An INFP is often an introspective quiet soul, that can be seen as deep in thought. INFPs have a beautiful sensitivity that lends themselves perfectly to artistic pursuits. INFPs make fantastic writers, poets and artists as they can create highly emotional and touching art. It's key for INFPs to follow their heart and pursue things of meaning.
INFP Principles
What are the core principles behind the INFP type?
INFPs are creative optimists who dream of a better world for everyone. They often express themselves artistically and demonstrate a deep understanding of how people think, feel, and interact. This type is sometimes nicknamed The Dreamer, The Healer, or The Visionary.
Deeply empathetic, uplifting and encouraging.
Strong inner drive to realize visions of a beautiful, harmonious, and kind world.
Rely on times of solitude and introspection to nourish creativity.
Insightful understanding of complex concepts.
Driven by Creative Visions
An INFP maintains their optimism by creating a vivid picture of what could be and steadily moving toward it. This is how they are able to quickly recover from setbacks and disappointments. Their concept of a brighter future is so vivid and real in their minds, they are willing to endure great hardships and challenges in order to accomplish their goals.
An INFP will always try to follow their dreams but will not sacrifice their beliefs and morals, even if it's hard to do so.
Uplifting and Encourgaing others
An INFP can see great potential everywhere. They believe in learning from mistakes, and they always strive to become the best person they can be. This positive approach is a gift that they are eager to share with others. Their optimism is often contagious, especially when they use their artistic talents to articulate their visions for others.
INFPs don't like succeeding at the expense of others. They like to share their glory and praise and encourage others. Their generosity is core to their personality.
Depth of Understanding
INFPs have a deep understanding that allows them to intuit where people are coming from and also to predict outcomes in new situations. Their quiet faith in what they know to be true inspires confidence in others so that they often emerge as leaders in uncertain times.
An INFP's deep understanding helps them to be more empathetic. This high level of empathy is key to the INFP personality, they never want to see people suffering and their ability to understand someone's emotions can help them in trying to alleviate any sadness.
Visionary
What sets the INFP personality type apart from others is their ability to exercise their imaginations as they explore new possibilities. They follow their inner world while gently focusing beyond the horizon. They often ponder future likelihoods and theorize past events. INFPs are not only dreamers – they often turn ideas and aspirations into reality. You can count on the INFP to step up and provide a fresh perspective when a situation calls for change. INFPs can transform common ideas into unexpected yet ambitious concepts.
Nothing energizes an INFP like finding and creating life-changing solutions for the greater good.
Data: INFP World Heatmap
What is the global distribution of the INFP personality type?
Which countries have the highest percentage of INFPs? Is this type more common in certain countries? Use our research data to find out.
Figure 1: Percent of population with INFP type
What this chart shows
This heatmap shows the percent of each country's population who are INFP. This helps us to easily identify global distribution of this personality type. For example we see France has an above-average proportion of INFPs and India has a below proportion of INFPs.
Notes:
1. Countries with less than 0.001% share of global population have not been included due to sample size.
2. n=27985
3. Population: all
4. Live dataset last updated:
Figure 2: Regions with highest and lowest percent of INFP types
Top ten countries with highest and lowest percent of respondents with INFP personality type
What this chart shows
This chart shows the top ten countries with the highest proportion of people with INFP personality type and ten countries with the lowest proportion of people with INFP personality type.
Notes:
1. Countries with less than 0.001% share of global population have not been included due to sample size.
2. n=27985
3. Population: all
4. Live dataset last updated:
INFP: The Four Letters Explained
What does INFP stand for?
The four letters of the INFP personality stand for: (I)ntroverted, i(N)tuitive, (F)eeling, and (J)udging. Let's consider each of these four traits.
Introverted
(I)ntroverted vs (E)xtraverted
An introvert is often thought of as a quiet, reserved, and thoughtful individual. They don't seek out special attention or social engagements, as these events can leave introverts feeling drained.
Prefer time to themselves
Find social interaction an effort
Have close circle of friends
Introspective and curious
Prefer writing to talking
Prefer working alone
Introverts and extraverts can be separated based on how they regain energy. Introverts prefer minimally stimulating environments, and they need time alone to recharge. Extraverts refuel by being with others.
Intuitive
I(N)tuitive vs (S)ensing
Intuitive types focus on impressions or underlying patterns of information they see. They prefer learning by thinking it through rather than by hands-on experience.
Remember the sense of events
Read between the lines and looks for meaning.
Like to see the big picture
Daydream about possibilities
Make decisions based on hunches
Intuitive types take a high-level view and may experience dissatisfaction when attention to detail is required. People with an Intuition preference doubt and test everything. They value innovation and imagination, and present information through figures of speech.
Feeling
(T)hinking vs (F)eeling
Feeling types follow their emotions, feelings, and personal moral principles when making key decisions. Congruence with personal principles is essential to them. When solving problems or making choices, emotional intelligence is preferred over cold rationality.
Expresses empathy
Follows their heart
Truly believes in their principles
Shows emotional intelligence
Is guided by emotion
Feeling types are deeply empathetic, readily sympathizing with those around them. As a result, they are recognized for their interpersonal warmth and genuine concern for others.
Perceiving
(J)udging vs (P)erceiving
Perceiving types are cognitively flexible and open to new possibilities. They prefer variety and unpredictability to routine, welcoming change and rejecting rigidity whenever possible.
Open to new possibilities
Acts spontaneously
Adapts to new information
Seeks new experiences
Lives in the moment
Perceiving types are comfortable making decisions spontaneously, or even postponing decisions until more information is available. They focus predominantly on the present moment, preferring tasks which are open-ended and flexible, rather than those with deadlines or timetables.
Data: What percentage of people are INFP?
Did you know that INFP is the rarest MBTI® type?
Figure 3: Global distribution of INFP types
How does the percent of INFP type people compare with other types?
What this chart shows
We see that INFP is one of the more common personality types at 7.9% of the population. This compares with the most common type ESTJ at 9.3% of the population.
Notes:
1. n=29746
2. Population: Global
3. Live dataset last updated:
Data: INFP Age Statistics
Are INFPs more or less likely to be in a particular age group?
Figure 4: percentage of INFP types by age
How does the proportion of INFP types vary by age?
What this chart shows
This chart shows what percent of each age group are INFP.
Notes:
1. n=40574
2. Population: Global
3. Live dataset last updated:
Data: INFP Genders
Survey data on INFP types by genders
Are INFPs more likely to be female or male? From our data we see that INFPs are mostly female (73.5%) with 26.0% male and 0.5% other.
Figure 5: Type INFP by gender
What this chart shows
The split between genders across the INFP population is 73.5% female, 26.0% male, 0.5% other. Compared to the average population, INFPs have a higher proportion of females.
Notes:
1. n=27985
2. Population: global
3. Dataset last updated:
4. Data is derived from users' self-report responses to the question "What is your gender?"
Ellie Simmonds, MSc
University of Bath, Psychology
Ellie Simmonds, MSc in Psychology from University of Bath. Ellie is an associate lecturer on psychometric assessments and has extensive knowledge of the 16-type model.
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