What follows is a brief description of the INFP personality type, including:
• Natural Strengths
• Common Tendencies
• Interaction Styles
• Stressors and Coping Mechanisms.
• Ideal and Corrupt versions of the INFP
•INFP Stack

INFP Basic

Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving. INFPs a quiet, subtle type. They listen and observe, rarely speaking or taking action. They are slow to open up to others, but often long for understanding, validation, and connection (a desire that is rarely fulfilled).

They have a strong respect for individuality, independence, and free will. They firmly believe in every person’s right to privacy. They do not believe in “conformity” or “labels.”

INFPs are dreamers, and they tend to dream big. They are often more comfortable with “ideas” and “possibilities” than reality. Some may be aggressive activists, campaigning for a cause. Others may be mellow artists or philosophers who “respect your opinion” but “don’t really care if you disagree with them.”

This emphasis on “big ideas” can also lead to a “weak awareness” of their surroundings, which they resolve by relying on routines, traditions, and “familiar things” to make it easier for them (keep in mind, these are routines and traditions the INFP has chosen for themselves). INFPs may strive to change the world with their ideas (or art), but they can be very resistant to “changes to their routines.”

INFPs are often stressed by “too many restrictions” and not enough autonomy/independence, repetitive tasks (another form of restriction), and by intense emotions or interruptions. When stressed, they often become more isolated, more critical, and less creative. If the problem persists, they can experience intense emotional swings, become hypersensitive, and struggle to “be around others” or “by themselves.” The solution is often a combination of meditation and simple tasks (like exercises or puzzles), which give them a sense of accomplishment and “self-worth” while also being small, safe, and reliable.

INFP Ideal

INFPs are known for their quiet faith. They believe in “what is right,” but they temper those convictions with a strong sense of tolerance, believing that each person should only judge themselves, and focus on “helping and caring for others.”

They can struggle with “unrealistic expectations,” which (in turn) can make them less likely to remain committed (if reality falls too far from their expectations).

INFP Corrupt

INFPs are known for their vivid imagination, but sometimes they become overly attached to those dreams and fantasies. They reject the real world (finding it too “lacking”), and abandon it (and everyone in it).

The corrupt INFP crafts an imaginary version of the world where everything about them is “superior” (for some reason). They withdraw and isolate themselves (because anything they can’t control might break the illusion of their fantasy world). They passively watch the world with a judgmental indifference, using their creativity to transform prior experiences into justifications (I tried, many times, but others refused to cooperate. I earned the right to retire from the outside world).

If anyone tries to form a relationship with the corrupt INFP (to get close to them), the corrupt INFP will find ways to push them away, either by convincing this person that “You don’t want to get close to me,” or by setting them (seemingly) impossible tasks (and if they succeed, their reward is another, even more challenging task).

Those that do associate with a corrupt INFP will frequently be pressured to “entertain them” or “provide sensory pleasures for them.” Any response of “why don’t you do something for me (for a change)” will likely be met with “if you don’t like it, leave.”

And yet, even as they strive to “drive others away,” those who (somehow) manage to live up to the corrupt INFP’s expectations will receive their loyalty in return. The corrupt INFP will need the other person to somehow “betray them” or “fail to meet their expectations” first (so that they feel justified in betraying them or cutting them off).

INFP Stack

The stack is essentially “what distinguishes one personality type from another.”

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