(summary from the Usenet alt.psychology.personality FAQ)


The personality system presented here is known formally as "Jung's theory of personality type," first developed by Carl Jung in the early 1920s and more recently resurrected and made into a practical instrument by Myers and Briggs.

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter by David Keirsey is a personality test which scores results according to the Myers-Briggs system (the actual Myers-Briggs test is a professional instrument and may be administered only by a licensed practitioner).

The test is scored on four different scales:

INFP: "Questor". High capacity for caring. Calm and pleasant face to the world. High sense of honor derived from internal values. 1% of the total population. Frequent occupations of INFPs include therapist, counselor, writer, artist, teacher, social worker, education consultant, journalist.


Portrait of the Conciliator (iNFp)

Copyrighted ©1996 Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.
.
Conciliator Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in striving for their ends, and informative and introverted in their interpersonal relations. Conciliators present a seemingly tranquil, and noticably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply--indeed, passionately--about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world. Conciliators have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand iNFps, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The iNFp is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Conciliators are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity. Conciliators seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect, perhaps because they are likely to have a sense of inner division threaded through their lives, which comes from their often unhappy childhood. Conciliators live a fantasy-filled childhood, which, unfortunately, is discouraged or even punished by many parents. In a practical-minded family, required by their parents to be sociable and industrious in concrete ways, and also given down-to-earth siblings who conform to these parental expectations, iNFps come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. Other types usually shrug off parental expectations that do not fit them, but not the iNFps. Wishing to please their parents and siblings, but not knowing quite how to do it, they try to hide their differences, believing they are bad to be so fanciful, so unlike their more solid brothers and sisters. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from the rest of their family-swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this is not easy for them. Deeply committed to the positive and the good, yet taught to believe there is evil in them, iNFps can come to develop a certain fascination with the problem of good and evil, sacred and profane. Conciliators are drawn toward purity, but can become engrossed with the profane, continuously on the lookout for the wickedness that lurks within them. Then, when iNFps believe thay have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. Others seldom detect this inner turmoil, however, for the struggle between good and evil is within the iNFp, who does not feel compelled to make the issue public.


Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving (INFP) . . . by Joe Butt (jabutt@sacam.oren.ortn.edu)

"...beyond the open door the green hillside ran down to
the river and the spring sunshine touched the broad sweep
of the shallows with a million dancing lights. A beach of
bleached stones gleamed bone-white against the long
stretch of grassy bank which rolled up to the pastures
lining the valley floor." (James Herriot, All Things
Wise and Wonderful)

INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see
life through rose-colored glasses. It's as though they live at the edge of
a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and
fauna take on near-human qualities.

INFP children often exhibit this in a 'Calvin and Hobbes' fashion, switching
from reality to fantasy and back again. With few exceptions, it is the NF
child who readily develops imaginary playmates (as with Anne of Green
Gables's "bookcase girlfriend"--her own reflection) and whose stuffed animals
come to life like the Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse:

"...Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has
been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the
joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all,
because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who
don't understand..." (the Skin Horse)

INFPs have the ability to see good in almost anyone or anything. Even for
the most unlovable the INFP is wont to have pity.

"I must have made the acquaintance of Satan and Shylock
at about the same time, for the two characters were long
associated in my mind. I remember that I was sorry for
them. I felt vaguely that they could not be good even if
they wished to, because no one seemed willing to help them
or to give them a fair chance. Even now I cannot find it
in my heart to condemn them utterly. There are moments
that I feel that the Shylocks, the Judases, and even the
Devil, are broken spokes in the great wheel of good which
shall in due time be made whole." (Helen Keller, The
Story of My Life)

Their extreme depth of feeling is often hidden, even from themselves, until
circumstances evoke an impassioned response:

"You're just torturing yourself!," I said sharply. That's
part of your trouble. You're using Digger to punish yourself
instead of doing something useful... Keep in touch with
your doctor, Andrew. Take your pills regularly -- and
remember." I raised my voice to a shout. "Remember you've
got a job to do with that dog!" (Herriot, op. cit.)

Of course, not all of life is rosy, and INFPs are not exempt from
the same disappointments and frustrations common to humanity. As INTPs
tend to have a sense of failed competence, INFPs struggle with the issue
of their own ethical perfection, e.g., performance of duty for the greater
cause. An INFP friend describes the inner conflict as not good versus
bad, but on a grand scale, Good vs. Evil. Luke Skywalker in Star
Wars depicts this conflict in his struggle between the two sides of 'The
Force'. Although the dark side must be reckoned with, the INFP believes
that good ultimately triumphs.

Some INFPs have a gift for taking technical information and putting it into
layman's terms. The following is an excerpt from a very 'friendly'
document which many of us have read:

"Getting where you want to go can often be one of the
more difficult aspects of using networks. The variety
of ways that places are named will probably leave a
blank stare on your face at first. Don't fret; there
is a method to this apparent madness." (Brendan Kehoe,
Zen and the Art of the Internet)


Famous INFPs:
Homer
Virgil
Mary, mother of Jesus
St. John, 'the beloved disciple'
St. Luke; physician, disciple, author
William Shakespeare, bard of Avon
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Evangeline)
A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie)
Helen Keller, deaf-blind author
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
Carl Rogers, reflective psychologist, counselor
Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood)
Dick Clark ("American Bandstand")
Donna Reed, actress (It's a Wonderful Life)
Neil Diamond, singer
Tom Brokaw, news anchor
James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small)
Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)
James Taylor, singer
Scott Bakula ("Quantum Leap")
Terri Gross (PBS's "Fresh Air")
Amy Tan (author of The Joy-Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife)
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Megan Follows ("Anne" of Anne of Green Gables)
Fred Savage ("The Wonder Years")

Fictitious INFPs:
Calvin (the controversy continues :-))
"Deanna Troi" ("Star Trek - The Next Generation")
"Wesley Crusher" ( " " " " " )
"Doctor Julian Bashir" ("Star Trek: Deep Space 9")
Sebastian (The Neverending Story)
E.T.: the ExtraTerrestrial
Doug Funny, Doug cartoons

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