INFP

(Why I am the way I am... :-)

Forced to cope with this facts-and-figures 'real' world we inhabit, INFPs may appear to have been imported from another galaxy!

(from Brett Blatchley's web site - see below)

The late Joe Hendrzak, a college friend of mine, once told me the story of an ROTC cadet officer whose career army evaluator once wrote that the only reason soldiers would follow this officer into combat would be sheer curiosity.

For those of you who have been involved in my life and various projects and who probably feel much the same way as that evaluator, I can only offer this brief apology as to why I am the way I am.

The Myers-Briggs indicator is a personality profiler (based on Jung's personality theory) which helps people determine which of the 16 personality types they fall into. Any single one of the  sixteen types is not good and bad in itself, although it certainly can be good or bad in certain situations and in interaction with certain of the other types.

Not all types are equally represented in the population and those who know me well will no doubt breath a somewhat guilty sigh of relief to know that my type is represented by only one out of every hundred people or so.

I have never taken the official Myers Briggs test, but I have taken a similar indicator (Keirsey) which generally shows me as an INFP (though I can also test out as an INFJ or INFX on occasion - the 'X' indicating a tie between the 'J' and the 'P' character.

At any rate, click on these links and a lot of confusing things about myself will become much clearer. (For those who know me, please don't hold it against other INFPs - I'm sure I've added certain flourishes to the profile that are all my own :-)

I will close this page with a warning to all INFPs (especially me :-)

The problem for some INFPs is that they may feel such a contrast between their ideals and their actual accomplishments that they burden themselves with a sense of inadequacy. This can happen even when, objectively, they are being as effective as others. It is important for them to use their intuition to find ways to express their ideals; otherwise they will keep dreaming of the impossible and accomplish very little. If they find no channel for expressing their ideals, INFPs may become overly sensitive and vulnerable, with dwindling confidence in life and in themselves

Text taken from "Introduction to Type: A Description of the Theory and Applications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.) as cited on Cindy's INFP page.

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