The Effervescent ENFp





By Topaz [ENFp]



Never ask an ENFP to describe him or herself. Do you have a couple of days? What you will end up with is a vast collection of interesting contradictions. Why is that? It is because of the particular nature of this creative, unusual person.



ENFPs greet the world expectantly. Outwardly to others an ENFP may seem like a happy chappy. They are easy going, easily pleased and interested in everything around them; especially people. ENFPs love people and will often bend to the needs and desires of others without asking much in return. They really enjoy listening to others, and to move the conversation along they can be quite revealing of their own experiences to get the other person to open up. It seems as if they give themselves away completely, but this is not quite true. The ENFP has dimensions to him or herself that are never revealed to anyone except for a very close and trusted companion. If such a companion is not found then they will feel lonely even though surrounded by good company.



Don’t be fooled entirely by an ENFP’s interest in you, though. ENFPs are genuinely interested in people, but are also very interested in patterns of social behavior. ENFPs are a social scientist. They don’t need formulas and charts to be keep track of their findings. Information on the motivations and needs of people are constantly being added to the interior laboratory of ideas. ENFPs will often uses themselves as a crucible to determine the value and weight of others inner world. They will subtly test their subjects with questions and actions designed almost subconsciously to provoke a response. The split nature of the ENFP is to be involved and at the same time uninvolved, observing their ‘subject’ not unlike protozoa under a microscope.



When and ENFP finds a group that is accepting of them they can be very funny, outspoken even brash in their comments. Sometimes they will use sweeping exaggerations to make the point and get a laugh. They love to give their opinion on any and all subject they find interesting. A funny twist is that if you listen long enough they will probably contradict all the things that they spoke so strongly about giving a completely different point of view. The ENFP is aware of the contradiction, but knows that there are many ways to view a subject and do not like to cancel out an opposing view too strongly. They do not like these contradictions pointed out to them in a critical manner. This speech is again used almost unconsciously to humorously provoke others in debate, to flesh out ideas and give their own insight. When no one swallows the bait, an ENFP may feel disappointed at least and horrified at worst that they may have been taken too seriously. ENFPs deeply cherish friends who listen for content and don’t take every word seriously. Despite any outward confidence they need reassurance that they are OK the way they are. Sometimes they find friends among people others consider misfits, nerds or eccentrics.



ENFPs are very sensitive to other people. They love to win hearts and create harmony between themselves and others. This is not always accomplished, but the to a great extent an ENFP will maintain good relations with as many people as possible. There is benevolence to this, but also a practical reason. Breaking relations with others limits future possibilities. Who knows when you might need the good will of others? Therefore it is best to tactfully suppress conflict and keep things smooth. This does not mean that they always are nice to everyone. At times they may challenge and provoke, ignore or act contrary if that is what is needed to master a relationship. They are very creative in their approach to others and will change their behavior to draw people in or keep them at a distance.



ENFPs often don’t realize the impact they can have on other people. They can quickly create a feeling of intimacy by their very personal approach. Problems arise when people become too possessive of the ENFPs time an attention. Nevertheless, until ENFPs learns to create healthy boundaries between themselves and others he or she will exhaust himself or herself, running around trying to be everywhere and please everyone. This trait of wanting to please everyone and guilt in turning down request is a life long battle. ENFP simply cannot completely be unaware of others needs and desires. Despite their happy-go-lucky, outward behavior ENFPs have high standards for themselves. Just as they see potential in others they see potential in themselves. They want desperately to actualize that potential to benefit not only them, but to set a good example for others to follow. They desire so much (too much?) and envision a sweet life where all the elements come together with friends, family, intimacy, sex, music, good food and freedom to pursue new worlds. Their striving for this utopia seems like pipe dreams to others and ENFPs know it. Still they cannot give up as their intuition pulls them headlong into the future.



The greatest source and motivation for learning for the ENFP will come from other people. In school they will learn calculus to please a teacher they admire even though they are not naturally drawn to such subjects. ENFPs love to learn and when young are like sponges. Sometimes their brain runs so fast and continuous they can’t sleep at night.



ENFPs hate boring, tedious office work. For some reason they often end up doing it from time to time, possibly because temp work allows them freedom to travel. Having time to do their own thing is very important and they would probably prefer time off than more money like some types.



Oddly just because ENFPs like to please others does not mean they are conformist. Instead they are strong individualist. This is noticeable in the way they dress. For many ENFPs clothes is a vehicle of self-expression. Inner contradictions of self may take physical form as an ENFP may be going in many different directions with their clothing. ENFPs love bargains and may be seen wearing second hand clothes arranged masterfully (or not) into individual creations. The past is full of all kinds of wacky oddities that they like to plunder. They will often throw on a hat or jacket from days gone by to make a statement or to stand out as different. Like the INFP they may take on a hippie or bohemian style. If clothing is not very important, then they will just wear whatever is comfortable and might look quite plain with perhaps one odd feature sticking out.



ENFPs love to collect oddities and novelties. They see potential and charm in all sorts of items. That these items never reach that potential is of little concern. Once an item is obtained it may be just as quickly forgotten and other treasures are pursued. ENFPs love beautiful objects despite its pedigree. The old and worn or new and modern may attract the eye and sense of touch. Self-control is a must or they might drown in the clutter.



When a person or situation no longer carries any new information an ENFP may begin to loose interest and become bored. The more and ENFP matures the less likely this is because each moment presents an almost inexhaustible amount of information to be learned, even if it means learning to stop the search and enjoy the moment.



Friendship with ENFPs can be a problem if you need a lot of consistency. They are there, full of life and personal attention and then they might be gone for days or weeks even months without much contact. When they show up again they like to pick up right where they left off. Then as mysteriously as they came they disappear again. Usually they are either two places, at home trying to catch up on all the work they’ve avoided or with other people somewhere. They find a great deal in life fascinating. Their enthusiasm to experience it all makes them restless and independent. They know they are different from most others around them and this makes them despondent occasionally. When all is said and done ENFPs want to shower affection upon someone who loves them and accepts them for who they really are, warts and all.



ENFp by Function



Ne: The first function of the ENFp is Ne, by which the essence of ideas arrive and insights into their development arise. With this function, it is possible to collect multiple perspectives, concepts, ideas, and beliefs in order to register into a readily available databank their entirety and the various conscious considerations concerning them as they stand in the abstract theoretical world and in order to derive a global picture of them. However, Ne also maintains an active neutral stance on all of the whole of its inputs, even if the whole of the input of one core belief, concept, or idea, conflicts with any of the other core beliefs, concepts, or ideas it remains non-biased and registers them all as equals. Probably the most powerful aspect of Ne is an ability to see potential in the most obscure forms and to believe in them. Being an extroverted function, Ne cannot derive data from within and must amass information from outside of itself and in the here and now to survive as a function or at all.



Ni: The seventh function of the this type is Ni. Strong and lacking, it remains to the ENFp something to be loathed. Though some use may come from this function in the tracking of time, patterns, and simple predictions, this function remains the vehicle by which the old becomes abandoned and the new comes about. For the ENFp, Ni truly represents all that inferiority is and the uselessness of false potential, and so long as new beliefs emerge and there remains something to be considered, out with the old and in with the new! Loyalty to a strong qualified belief system will never interest an ENFp!



Fi: The second function of the ENFp is Fi, by which subjective feeling substantiates itself through various ethical processes. With this function, it is possible to deconstruct and disassemble various levels of emotions, feelings, and moods in order to gauge a sense of their inner workings or how they habitually function. Probably the most powerful aspect of Fi is the forming of a subjective value system by which one uses to connect to others through a maintained and refined view of moral right, wrong, and good; other important features of this function include the ability to word statements and express emotions in the most concise and ethical manner that could be implemented to appeal to the ethical processes of others. Being an introverted function, Fi has an active ability to self-sustain itself and moves actively between an subjective emotional world located in the future and past in order to sustain itself as an active function.



Fe: The eigth function of the this type is Fe. Strong and lacking, it remains to the ENFp something to be loathed. Though some use may come from this function in the tracking of events, patterns, and simple gauging of current emotions, this function remains the vehicle by which tradition establishes itself and the foreign get thrown out. For the ENFp, Fe truly represents all that inferiority is and the uselessness of false potential, and so long as old emotion is and there remains something to be cherished, traditional systematic ethics stands before the new! Disloyalty to a cherished, strong, and qualified system of personal emotionals will never interest an ENFp!



Se: The third function of the ENFp is Se, by which the essence of experiences arrive and insights into their development arise. Since the ENFp type thrives in a world of abstract and non-concrete theoretical principles, it may be rendered difficult for this type to collect multiple physical sensations from the eyes, ears, nose, taste and touch in order to register into a readily available databank their entirety and the various conscious considerations concerning them. In result of this inability, expected behaviors should include a lack of motive concerning physical activities, lack of discipline, inability to control aggressive tendencies with unexpected outburst or extreme passivity and non-aggressive, pushing others without good reason or not pushing hard enough when needed, sluggishness and irresponsibility, lack of willpower and initiative, breaking down when put under pressure, shutting down during stressful situations, or inability to push talents and abilities.



Si: The fifth function of the ENFp is Si, by which the essence of experiences arrive and insights into their development arise. Though be this a weak, unconscious, and influential function, it should find itself most active within the presence of one whose dominant function coincides, for it it seeks to be strong and may pretend to be such. At other times, an expression of this function may find itself in place of the weak and conscious Se function. Manifested bahaviours expected of this function should include experiencing uncontrollable flashbacks of negitive or distorted experiences, obsession with past experiences that seem to have a grip on current reality, having a compulsion to keeping things a certain way because they have a certain familiarity to them, not wanting to change the past, prone to inactivity and unwilling to change since that would mean wrecking or damaging the current and future experience,looking past people or things and walking around with distant and vague look in eye as though unaware of surroundings.



Ti: The fourth function of the ENFp is Ti, by which objective logic substantiates itself through various thought processes. Since the ENFp type thrives in a world of ethical and non-logical and subjective principles, it may be rendered difficult for this type to deconstruct and disassemble various levels of thought, concepts, and ideas in order to gauge a sense of their inner workings or how they habitually function. In result of this inability, expected behaviors should include an inability to discern logically the good and bad parts of a concept or the logical importance of a concept, intentionally analyzing too much or not enough, unable to order task in a way that does not cause fatigue, becoming offended when logical mistakes or illogical nature is pointed out, and making impatient and rash decisions before analyzing a situation fully.



Te: The sixth function of the ENFp is Te, by which objective logic substantiates itself through various thought processes. Though be this a weak, unconscious, and influential function, it should find itself most active within the presence of one whose dominant function coincides, for it it seeks to be strong and may pretend to be such. At other times, an expression of this function may find itself in place of the weak and conscious Ti function. Manifested bahaviours expected of this function should include seeming to be in the know about various trends, but has a convulted logic that distorts itself over a period of time, prone to spreading exaggerated gossip that may cause embarrassment, attempts at understanding the logic of others produces childish results, habitually and continually misses the point of someone else's line of thought, spending a great deal of time attempting to substantiate own logic, having a fondness for talking notes or writting in journals in a way that catches attention, attacking the logic of others without substantiating own logic, prone to extreme vagueness.

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Because of the structureof various function, it is not uncommon for a person to be confused or undecided between various types and even between the usage of various functions. The following is a functional description of various types that an actual ENFp may become confused or undecided between.





INTp - An ENFp may find him or her self activelly undecided between the INTp type and his or her native ENFp type. Because the sixth function of the ENFp is Te, it is not uncommon for one to confuse the second creative function (Fi) for that function. When this occurs, an ENFp may have problems deciding between those ethical and logical functions. In even more complex situations, an ENFp may demonstrate what appears to be a false lack of Fe, which corresponds to the fourth weakest function of the INTp. In this instances, the way to discern between these two types and to choose the correct one is to determine whether you activelly use Ne or Ni. If you use Ne more than you use Ni, you are an ENFp. If you use Ni more than you use Ne, you could really be an INTp.



ENTj - An ENFp may confuse him or her self for a ENTj for the same reason that one would confuse his or her self for an INTp. If you use Ne more than you use Ni, you are probably an ENFp. If you use Ni more than you use Ne, you could really be an ENTj.



ENTp - An ENFp usually becomes confused between this type and his or her native ENFp when he or she has decided upon being an extrovert, determined self as a perceiving type, and has been having some influence from the sixth function, while not really being sure if that function is introverted or extroverted. In this senerio, instead of a ENFp confusing his or her self for an INTp the extroverted or introverted type has been substituted. In this instance, the way to discern between these two types and to choose the correct one is to determine whether you activelly use more Te or Ti. If you use Te more than you use Ti, you are probably an ENFp. If you use Ti more than you use Te, you could really be an ENTp.



INFp - Because of the influence of MBTI, some new to socionic's theory may ignorantly think that the correct way to switch between introverted and extroverted types is to simply switch an E to an I or an I to an E. This is not the correct way to switch back and forth between the two in socionics. If you are an INFp in MBTI with an emphasis on expressing Ne and Fi, your actual socionics type is either an ENFp if you choose to stay a perceiving type or INFj if you find that you might want to consider being a socionic's judging type . On the otherhand, if the above ENFp description does not relate to you and you functionally express Ni and Fe, INFp is still an option, though be warned that socionics does not totally follow the same logic as MBTI does when determining J and P nor do the same stereotypical rules apply when attempting to determine introversion and extroversion. If you are familiar with MBTI, the possibility of having to type yourself totally diffrent than MBTI should be a definite expectation.