[AbioticPrime]

First I thought I was INTP. Then I thought I was INFP. Then I thought I was ENTJ. Finally I thought I was INFJ. Now I'm lost.

Thing is, I see myself using each and every function on a regular basis, with exception to Si and Se. And I know I haven't reached transcendence/self-actualization on account that I'm 18, so I must have some functional imbalance.

INFJ makes a decent amount of sense. But when picturing myself an Ni-dominant I often begin to doubt the credibility of that assertion because while I do tend to view the world as far more than it is, kind of like the Sixth Sense kid seeing things nobody else can, I'm not tuned into this state of observation through most of the day. Whenever I think of using Ni it almost seems to take an auxiliary side-kick seat for me, because I have to invest some effort into using it. Not much, but some.

Furthermore, the Fe seems to fall apart as well. I'm decent at realizing how others feel, and I'm generally considerate towards discomforts of others, and I do feel somewhat inclined to help those in need -- upon introspection I realize that I don't give two shits about what most people think. I like to know I'm in control of my own life and frequently cross the lines of cultural norms to almost remind myself/prove to myself that I'm holding the reins to my own path in life. I also don't think twice about the failures / unhappiness of others when I don't think they deserve the converse. E.g. if someone has been living a lie, saying one thing doing another, then tells others they feel depressed implicitly asking for pity, I won't give them the time of day considering they made all the wrong choices themselves. This strikes me as Fi since I'm certainly trying to engineer my life to better suit my personal likes and dislikes, constantly.


One thing I've always had is my tendency to over-analyze. This might suggest an Ni-Ti loop, though I'm not sure. I'll realize a certain truth, and as soon as it becomes registered in my mind as an impending nugget of truth, some part of me begins twisting and turning that nugget probing it for any loophole or a grain of inconsistency and through this involuntary function I end up breaking it down, seeing it from another perspective which disproves it, and then falling back to square one again, like I am now.

Also, the prospect of being a feeler doesn't quite click for me. Although I get very sentimental, holding intimate connections with certain songs, movies, games, places, sights -- and can also be very romantic/genuine/considerate, I have too many traits which suggest otherwise. Firstly, my face houses 1 single bland, emotionless expression throughout most of the day, every day, for years, and I'm not depressed or anything. My voice is usually calm and collected, and I don't fancy flowering or padding my words to avoid hurting others feelings. My decisions seem to be ruled by "what makes sense" rather than "how I feel", though often I'll get derailed in tasks I shouldn't be engaged in without realizing. I'm not afraid to take a stand in places where there is disorder, nor am I afraid to be harsh and critical to struggling individuals, often leaving their souls crushed unintentionally. Social sciences take a toll on me, not because they're difficult for me to understand, but because the topics covered in such classes seem to be a understudied waste of time. Also, the views and opinions of most people who furnish these kinds of classes usually seem sheep-like or overemotional to me, and that makes me uneasy.

 

[Lost in Oblivion]

Thing is, I see myself using each and every function on a regular basis, with exception to Si and Se. And I know I haven't reached transcendence/self-actualization on account that I'm 18, so I must have some functional imbalance.

Well, just because you're Type X doesn't mean you only use A-D functions. I am an INFJ but that doesn't mean I don't use Si, Te, Fi, or Ne - on the contrary, I use these, just only to more limited extents than my 'natural' functions. That is to say, if I were to use Ne, it would take a certain sense of exertion on my part to use it to its full extent. Also, don't discredit yourself because you're 18 - age has a certain part to do with it, but it's not the entirety of it. I'm 17 and I believe I can use Se very well. I have trouble with allowing myself to experience unexpected sensations, but otherwise, I consider myself quite good at warping and projecting my image because I have trained myself to.

Also, the prospect of being a feeler doesn't quite click for me. Although I get very sentimental, holding intimate connections with certain songs, movies, games, places, sights -- and can also be very romantic/genuine/considerate, I have too many traits which suggest otherwise. Firstly, my face houses 1 single bland, emotionless expression throughout most of the day, every day, for years, and I'm not depressed or anything. My voice is usually calm and collected, and I don't fancy flowering or padding my words to avoid hurting others feelings. My decisions seem to be ruled by "what makes sense" rather than "how I feel", though often I'll get derailed in tasks I shouldn't be engaged in without realizing. I'm not afraid to take a stand in places where there is disorder, nor am I afraid to be harsh and critical to struggling individuals, often leaving their souls crushed unintentionally. Social sciences take a toll on me, not because they're difficult for me to understand, but because the topics covered in such classes seem to be a understudied waste of time. Also, the views and opinions of most people who furnish these kinds of classes usually seem sheep-like or overemotional to me, and that makes me uneasy.

As far as the rest of this goes, like I told you, don't let yourself fall into definitions, and don't detail your actions and assign them as attributes of those definitions. You don't have to be a Feeler to be sentimental about something. Being a Feeler means you make your judgments primarily based on moral values rather than logical ones.

I'm a Feeler, and one with Fe at that, but that doesn't mean I walk around with a smile on my face all the time - really, I just do that because I know it makes people feel more comfortable. I can be quite mean but I tend to stave myself off from a cold-hearted attitude because it's not going to make me any friends, nor do I really consider it 'appropriate' as you might say. And there's an example of my functions at work - as you can see, my behaviors are defined by the way I processed the information. I perceive there are multiple meanings (Ni) to a single context (Se) and recognize that it's generally not okay to be mean (Fe) so it would probably be best that I do not come off as mean in order to preserve friends or whatever (Ti).

My suggestion to determine which cognitive functions you use primarily is place yourself in a situation and pay attention to the natural way you process the information in reaction to the situation. Perhaps do this in multiple contexts so you can track which ones you use most. I think, however, you should be paying the most attention to the dominant function, which should narrow you down to two types. If you can't get the dominant, take a look at the inferior function. Process of elimination.

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

Although I get very sentimental, holding intimate connections with certain songs, movies, games, places, sights -- and can also be very romantic/genuine/considerate

This is all hardly true feeling in the sense of the feeling functions. It's more like raw emotional connections - not really value judgements, which comprise the realm of feeling. Any true T type should be able to easily relate to this. That isn't the point of the feeling functions. The feeling functions are about how much you trust your feelings and value judgement (e.g. good/bad, etc.) to make decisions. One thing I've noticed about the differences between F in T types and F in F types is that the F in F types aims for positivity as much as possible, since it is ego syntonic, while the F in T types defends them against negativity, since in the lower form, it protects the T types from anything highly ego dystonic. So T types tend to have an easier time making negative value judgements about things than positive ones - they're more simplistic with it. That being said, I'm thinking you're a T type, since you don't really seem to have an accurate concept of the feeling functions in the high form. I always got a strong T vibe from you day one. In fact, I think your first typing, ENTJ was the right one. I can clearly see how you depicted Te-Ni in your post, and the "bland" facial expressions would definitely fit with inferior Fi. I think you know yourself well, based on your observations. If you don't really get the F functions, this might make sense, considering that Fi is likely your inferior function. I get this all the time with INTPs thinking they're high F types, when, in fact, their F is almost animalistic in nature - nothing sophisticated (e.g. think of the whiny INTP stereotypes). In the inferior form, feelings judgements are much more black-and-white and unpolished in nature - not highly consciously controllable.

 

[AbioticPrime]

@JungyesMBTIno, thank you. Your responses are always helpful and insightful. You're helping me understand the feeling functions better.

Despite how obvious it is, I seemed to overlook the simple fact that F functions are judging functions, which means feelers lay emphasis on and trust their feeling functions when making decisions.

I'm not implying that thinkers don't feel, I'm just surprised at the depth of the emotional connections I hold for various things. It's almost embarrassing. I can see this quite clearly in my girlfriend, who's an Fi-dom. She holds strong beliefs and makes decisions quickly (or avoids making certain decisions) with such surety and confidence, I'm always baffled by how she arrives at those decisions -- my question is always: based on what logic? And her response is always "IDK, it's just the way i want it". I guess a large part of my attraction towards her is because this style of functioning seems so alien to me, I'm so damned interested in it.


I still have a couple concerns though.

One thing I'm pretty sure of is that I'm an Ni-dom. I read the description of the various types of children, particularly INJ, ETJ, ENP, ITP, and among those INJ child description fit me like a glove. Also, looking to my past, I always held confidence in my ability to see beyond what is, rather than my ability to persevere and succeed in any situation. Furthermore, my current life seems to be driven primarily by a need to understand and expand my knowledge of the world, and the passenger seat is occupied by a strong drive to succeed and achieve -- but that's the passenger.

I do have a strong need to be accepted and appreciated by others, and in many ways I try to reciprocate this to others. In fact, often times I hold myself back because I want to make good impressions on others to satisfy these 2 criteria. I'm not sure if this is an independent psychological issue from my childhood or if it's some form of feeling. The first part follows your classification of raw emotions, but the second part is an active, conscious decision which is probably made by one of the feeling functions.

Similarly, as much as I would rather be a Te user (based on my understanding of Te), I think I have a very strong Ti. In school I always emphasize understanding concepts at a deeper level rather than mindlessly memorizing formulas and definitions -- I think this defeats the purpose of education (though for boring classes I'll be a hypocrite for this, lol). Furthermore, I have a very strong drive to complete my understandings of various concepts and ideas and I'm easily shaken by any minute imperfections (which is why I've had so much difficulty fully understanding/accepting my type and others' types). I tend to generalize and operate based on assumptions. I have many theories which arise and THEN find myself finding facts to support them, rather than the contrary. I also get frustrated when others don't appreciate the logic I've invested in something or found. These all suggest Ti.

While I really dislike this aspect of myself, it seems to be a truth I can't escape. You're right, I know a lot about myself because I spend so much damn time introspecting and analyzing my conscious experience, what I am, who I am. If there was a personality type which went something like Ni-Ti-Te-Fi, that would be me lol.

 

[Hapalo]

Have you considered the possibility of being INTP?
Please don`t ask me why.
Have you read the stickies in the INTP subforum?

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

Well, you might be an INTJ, so the F your experiencing would be tert. Fi. And everything that you think is Ti is actually Te, since it's working with or against the outer world as a reference. Operating based on assumptions would probably be Ni. Ti has nothing to do with deeper understanding necessarily (nor does any function) - it's more about defining concepts. The functions are mainly about attitude than anything, so Te would have the attitude of reshaping manifestations of logic in the outer world (since it is objective) in whatever ways the person can come up with, while Ti would have the attitude of not really changing, but redefining how they think logically about something to their liking (since it is subjective) in the "inner world" in whatever way is most congruent with how they like to analyze.

 

[AbioticPrime]

Have you considered the possibility of being INTP?
Please don`t ask me why.
Have you read the stickies in the INTP subforum?

Yeah, I have. It's just not me.