So there I was sitting in a multi grade level meeting. I had just figured out a colleague’s personality type. MBTI had become an obsession because I knew deep down that my developmental psychology background (which was my equivalent as a minor to my early childhood education major) really missed the boat when it came to Jungian psychology. Carl Jung was just a passing footnote in my training. More on that some other time. Where was I? Oh yeah, so my colleague was an ISFP, known as THE ARTIST in the MBTI community. She was not the first one to have this type, nor would she be the last among my coworkers. But here’s the thing. In this meeting, there were almost twenty people (rounding up). We were all sitting randomly in the classroom, only loosely grouped by grade level. That was when I noticed that all four of the ISFP’s I’d typed were sitting in a perfect diagonal line in relation to each other. It was a surreal moment (it doesn’t take much for me). These women knew each other, of course, but they didn’t know each other’s personality types, and they were in different grade level groups too. Yet there they were, making a quiet, artistic statement in an otherwise chaotic (as far as seating goes) setting.

The ISFP is, once again, known as THE ARTIST. A good description/mantra for this type would be, “Still waters run deep.” They are introverts, thus the still waters, with a highly developed sense of self from an emotional standpoint, thus the running deep. There preferences are Introversion-Sensing-Feeling-Perceiving. Their decisions are often made based on strong personal values and they approach the world with an open attitude. The ISFP’s I know have many passions with a wide range – dog rescue, calligraphy, and even studying moths. Often inspire by the world around them, ISFP’s interact with it through an in-depth, emotional, highly focused lense. Aesthetics are usually important to them because they truly appreciate the beauty our world has to offer.

The most famous ISFP I know of would be the singer/songwriter, John Denver. I’m dating myself here, but readers over forty probably just giggled a little. If you’re a younger reader, for Pete’s sake check out his music. There are two types of people in the world – those who love John Denver, and those who won’t admit it. By the way, the title of this post is the title of one of his songs. It has nothing to do with ISFP’s. I just love the tune.

The cognitive stack of the ISFP is as follows: Introverted Feeling (Fi), Extroverted Sensing (Se), Introverted Intuition (Ni), and Extroverted thinking (Te). Fi is their primary, or driver, cognitive function. It’s like a filter that says, “This is me, that’s not me.” It’s based on deep, profound emotional imprints and personal values. The navigator, or secondary, function is Se. This is what allows them to connect with the outside world in an in-the-moment way. Their tertiary, or passenger function is Ni, which allows them to see patterns, usually having to do with their personal passions. Finally, their inferior function, the tag along, is their least developed. Te allows them to organize things (people, systems) in logical ways. This is often the function they should work on for self growth. It’s how they can achieve “alpha mode.”

Statistically speaking, you know some ISFP’s. These are good people to have in your circle. Value their friendship, because they will value the good things about you. They may be a little quiet sometimes, but there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye.