartoons
Rocko, Rocko's Modern Life cartoons
Copyright © 1996-2003 by Joe Butt
Type Relationships for INFPs:
Identity Pal Complement Contrast
Supplement Anima Suitemate Cohort
Companion Tribesman Advisor Pedagogue
Enigma Novelty Neighbor Counterpart
Profile: ENFP
Revision: 2.4
Date of Revision: 20 Jul 03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[The following comes partially from the archetype, but mostly from my own dealings with ENFPs.]
General: ENFPs are both "idea"-people and "people"-people, who see everyone and everything as part of an often bizarre cosmic whole. They want to both help (at least, their own definition of "help") and be liked and admired by other people, on both an individual and a humanitarian level. They are interested in new ideas on principle, but ultimately discard most of them for one reason or another.
That means I'm fickle. *nodding sagely* But yeah, that's pretty accurate.
Social/Personal Relationships: ENFPs have a great deal of zany charm, which can ingratiate them to the more stodgy types in spite of their unconventionality. They are outgoing, fun, and genuinely like people. As SOs/mates they are warm, affectionate (lots of PDA), and disconcertingly spontaneous. However, attention span in relationships can be short; ENFPs are easily intrigued and distracted by new friends and acquaintances, forgetting about the older ones for long stretches at a time. Less mature ENFPs may need to feel they are the center of attention all the time, to reassure them that everyone thinks they're a wonderful and fascinating person.
OMG, that's SO me, except for the losing track of older relationships thing. If the relationship is still CURRENT, I don't think I forget it. If the relationship has changed, rather than just increased in longevity, then, yeah, I do tend to lose track very quickly.
ENFPs often have strong, if unconvential, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; his sometimes results in their neglecting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the world.
Unconventional? *looks innocently offended*
Work Environment: ENFPs are pleasant, easygoing, and usually fun to work with. They come up with great ideas, and are a major asset in brainstorming sessions. Followthrough tends to be a problem, however; they tend to get bored quickly, especially if a newer, more interesting project comes along. They also tend to be procrastinators, both about meeting hard deadlines and about performing any small, uninteresting tasks that they've been assigned. ENFPs are at their most useful when working in a group with a J or two to take up the slack.
*looks around at house she's supposed to be cleaning*
ENFPs hate bureaucracy, both in principle and in practice; they will always make a point of launching one of their crusades against some aspect of it.
Oh yeah, bureaucracy sucks. But who doesn't think that?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt
ENFPs are friendly folks. Most are really enjoyable people. Some of the most soft-hearted people are ENFPs.
ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD, the scourge of the swimming pool, ticklers par excellence. Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is flipped.
lol Oh, I've so done that. Ask![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meadowhawk.
One study has shown that ENFPs are significantly overrepresented in psychodrama. Most have a natural propensity for role-playing and acting.
ENFPs like to tell funny stories, especially about their friends. This penchant may be why many are attracted to journalism. I kid one of my ENFP friends that if I want the sixth fleet to know something, I'll just tell him.
Not so much.
ENFPs are global learners. Close enough is satisfactory to the ENFP, which may unnerve more precise thinking types, especially with such things as piano practice ("three quarter notes or four ... what's the difference?") Amazingly, some ENFPs are adept at exacting disciplines such as mathematics.
NOT
Friends are what life is about to ENFPs, moreso even than the other NFs. They hold up their end of the relationship, sometimes being victimized by less caring individuals. ENFPs are energized by being around people. Some have real difficulty being alone , especially on a regular basis.
This really used to be the case. And, interestingly enough, at the time this was the case, I tested clearly as ENFP. I'm actually rather glad this isn't the case any longer.
One ENFP colleague, a social worker, had such tremendous interpersonal skills that she put her interviewers at ease during her own job interview. She had the ability to make strangers feel like old friends.
I was told that I had that ability when I was working sales. I would have people hug me, have their kids on my laps, and be told I was "part of the family" now. Didn't sell anything, though.
ENFPs sometimes can be blindsided by their secondary Feeling function. Hasty decisions based on deeply felt values may boil over with unpredictable results. More than one ENFP has abruptly quit a job in such a moment.
Ahem. That's how I got here (Atlanta).
Functional Analysis
Extraverted iNtuition
The physical world, both geos and kosmos, is the ENFP's primary source of information. Rather than sensing things as they are, dominant intuition is sensitive to things as they might be. These extraverted intuitives are most adept with patterns and connections. Their natural inclination is toward relationships, especially among people or living things.
Hmmmm... this is actually true of me, to some extent. I see things (people, mostly) both as they are, and as they could be. This sometimes leads me to disappointment, since I sometimes despair when people don't reach the potential I see. This happened with my first husband.
Intuition leans heavily on feeling for meaning and focus. Its best patterns reflect the interesting points of people, giving rise to caricatures of manner, speech and expression.
I am a natural mimic, although this usually is only in the realm of accents. I remember when I worked at Mariner, I'd speak with the stereotypical Southern Black dialect with my coworkers who spoke that way, walk into a room with a Jewish patient and my speech pattern would naturally match hers, and then to a patient who had the same Midwest lack of accent I did, and revert back to my "normal" speech. I kept hoping that none of them would think I was making fun of them, which wasn't my intention at all. I think I just wanted to fit it on some level, and on another, put them at ease in my presence.
Introverted Feeling
Auxiliary feeling is nonverbally implied more often than it is openly expressed. When expressed, this logic has an aura of romance and purity that may seem out of place in this flawed, imperfect world. In its own defense, feeling judgement frequently and fleetly gives way to humor. ENFPs who publicize their feelings too often may put off some of the crowd of friends they naturally attract.
I think that was expressed this past Monday at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tc_borderpagans.
Extraverted Thinking
Thinking, the process which runs to impersonal conclusions, holds the extraverted tertiary position. Used on an occasional basis, ENFPs may benefit greatly from this ability. Less mature and lacking the polish of higher order functions, Thinking is not well suited to be used as a prominent function. As with other FP types, the ENFP unwary of Thinking's limitations may find themselves most positively mistaken.
I have no idea what this is saying.
Introverted Sensing
Sensing, the least discernible ENFP function, resides in the inner world where reality is reduced to symbols and icons--ideas representing essences of external realities. Under the influence of the ever-present intuition, the ENFP's sensory perceptions are in danger of being replaced by hypothetical data consistent with pattern and paradigm. When it is protected and nourished, introverted sensing provides information about the fixed. From such firm anchoring ENFPs are best equipped to launch into thousands of plausibilities and curiosities yet to be imagined.
Eh. Maybe.
Perhaps the combination of introverted Feeling and childlike introverted Sensing is responsible for the silent pull of ENFPs to the wishes of parents, authority figures and friends. Or perhaps it's the predominance of indecisive intuition in combination with the ambiguity of secondary Fi and tertiary Te that induces these kind souls to capitulate even life-affecting decisions. Whatever the dynamic, ENFPs are strongly influenced by the opinions of their friends.
Hmmmph. See thatlogomancer? I'm *wired* that way. *wink*
Famous ENFPs:
Franz Joseph Haydn, composer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Will Rogers, humorist
Buster Keaton
Theodor "Dr." Seuss Geisel, children's author (The Cat in the Hat)
Mickey Rooney, actor
James Dobson, "Focus on the Family"
Andy Rooney, television news commentator
Carol Burnett, comedian
Paul Harvey, radio announcer
Elizabeth Montgomery, actor (Bewitched)
Bill Cosby, comedian, actor (Ghost Dad)
Dom Delouise, actor
Dave Thomas, owner of Wendy's hamburger chain
Lewis Grizzard, newspaper columnist
I. King Jordan, president of Gallaudet University
Martin Short, actor-comedian
Meg Ryan, actor (When Harry Met Sally)
Robin Williams, actor, comedian (Dead Poet's Society, Mrs. Doubtfire)
Sandra Bullock, actor (Speed, While You Were Sleeping)
Robert Downey (Heart and Souls)
Alicia Silverstone (Clueless)
Sinbad
Andy Kaufman
Fictional:
Dr. Doug Ross (ER)
Balkie (Perfect Strangers)
Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Steve Irkle
Copyright © 1996-2003 by Marina Margaret Heiss and Joe Butt
Type Relationships for ENFPs:
Identity
Pal
Complement
Contrast
Supplement
Anima
Suitemate
Cohort
Companion
Tribesman
Advisor
Pedagogue
Enigma
Novelty
Neighbor
Counterpart
Not sure what those are. I didn't notice them offered in the INFP section.
IDEALIST NFs, being ABSTRACT in communicating and COOPERATIVE in implementing goals, can become highly skilled in DIPLOMATIC INTEGRATION. Thus their most practiced and developed intelligent operations are usually teaching and counseling (NFJ mentoring), or conferring and tutoring (NFP advocating). And they would if they could be sages in one of these forms of social development. The Idealist temperament have an instinct for interpersonal integration, learn ethics with ever increasing zeal, sometimes become diplomatic leaders, and often speak interpretively and metaphorically of the abstract world of their imagination.
Exactly.
They are proud of themselves in the degree they are empathic in action, respect themselves in the degree they are benevolent, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are authentic. Idealist types search for their unique identity, hunger for deep and meaningful relationships, wish for a little romance each day, trust their intuitive feelings implicitly, aspire for profundity. This is the "Identity Seeking Personality" -- credulous about the future, mystical about the past, and their preferred time and place are the future and the pathway. Educationally they go for the humanities, avocationally for ethics, and vocationally for personnel work.
Yep.
Social relationships: In their family interactions they strive for mutuality, provide spiritual intimacy for the mates, opportunity for fantasy for their children, and for themselves continuous self-renewal. Idealists do not abound, being as few as 8% and nor more than 10% of the population.
Yeah, I've heard that. I'm unique an' shit.
*************************************************************************************
The Peach
Random Gentle Love Master (RGLMf)
Playful, kind, and well-loved, you are The Peach.
For such a warm-hearted, generous person, you're surprisingly experienced in both love and sex. We credit your spontaneous side; you tend to live in the moment, and you don't get bogged down by inhibitions like most women your age. If you see something wonderful, you confidently embrace it.
Your exact opposite:
The Nymph
Deliberate Brutal Sex Dreamer
You are a fun flirt and an instant sweetheart, but our guess is you're becoming more selective about long-term love. It's getting tougher for you to become permanently attached; and a guy who's in a different place emotionally might misunderstand your early enthusiasm. You can wreck someone simply by enjoying him.
Your ideal mate is adventurous and giving, like you. But not overly intense.
DREAD: The False Messiah
CONSIDER: The Loverboy, The Playboy, or The Boy Next Door
*************************************************************************************
And, just for kicks...
Go, and be washed in the Blood of the Peep!
Yeah, this would be about right. :)
what decade does your personality live in?
quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd
Well fucking DUH...
| Marriage is love. | |||||
I don't wanna be Optimus. We always made fun of him for being such a goody-two-shoes...
I am Nazgul! Fear my wrath!
Which Ringwraith are You?
By Lisa
Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) -- no ordinary person (so says my MB profile, below), full of imagination and originality (ditto), shy and reserved *COUGH*sureiam*COUGH*), ambitious (actually, yeah), proud (of some things), self-confident (I certainly appear so, don't I?), hungers for new experiences (Sure, why not?), sometimes nervous (Who isn't?), has many complexities (Most people call those neuroses...), good memory (for what I want to remember), learns easily (what I want to learn), complicated love life (gods, I hope not!), wants to impress (always, especially if it makes people wanna fuck me).
*************************************************************************************
For these, I vascillate between being an INFP and an ENFP, so I put both. I didn't bother to take the test again to see which end I'm currently swinging towards.
INFP Profile
Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt
Profile: INFP
Revision: 2.4
Date of Revision: 20 Jul 03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I remember the first albatross I ever saw. ... At intervals, it arched forth its vast archangel wings, as if to embrace some holy ark. Wondrous flutterings and throbbings shook it. Though bodily unharmed, it uttered cries, as some king's ghost in super natural distress. Through its inexpressible, strange eyes, methought I peeped to secrets not below the heavens. As Abraham before the angels, I bowed myself..." --(Herman Melville, Moby Dick)
INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It's as though they live at the edge of a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities.
Yeah. I like to personify things quite a bit.
INFP children often exhibit this in a 'Calvin and Hobbes' fashion, switching from reality to fantasy and back again. With few exceptions, it is the NF child who readily develops imaginary playmates (as with Anne of Green Gables's "bookcase girlfriend"--her own reflection) and whose stuffed animals come to life like the Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse:
"...Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand..." (the Skin Horse)
Do the imaginary alligators I kept as pets as a child count?
INFPs have the ability to see good in almost anyone or anything. Even for the most unlovable the INFP is wont to have pity.
This is SOOOO true of me!
Rest you, my enemy,
Slain without fault,
Life smacks but tastelessly
Lacking your salt!
Stuck in a bog whence naught
May catapult me,
Come from the grave, long-sought,
Come and insult me!."
--(Steven Vincent Benet, Elegy for an Enemy)
Their extreme depth of feeling is often hidden, even from themselves, until circumstances evoke an impassioned response:
"I say, Queequeg! Why don't you speak? It's I--Ishmael." But all remained still as before. ... Something must have happened. Apoplexy!
... And running up after me, she caught me as I was again trying to force open the door. ... "Have to burst it open," said I, and was running down the entry a little, for a good start, when the landlady caught me, again vowing I should not break down her premises; but I tore from her, and with a sudden bodily rush dashed myself full against the mark."--(Melville, Moby Dick)
Of course, not all of life is rosy, and INFPs are not exempt from the same disappointments and frustrations common to humanity. As INTPs tend to have a sense of failed competence, INFPs struggle with the issue of their own ethical perfection, e.g., performance of duty for the greater cause. An INFP friend describes the inner conflict as not good versus bad, but on a grand scale, Good vs. Evil. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars depicts this conflict in his struggle between the two sides of "The Force." Although the dark side must be reckoned with, the INFP believes that good ultimately triumphs.
Yep, that would be me, too.
Some INFPs have a gift for taking technical information and putting it into layman's terms. Brendan Kehoe's Zen and the Art of the Internet is one example of this "de-jargoning" talent in action.
Functional Analysis
INFPs live primarily in a rich inner world of introverted Feeling. Being inward-turning, the natural attraction is away from world and toward essence and ideal. This introversion of dominant Feeling, receiving its data from extraverted intuition, must be the source of the quixotic nature of these usually gentle beings. Feeling is caught in the approach- avoidance bind between concern both for people and for All Creatures Great and Small, and a psycho-magnetic repulsion from the same. The "object," be it homo sapiens or a mere representation of an organism, is valued only to the degree that the object contains some measure of the inner Essence or greater Good. Doing a good deed, for example, may provide intrinsic satisfaction which is only secondary to the greater good of striking a blow against Man's Inhumanity to Mankind.
This is basically the case, but I tend to try to shape the essence and ideal into things that can be given back to the world. Probably a result of my swinging from I to E.
Extraverted intuition faces outward, greeting the world on behalf of Feeling. What the observer usually sees is creativity with implied good will. Intuition spawns this type's philosophical bent and strengthens pattern perception. It combines as auxiliary with introverted Feeling and gives rise to unusual skill in both character development and fluency with language--a sound basis for the development of literary facility. If INTPs aspire to word mechanics, INFPs would be verbal artists.
Hmmmm... this is both a strength and a weakness for me. It has given rise to what is almost its own language, which others sometimes have trouble following. Certainly it's poetic in its own way, and often childlike, but one needs to be around me for a while to really get it. Another thing I've noticed is that I have this tendency to say things that I later realize were probably very insulting, but since I said them with absolutely no malice, I didn't realize it at the time. Like the time I noticed some very large jewelry Jon Skoglund was wearing, and I told him, "That's so pretentious! It's perfect for you!" I think it was literally months later, when I had reason to recall the interaction, that it finally ocurred to me that he might not have been quite so pleased with my observation as I was in making it.
Sensing is introverted and often invisible. This stealth function in the third position gives INFPs a natural inclination toward absent- mindedness and other-worldliness, however, Feeling's strong people awareness provides a balancing, mitigating effect. This introverted Sensing is somewhat categorical, a subdued version of SJ sensing. In the third position, however, it is easily overridden by the stronger functions.
I guess that sounds about right. Not positive, though. I'm certainly flighty.
The INFP may turn to inferior extraverted Thinking for help in focusing on externals and for closure. INFPs can even masquerade in their ESTJ business suit, but not without expending considerable energy. The inferior, problematic nature of Extraverted Thinking is its lack of context and proportion. Single impersonal facts may loom large or attain higher priority than more salient principles which are all but overlooked.
I think this basically means I can fake it pretty well. Which I can. But I've gotten to the point that doing so is less and less appealing, and I find my ability to do so without letting pieces of myself slip in is becoming less and less, as well.
Famous INFPs:
Homer
Virgil
Mary, mother of Jesus
St. John, the beloved disciple
St. Luke; physician, disciple, author
William Shakespeare, bard of Avon
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Evangeline)
A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie)
Helen Keller, deaf and blind author
Carl Rogers, reflective psychologist, counselor
Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood)
Dick Clark (American Bandstand)
Donna Reed, actor (It's a Wonderful Life)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
Neil Diamond, vocalist
Tom Brokaw, news anchor
James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small)
Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)
James Taylor, vocalist
Julia Roberts, actor (Conspiracy Theory, Pretty Woman)
Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap)
Terri Gross (PBS's "Fresh Air")
Amy Tan (author of The Joy-Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife)
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Lisa Kudrow ("Phoebe" of Friends)
Fred Savage ("The Wonder Years")
Fictional INFPs:
Anne (Anne of Green Gables))
Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)
Deanna Troi (Star Trek - The Next Generation)
Wesley Crusher (Star Trek - The Next Generation)
Doctor Julian Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space 9)
Bastian (The Neverending Story)
E.T.: the ExtraTerrestrial
Doug Funny, Doug cartoons
Tommy, Rug Rats cartoons
Rocko, Rocko's Modern Life cartoons
Copyright © 1996-2003 by Joe Butt
Type Relationships for INFPs:
Identity Pal Complement Contrast
Supplement Anima Suitemate Cohort
Companion Tribesman Advisor Pedagogue
Enigma Novelty Neighbor Counterpart
Profile: ENFP
Revision: 2.4
Date of Revision: 20 Jul 03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[The following comes partially from the archetype, but mostly from my own dealings with ENFPs.]
General: ENFPs are both "idea"-people and "people"-people, who see everyone and everything as part of an often bizarre cosmic whole. They want to both help (at least, their own definition of "help") and be liked and admired by other people, on both an individual and a humanitarian level. They are interested in new ideas on principle, but ultimately discard most of them for one reason or another.
That means I'm fickle. *nodding sagely* But yeah, that's pretty accurate.
Social/Personal Relationships: ENFPs have a great deal of zany charm, which can ingratiate them to the more stodgy types in spite of their unconventionality. They are outgoing, fun, and genuinely like people. As SOs/mates they are warm, affectionate (lots of PDA), and disconcertingly spontaneous. However, attention span in relationships can be short; ENFPs are easily intrigued and distracted by new friends and acquaintances, forgetting about the older ones for long stretches at a time. Less mature ENFPs may need to feel they are the center of attention all the time, to reassure them that everyone thinks they're a wonderful and fascinating person.
OMG, that's SO me, except for the losing track of older relationships thing. If the relationship is still CURRENT, I don't think I forget it. If the relationship has changed, rather than just increased in longevity, then, yeah, I do tend to lose track very quickly.
ENFPs often have strong, if unconvential, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; his sometimes results in their neglecting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the world.
Unconventional? *looks innocently offended*
Work Environment: ENFPs are pleasant, easygoing, and usually fun to work with. They come up with great ideas, and are a major asset in brainstorming sessions. Followthrough tends to be a problem, however; they tend to get bored quickly, especially if a newer, more interesting project comes along. They also tend to be procrastinators, both about meeting hard deadlines and about performing any small, uninteresting tasks that they've been assigned. ENFPs are at their most useful when working in a group with a J or two to take up the slack.
*looks around at house she's supposed to be cleaning*
ENFPs hate bureaucracy, both in principle and in practice; they will always make a point of launching one of their crusades against some aspect of it.
Oh yeah, bureaucracy sucks. But who doesn't think that?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt
ENFPs are friendly folks. Most are really enjoyable people. Some of the most soft-hearted people are ENFPs.
ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD, the scourge of the swimming pool, ticklers par excellence. Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is flipped.
lol Oh, I've so done that. Ask
meadowhawk. One study has shown that ENFPs are significantly overrepresented in psychodrama. Most have a natural propensity for role-playing and acting.
ENFPs like to tell funny stories, especially about their friends. This penchant may be why many are attracted to journalism. I kid one of my ENFP friends that if I want the sixth fleet to know something, I'll just tell him.
Not so much.
ENFPs are global learners. Close enough is satisfactory to the ENFP, which may unnerve more precise thinking types, especially with such things as piano practice ("three quarter notes or four ... what's the difference?") Amazingly, some ENFPs are adept at exacting disciplines such as mathematics.
NOT
Friends are what life is about to ENFPs, moreso even than the other NFs. They hold up their end of the relationship, sometimes being victimized by less caring individuals. ENFPs are energized by being around people. Some have real difficulty being alone , especially on a regular basis.
This really used to be the case. And, interestingly enough, at the time this was the case, I tested clearly as ENFP. I'm actually rather glad this isn't the case any longer.
One ENFP colleague, a social worker, had such tremendous interpersonal skills that she put her interviewers at ease during her own job interview. She had the ability to make strangers feel like old friends.
I was told that I had that ability when I was working sales. I would have people hug me, have their kids on my laps, and be told I was "part of the family" now. Didn't sell anything, though.
ENFPs sometimes can be blindsided by their secondary Feeling function. Hasty decisions based on deeply felt values may boil over with unpredictable results. More than one ENFP has abruptly quit a job in such a moment.
Ahem. That's how I got here (Atlanta).
Functional Analysis
Extraverted iNtuition
The physical world, both geos and kosmos, is the ENFP's primary source of information. Rather than sensing things as they are, dominant intuition is sensitive to things as they might be. These extraverted intuitives are most adept with patterns and connections. Their natural inclination is toward relationships, especially among people or living things.
Hmmmm... this is actually true of me, to some extent. I see things (people, mostly) both as they are, and as they could be. This sometimes leads me to disappointment, since I sometimes despair when people don't reach the potential I see. This happened with my first husband.
Intuition leans heavily on feeling for meaning and focus. Its best patterns reflect the interesting points of people, giving rise to caricatures of manner, speech and expression.
I am a natural mimic, although this usually is only in the realm of accents. I remember when I worked at Mariner, I'd speak with the stereotypical Southern Black dialect with my coworkers who spoke that way, walk into a room with a Jewish patient and my speech pattern would naturally match hers, and then to a patient who had the same Midwest lack of accent I did, and revert back to my "normal" speech. I kept hoping that none of them would think I was making fun of them, which wasn't my intention at all. I think I just wanted to fit it on some level, and on another, put them at ease in my presence.
Introverted Feeling
Auxiliary feeling is nonverbally implied more often than it is openly expressed. When expressed, this logic has an aura of romance and purity that may seem out of place in this flawed, imperfect world. In its own defense, feeling judgement frequently and fleetly gives way to humor. ENFPs who publicize their feelings too often may put off some of the crowd of friends they naturally attract.
I think that was expressed this past Monday at
tc_borderpagans.Extraverted Thinking
Thinking, the process which runs to impersonal conclusions, holds the extraverted tertiary position. Used on an occasional basis, ENFPs may benefit greatly from this ability. Less mature and lacking the polish of higher order functions, Thinking is not well suited to be used as a prominent function. As with other FP types, the ENFP unwary of Thinking's limitations may find themselves most positively mistaken.
I have no idea what this is saying.
Introverted Sensing
Sensing, the least discernible ENFP function, resides in the inner world where reality is reduced to symbols and icons--ideas representing essences of external realities. Under the influence of the ever-present intuition, the ENFP's sensory perceptions are in danger of being replaced by hypothetical data consistent with pattern and paradigm. When it is protected and nourished, introverted sensing provides information about the fixed. From such firm anchoring ENFPs are best equipped to launch into thousands of plausibilities and curiosities yet to be imagined.
Eh. Maybe.
Perhaps the combination of introverted Feeling and childlike introverted Sensing is responsible for the silent pull of ENFPs to the wishes of parents, authority figures and friends. Or perhaps it's the predominance of indecisive intuition in combination with the ambiguity of secondary Fi and tertiary Te that induces these kind souls to capitulate even life-affecting decisions. Whatever the dynamic, ENFPs are strongly influenced by the opinions of their friends.
Hmmmph. See that
logomancer? I'm *wired* that way. *wink*Famous ENFPs:
Franz Joseph Haydn, composer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Will Rogers, humorist
Buster Keaton
Theodor "Dr." Seuss Geisel, children's author (The Cat in the Hat)
Mickey Rooney, actor
James Dobson, "Focus on the Family"
Andy Rooney, television news commentator
Carol Burnett, comedian
Paul Harvey, radio announcer
Elizabeth Montgomery, actor (Bewitched)
Bill Cosby, comedian, actor (Ghost Dad)
Dom Delouise, actor
Dave Thomas, owner of Wendy's hamburger chain
Lewis Grizzard, newspaper columnist
I. King Jordan, president of Gallaudet University
Martin Short, actor-comedian
Meg Ryan, actor (When Harry Met Sally)
Robin Williams, actor, comedian (Dead Poet's Society, Mrs. Doubtfire)
Sandra Bullock, actor (Speed, While You Were Sleeping)
Robert Downey (Heart and Souls)
Alicia Silverstone (Clueless)
Sinbad
Andy Kaufman
Fictional:
Dr. Doug Ross (ER)
Balkie (Perfect Strangers)
Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Steve Irkle
Copyright © 1996-2003 by Marina Margaret Heiss and Joe Butt
Type Relationships for ENFPs:
Identity
Pal
Complement
Contrast
Supplement
Anima
Suitemate
Cohort
Companion
Tribesman
Advisor
Pedagogue
Enigma
Novelty
Neighbor
Counterpart
Not sure what those are. I didn't notice them offered in the INFP section.
IDEALIST NFs, being ABSTRACT in communicating and COOPERATIVE in implementing goals, can become highly skilled in DIPLOMATIC INTEGRATION. Thus their most practiced and developed intelligent operations are usually teaching and counseling (NFJ mentoring), or conferring and tutoring (NFP advocating). And they would if they could be sages in one of these forms of social development. The Idealist temperament have an instinct for interpersonal integration, learn ethics with ever increasing zeal, sometimes become diplomatic leaders, and often speak interpretively and metaphorically of the abstract world of their imagination.
Exactly.
They are proud of themselves in the degree they are empathic in action, respect themselves in the degree they are benevolent, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are authentic. Idealist types search for their unique identity, hunger for deep and meaningful relationships, wish for a little romance each day, trust their intuitive feelings implicitly, aspire for profundity. This is the "Identity Seeking Personality" -- credulous about the future, mystical about the past, and their preferred time and place are the future and the pathway. Educationally they go for the humanities, avocationally for ethics, and vocationally for personnel work.
Yep.
Social relationships: In their family interactions they strive for mutuality, provide spiritual intimacy for the mates, opportunity for fantasy for their children, and for themselves continuous self-renewal. Idealists do not abound, being as few as 8% and nor more than 10% of the population.
Yeah, I've heard that. I'm unique an' shit.
*************************************************************************************
The Peach
Random Gentle Love Master (RGLMf)
Playful, kind, and well-loved, you are The Peach.
For such a warm-hearted, generous person, you're surprisingly experienced in both love and sex. We credit your spontaneous side; you tend to live in the moment, and you don't get bogged down by inhibitions like most women your age. If you see something wonderful, you confidently embrace it.
Your exact opposite:
The Nymph
Deliberate Brutal Sex Dreamer
You are a fun flirt and an instant sweetheart, but our guess is you're becoming more selective about long-term love. It's getting tougher for you to become permanently attached; and a guy who's in a different place emotionally might misunderstand your early enthusiasm. You can wreck someone simply by enjoying him.
Your ideal mate is adventurous and giving, like you. But not overly intense.
DREAD: The False Messiah
CONSIDER: The Loverboy, The Playboy, or The Boy Next Door
*************************************************************************************
And, just for kicks...
Go, and be washed in the Blood of the Peep!
