Here’s What it’s Like to be Inside the Mind of an INFP, INTP, ENFP or ENTP
Have you ever wanted to get inside the head of one of your friends or family members? Have you been looking for ways to clarify your type or the type of someone you care about? This article is all about exploring the key characteristics of the four NP personality types. INTPs, INFPs, ENTPs and ENFPs all view the world through a perceiving process called Extraverted Intuition, or “Ne” for short. These types enjoy extrapolating, brainstorming, asking “What if?” questions, and seeing hidden connections in the outside world. They are drawn to the abstract more than the concrete and tend to be seen as imaginative, creative, and skeptical by people who love them.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at the four Extraverted Intuitive personality types in the Myers-Briggs® system.
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Here’s What It’s like to be inside the Mind of an INFP, INTP, ENFP or ENTP
The INFP
Original and imaginative, you are someone who is constantly questioning what’s right, true, and important for you. You have a deeply-held set of personal values and you believe in figuring out what’s right from the inside rather than the outside. You try to remain unaffected by establishments, social norms, and traditions because you tend to be skeptical of people who enforce their agendas and morals as “the only true way”. You believe in individuality and personal liberty and you tend to challenge rules that conflict with your ideas of justice and freedom. Offbeat, misunderstood people attract you and you enjoy connecting one-on-one rather than in large groups. You feel like in private, deep conversation you can get to know others in a more finely-tuned, holistic way. When it comes to the world around you, you often see possibilities that others do not. You see the world as a web of connections, each moment relating to another moment and each relationship impacting another. You enjoy brainstorming, extrapolating, and imagining how things can be improved and transformed. You see connections and relationships between things and can have a hard time settling on one option because you naturally create multiple options from the one.
Other Key Features:
- You seek inner harmony and a life that is authentic.
- You tend to be easy-going and tolerant unless one of your core values is mocked or violated.
- You tend to be mysterious, showing only certain parts of yourself to the outside world.
- You have a strong sense of what is right and wrong.
- You arrange your personal space in a way that makes you feel calm and inspired.
- You tend to be individualistic and think about what feels right to you.
- You question the way things have always been done.
- You are driven by inspiration and work in random “bursts” of energy rather than in a sustained, methodical way most of the time.
Read This Next: 3 Weird and Wonderful Secrets of the INFP Personality Type
The INTP
You have a very deep, probing way of thinking and analyzing the world around you. Each time you explore a concept you go through cycles of analysis, each time zeroe-ing in on a thought process and looking for the most refined, accurate answer. You are a truth-seeker who believes in fairness and understanding. You want to know how everything works and how each concept is connected to another. Consequences matter to you and you’re always thinking through the logical cause-and-effect of each action you undertakes. It bothers you when people make decisions without looking at all the logical consequences of their decisions. Your interests tend to be intellectual and you enjoy a logical debate, even if it means that sometimes you’re proven wrong. Refining your understanding is always more important than “winning”. When you look at the world around you there seem to be hidden connections and possibilities everywhere. You like to change things, transform them, question them, debate them. One of your biggest fears is getting to the end of your life and realizing the decisions you made kept you trapped and limited or your thinking was false.
Other Key Features:
- You tend to use precise, carefully-formulated language
- You are not usually outwardly emotional
- You care more about inner control than outer control
- You tend to see the underlying frameworks of assumptions that people make.
- You have a knack for thinking outside-the-box
- You work in “bursts” of inspiration rather than in steady, methodical movements.
- You are often skeptical and questioning
- You are more interested in the abstract than the concrete
Read This Next: The Childhood Struggles of INTPs
The ENFP
As an ENFP you look at what’s around you and extrapolate endless possibilities from it. You like to keep your options open, explore abstract concepts, and envision all the ways things could progress in the future. You like creating options more than narrowing them down and this makes you good at brainstorming and creative envisioning. In everything you do you try to see the connections, the global picture, and possibilities that other people are missing. When it comes to decisions, you focus on what aligns with your personal values. You believe in honoring individual freedoms and independence and hate the idea of anyone having to comply with meaningless social rules or expectations. You seek inner harmony and you evaluate the dark and light side of the moral sphere, trying to hone in on what you truly believe.
Other Key Features:
- You tend to focus on the individual more than the collective
- You are sensitive to the inner lives of other people
- In speech you are typically random and non-linear
- Repetition bores you. You try to find new ways to do old tasks.
- Spontaneity and novelty excites you.
- Inspiration is what drives you and you like to mix work with play.
- You are focused on “connecting the dots”
Read This Next: 3 Weird and Wonderful Secrets About the ENFP Personality Type
The ENTP
As an ENTP you are always exploring potential and possibility. Everything around you is a starting point for endless ideas and transformations. You want to understand how everything works, what it all means, and you tend to have a global outlook on life. Creative, rebellious, and usually enthusiastic, you like to change things up and question pre-established rules and traditions. You look for patterns and inaccuracies and question regulations and beliefs based on how logically sound they are. In your head it can feel like there’s a voice constantly asking you, “What can be done with this?”, “How can we change this?”. You tend to spin off ideas in a spontaneous way, building more and more connections as you go. At the same time you sift through the ideas, looking for what makes the most sense to you and is the most logical. Your mind feels like a collection of connections and categories and you’re always looking for the relationships between data that you bring in.
Other Key Features:
- You are more concerned with what’s true than what’s “Nice”
- You love learning how things work.
- You’re selective about which laws and rules you follow and tend to be skeptical of them.
- Inspiration drives you and you like to mix up your work with play.
- You tend to speak in bursts of energy, randomly bringing up points and then connecting them at the end.
- You question the way things have always been done.
- You are good at troubleshooting and thinking outside-the-box.
Read This Next: 10 Things You Should Never Say to an ENTP
What Are Your Thoughts?
Did you enjoy this article? Do you have any thoughts to add? Let us know in the comments!
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This article is so well written and totally nails me as an ENFP-T. I receive great insight from it which helps me understand myself better (also part of being an ENFP-T). Thanks for writing this! The more we understand ourselves, the better we can communicate with others and tap into our own strengths.
I love this stuff. Please keep sending it. The ENTP describes me to the T. There was a time though, when I would have thought I was an INTP. I’ve familiar with a similar tool called CORE profile, which says I’m primary Adaptable. Does Myers Briggs offer any insight as to adaptability, because there are times I feel like I could be an INTP.
Yeah, I feel the same. I like talking to people, but I don’t feel as though i’m “charming” and I definitely avoid conflict most of the time. Supposedly, though, doubting that you’re an ENTP is one of ENTP’s key traits.
Even if you feel like different personality types suits you better each day?