INFJ and INFP Relationship Compatibility for a Male and Female

Finding a compatible romantic partner is a real challenge, but many personality types are extremely complementary. One of the more noticeably compatible type pairings is INFJs and INFPs. But why do these MBTI types work so well together in a romantic context and how do they express themselves in men and women? Let’s answer these questions and more below.

Preference Matching

One of the biggest reasons that INFJs and INFPs work so well together in a romantic context is because they share three preferences. They don’t share any core personality functions (these are things like Ni or Fe), but their preferences for I, N, and F are all shared even if they are expressed slightly differently.

This means that these two personality types will often manifest the same general core values regardless of life experience or upbringing. In essence, it ensures that the two types look at the world in similar ways and communicate about it relatively similarly as well.
They have several additional shared aspects that make them excellent partners. For instance, both INFPs and INFJs are introverted intuitive. This means that they’re focused more on the internal understanding of the world and their own emotions. They possess a natural rejection of surface-level appearances and ideas, instead choosing to focus their energy on symbolism and the hidden meanings and patterns in everything and everyone.

This makes many INFJs and INFPs particularly interested in art and other intellectual pursuits. An artistic sensibility is one of the big things that draw people together, especially to individuals like the same kind of art or art style.

Meanwhile, the slightly different expressions of their core functions ensure that neither personality is overshadowed or perfectly mirrored by the other. They feel pretty complementary all in all, with each individual looking at Intuition, Feeling, or Introversion in slightly different ways. Basically, they bring a familiar yet interesting flavor to life that isn’t intense or different enough to drive the other one off.

Even better, INFJs have extroverted feeling or Fe, which complements very well with the INFP’s introverted feeling or Fi. In this way, INFJs can almost seem to draw out the trust and emotion of an INFP, making them feel safe and secure in a way that few other people can.

On the flip side, INFPs have extroverted intuition or Ne. INFJs have introverted intuition or Ni, so they feel that the INFP draws out their intuitive understanding into the real world and can often “read their mind”.

INFJ Male Expressions
INFJ males will tend to be different from their masculine peers in several key respects. For starters, these individuals are much more in tune with their emotions, which may draw women to them for their perceived openness and authenticity. Additionally, their masculine societal role often conditions them with a deep respect for logic and practicality, which allows them to understand and work with the emotions of others procedurally. Their natural inclination toward schedules and plans makes them good at setting and reaching goals: again, attractive qualities to many women.

INFJ Female Expressions
The INFJ archetype adheres quite closely to the standard female social role model, so many women find themselves exemplifying the type unintentionally. INFJ females will be emotionally open and warm and may be particularly in tune with the emotions of others. This is also due to feminine social training; women are often tasked with emotionally helping others, particularly family members or romantic partners. This traditional femininity makes them attractive to many men.

INFP Male Expressions
INFP males are unique when compared to their peers, but they find a stereotypical example in the moody artist. This, too, can draw women to them, as women are often drawn to the apparently hidden depths and emotional authenticity that these men exude. INFP males will likely be quite fond of solitude and will pursue their goals with consistent, if meandering, dedication.

INFP Female Expressions
INFP females will likely be a little less emotionally isolated than their male counterparts, mostly due to feminine conditioning. However, they will likely express themselves as more unique than other girls, and find themselves especially disdainful of traditional feminine emotional mirroring. To the INFP female, such expression may be tantamount to a personal lie.

Why the Pairing Works

INFJs and INFPs work particularly well in deep, long-term relationships for lots of reasons.

First and foremost, they can communicate well with one another. They both possessed feeling personalities and strong introversion and intuition, meaning that they prefer lots of time alone and to process their emotions or thoughts internally or as related to a bigger picture. This means that either individual likely understands what the other is feeling to a much greater extent than if their partner was a different personality type.

At the same time, they don’t smother one another since they don’t manifest their thoughtful periods of reflection in the same way. INFPs are pretty flexible in their plans but will often mull around for hours, while INFJs have more rigid schedules and routines and will express themselves more outwardly using them.

INFJs and INFPs are also successful because of their ability to resolve conflicts. Both types focus on Feeling, which provides them with plenty of opportunities to practice understanding their emotions and the feelings of others as they grow up. By the time they reach adulthood, both personality types are excellent when it comes to showing them to another person. Additionally, both types dislike emotionally harmful confrontation. The likelihood that one or the other will say something particularly harsh is quite low and the desire for reconciliation is high and shared between both parties.

Trust is another big positive to this pairing. Because both types focus on Intuition to understand the world, neither discount the other’s perspective because they understand that the judgment came from the same place. Unlike with a Sensor, who’d they have trouble understanding, both INFPs and INFJs can trust that their partner was looking at things in at least a relatively similar way as themselves.

The efficacy of this pairing can often be seen when both types work together. They both share empathy and a proclivity toward creative solutions that look at the broad picture or underlying patterns of things. But INFPs are a little more flexible than their counterparts, allowing them to be excellent listeners or see possibilities where others might already be decided. INFJs are excellent when it comes to commitment and dedication and can help INFPs reach their goals and maintain schedules over time, which fulfills the INFP in turn.

Furthermore, INFPs are naturally accepting of change to a much greater degree than INFJs. This means INFPs can help INFJs adapt to new situations or schedules, especially when some emotional turmoil or trauma is involved. INFPs can make change a positive thing rather than something scary or something to be avoided.

Conclusion

All in all, INFJs and INFPs work well with either party as males or females. The two types are among the most complementary in the entire Myers-Briggs system, with several preferences shared across traits. This makes each type able to understand the other without too much difficulty and without being so similar as to be annoying.