10 Things You’ll Relate to if You’re an INFP
The INFP is one of the rarest and misunderstood personality types in the Myers-Briggs® system. Making up only 4.4% of the US population, you are unlikely to come across many of them in your daily life. They are known for their idealism, passion, authenticity, and commitment to their dreams. Certain other types (ISFPs, INFJs, and ENFPs) mistype as INFPs regularly and INFPs themselves often mistype as INFJs, so hopefully, this list will help to bring clarity to this unusual and intriguing personality type!
Not sure what your personality type is? Take our new personality questionnaire here. Or you can take the official MBTI® here.
10 Things You’ll Relate to If You’re an INFP
#1 – My Values Are Central to Everything in My Life
I know from a gut level when something seems good or bad or aligns with my values or not. My work, my lifestyle, the kind of art and music I enjoy, everything has to resonate with what I feel is worthwhile, meaningful, and authentic to what I believe in.
#2 – My Feeling Preference Is About So Much More Than “Emotions”
I know I’m a feeling type and some people think that means that I’m really emotional, but that’s not what it’s all about. Everyone has emotions. My feeling preference means that I am always evaluating what’s important, what is of value, and what is worth believing in and fighting for. I look for authenticity and deep inner meaning and personal significance. Anyone can be emotional, but the truth is I’m actually guarded about my emotions and only like to share them with people I really trust.
#3 – I Am Skilled At Detecting Manipulation and Hypocrisy
In everything I do, I aim to be sincere. I’m highly attuned to behaviors and attitudes that are emotionally manipulative or inauthentic and those will turn me off instantly. I pay close attention to the values that other people say they believe in, and then I can’t help but notice if their lifestyle matches the rules, beliefs, and values they espouse. Many times I’m surprised by the way people will say they believe in one thing and then live a lifestyle that doesn’t match up with that belief. For example, people who preach “the golden rule” but clearly put themselves above everyone else.
#4 – I Can’t “Fake” Something Just Because Someone Wants Me To
Growing up there were certain “social norms” that people expected me to follow. But then and now, I can’t embrace those things unless I really believe in them and they feel right to me. This doesn’t mean I can’t play “pretend”, imagine, or enjoy acting. But it does mean I’m not going to put on a certain persona to try to “fit in” with what other people want from me. At the same time, I do strive to be compassionate, kind, and tactful with people.
#5 – I Am Drawn to Those Who Are Misunderstood Or Marginalized
I am drawn towards people who are misfits, outcasts, and underdogs. I believe that people who don’t fit in with the crowd have a lot to offer the world, and I believe that their story, their experience, and differences make them beautiful and fascinating.
#6 – I Am Open-Minded and Curious
I see change as an opportunity for personal growth, and I like to have lots of options and possibilities available to me. I like to imagine numerous potential outcomes and explore many different meanings and theoretical ideas. Learning new things, exploring new places, listening to the stories of unusual people is always fascinating to me.
#7 – My Imagination Is My Happy Place
I like to explore ideas, dreams, and visions of the future and what could be. Generating possibilities and imagining many potential scenarios invigorates me and provides a relaxing escape from the mundane details and chores involved in daily life.
#8 – I See Potential in Things Other People Cast Aside
I see all kinds of projects and possibilities in the things that other people overlook. I like to create beauty out of ideas or even tangible objects like rocks, leaves, or thrift store finds. I’m very creative and I like to use that creativity to make stories, art, or symbolic treasures to have or give away.
#9 – I Can Go From Being Totally Future-Focused to Deeply Nostalgic
Most of the time I enjoy envisioning future possibilities and scenarios, but sometimes I love to get lost immersing myself in memories from my past. Whether it’s listening to an old favorite song over and over again, or reading a childhood book that I once loved, soaking up favorite memories and activities can make me feel relaxed and cheerful. Simultaneously, if I have bad or embarrassing memories, I can find these entering my mind at times when I don’t want them to and I can feel the same embarrassment or frustration exactly like I did years ago.
#10 – I Find Structure and Routine Confining
Being forced to do things in a conventional way makes me feel stifled. I like to use my imagination to find new and creative ways to improve on something or do it better. The idea of working a 9-5 office job repeating the same projects day after day is mind-numbing to me. I like knowing that the future is full of unexplored options and possibilities and that nothing is set in stone.
The INFP and Stress
What Are Your Thoughts?
Do you relate to these INFP qualities? Do you have any others you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!
Find out more about your personality type in our eBooks, Discovering You: Unlocking the Power of Personality Type, The INFJ – Understanding the Mystic, and The INFP – Understanding the Dreamer. You can also connect with me via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!
Want an INFP Starter Kit?
Find out how you can thrive in your relationships, career, and creative life with Personality Hacker’s specialized, in-depth starter kits. (This is a referral link).
Other Articles You Might Enjoy:
Understanding INFP Darkness: Getting to Know the INFP’s Shadow Functions
10 Things You Should Never Say to an INFP
10 Surprising Truths About INFPs
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Want to discover more about personality type? Get the inside scoop with Susan Storm on all things typological, along with special subscriber freebies, and discounts on new eBooks and courses! Join our newsletter today!
Anyone can be emotional, but the truth is I’m actually guarded about my emotions and only like to share them with people I really trust.
very true! I have found that even though I lead with a feeling process, I am usually reserved with “being” emotional. I’ll save that for a special time. However, when faced with a decision to make, that’s where my Fi really shows up by nearly ignoring the details, data, objectivity of the choices and instead, holding a townhall meeting with all my values until they are in alignment.
For me being an INFP, I get too caught up in my daydreams and it holds me back from what I need to really be focusing on. I’ll be sitting at my desk working on papers when my mind trails off and I start thinking about what if so and so walked into the room at this very moment….what will they say? How will I respond? Soon I’ve had an entire conversation in my head with multiple people.and topics and then all of a.sudden it just stops and I’m sitting there with a pile of work and my pen stopped mid-sentence. It really gets on my nerves sometimes, but I still wouldn’t change it for the world because I love my little daydream breaks. No matter how frustrating it gets.
Number four stood out the most to me in your article. I’ve always hated the phrase “fake it til you make it”. If I cannot truly be passionate about my interests or any sort of work I’m doing, how can I possibly amount to anything? Pretending feels like such a tedious and unnecessary task to me; it’s like this sleezy feeling in your guts that won’t go away.
I loved your writing. I could relate to most of the facts that you’ve mentioned.
I feel as though the majority of these things are right on the nose for me. Except for number 10. As a soldier I love my life which is primarily routine.
This makes me want to cry. As a youngster, all I ever wanted to do was create beautiful things that would enhance the world. I would draw and write and doodle and imagine making all kinds of things. Art was a natural field for me to follow and I drew and drew and drew. I was also a bookworm who devoured book after book.
At school I found most of the course work easy and boring. I could see where it was going long before the teachers took us there. I hated the repetition and stifling routine imposed on me. But everyday, every step of the way I had the dreams beaten out of me. I had to be “realistic”, I had to find a job that would pay. Not based on what I wanted to do, not bringing my imagination to life, but based on what was the accepted model of work. A model that just made me want to scream day after day.
I became depressed and escaped into fantasy. It was the only place I could be free from “the rules” everyone insisted must be followed. At the time I knew it was an unhealthy escape. Trying to create an imaginary world where I could be free – whatever that meant. That got so bad it lost me jobs and relationships. I think I secretly wanted to lose those things, they just did not fit. All I did was spend my life pretending I was the person others wanted me to be.
Eventually I found some kind of equilibrium and made my way in the world, hard and lonely though it has been. Never able to get others to see the world the way I did. I simply stopped trying. And I lost something. To this day I’m not sure what it was, but it nags and nags at me still.
I am currently a self-employed illustrator. Part way toward to where I wanted to be, but still stifled by those same “rules” that were hammered into me when I was young. All my life I have felt as though I was living in a straight-jacket and no one wanted to hear what I had to say. I have always felt outside of society and apart. I remember as a kid telling my Dad “I think I’m an alien”. LOL! I used to marvel at things others just could ne see and remember always having difficulty getting others to even acknowledge the wonders I thought I saw. I finally accepted what they were telling me, that I was the one at fault. That it was me that could not see “reality”. How could it be that I was right and everyone else was wrong? I learned to keep my mouth shut, my head down and just do what they wanted.
I am close to retirement now and resigned to just getting to the point in my life when I can remove myself from that “model life”.
Perhaps I can still find a way now, I doubt it. I don’t even know how or what it is that I lost so long ago. But the more I learn about being an INFP the more that faint flickering spark of hope grows. Maybe, just maybe…
@Mark – I think the “I think I’m an alien” feeling is quite common to INFPs! I’ve often been told by people that it’s like I’m from another planet. Growing up, I tried hard to be who or what I was told to be or expected to be, but am now learning that finding my own path makes more a much happier life.
As INFPs, we have to follow our passions, whatever they may be! And we are great at inspiring others to do the same 🙂
Whoa! This comment went right through my heart ????
I’m a youngster who three years ago found about the Myers Briggs… I’m 18… and the INFP resonates with me. A lot! I’m currently a med student, I see a beauty in people’s stories, and knowing how our body works is just mesmerizing enough to help others who need it.
????It was a blessing to read your comment @Mr. Mark. It has reminded me to not be stuck on my head all the time. Cuz yeah… sometimes our minds are way much better than our reality tbh. But! I have learned that making others feel loved by us, is really enough to see how they can change for better. And if they don’t change for better… Well. Keep on loving in Jesus’ name! ????????
Wishing anybody who reads this comment (time knows when ????) excellent immune cells for this pandemic ????????????
#5 explains why I want to fight to the death sometimes for the custodians and housekeepers ( I am a custodial supervisor). I would says that, I feel like I’m in the movie Good Will Hunting. Except that I am not a math whiz, but have some talents and found myself in housekeeping roles for 25 years. So I use my counselor talent where I am now, without a masters degree. Without any degree, just a high school diploma at 56 years old.
Great article! All true for me thanx for the well written description.
I can really relate to not fitting in when I was growing up. And I drew the conclusion that something was wrong with me. Something I still struggle with now in my 40s. Despite that I have really been successful in my life, according to other peoples standards. I got my degree in engineering, and I have held good jobs. But I wasn’t happy, and I always felt out of place. Now I have finally started something I think is right for me. A new path as a teacher and studiyng to become an NLP coach. I am happier now than I have been for many years. And it’s a real comfort to know that there are other people out there that are more like me. Thanks for this article.
Marianne, I’m also an INFP & I did not find my true path until I reached my 40s either. I wish I had learned of the MBTI at an earlier age as it has been the sole self-discovery tool I’ve used to understand (& heal) myself while interacting with other types.
If younger INFPs happen upon this reply, know that life gets easier with age – as our inferior functions develop – and never, ever lose faith in happy endings.
I couldn’t have said this better, and I appreciate that Ms. Storm took the time to put into words the essence of my INFP self. Bravo x