Here’s What It’s Like Inside the Mind of an ISFP, ISTP, ESFP or ESTP
Are you someone who craves adventure and looks for new experiences and opportunities at every turn? Do you consider yourself realistic and pragmatic but also drawn towards excitement and novelty? If so you might be an Adventurer, or SP, personality type. People with a preference for sensing and perceiving like to stay open to new possibilities in the world around them. They are usually attentive, realistic, and resourceful. Like the spy who is always aware of his or her surroundings, sensing-perceivers are hard to sneak past or trick. Their pragmatism, charm, and thirst for excitement makes them very magnetic personality types.
What do these types have in common? The cognitive function Extraverted Sensing, or “Se” for short. All Sensing-Perceivers view the world through this lens; they see what is, what they can do with it, and look for details and opportunities. We’re going to be diving into this function as well as other characteristics of these personality types to give you a deeper look at how they think!
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Here’s What It’s Like to be inside the Mind of an ISFP, ISTP, ESFP or ESTP
The ISFP
As an ISFP you want to create a life that gives you a sense of inner harmony and serenity. You want to break free from meaningless social rituals and traditions to pave your own way in the world. This thirst for freedom and individuality makes you question things that others take for granted, particularly rules. You don’t want anyone telling you who you are, what you are, or what you should believe in – you need to figure this out for yourself through inner reflection, thought, and life experience. While others might find you mysterious and hard-to-read at first glance, you are deeply caring and devoted once they get to know you. You want to make a difference in the world for the underdogs, the downtrodden, or the misunderstood. Whether that means driving an ambulance, working at an animal shelter, or creating a piece of art, everything you do stems from an inner sense of purpose or creative self-expression. But you’re not all dreams and lofty ideals. You’re also highly realistic and in touch with the natural world around you. You don’t want to get so caught up in fantasies or theories that you lose touch with what’s real. You enjoy being in nature, keeping yourself down-to-earth, and having a head full of sensible solutions to real-world issues.
Other Key Features:
- You are emotionally supportive and empathetic.
- You have a strong instinct about the authenticity levels of others.
- You are skilled at helping in an emotional crisis.
- You can think and respond quickly in real-world crisis scenarios.
- You are usually gentle and sincere.
- You can sense when others are in internal distress.
- You are highly aware of the details of your environment.
Read This Next: 10 Things that Excite the ISFP Personality Type
The ISTP
Knowing how everything in the world works and is interconnected is vitally important to you. You probably got in trouble as a child for taking things apart without asking. From Barbie dolls to transistor radios to car engines, you like knowing how everything is pieced together and works as a whole. Sometimes this shows up in your reading material – you enjoy collecting facts about the world around you and forming your own conclusions based around those facts. The more information you have the more you can organize your inner world and make sense of any situation that presents itself. You have a gift for thinking outside the box and seeing flaws in the traditional, conventional ways of doing things. Sometimes your independent logic is heralded as innovative and transformative, at other times people distrust it because your conclusions are unpopular. But to you truth is always more important than prestige or popularity. Playing devil’s advocate, troubleshooting, and creating an organized mental map of how the world works are all things that come as naturally to you as breathing.
Other Key Features:
- You seek internal precision and order.
- You easily understand systems and their logical relationships.
- You are intensely realistic and pragmatic.
- You have a very reliable visual perception of what’s happening around you.
- You are very observant and detail-oriented.
- You think quickly in make-or-break crisis situations.
- You prefer to live for today rather than speculate about the distant future
Read This Next: 5 Reasons Why You’ll Need an ISTP During a Zombie Apocalypse
The ESFP
Energetic, fun-loving, and daring, you have an endless thirst for adventure and a hunger for joy. You are always scanning your environment for ways to maximize the enjoyment of the moment or find a quick, practical solution to a problem. Your quick reflexes, attentiveness, and pragmatic frame of mind make you impressive in crisis situations where your ability to instantly find solutions is admired. You can rapidly size up a situation and figure out what is needed, blending into almost any culture, environment, or situation in order to make the most of it. You seek to fully absorb every pleasure that the world has to offer – every breeze, every sunset, each note in a song playing on the radio. You notice beauty and opportunity all around you and sometimes it feels like everyone else is walking around with blinders on. You want to become one with the world around you, expressing yourself authentically in the moment without pretense or apprehension. It’s not enough to just experience the world for yourself, though. You want to bring joy and fun to the struggling people in the world. You have a deep sense of empathy and compassion for those who are disadvantaged, hurt, or forgotten.
Other Key Features:
- You quickly notice all the details around you.
- You prize being down-to-earth, pragmatic, and realistic.
- You enjoy living for today rather than speculating about what could happen in the distant future.
- You tend to speak in literal, sensory, concrete language with vivid illustrations. You know how to tailor your words to the audience around you for maximum impact.
- You are individualistic and believe in individual freedoms for all.
- You do not tolerate violations of your core values, but are otherwise easy-going.
Read This Next: 10 Things You’ll Relate to if You’re an ESFP
The ESTP
Energetic, logical, and pragmatic, you are the one people turn to when they’re stuck in a crisis. Your ability to troubleshoot quickly and calmly makes you a trusted source of help when others are feeling panicky. You look at the world around you objectively, seeing exactly what is there and how it can be used to your best advantage. This gives you an ability to be resourceful and find solutions in even the most dire circumstances. Life for you is about acting on the impulse of the moment in the smartest way possible. It’s about enjoyment and thrill and smart risks. You want to engage with the world around you as much as possible – you want to ride on every wave, touch every new texture, and experience your environment in a raw, unaltered way. The more interactive you are with your environment, the more energized you become. You can nearly instantly adjust yourself to the world around you because of how attentive you are. You trust your instincts, your perceptions, and your ability to respond to whatever life hurls your way. Nothing seems to phase you or surprise you as a result. You’re not all about action, though. You are also highly logical and analytical. You love absorbing facts and learning how the world works. You understand systems quickly and are skilled at finding new ways to look at a situation that other people might not have noticed. You can incorporate all kinds of logically connected data into one knowledgeable decision at the spur-of-the-moment if necessary.
Other Key Features:
- You use literal, concrete, sensory language filled with vivid illustrations. You know how to tailor your language so that the attention of the people around you will be maintained.
- You quickly pick up on logical inconsistencies in beliefs and rules.
- You can cut through denial quickly and point out cold, hard truths.
- You are highly realistic and in touch with the world around you.
- Evaluating and planning an organizational flow or process comes easily to you.
- You tend to have faster reflexes than the average person.
- You hate inefficiency and will quickly take charge of situations where people don’t seem to know what to do.
Read This Next: 10 Things You’ll Relate to if You’re an ESTP
What Are Your Thoughts?
Did you enjoy this article? Do you have any thoughts or insights to add? Let us know in the comments!
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