ENTJ vs. ENTP: What’s the Difference?

Though ENTJs and ENTP share ¾ of the same letters, they share NONE of the same functions. 

ENTJ:Te-Ni-Se-Fi

ENTP:Ne-Ti-Fe-Si

Summary 

ENTJsprefer to decide according to objective criteria (Te) and then perceive bysynthesizing ideas (Ni).

ENTPsprefer to perceive by exploring ideas (Ne), and then decide using personallogic (Ti).

ENTJ

Te dominant:The ENTJs extroversion manifests through a direct, no nonsense, and efficientapproach to the world around them. They prefer to use objective logicalcriteria to make decisions. Their speech is often bold, blunt, and to thepoint. They’re all about action and they are relatively decisive. If they see aproblem, they itch to actually DO something about it. They excel at creatingefficiency and see choices as relatively black and white.

Ni auxiliary:The ENTJ supports their Te through a synthesis of ideas that leads to a vision,hunch, or understanding about what “should be done”. They often “just know” theanswer, the solution, or the purpose of ideas and events. They look to problemsolve by understanding “the bottom line”. They may come to a conclusion quickerthan they can point to the specific evidence. They tend to have a sort oftunnel vision when it comes to achieving their goals.

Se tertiary:Though the ENTJ is generally focused on their “intuitive vision”, they aresurprisingly adaptable and can think quickly on their feet. They take a breakfrom their “get shit done” attitude by indulging in sensory pleasures, such asgreat food, movies, and sexual activity. ENTJs with highly developed Se can beincredible competitive athletes, with Se complementing their goal oriented anddecisive Te and long-term focus and vision of Ni.

Fi inferior:ENTJs are generally very private about their deepest emotions and values,preferring to burry their emotions instead of letting them affect theirperformance. But less access to these emotions means less practice dealing withthem, so ENTJs are especially susceptible to aggressive outbursts of negativeemotion. The ENTJ’s values are personal, and they can appear awkward oruncomfortable when trying to explain them to others.

ENTP

Ne dominant:While the intuition of an ENTJ is focused on creating a singular understanding,vision, or truth, the ENTP’s approach to intuition is exploratory. The ENTPsextroversion manifests through an open minded, divergent approach to ideas,theories, and concepts. They’re idea people, often preferring the start-upphase of a project to its actual implementation. They’re more interested in thebig picture than the details. Novelty excites them. They excel at theoreticalreasoning and are quick to make connections between people, ideas, and events. They’regreat at seeing problems and concepts from alternate points of view.

Ti auxiliary:The ENTP supports their Ne through their own personalized logical framework.Things have to make sense to them. However, unlike Te users, the attempt tounderstand something is more about the journey than the end result. They enjoythe process of making sense of things and tend to have a healthy amount ofskepticism. Many enjoy arguing for the sake of mental stimulation, as opposedto arguing to prove some specific point. For this reason, they may often findthemselves playing devils advocate. They tend to be curious about how systems,concepts, or theories work.

Fe tertiary:Unlike the very personal, buried feeling function of the ENTJ, an ENTP’sfeeling function is oriented toward the external world. ENTPs are perceptive ofthe motivations and emotions of the people around them. But it’s up to the ENTPto decide what to do with this information. Some ENTPs might use it tounderstand how to relate to people and therefore put them at ease. Others might use it tomess with people, or to manipulate people get what they want. However, since Ticomes before Fe in their function stacking, they will usually apply moreemphasis to their internal logical framework rather than Fe-stylecontentiousness when making decisions.

Si inferior:Attention to detail, sensation, and awareness of their own bodies tends to be aweak spot for ENTPs. They spend so much time exploring ideas through Ne thatthey are somewhat uncomfortable informing themselves based on what’s known,tried and true. They may have a lack of respect for tradition or a disdain forroutine. They need to constantly remind themselves to check back in with thefacts to in order to make sure that their ideas are grounded in some layer of truthor practicality.

QuickComparisons:

ENTJsdecide based on what’s objectively logical or efficient (Te), while ENTPsdecide based on what makes sense to them (Ti).

ENTJsuse their intuition to create singular vision or understanding (Ni), whileENTPs use their intuition to explore possibilities (Ne).

ENTJsunderstand others by understanding themselves (Fi), while ENTPs understandothers by “feeling” other’s emotions (Fe).

ENTJsuse reality to explore (Se), while ENTPs use it to ground themselves in what’sknown (Si).

Also, here’s a previous post I wrote (my first post ever!) on the difference between ENTP and ENTJ in relation to How I Met Your Mother’s Barney Stinson if you’re looking for further info!