The ENFP personality type
The Perceiver element of the ENFP personality type means that Intuition is extraverted with this personality type and Feeling is Introverted. Their preference for their processing is how they take in information (Perceiving) which in this case is through Intuition rather than Sensing.
Their preferred attitude and their preference for directing and receiving energy is Extraverted rather than Introverted, so they Extravert how they take in information (their Intuition). Extraverted Intuition is therefore their dominant preference and this will display itself in their personality:
Creative, imaginative, energetic, spontaneous, enthusiastic and curious
As Extraverted Intuition is their dominant function so Feeling (rather than Thinking) is their next preference. They Introvert their how they decide and come to conclusions (Feeling) which leads to them being:
Supportive, cooperative, friendly, warm and caring
Their personality dynamic is therefore Extraverted Intuition with Introverted Feeling. Their third preference is Thinking and their inferior function is Introverted Sensing.
ENFPs may feel stress in certain situations and should take care to watch out for when:
- Focus is required on facts and data in order to make decisions
- Relationships become rocky
- They feel isolated in times of tragedy or illness
- When they feel that all options are closed
When you are with an ENFP they will respond best to you if you:
- use an inventive approach
- talk about future opportunities
- are humorous, authentic, and inventive
- offer suggestions that are imaginative and facilitate their learning
- give them an objective and allow them to work out actions
- allow room for “brainstorming”, and “What if?” questions.
All 16 of the personality types
Living as an ENFP
Profile 1
My friend Jane is an extrovert, always on the go, juggling lots of different parties and events, she is very sociable and would prefer to be around people rather than spending time on her own.
She is an Intuitor, working with small children as a nursery nurse, a business she runs from home, she generates ideas and activities thinking of exciting future projects that they can all do together; this includes playing with puzzles and conducting experiments explaining how different things work.
Jane is very tolerant and gentle hearted, she is aware of others and their feelings and it is very important for her to be considered fair, caring and sensitive rather than logical or objective.
She is a perceiver, playing things by ear and very easily distracted by another idea, person or thought! She loves to explore new things and can adapt to different situations. She would far rather work on a flexible project as opposed to something ordered and structured.
Profile 2
Friend A is an extrovert, she is energised by being around people. She is a natural organiser and promoter, is very tactile.
She is an intuitor, she is heavily in to theoretical concepts and is incredibly inspiring. She is constantly searching for answers of how the world works…and its ramifications.
At the same time she is a feeler, she is fully associated, harmonious living is key to her circle, this is supported by a particular set of values.
Equally, she is a perceiver in respect of bad timing, punctuality is not what she’s know for! Her work is playful and giving to others.
Extrovert, Intuitor, feeler, perceiver
Profile 3
My co-workers is an ENFP.
She is an extreme extrovert. She is always looking for people to talk with and hang out with and has a wide circle of friends all over the place. Relaxation for her at an end of an exhausting day is to find a group of people to mingle with. She is where the party is and if there is no party, then she will be the party.
As an Intuitor, she is future oriented and abstract in her thinking. She is always talking about possible travel plans and meetings and seminars she wants to go to. She doesn’t like details or facts and finds all kinds of study quite tedious, unless it is high in participation and immediate application.
As a Feeler, she has a kind heart and a depth of compassion for others. She has a genuine desire to help people and is involved in inner healing and counseling. She makes decisions based on feelings and values instead of ration and logic.
She is also an extreme Perceiver. She is a complete chaos when she comes around. She will make five different plans to meet with me and doesn’t show up for any of them because of one emergency or another. When we do manage to meet, she will talk non-stop and keeps jumping from topic to topic and person to person and I have no idea what she is talking about.
After looking at my own metaprograms, timeline orientation and the NLP PisP concept, I realize that I have some reflection to do on my reaction to my co-worker’s extreme Extrovert and Perceiver tendencies. She literally gives me a headache if we spend 2hrs together (and no, I see nothing wrong with that sentence either ;-)).
Profile 4
My brother is very much an extrovert, he has had a very popular lucrative music dj business for 20 years. He loves the lime light, can’t get enough of people and entertaining them in some way. Not strangely enough, when you have a conversation with him, his language is very nominalized, or, chunked up. He is an extreme extrovert even when he is being an introvert.
He is an intuitor and always seems to speak in terms of ideas and concepts, very seldom will i hear him speak of anything specific.
When dealing with his children’s he uses his feelings to make decisions even when disciplining, which sometimes doesn’t always work out.
He’s a perceiver in the sense that we’re always ” playing it by ear” when we go out, however on the flip side of that coin, i’ve never seen a more detailed orientated person in my life, he makes sure appointments, schedules, tasks, bills, finances and itinerary’s are always in order for planned events. He is more of an extrovert however when it comes to specific contexts he does ” chunk down” when dealing with those matters. His life outlook for the most part is “go with the flow”