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In this episode, Joel and Antonia dive deep into the needs and desires of the ISFP personality type.
In this podcast on the ISFP personality type you’ll find:
- ISFP – Authenticity/Sensation in the Genius system
- Highest quality responses on the ISFP survey
- Car Model – Cognitive Function stack which influences your personality more than anything else.
- The driver process is Introverted Feeling (Fi), which we have nicknamed “Authenticity.”
- Fi puts ISFPs in flow.
- It is a decision making process, so it determines how ISFPs makes decisions.
- “What feels right to me as a person?” “What resonates with me at the core of my being?”
- Fi is all about internal feelings – being in touch with how experiences impact you on a subjective level.
- Anyone who leads with Fi can see a wide spectrum of everything that makes up who they are, even the dark parts.
- Fi can become very interested in this process of ethics and how we should be treating each other.
- ISFPs in the survey reported they struggle with self expression. They struggle to express the stuff that is beyond language. The stuff that is pure feeling and can’t just be expressed.
- The co-pilot is Extraverted Sensing (Se), which we have nicknamed “Sensation.”
- Sensation is about Real time information. What is coming at you in the moment using all your senses. Kinesthetic. Within body. Grounded.
- Fi married to Se creates amazing art – self expression in physically tangible ways.
- “Do you feel on some level you are an artist?” Most ISFPs say yes.
- The world loves art, but doesn’t love an artist. ISFPs experience something similar to Intuitives – the idealization of them is a lot more acceptable than the reality of them.
- ISFPs are not here to do the efficient thing. They aren’t here to build systems everybody benefits from. They are here to create and replicate emotional experiences that we cannot access any other way than through art. And that is not efficient. So ISFPs can feel very marginalized because their art is not appreciated.
- ISFPs 10-year-old process is Introverted Intuition (Ni), which we have nicknamed “Perspectives.”
- If an ISFP has felt censure from the world because of their need to express themselves freely they will bypass their copilot and go to the 10 year old.
- Fi-Ni loop. Dangerous terrain.
- If you only spend time inside of yourself you can get to a level of idealization that cannot play out in the outside world.
- So the outside world becomes hostile and the ISFP becomes a martyr.
- This sense of victimization means every time they attempt to do something in the outside world they bring with them all this idealization. It has to be a certain way. It has to be perfect. The outside world has to match what they are imagining inside themselves. Which is unrealistic.
- The struggle of wanting to have other people understand what you are feeling and never attaining that is the foundation of art. To struggle again and again to create that expression can create great art.
- But if an ISFP is too crushed by the world they hide away from the world and create more insecurity.
- The 3-year-old process is Extraverted Thinking (Te), which we have nicknamed “Effectiveness.”
- Effectiveness is all about getting things done and making things happen in the outside world. We live in a culture that honors Te.
- For ISFPs this is a blind spot. Which is a struggle in a world that honors Te.
- Te systems remove the human component. A one size fits all approach.
- But ISFPs find that offensive. They don’t’ like depersonalized systems. They want the individual honored.
- Automated systems can frustrate ISFPs.
- All of us have a tendency to skip the copilot and go to the 10 yr old. If an ISFP paints an idealized perspective of how the world should be and it doesn’t play out in the outside world they can start to retreat even more. They can become more inward focused and double down on the idealized projection of how the world should be.
- It interrupts relationships with other people. Any time we project out an idealization of how we want the world to be that is not possible everything is going to fall short and we will always be dissatisfied.
- The antidote is making sure the ISFP spends time in their copilot. It grounds them.
- Idealism is not the problem. It’s how the idealism is constructed. Create idealism by checking in with reality and pursuing sensation. Then see how other people’s ideals are different.
- Let the outside world inform your idealism in order to gain competence and self worth and bring value to the world.
- ISFPs that are on target for a realistic ideal are unstoppable. They will do everything necessary to get to their end game. They make up for their Te blind spot by going after what they want with single minded determination.
- ISFPs have the ability to help other people replicate emotions. It is their super power!
- Most of us don’t have access to our emotions on that level. We can get lost in emotional overload. But art can help us process that emotion.
- ISFPs need to ask themselves what art they bring to the world.
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30 comments
Wow. Just listened to this episode and as a male ISFP I totally agree with everything you go into detail on. Friends and family have always pointed out my eye for art and ability to express myself with great passion. I am a little speechless honestly because I have been a photographer for several years. I thought it was just a “thing” that I was getting into, but I have found out that I actually NEED photography. I really felt, when you were talking, a re-installment (if you will) of desire for taking photos.
I have recently taken a business adventure with the transportation brokerage world. A couple has taken me under their wings and I’ve really attached myself to their vision, because I do really believe it. But I am realizing that I have been sitting in my 3 year old self in this business, thus I haven’t done much of anything, it’s crazy how my creative process is so needed for me. And its something I want to do but just have given it the back seat. Is that a pretty accurate solution for a stagnant non-emotional influenced business, to bring in photography and allow the outside to influence my inner world?
Thanks for your input and wisdom on us ISFP’s!
You are right Ilona, there is some need for flexibility when interpreting the types. However, it is also possible you are mistyping yourself. They physical clumsiness, the thinking beneath the surface, and the clear simple language lead me to believe you might be INFJ.
Authenticity users usually use more poetic language. And when you were analyzing Disney, you were shifting perspectives. Also, INFJs have Sensation inferior which creates some physical clumsiness at times, and can make physical routines like dance difficult to grasp.
Check out our resource page for INFJs. Approach it with an open mind. Sometimes we can get so attached to what we want to be we neglect to see other possibilities.
http://www.personalityhacker.com/resources-infj/
Thanks for the comment Natalie! I agree with Ilona, I’m sure you bring some artistic expression to your job. As to this being the only strength mentioned in the podcast, Joel did say that ISFPs super power was their ability to replicate emotions. I think that would be an awesome skill for a nurse! And honoring the needs of the individual over the system would make you an excellent patient advocate.
Don’t get hung up over the artist thing. I’m fairly certain my father in law (an ISFP) would deny being an artist. But he has been a residential painter for decades and he does it the old fashioned way – no paint sprayer. He’s good at what he does and his paint jobs last longer than the ones that have been sprayed on.
We get a lot of comments here, on Facebook and through various email and messaging channels. Not answering a comment isn’t a sign that the person is being snubbed because they’re a Sensor.
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I wanted to comment on this podcast. I always come out as infp in dichotomies tests and also on your test. I think it’s because my Intuition is high. Even my husband sees me more as an infp. I am quite certain I use Fi first and Te last, but not sure about the rest, the sandwich fillings like Antionia said. People online seem to suggest isfp because of my apparent clear language (not metaphorical or poetic) and the fact that I can describe sensations and sights a lot, thus why I am here.
I feel I usually take the world as it is, through my senses. For instance, while in Disney, I would notice the sights, smells and sounds. But I am really into reflecting about what’s beneath the surface. Taking again Disney as an example, I was one day reflecting about Walt’s vision of what he wanted this to be, he was idealistic and had such wonderful ideas, even when people thought they were unrealistic. I thought it was unfortunate that a lot didn’t come to be and I was wondering what he would think about what Disney is like now, probably a lot more materialistic and capitalistic than he envisioned. Or those were my thoughts.
I like to think about society, cultures, spirituality and religion, human psychology, determinism, ethics, environmental issues, futurology and so on. I feel slightly as an odd ball when it comes to general isfp descriptions which tend to be a lot more… Concrete?
But in a concrete fashion, I don’t like poetry and I sometimes don’t get metaphors, my language tends to be clear and simple… I prefer to use similes if I am trying to make someone understand me on a deeper level…
The only area in life I am a little more metaphorical is when I use archetypes for Neopaganism, as I don’t believe in literal gods. Speaking of spirituality, I enjoy ancient myths, though I sometimes struggle to understand the message underneath… I couldn’t read the whole Quran or Bible because I really struggled to understand them. Also, I often daydream of different worlds, such as you described with the tertiary perspectives function, ideal society for instance. I also have a few fantasy worlds inside my mind, which I have constructed, several which started in sleeping dreams I had. I might be looping due to those ideas having a negative impact sometimes (wishing they were real), but I have found that I could use it in a positive creative way (drawing and writing). I love to look up many subjects and pretty much learn everyday, so if I am an isfp I shatter the stereotype of them being “dumb”. I am also learning Japanese and love the writing system, it’s quite artistic! I think I tested as enneagram 4w5.
As for Sensing, I’m not kinaesthetic at all, and it has nothing to do with looping, even as a child I wasn’t good at using my body (tried gymnastic, sports, etc). I have two feet when dancing and am super clumsy in everyday life (always have a bruise somewhere as a testament to this) If any other sensation type relates, try drawing, hiking, interacting with animals, observing nature, enjoying to relax, savour something comforting and delicious, read a book in a calm outside environment, and such. I’m a quiet and relaxed person so I don’t seek out harsh sensations, being highly sensitive to noise, too much people/strangers and other stimuli. So perhaps I am a more passive and quiet sensor rather than an active one. Super introverted.
That is perhaps some of the flexibility one has to keep in mind when typing themselves? Or I am mistyping myself? Sorry for mistakes (English is my third language) and it being the length of a short story, but if by any chance there is a reply, I wanted to be thorough with how I feel I differ with isfp descriptions but also relate to sensing. I think it might also help others which feel perhaps that they are similar to me, like in a hazy fog, when it comes to distinguishing whether they are mainly sensors or intuitives.
Anyway, enjoyed the podcast, your car model and the descriptions of functions are a lot easier for me to understand than the cold technical Jungian terms. I still am unsure about my functions but perhaps I am getting closer thanks to you guys.