7 Surprising Facts You Should Know about Mediators (INFPs)

When it comes to Mediators, also known as INFPs, some things are obvious. We have active imaginations, we like to help people, and we may or may not have written a secret notebook of poetry about you.

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But there’s a lot hidden beneath the facade of someone with the Mediator personality type. Here are seven surprising stats you should know about Mediators.

1. 61% of Mediators said they often feel overwhelmed by other people’s problems. (Average agreement was 41%.)

   If you need a shoulder to cry on, you’d do well to call a Mediator. We tend not to turn down people who ask us for help – in fact, we usually feel honored that they asked.

   But giving support to others can come at a cost. For sensitive Mediators, it’s hard not to internalize someone else’s problems or take on their pain. Unless people with this personality type learn to set boundaries, we can end up feeling overwhelmed. That said, 39% of us seem to manage not to get overwhelmed by other people’s problems, so it’s definitely possible for people with this personality type to find a healthier balance.

2. 72% of Mediators said they’d like to change many things about their physical appearance. (Average agreement was 59%.)

   In general, Mediators try very hard not to judge other people based on how they look. If you asked us, we’d say that inner beauty trumps outer beauty – and we’d mean it. But many of us don’t extend this same generosity to ourselves.

   Why? Well, that answer probably varies from person to person. That said, Mediators tend to crave connection with others, and we may believe that connecting with others would be easier if we were more attractive. Alas, we may need to learn the hard way that the meaningful relationships we long for require a deeper foundation.

3. 70% of Mediators said they’ve created personal budgets but have never stuck to one. (Average agreement was 53%.)

   Oh boy, we’re talking about money. You might think that Mediators are too airy-fairy to care about dollars and cents – but you’d be wrong. At least 70% of us, it turns out, have created a budget in the past.

   Now, did we succeed in sticking to those budgets? Well, evidently not. But the good news is that we’re more than capable of shaping up our spending habits – especially if we keep our longer-term goals in mind.

4. 92% of Mediators said they often feel strong empathy for fictional characters. (Average agreement was 78%.)

   Okay, this one may not come as such a surprise. Mediators are empathetic by nature – even, it turns out, for people who aren’t real. This might explain why 61% of Mediators – more than any other personality type – said they think they’ll write a book someday.

   (On a personal note, this also helps me understand why I ugly-cried through the entirety of the movie Up.)

5. 69% of Mediators said they find it hard to make up their mind, even about small things – like what to eat or wear. (Average agreement was 48%.)

   To all you Mediators who’ve ever agonized over which color T-shirt to buy – you are not alone. And you know what? Maybe our indecisiveness isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it might make us a nightmare to go shopping with, but our mental flexibility is also what enables us to come up with out-of-the-box ideas, adapt to changing circumstances, and put ourselves in other people’s shoes.

   About that T-shirt, though: 25% of Mediator personalities say their favorite color is blue (the most popular color in our survey).

6. 72% of Mediators said that, in their opinion, modern life is too complicated. (Average agreement was 54%.)

   Do Mediators wish they could live in the past? Well, yes and no. Mediators tend to be progressive, and we would never want to revert to the injustices and inequities of the past. That said, we sometimes feel overwhelmed by modern life, with its 24-hour news cycles and its traffic jams and its ever-pinging phones.

   That’s why we need to escape from the rat race every now and then – whether that means diving into a good book or just enjoying a quiet night at home.

7. 58% of Mediators said they believe in magic. (Average agreement was 41%.)

   Curious and perceptive, we Mediators like to keep our minds open, so it makes sense that we might be especially inclined to believe in magic. (It’s a narrow majority, but still more than any other personality type.) We’re not just talking about “abracadabra” stuff, though. More than half of Mediators consider the most profound scientific concepts to be somewhat “magical” or “spiritual.”

   Whether or not we’re into magic, Mediators tend to believe that there’s more to the world than meets the eye. Searching for that “something more” is often what helps us to feel a sense of purpose and direction in life. In our heart of hearts, we’re seekers – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Further Reading

• Struggling to ask for what you want? We’ve got advice for you on how not to be a pushover (even if you’re a Mediator).
• Read up on the differences between Assertive Mediators (INFP-A) and Turbulent Mediators (INFP-T) to learn how the Identity trait can influence these personality types.
• Curious about other personality types that share key traits with Mediators? Check out our articles on extreme Advocates (INFJ) and extreme Architects (INTJ) to see some notable statistical spikes from our research surveys.
• If you have bigger questions about being a Mediator – such as how Mediators fare in relationships with other personality types or what they need in a career path – it may be time for you to enroll in our Academy.