# of Friends (I vs. E) | INFJ Forum

# of Friends (I vs. E)

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I am an introvert. I estimate that I have about 15 good friends (and many acquaintances).

How many good friends do you have? *specify if you are an I or E please :) *

How many good friends do you think your typical introvert has? a typical extrovert? How many friends do you think it would take before your introversion/extroversion should be questioned?

An introvert doesn't want to be alone 100% of the time. It follows that an extrovert wouldn't want to be surrounded by people 100% of the time.

How much alone time does an extrovert want on average?
 
Good friends? About 3 or 4. (Extrovert)

I don't like the word aquaintance though so I know a lot of people that I get on with, I just wouldn't be ringing them up with girl problems or w/e.

Edit: As for alone time I've realised that once in a relationship I can't stand to be alone for more than a few hours. Before though I used to happily spend days alone at my PC. That said, when I was a kid right up to my late teens I used to get so bored and pace up and down the living room because I couldn't get hold of anyone to socialize with.

I'm a strange one.
 
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Good friends... hmm... less than a dozen. (debatably introvert)

ISTP, ENTP, INFJ, ISTP, ENFJ, INFP, ESTP, (ENTJ though we're on the outs at the moment) Apparently 8 (7 if the ENTJ keeps going at this rate).

Though 2 of these good friends are moreso because they're the spouses of good friends... so more like 6 (5).

Acquaintences? Depending on the definition more than I'd ever care to count.
 
IDK, like 5? introvert here.
 
Introvert with 3...maybe 4 good friends with whom I can share anything.
Lots of acquaintances that I could be potential friends with, but I usually
don't have the energy to spare in order to be a good friend in return.
 
Counted 13 and consider myself introverted :)

Generally I prefer to have a smaller number of overall social connections but I like to invest more time in people that matter.
 
7 super close friends. I'd say more but because of distance those friendships are put on hold until we reunite on university breaks. I'm also an introvert. I have lots of aquaintences, but some of them used to be super close friends just various things have made us drift apart. I prefer to have 7-13 super close friends than like 30+ aquaintences like some people I know XD.

In regards to your "How many good friends do you think your typical introvert has?" question, going off the introverts I know offline, I'd say 10-15 friends? I don't really know, though lol.
 
Three. I have a few acquaintances [some consider me a close friend, which is both flattering/awkward.] Recently I've had people ask me "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???" I guess I fall off the map a lot, lol.

-Anna
 
I'm really picky about close friends so I would say that I have about 4 close friends. I know that around 10 people consider me a close friend of theirs. Introvert.
 
Introvert
Aside from my wife and immediate family members:
4 (ESTP, ENFP, ENTJ, INTP)
 
I(nfj) and I'd say I have a couple friends. I think it's all relative though. I know people I've met on brief occasion that I wouldn't consider a friend, others could also have that same interaction with and consider a friend. I also know I've met people and just thought of them as a casual acquaintance while I find out later they consider me a friend. Again, it all seems relative to the person.

As far as really good, close friends go. One. My wife is the only one I'd consider in that category.
 
Friends that I actually consider close? 1 or 2 maybe, but even then I'm not that close with them.

Friends that I spend a lot of time with? A group of 20-25

(most likely introverted)
 
Hmmm, maybe about 10, tops and I'm quite introverted. People I can trust? Me, maybe one or two others.
 
Thanks for the responses. I wish these questions were getting answered more.


How many good friends do you think your typical introvert has? a typical extrovert? How many friends do you think it would take before your introversion/extroversion should be questioned?

An introvert doesn't want to be alone 100% of the time. It follows that an extrovert wouldn't want to be surrounded by people 100% of the time.

How much alone time does an extrovert want on average?
Click to expand...
 
corndogman said:
I am an introvert. I estimate that I have about 15 good friends (and many acquaintances).

How many good friends do you have? *specify if you are an I or E please :) *

How many good friends do you think your typical introvert has? a typical extrovert? How many friends do you think it would take before your introversion/extroversion should be questioned?

An introvert doesn't want to be alone 100% of the time. It follows that an extrovert wouldn't want to be surrounded by people 100% of the time.

How much alone time does an extrovert want on average?
Click to expand...

I'm an introvert.

I have about...2 good friends; I've keeping people away for a while now.

And some extroverts literally can't stand to be alone at all. Ever. They're not healthy, of course. It's a mirrored form of unhealthy introverts who can't stand to be around people, ever. But how much alone time does an extrovert want on average? I dunno. Maybe a single night here and there. It's not a daily thing with them, it seems. It's like they binge on people for a week and then spend one night alone.
 
corndogman said:
How many friends do you think it would take before your introversion/extroversion should be questioned?
An introvert doesn't want to be alone 100% of the time. It follows that an extrovert wouldn't want to be surrounded by people 100% of the time.

How much alone time does an extrovert want on average?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about how many friends, but I think the cycle in which you see them is important.

Witnessing the patterns in my highly extroverted father (ENTJ), my childhood best friend (ESTP), close friend from college (ENFP) and graduate school (ENTJ) I have seen quite a diversity in the number of friends, but a similar pattern in how they interact and how much quality and alone time they need.

My dad and graduate school buddy (ENTJ) like to get to know many different people and have something to do 4 or 5 nights per week with them. However, they, like most introverts I know, have only three or four people in whom they confide.

My best friend from childhood (ESTP) is not very friendly, appears like a lone wolf to 99 percent of people, but likes to be around his four close friends VERY often. When we lived in the same town, he would come by my house about six nights per week. We would smoke cigarettes (I quit years ago) and he would talk while I would nod my head or question his logic. Lots of fun really. But in public you wouldn't guess that he talked much at all.

My close friend from college (ENFP) is one of those people who will talk to ANYONE. He is very agreeable and has lots of friends. He is a middle school history teacher and I wouldn't be surprised if he is voted teacher of the year at some point because he is so good with kids and he has a quick, able mind. During college it wasn't unusual for him to bring someone to our apartment 5 or 6 nights per week. Holy hell, it bugged the shit out of me. He and his friends used to call me The Hermit because I would walk downstairs (bedrooms upstairs), walk past his friends or girlfriends in my boxers, grab food, and walk past them again never acknowledging their presence.
He used to confide in many people, but as he has matured it appears to me that he has dwindled his very close friends from 15 or so to about 8 (an estimate).

Conclusion:

corndogman said:
How many friends do you think it would take before your introversion/extroversion should be questioned?
Click to expand...

I don't think you can assess a persons introversion or extroversion purely by how many friends they have, but in how much time they spend with them and with how many in whom they confide who they think and feel themselves to be. If they are spending 5 nights per week with four or five different people, then that is a decent indicator of extroversion imo.

corndogman said:
How much alone time does an extrovert want on average?
Click to expand...

One or two nights per week. Or a few hours per day.
 
I have 7 or 8 people that I am really close with plus--2 more from this forum inching their way into my life

Acquaintances/co-workers/other people I interact with at least weekly--100+

I am introverted.

My sister is an extrovert. I would agree that she doens't ever spend more than one night alone--if that.
 
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I'm currently closer to people on this forum than anyone in real life. I'm beginning to think this way is better.

I've had at most 3 close friends at once and innumerable lesser friends. I can get along with anyone as long as there is suitable distance.
 
I have quite a large circle of friends for an introvert. Most of them live across country so I don't get to see them much. This means I have a lot of conversations with people but not much face to face interaction. I suppose it helps me to keep the friendships alive while allowing me to keep to myself at the same time. It works well for me.

I would say that a lot of the time I can border on extroversion depending on the company I am keeping at any particular time. I value my alone time a lot and after a lot of face to face interaction I need to withdraw otherwise I get really touchy.

I wouldn't say that the number of friends you has is a direct reflection of whether or not you're introverted or extroverted, though. I think a person can have a very large circle of people they'd consider themselves "close" to, but that doesn't mean you have to spend excessive amounts of time with them.
 
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