INFP Introverts: The 64-Color Box

“INFPs. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are okay. They are quite okay, just different from the rest of their family—swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this isn’t easy for them.” —David Keirsey

“Imagine how beautiful the world would be if we could all just get along,” the Idealistic INFP contemplates.

Their internal focus concentrates on how they feel about things, and decisions are made accordingly. Externally, their highly developed intuition affirms these altruistic beliefs.

More than other intuitive types, they focus on making the world a better place. The INFP begins this admirable mission by searching out the answers to what life really means and then culminating these findings into a clear purpose and active ways to better serve humanity. Based on these findings, they re-evaluate the path they are traveling, deciding whether to keep going straight or change course; always with the ultimate goal in mind—the good of all. Intuition, idealism, and perfectionism are the drivers that help them achieve goals to that end.

They are natural mediators, solving other people’s problems without a hitch. INFPs are flexible and laid-back—until their values are placed into question. That’s when they come out fighting, aggressively defending their position or cause. A cause is different than a mere project to them. It’s something they passionately believe in and have worked out every detail to back up their position. Mundane details leave them cold.

Decisions based just on facts don’t sit well with them. Their global feelings don’t coincide with the use of hard logic. This skill can be cultivated if you try hard enough but it’s not something they embrace.

On the flip side, when emotionally stressed, they may throw out erroneous fact after fact to back up their often illogical outbursts.

INFPs benefit from thinking twice, taking deep breaths, whatever they need to do to calm themselves, before it gets to this extreme.

Being the perfectionist creates a tendency to be his or her own worst critic. They may have problems working in a group because the other members may not be as committed and diligent as the INFP. In other situations, giving it more than their best shot is admirable, but here, they may appear to be control happy.

Combating these negatives is one of balancing their high ideals with the rigors of everyday living. It is important to resolve this dichotomy for their peace of mind and happiness. They’re bent on giving back in hands-on situations rather than in a more concrete logical way. This type of attribute also makes them more comfortable writing about their feelings than telling someone how much they care.

Because they write so well, they may be drawn to this creative outlet as a career, or consider counseling, teaching or social services as a fit.

“You didn’t hear a word I said”—that’s not something anyone will ever say to an INFP. They listen intently, believing it’s the thoughtful thing to do.

This act of caring puts people at ease and makes the INFP a trusted friend and confidante. Although it’s not always easy for them to express their feelings, they are genuinely concerned, warm and understanding. He or she tries to avoid conflicts but when it’s a necessity, they come from a feeling perspective, rather than placing blame. This is all well and good, but the INFP needs to be aware that sometimes this stance makes them appear to be too emotional and rather irrational.

They have everything it takes to accomplish great things and to become better and better with each passing day.

“Contrary to popular belief, giftedness is not characterized by high intelligence alone…”*

“On the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, INFP is a rare personality type, found in only about 4% of the general population. Yet, of the possible 16 types, it is the one most frequently found for gifted people. This scarcity, coupled with their extreme intelligence, renders them seldom understood and, thus, rarely validated in relationships. The following material is based on qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with eight highly-gifted INFP adults.

Continue reading “INFP Personality Type in Gifted People”

Characteristics of Gifted Adults
Giftedness Self-Test

Giftedness: There appears to be three sorts of childhoods and three sorts of adult social adaptations. The first of these may be called “the committed strategy.” These individuals were born into upper middle-class families with gifted and well-educated parents and often with gifted siblings. They sometimes even had famous relatives. They attended prestigious colleges, became doctors, lawyers, professors, or joined some other prestigious occupation, and have friends with similar histories. They are the optimally-adjusted. They are also the ones most likely to disbelieve that the exceptionally-gifted can have serious adjustment problems.

The second kind of social adaptation may be called “the marginal strategy.” These individuals were typically born into a lower socio-economic class without gifted parents, gifted siblings, or gifted friends. Often, they did not go to college at all but, instead, went right to work immediately after high school, or even before. And, although they may superficially appear to have made a good adjustment to their work and friends, neither work nor friends can completely engage their attention. They hunger for more intellectual challenge and more real companionship than their social environment can supply. So they resort to leading a double life. They compartmentalize their life into a public sphere and a private sphere. In public, they go through the motions of fulfilling their social roles, whatever they are, but, in private, they pursue goals of their own. They are often omnivorous readers and sometimes unusually expert amateurs in specialized subjects. The “double life strategy” might even be called the genius ploy, as many geniuses in history have worked at menial tasks in order to free themselves for more important work. Socrates, you will remember was a stone mason, Spinoza was a lens grinder, and even Jesus was a carpenter. The exceptionally-gifted adult who works as a parking lot attendant while creating new mathematics has adopted an honored way of life and deserves respect for his courage, not criticism for failing to live up to his abilities. Those conformists who adopt the committed strategy may be pillars of their community and make the world go around but, historically, those with truly original minds have more often adopted the double life tactic. They are ones among the gifted who are most likely to make the world go forward.

And finally there are “the dropouts.” These sometimes bizarre individuals were often born into families in which one or more of the parents were not only exceptionally gifted but exceptionally maladjusted themselves. This is the worst possible social environment that a gifted child can be thrust into. His parents, often driven by egocentric ambitions of their own, may use him to gratify their own needs for accomplishment. He is, to all intents and purposes, not a living human being to them, but a performing animal, or even an experiment. That is what happened to Sidis, and may be the explanation for all those gifted who “burn out” as he did.

Source: TPS

“INFPs are the idealistic dreamers among the types. They usually retain their sense of wonder and are likely to view the world as full of extraordinary experiences which others seem to miss. With nearly limitless compassion and understanding of others, INFPs can often see good in those who other types might find abhorrent. INFPs deeply resonate with the feelings of others, and this can sometimes…

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“INFPs often come to view themselves as too fanciful and flawed in some way—rather than just rare, which at 1-3% of the population they are.

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“INFPs may be described by acquaintances as somewhat cool and distant, but their close friends will recognize their sympathy and depth of feeling.”

Continue reading “Psychological Type Description: INFP”