24 Signs That You’re an ISFP, the “Virtuoso” Personality Type
ISFPs don’t get nearly enough attention in the Myers-Briggs® community. While a lot of the attention goes to the rare intuitive types, ISFPs seemed to have mysteriously slipped through the cracks. Yet these types seem to bridge the gap between being idealistic and realistic, dreamers and doers, friendly but quiet. To get a deeper look at this type, let’s take a look at 24 things you’ll relate to if you are an ISFP.
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24 Signs That You Are an ISFP
#1 – You’re Extremely Down to Earth
You take life as it comes and, according to typologists Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger, “are the most unassuming and down-to-earth of all types.” (p. 49, The Art of Speed-Reading People). You are very aware of the facts of life, and the reality of what is happening around you. Not much can rattle you because you tend to have a very grounded outlook.
#2 – You Show Your Affection Through Actions More Than Words
You’re typically not someone to verbalize a bunch of effusive praises to the people you love. Rather than whispering sweet nothings, you’re more likely to shovel someone’s snow or make them a mixtape. Your feelings, although deep, are very private and internally felt. You tend to show your affection and love through acts of service and helpful gestures more than words of admiration.
#3 – You Are Deeply Affected by the Pain or Misfortune of Others
Although you may seem mysterious and even stoic on the outside, you are deeply feeling on the inside. You are tremendously affected by the pain, unhappiness, or trauma of others. You instantly imagine how it must feel to be in their shoes. This empathy tends to grow as you age and mature. You might find yourself feeling intensely troubled, sensing a deep pain in your heart and a lump in your throat as you hear about the afflictions that others have experienced.
#4 – You Take a While to Get to Know
You’re not someone who immediately wears your heart on your sleeve. You need to know that you can trust someone before you share your true feelings, your pain, or your tough experiences in life. Highly effusive, expressive people can be overwhelming to you and if they ask for a lot of details about your life it can make you feel anxious or even suspicious.
#5 – You Quickly Notice What Other People Need
Because you are so observant and attentive to details, you are quick to notice when the people around you seem worried, stressed, cold, or uncomfortable in any way. You’re probably one of the first to offer a warm blanket to someone who is cold, or the first to go snuggle a pet that seems lonely or anxious for friendship.
#6 – You Try to Hold Space for People’s Unique Differences
It’s crucial to you to be open-minded to the experiences and worldviews of others. While you hold strictly to your own beliefs, you also realize that everyone else is shaped by their unique life experiences. You tend to be quietly accepting of others unless they are sharing beliefs that are condescending or harsh to your personal values.
#7 – Managing Long-Range Projects Leaves You Overwhelmed
Because you’re more focused on the present than the future, it can be challenging for you to imagine how things are likely to play out. Projects that take a lot of focused, methodical attention and have a distant payout tend to be frustrating to you. You like to get quick results and see an immediate result from what you are putting your energy into now.
#8 – You Are Suspicious of Sugarcoating and Overly-Effusive Behavior
Some people believe that feeling types want all their words wrapped up in words of praise, affirmation, or compliments. For ISFPs, this can actually be off-putting. These types like people who are straightforward and real with them. Authenticity and direct honesty are more important to them than cloying, sentimental words.
#9 – You Have a Lot of Aesthetic Sense
You notice the world around you in high-definition detail. Details stand out. Blue isn’t just blue, it’s Sapphire or Egyptian Blue or Azure. You notice what colors complement each other and enjoy perusing art museums or looking at different fashions to see which style best resembles you as an individual. To you, colors, designs, clothing – all of it can exemplify a part of your unique personality in a way that words just can’t define.
#10 – You Crave Creative Freedom
You enjoy toying with creative supplies and materials to come up with something completely unique. You enjoy careers that allow you to be creative, whether that’s through photography, marketing, cooking, hairstyling, performing, or many other avenues.
#11 – You Hate Being Rushed
You weigh decisions for longer than most people, trying to understand the significance or value of each option in-depth. When people pressure you to make up your mind quickly, you feel irritable and resentful.
#12 – You Empathize with the Underdog
You are particularly drawn to oddballs, misfits, and misunderstood or marginalized people. Because of your individualistic nature, you appreciate people who march to the beat of their own drum.
#13 – You’re a Closeted Adrenaline Junkie
Sure, you enjoy binge-watching Netflix and laboring over a creative project. But there’s also a side of you that is hungry for physical intensity and thrilling action. Whether you’re rock climbing, dancing, or speeding past a slow driver – you enjoy pushing yourself physically and getting a rush of independence and freedom as a result.
#14 – You Help People See Options
You have an eye for opportunities in the present moment, and you help people find resources and alternatives they may not have considered previously. You tend to stay calm in a crisis and help people find creative ways out of difficult situations.
#15 – You’re Drawn to the Mysterious
You enjoy spending time alone and imagining how the future could unfold. Conceptualizing new ways of seeing things can be very stimulating and energizing for you. At the same time, you tend to distrust yourself when it comes to guessing how something will happen in the distant future. When you’re being creative your intuition really does shine! You enjoy doing creative projects where you can draw attention to mysterious or symbolic meanings.
#16 – You Hate Rigid Rules and Structures
You like being flexible and adapting to the needs of the moment rather than being stuck with guidelines that tie you down. You feel like life is unpredictable, and as a result, it’s better to be able to go with the flow rather than check-in with your schedule to make sure everything is running according to a strict plan.
#17 – You Dislike Giving Negative Feedback
Critiquing people is something that tends to send shivers up your spine. You like to create an atmosphere of openness and quiet warmth, not an atmosphere of defensiveness and shame. Because of this, you tend to put off giving criticism or give it as gently as humanly possible.
#18 – You Think Better When You’re Surrounded by Beauty
Sitting in a stale cubicle is probably one of the worst ways for you to hand in your best work. Your creativity and focus blossom when you are surrounded by lush colors or ethereal landscapes. You often work well outdoors, in the wilderness, or in an area that you’ve made your own with beautiful details that inspire you.
#19 – You Crave Independence
Nothing fills you with more joy than venturing out on your own to do something meaningful. Stepping onto an airplane, roaming around in your car, or taking a risk on a career that aligns with your values (even if it dismays your more traditional parents) fills you with a sense of purpose and peace. You don’t like being tied down to someone else’s dreams, rules, or demands.
#20 – You Enjoy Binge-Watching Netflix When You’re Stressed
Okay, a lot of people do this, but your type especially enjoys television as a stress-reliever (according to the MBTI® Manual). When you’ve had a bad day, you enjoy piling up some comfy pillows and blankets, gathering your favorite snacks, and having a marathon of your favorite shows.
#21 – Speaking of Stress, You Become More Critical When You’re Burned Out
Normally gentle and tolerant, when you’re severely stressed, your personality can change unexpectedly. You might blurt out sarcastic or critical comments at people who are bothering you or get caught up in rage-fueled fantasies. Often you feel like everyone else is being lazy, inefficient, or incompetent. You can find out more about your stress reaction here.
#22 – Schedules Feel Confining
For you, bedtime is “when you’re tired,” and mealtime is “when you’re hungry.” You follow your instincts as you go through your day rather than structuring everything out. Family rituals where you have to rush through plans and schedules with a lot of other people tend to exhaust you.
#23 – You Don’t Want to Control Others
You hate the idea of invading anyone’s space – whether it be a human or an animal. Your “live and let live” mentality makes you a go-to friend for people who need space and freedom. You believe that every entity on this planet deserves personal freedom, respect, and a sense that their life is their own road to trailblaze.
#24 – Later in Life You Find More Satisfaction in Order
If you’re in your 50s or 60s, you’ve probably reached a point where you can organize your tasks and projects more easily. It’s easy for you to lay out reasonable explanations for things and you can argue your points with veracity. When you were younger, this was much more difficult for you.
Other Articles You Might Enjoy:
What It Means to be an ISFP Personality Type
10 Things That Excite the ISFP Personality Type
The Unique Intelligence of ESTPs, ESFPs, ISTPs, and ISFPs
What Are Your Thoughts?
Do you relate to these ISFP characteristics? Do you have any insights to add? 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!
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# 3
Sorry, but this is a little too idealistic vision of the introverted feeling …
The majority of the Black Lives Matter demonstrators are F and probably also Fi. So if this is so true, why not demonstrate for the 90% of Whites killed by Blacks in the USA in 2018 (Black-White interracial violence). From the Department of Justice. Or even Tony Timpa this White guy killed in the same conditions?
Correction: “attacked” not necessarily “killed”
What the hell are you even talking about???? How does that have ANYTHING to do with this article?
Hi there! Just got through reading this post. I’m an ISFP and as I read each characteristic, I thought, Yes, yes, yes. As for number 20, though, I don’t have Netflix. But I do mini-binge watch favorite TV shows on my little portable DVD player (would that count?). That is, if I can stay awake long enough to watch anything. A bit difficult to do as I get older (I’m in my early 50s). If I make it through an entire movie without dozing off, that’s a small victory for me.
One question, though. I find myself getting more snippy and wanting to push back more when some friends or other people rush me, particularly wanting/demanding an immediate response. I also have a plan-happy friend who tends to work my last nerve when she talks about planning for the future when I have no idea what it will be like. I simply don’t know. I’d rather concentrate on now. The present. When I was younger I would stew and not say anything, but now that I’m in my fifth decade of life and finding my voice, I find myself wanting to fight back. Does this happen when an ISFP gets older or is it just me? Anyhow, love the post. Nearly everything rang true for me.
@Caracal – I’m not sure I understand your point. #3 is about having empathy, not who’s willing to join a socio-economic movement. Black Lives Matter is meant to end oppression against minorities. Mentioning ‘white demonstrations’ in that conversation sullies the purpose of the movement and lacks humility. I see the correlation you’re trying to make but your comment has nothing to do with this particular MBTI article.
@PsyJ.
I’m an ISTP, and I definitely resonate with some of these quirks! This was an interesting read, as I have a very close friend who is an ISFP.
Hi Susan and Stella!
Reading this post was like looking in a mental mirror; an amazing and weird (good weird!) sensation.
I’m not a psychologist, and I didn’t know I was an ISFP until very recently. So I’ve been reading about my personality type, as well as the personality types of the very few people I care the most about, to understand myself (and them) better, and be better to both myself and them. So thank you very much for all this, Susan.
Even more surprising now, because it came from outside the psychology books guidelines, was reading Stella’s comment.
Wow… there’s another good-weird and also comforting thing there…
Stella, I hope you will read my reply some day… Because reading your comment was like reading something written by myself, but with more life experience. And it’s so nice for me!
I can “see” you reacting (maybe better than before? I don’t know… I’m not the psychologist) in my view more wisely, more openly, and showing your true colors…
For me, there have been many times when I would have loved to yell out loud “I don’t want to waste tine planning or participating in your perfectly structured plans with you!” …hahaaa!! But I don’t do it… because I think I may hurt the other person’s feelings.
Maybe this happened a lot to you too… Until you got tired…!
I’d love to reach that point soon! hahahah! Well, if I’m saying this, maybe I’m about to, anyway!
I do think that watching your favorite shows in your portable player counts, and maybe even more than watching Neflix! It’s totally valid if you just have your tastes refined, and trending shows or movies just don’t fit with the experience you want to have while deliberately wasting time looking at the screen. And maybe you also don’t like being told what to watch, or to watch those “latest tendencies”… You want to follow your own choices and interests.
Nobody else replied this until now, but I think that saying “Netflix” is just a metonymy, and it refers to the fact that ISFPs like to get in their perfectly warm-comfy-cozy ambient, and engage in a totally inactive-activity to give their minds some rest from “reality”, get lost in something really interesting or mind-stimulating for them, and also get some inspiration; And only you can know better than anyone else (certainly better than Netflix) what it is that gives you that, and where to find it.
Well… I need to repeat this: I’m amazed. The way you think, and even more, the way that you express yourself… A mental mirror!
Thank you for being an instant master for me! Showing me that this is just the way we are, and that age doesn’t count (in the sense of being who we are, but of course it counts for having more experience to manage better our own ways) because who we are is engraved in our inner fabric, and we don’t need to work against it, but along with it.
After reading all of this (Susan’s articles and your comment, Stella) I have more hope in myself, and feel that I’m not damaged or just through a -seemingly endless- phase; I’m just like this, and I don’t have to feel bad about it, and I can even say when I want or don’t want pushy people around telling me that I need to make things differently, or elaborate some plans and stop being so… me!
I’m amazed by these personality and behavioral links… There’s not much people with whom I could feel so instantly reflected and identified…
Thanks for everything, Susan and Stella, specially for reading, if you did. Maybe we can make a book out of this biblical-length comment… haha!
Saludos!
@Elena first, did you realize you posted your comment on August 20, 2020 at 12:22 pm? lots of repeating numbers lol.
anyways, your first paragraph beautifully put into words exactly what i felt while reading this and wanted to say myself, but had been struggling to do so!!
Hi there 🙂 I haven’t started reading the article yet but I just wanted to quickly point out that the ISTP is actually the Virtuoso type and the ISFP is the Adventurer type
Hi! That’s how 16 Personalities defines them, but I’m not affiliated with 16 personalities (they are a mixture of Jungian and Big 5 typology systems put together). I’m a Myers-Briggs practitioner and have given my own nicknames to 16 types based on my understanding of them.
Hi there, I am so relating to being an ISFP and reading and learning about personality types is so fasinating. I kind of regret that it has taking me so long to get to know myself. I think this quote said by by Benjamin Franklin holds true. ” Life’s biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late”. Have wonderful day!
This is shockingly accurate in almost every way. I’m also a Scorpio & while they often get a bad reputation, the similarities between my personality type & star sign seem undeniably accurate. I’m amazed at how accurate this test is.
Thank you ….. I have never read a more accurate description of myself and the inner things I do/think without even thinking about them! This was a true comfort for me to know there are others like me out there…..sending love and gratefulness your way.
Isfp I am according to the test, and I’ll have to agree it’s right on..
This is soooo me that it’s actually kind of scary!!! 😄 The “closet adrenaline junkie” thing made me laugh because I’m a serious roller coaster freak! I took the “emmegram”(?) test but it didn’t really describe me. This one totally pegged me. I’m looking forward to exploring this more…and I love that Prince and David Bowie are this type too. The are among my favorite artists! 🥰🥰🥰
Very confused. Told I am ISFP Virtuoso yet a comment sent in said a Virtuoso is an Adventurer. So which am I?
It’s me to a T, thank you excellent article.
Can you comment on some adding in their star signs to this in their comments , as I don’t believe there’s a connection, I believe this is more based on science and astrology is pseudo, I hesitate to use the word science with astrology at all I think it may confuse some who believe in it , to me it’s not much different to superstition or religious beliefs!
Does it have to be Netflix? TV gives me anxiety. But I absolutely snuggle up with a comfy blanket, make snacks, and binge read books…..
Thank you for this ISFP analysis which is generally very accurate about my true nature. I wish I’d known about Myers Briggs earlier in my life, because I think I’d have been happier.
Always so puzzled by my own personality, I once was an artist, but necessarily subjugated that talent into becoming a poet, inspirationally painting pictures and sculpting experiences with my words … because although introverted, I’m also very verbally astute, noticing the smallest details … but am aware that in the end ‘actions speak louder than words’.
Now, for the first time in my life I’m in touch with my own true self, and will shortly be setting out on a for me epic adventure, all for the sake of love.
I’m throwing caution to the wind! Wish me joy and luck.
So helpful and encouraging…The descriptions I find here are the most accurate. I’ve had a rough past few years, trying to balance my values with my need for peace in a life that moves so fast. Feeling misunderstood is such a difficulty for the ISFP who tries so hard to understand others. I find that it helps me tremendously to turn off the phone and stop dwelling on how confusing I am to others…I want to be a blessing, but I am able to do that best when I relax into who I am and focus in what I love.
Thanks so much
This is my type and I relate to all but 1 of these. I don’t much like watching movies unless I’m super stressed, and then only a few. That makes sense though because I’m blind and much prefer reading 24/7
Finding out I was an ISFP was exciting since I learnt more on it and found it relatable. But after a test between the mistypes of ISFJ and ISFP, my result was an ISFJ. Now I’m conflicted, not wanting to part from ISFP but also relating now to ISFJ. Welp!!! TT_TT
This is interesting to me, especially as I heal from decades of trauma. I can see where my natural personality has become more visible. I would be interested to hear about how chronic illness (such as losing mobility) can affect the ISFP. For me the lack of independence and the lack of ability to do physical activities has been a major adjustment.
Maybe even some insight as to how people cope with anything that gets in the way of their natural abilities/personalities. An introvert forced into social situations. A creative personality forced to follow exact instructions. An ISFP unable to be independent and mobile.
This is the weirdest thing i have ever read. It is so true it is funny. I can’t understand how this could be so accurate. As I was reading it, my jaw dropped. Now I want to know what is my next move?