ENFPs are warm, giving people who love to be part of a family and will bring a sense of excitement and adventure to the everyday life of their family group. Their natural warmth and emotional intelligence means that they’re often attentive to everyone’s needs, while still requiring a certain amount of autonomy and independence themselves. This can cause some stress to certain personality types, but as long as that need is respected, ENFPs will be dedicated partners, parents, siblings and grandparents.
ENFPs and their Family Structures
ENFPs lead with extraverted intuition. This is an extremely curious function that likes to explore the external world, making patterns and seeing what works. Because of this function, ENFPs have absolutely no room for traditional values in their lives. They’re concerned with the new, content to live open lives where anything is possible. This trait will usually carry over into their family life as well, making ENFPs open to every possible family configuration including single parent families, open relationships and shared parenting situations. ENFPs are also unlikely to fall into traditional family roles for the same reasons and are more likely to encourage their family members to explore and develop every aspect of their personality and their innate skills.
The Dark Side of Families
ENFPs are naturally independent and they like to explore. Unfortunately, this can cause problems for their family connections. If the ENFP isn’t mature enough to understand what they really want and how to get it, they can become disconnected from their family or partner, endlessly seeking novelty in their relationships and in their lives. This doesn’t mean that ENFPs are incapable of being faithful or staying true to their family of course, but some ENFPs do have a tendency to have trouble with the reality of these ideals. This personality type needs to make certain that they indulge their need for novelty in as many aspects of their life as possible so the need for it doesn’t overwhelm them and damage their family bonds.
Like any types, ENFPs can get mired in bad relationships sometimes. This type may be a little less likely to do so, because of their need for novelty and natural independence, but these traits don’t determine all of their personality. ENFPs use introverted feeling as their auxiliary function, which means they make decisions based on their emotions and beliefs. And if the ENFP isn’t healthy and emotionally strong, this can lead to destructive beliefs that can trap them in extremely damaging relationships.
Domestic Life and Potential Sources of Stress
ENFPs like adventure and novelty and exploring the world. This can make them exciting on holiday, but it can be a problem in everyday life. ENFPs don’t like routine and they don’t like schedules, and these preferences can make them a little undependable. ENFPs will sometimes make appointments and then break them if something interesting comes along, or forget about them altogether. They’re also not very good at organizing the details of events or trips, and will avoid official paperwork with every ounce of their strength. This dislike for structure and control can cause family stress, as well as an innate sense of insecurity in the home. ENFPs aren’t the type to need or even want a stable home base, and so they often struggle to provide it as well. This doesn’t mean they’re incapable of it, of course, with practice they can do anything. But this isn’t really one of their strengths.
Finances and other Responsibilities
Domestic life can be a source of strain for ENFPs. Their dominant function isn’t interested in routine or paying attention to the details. Extraverted intuition wants to explore the new and to understand the patterns in the world, and the idea of having to do household chores or look after official paperwork can seem like a punishment to them. ENFPs will probably get all this done when they need to, but it will cause them stress and strain. They’ll probably need to take lots of breaks and explore something new afterwards as a reward.
ENFPs are usually brimming with new ideas. Because they’re constantly making connections in the external world, they often have ideas for businesses, new ventures or even new careers. This can be a problem in a family, as ENFPs like to start projects like these, but tend to get bored and wander off before they finish them. As part of a family, ENFPs need to understand that they have responsibilities and can’t just follow their restless minds when there are bills to pay. And once they do understand that ENFPs will usually work hard to contribute to the family’s finances, probably on a new and innovative idea that they force themselves to carry through to the end.
Going the Extra Mile in Families
ENFPs use introverted feeling as their auxiliary function. This gives them a good understanding of the emotions and motivations of others. They can often quite literally pluck these out of thin air. It can also give them a surprising amount of empathy for the suffering of others. If you can really understand and feel other’s emotions and motivations, it’s only a small step from there to empathize with their struggles. This kind of emotional intelligence can be extremely helpful and comforting within a family group. ENFPs can use it to understand and interact with each family member on their own level, making them feel heard and understood and accepted just as they are. This is one of the gifts of the ENFP type, and it can create very happy, cohesive and close families if it’s used well.
ENFPs will also encourage their family to explore. They won’t be content sitting at home, doing the same thing year after year, and they’ll usually push the rest of the family to go on adventures as well. This may include overseas trips or something as small as trying a new restaurant occasionally. ENFPs know instinctively how to keep life interesting and exciting, and this is a gift they will share with their entire family and anyone else who is close to them.
Final Thoughts
ENFPs are warm, but sometimes flighty people who keep family life interesting. When they’re immature, their natural attraction to novelty can cause problems within their family group and in their life, but with maturity they’ll learn to settle and direct their energy in more constructive ways. With an ENFP involved, a family will never be bored or boring, and will probably be the adventurous type that experiences life as a delightful puzzle that absolutely must be explored.
References
- “Podcast – Episode 0030 – Introverted Intuition vs Extraverted Intuition“. Sep 8, 2014. (Retrieved Feb 2018).
- Storm Susan. “How You Use Introverted Feeling Based on Its Location in Your Function Stack“. Jan 17, 2017. (Retrieved Feb 2018).
- “ENFP – The Discoverer“.
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