When talking of typology and theories of personality I find it can be very easy to get caught up in the four letters signifying personality type or the varied definitions of the cognitive functions. It can be even harder to reconcile all the definitions and facts with how people actually behave in real life and what a certain function, say Fi, looks like when expressed or manifested in an individual. This is made harder still when most of the MBTI and other psychological literature tends to be rather dry or abstract. It essentially talks about certain aspects of psychology and people, without actually talking about people.
To this end I would like to offer my perspective on ISFPs. My aim is not to give a full overview of ISFPs from a clinical abstracted standpoint. Instead, I would like to give a perspective of what I have noticed about them in the wild.
To begin with, ISFPs are probably some of the most aesthetic people you will ever meet. I don't just mean this on the purely physical level. Regardless of their body type or genetic features they often come across as very beautiful - so much so that they very often have troubles with people being attracted to them that they don't necessarily like or for reasons that they don't necessarily understand.
The thing that I find most interesting about ISFPs, and perhaps what makes them easiest to spot, is that they tend to embody Fi (their dominant function) and Ni (their tertiary function) in a very concrete way because of their Se, which is their auxiliary function. Other types, who don't have these functions, tend to find Ni and Fi alluring and enigmatic and tend to complain about how rich and mysterious they can be.
Fi is all about strong inner emotional judgments, generally coalesced into ideals, and Ni tends to deal with strong inner patterns that are perceived about the world and humanity, what it all means and how it all fits together. For more on Fi and Ni, see my previous article here.
When beauty becomes concentrated in ISFPs it is often because they seem to unconsciously embody different archetypes with their distinctive style of dress and the care with which they decorate their living spaces. What I mean by this is that even if they don't have model features, they are often beautiful in how they dress and in what they surround themselves with - it tends to draw one in a bit.
ISFPs don't just dress nicely or fashionably. Very often they'll dress plainly and in styles that are not the latest style. Also, in being introverted, they usually don't like to draw too much attention to themselves or appear "loud." However, they do often dress in a pleasing manner and embody a distinctive theme which often becomes personified into a general archetype via their tertiary Ni – the enchantment that they work is a quiet one.
ISFP vs. INFP
The tendency to be creative and unorthodox about dress is also one that is seen in INFPs who, like the ISFPs, are also Fi dominants. But because INFPs have Ne whereas ISFPs have Ni, the INFPs will usually not be able to evoke such a concentrated archetypical image as the ISFPs are able to. In my experience I have found that it is usually the ISFPs who have the ability to channel a pure archetype and to have this sort of fairytale charisma about them.
INFPs will also dress in a very distinctive and individual style because of their Fi, but their compositions will be more eclectic and varied, and they tend to stick out in several directions at once because of their Ne. The INFPs will indeed have the idiosyncrasy of personal flair to bring to their appearance, but as they have Ne rather than Ni, their style and aesthetic tends to be more eclectic than archetypal. The INFP may stress a theme or look, but their aesthetic will always be somewhat kaleidoscopic because of their Ne. The pure archetypical image in the world that draws others in and provides a clue to the transcendent is the privilege of the ISFP.
Thus says the INFP:
Fashion is for us eccentric weirdos. Fashion embraces the misfits and via fashion we embrace each other. Our quirkiness is a signal to each other, and to the world: We're nonconformist and we're okay!
While the dream of the ISFP is rather:
To seek a style in the realm of legend. An otherworldly purity of style that will allow me to give free rein to my juvenile sense of romanticism and the beautiful image.
ISFPs and the Archetypes
If you look at ISFPs you can generally get a sense of the overall archetype that they embody. For example, an ISFP I once knew had a very soft and down to earth look where she would dress in earthen colors and garments of a classical cut. It was not just with her clothing, but with her entire spirit that she would embody a nature spirit archetype. Her charisma was quiet, but also strong and serene and containing that whimsical composure which fairies, dryads, and nymphs so often have in folk tales.
Another ISFP I once knew had an amazingly warm vintage nostalgic look, and she gave life to this aesthetic in a way that was so completely refreshing. She was Russian and at times the feeling tone that accompanied her was like something right out of a Russian fairytale. She embodied a lost child archetype - young, and with a tinge of innocence; warm, and kind, but also with all the nostalgia of childhood about her.
For both ISFPs, their different looks were not just an aesthetic sense or a personal sense of style. Their different looks and the archetypes that they channeled were not just a pose, but very much a substantiation of them and their personalities. Their different archetypical looks were testimony to their different backgrounds and childhoods, the places where they had lived and their values, as well as their interests and experiences. All of it had been unconsciously woven together through the enchanted lens of their Fi-Ni cooperation and had formed their archetypical connection with the Self.
Archetype Troubles
The funniest thing about ISFPs I find is that they evoke archetypes without them realizing it themselves. Others can sometimes be drawn to the ISFP because of the archetype that they represent in the world and for this reason they may idealize the ISFP on the grounds of the archetype that they are seeing in him or her.
This frustrates the ISFP. To them, they are just following their own nature and being true to themselves. To their credit, if they appear to be just another goth, hipster, emo or other such subcultural stereotype at a distance, this is rarely the case if you actually talk to them. If you take the time to interact with them and really understand what they are about, you will almost always see that they are true to their own values and not to those of the subculture or group that resembles their style.
Because their sense of what is beautiful is generally bound to inner emotions and perceptions, they tend to view their values as an intensely personal affair. Their values are something dear to them, that they will be quite protective of at times. This also means that when they do speak up about their values, they will not be overly concerned with whether they are accepted or not (such as Fe users tend to be).
When people are drawn to the ISFP because of the archetype that they see in him or her, this can often be frustrating to the ISFP. Because people are drawn to an archetype that they have seen, they often want the ISFP to be different from what they really are, or they don't seem to pay attention to the ISFP's real self.
One ISFP I once knew often complained of getting into relationships with men where the men would act all tough when they first met, but fall apart after a while. It seemed somewhat basic to me: The archetypal image that she embodied was very alluring to these men because she seemed to manifest the anima (the feminine side of the Self) of the archetypical tough guy male. These "tough guys," who had bought into the tough guy archetype, would fall for her in kind of a love-at-first-sight way, just like you see in the movies. You could almost tell that something was amiss. If you had read Jung you could see that they were falling for the damsel-in-distress archetype; well-meaning and physically attractive, but frail and in need of a hero. The interesting thing was that as these men's relationship to the woman deepened, they would all start showing their frailty – they were the ones who were in need of a hero. They needed to incorporate that side of their self into their conscious personality and that was why they were so attracted to the archetype that they saw in her. But that also meant that since they had fallen for the archetype that she embodied, rather than for her, these men tended to have a hard time interacting with the real her.
I eventually showed her some of Jung's work on the anima and animus as well as Jung's theories of the archetypes and how they function in relationships where people are attracted to the archetypical images that they see in other people. The reason this happens is because they need to incorporate that aspect of them into themselves. She really got into Jung and his writings and became an avid reader of him and his more intuitive writings.
The Inner Values of ISFPs
Another interesting aspect of ISFPs is that they also tend to be talented in the visual arts where they have a very fine attention to detail and where they easily develop great skill due to their secondary Extroverted Sensation. Introverted Feeling ensures that their artwork tends to be emotionally evocative, and with Introverted Intuition being their tertiary, their art tends to have a surprising amount of raw depth and symbolism. I say 'raw' because sometimes even the ISFPs themselves don't notice and aren't quite aware of the archetypal symbols they are working with. They just found the symbols that they work with appealing, or they felt a connection to a given symbol, so they take it up and use it as a way of expressing their deeply held introverted feelings.
Their natural inclination towards artistry on their own terms I think is part of the reason that ISFPs can sometimes come across as or seem like N types, even though Ni is merely their third function. ISFPs frequently entertain or hold some intimately private and deeply emotional spiritual beliefs, be they New Age ideals, Jungianism and psychology, a passion for environmentalism and nature, a given religion, or something else. Because ISFPs are not concerned with "falling in line", their adherence to their creed tends to be nuanced and personalized. And because ISFPs are Fi dominants, this means that even if they are religious or spiritual, they tend to exercise their beliefs on a personal level rather than on the societal or group level. If an ISFP is close to someone, they will sometimes open up and talk about their inner values. When an ISFP opens up this way, it is usually a sign of great trust. To them, it is not just a discussion about values, but a way of sharing their inner self.
Because I am an intuitive type myself, I naturally stress their intuitive capabilities first when talking about them. However, if you talk to ISFPs, you will find that overall, they also like to talk about day-to-day stuff, what goes on around them, what they're currently busy doing and the most recent fun that they've had, be it hanging out, going to the beach, going hiking or some similar experience. In other words, sensation is a stronger element in them than intuition; they are very much sensation types. They don't mind talking about the more abstract things in life, but at the end of the day they are as much inclined to just do things as they are to talk about them in the abstract.
So while their artistic endeavors can have a lot of symbolic depth to them, it is often more of a result of them just enjoying the creative process - where they "like what they create and create what they like" - rather than the ISFP wanting the artwork to represent some grand theory or artistic idea.
That is why Bob Dylan famously said that with regards to the meaning of his songs, "there isn't any big message" - he just wrote them because he felt like it, in the manner that sounded good to him. And as David Keirsey has pointed out, when intuitive types listen to Dylan's lyrics, they connect with the symbolic content that is there because of Dylan's Ni and think that the symbolic element must be just as central to Dylan's experience of the music as it is to theirs. But the truth is that Dylan has a splendid history of turning down conceptual questions from people who have not earned his intimacy and that he often appears irritated and defensive when reporters want to engage him on an intellectual level. The irritation provides a clue to what is going on in Dylan's mind: These people have not earned the right to engage his inner world of values. In Dylan's eyes, these people are acting quite rudely by assuming that they can just jump into his sphere of confidence like that.
The Kinship of ISFPs and NTJs
A final odd thing that I have noticed in my work on Jungian type is that, overall, NTJs seem to experience an odd kinship with ISFPs. Often when you talk to an ISFP, you will find that they have a rather close NTJ friend in their social circle, and the older they are, the more the NTJ friend will be "the odd one out" when compared to the rest of their friends.
It is especially in their relationship to INTJs that the kinship between NTJs and ISFPs is evident: Despite the obvious differences between ISFPs and INTJs, they also seem to have a rough understanding of each other that comes naturally to both sides. This is partially because each of them is dominant in the other's tertiary (or 'child') function, so each of them can grant the other a fuller, more mature understanding of their own aspirational function. Where people are often loath to deal with their inferior function, the tertiary function tends to hold a childish optimism and innocence for them. ISFPs and INTJs can really grant each other understanding that way.
Also, like INTJs, ISFPs can often appear incredibly emotionally distant. Even though they are feeling types, still waters run deep with the ISFPs. Their internal depth of emotion can be so overpowering that they often just assume a mask where they don't express much emotion, unless one knows them personally. If you are not in their sphere of confidence, you will only see their emotion indirectly, in the way they dress and their archetypal appearance, and perhaps in how they act at times. But in terms of direct emotional expression, ISFPs tend to be much subtler and much more muted than other feeling types, which again is another reason why intuitive types, who are biased against sensation, tend to mistake them for "one of their own."
The Existential Fi-Ni Conundrum
Another similarity between ISFPs and INTJs is that, without the development of a strong extroverted presence, they both run the risk of becoming lost in a loop of Fi and Ni where the person lives entirely off inward perception and sentiment with no anchor to relate it to the external world. Both ISFPs and INTJs can have a really hard time when they are caught in an introverted feedback loop between Fi and Ni.
Both ISFPs and INTJs can have a really hard time when they are caught in an introverted feedback loop between Fi and Ni with no extroverted presence to counteract it.
If it goes on for too long, the conundrum gives way to existential despair and may lead the person into a state of anxiety where he feels either that the world is quite meaningless or that he has no meaningful role to play in the world and doesn't 'fit in.'
Ni is often very valuable when it comes to providing an abstract understanding of the meaning of some occurrence. But on the other hand, Ni can also be troublesome because it can't stop looking for meaning in some occurrence. Especially when Fi and Ni are both conscious in a type, the person will often need a deep connection to something external that they can consider greater than themselves.
It is easier to recognize this need in ISFPs than in INTJs. As already mentioned, ISFPs often adhere to a given set of beliefs, a religion, or a particular teacher or guru. Their indulgence in such matters may seem hazy at times, but that is again because their Ni is tertiary - raw and somewhat childlike.
That this also occurs with INTJs may be hard to recognize at first, but ask yourself why INTJs so often need to champion a vision, a set of ideas, or a specific solution to some problem as the only possible truth – preferably in the singular and with a capital T.
In INTJs, however, it is the Fi that is raw and childlike whereas their Ni is often quite precise. So the specifics of the process are bound to appear like mirror images of each other. But in both cases, the underlying psychological mechanism is the same: Feelings of cosmic meaninglessness are warded off by imbuing certain ideas with meaning and championing these ideas over others.
ISFPs always seem a bit ethereal and elusive to me at times, but like INTJs who have developed their Introverted Feeling, they often have a rich inner world. Overall ISFPs are incredibly empathetic people who care very deeply about what is important to them and who sometimes have a special bond with animals. One ISFP friend that I know who was familiar with Jungian Typology would ask me if it was possible to type animals and wanted to type all her pets. And while I would not exactly say it's possible to type an animal using Jung's typology, if there was one person who could do it, it would probably be her.
***
Another Look at ISFP © Jesse Gerroir and IDR Labs International 2013.
Cover art especially commissioned for this publication from artist Will Rosales.
By Jesse Gerroir