By Boye Akinwande
ENFPs and ENFJs get mistaken for one another because they both tend to be warm, expressive, idealistic, charismatic, and articulate when it comes to speaking on social and cultural issues. Likewise, many exemplars of both types can be found at the forefront of so-called social justice causes.
While they may appear similar at first glance, ENFPs and ENFJs are really quite different in terms of their phenomenology. ENFPs lead with Ne and ENFJs lead with Fe. What Ne and Fe make these types have in common is an openness to other people’s viewpoints and perspectives. At root, however, these functions tend to be interested in other people’s viewpoints for very different reasons.
As a rule, an Fe type’s interest in other people’s perspectives tends to come from them perceiving these perspectives as objective external sentiments, and such sentiments constitute the cognitive nexus through which they view the world. The next step up from this cognitive bedrock is then the desire to foster a cohesive atmosphere of fellow-feeling. Fe types may, if neurotic, turn this propensity on its head, seemingly seeking to shy away from such fellow-feeling, but the cognition of other peoples’ perspectives as the facet of reality that is the most cardinal to them will always be there.
As with the other three FJ types, the expressed opinions of other people will very often be the medium through which reality is cognized. Fe navigates on the basis of external sentiment and since only people can express sentiments, the people that these types meet will invariably be seen as the carriers of intellectual content. In this way, FJ types are the opposites of TP types, who seek to approach intellectual judgments through principles rather than sentiments.
Now if we turn to the ENFP, an Ne type’s interest in the perspectives of others tends to come about, not because they are structured to cognize reality through the sentiments of others, but rather because Ne has an inclination to always seek out new ideas and perspectives for their own sake. Ne types are inclined to explore novel and ulterior perspectives because they, as Myers said, unconsciously regard the status quo as a prison from which escape is urgently necessary, no matter what that status quo might be.
For this reason, ENFPs will tend to come across as more explorative, “sampling,” and free-wheeling than ENFJs, since they are chasing after – and tinkering with – whatever ideas and perspectives happen to tickle their fancy in the present moment. In ENFPs, their auxiliary Fi also tends to make them less cordial and cohesive than their ENFJ counterparts. Since Fi navigates on the basis of personal inner sentiment rather than shared outer moods, ENFPs also tend to be more socially quirky and unconventional.
As I said, ENFJs and ENFPs often have quite similar musings when it comes to contemporary social issues, but since ENFJs do not have Fi, but rather align themselves more conscientiously with prevalent social norms, they also tend to be much more in tune with how they and their message come across to others. Even when an ENFJ has a playful or quirky persona, one can often feel this more purposeful type of cognition at work behind their actions and presentation.
ENFJs also have auxiliary Ni, which means that their intellectual cognition tends to be more singular and resolute. Unlike the ENFP, they do not explore ideas in a random fashion simply to sample them. Rather, they tend to approach their fields of study methodically, starting with the most authoritative or commonly-held perspectives in order to gain a systematic overview of the field, and then work their way towards what they really feel and think from there. Similarly, because of their auxiliary Ni (which, as I said, is more singular and purposeful than Ne), ENFJs also tend to come across as less explorative and more unifying. Listening to them, it can often feel like they’re there to deliver an extremely important and definite message to their listeners – a message that is of great social importance.