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Do you feel like other's emotions are your responsibility?

2769 Views 18 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  The Nameless Composer
I get this every now and then, especially when there's someone who is getting too close or attached to me. I intuitively know that their feelings for me and mine for them are mismatched and that since I know this, I should prevent them from getting any closer in order to spare their feelings. It's a weird place to be in, because there's always a bit of doubt that comes with these pieces of intuition, so there's part of me that tells me I'm just being cold for no reason. There's also a part of me that obviously cares abut them and wants them to be in my life. So then I get stuck in a position where I feel guilty for staying and guilty for being cold about it because I can't decide what to do... :confused:

Anyway this also happens with things that have nothing to do with me. Like forgiving people or sparing them certain criticisms or thoughts because I can tell where they are in life emotionally and think that it would do them more bad than good. Then others think I'm to easy on people or that I'm spineless because, they take people at face value and I see things that for all I know might not even be there.

Have you guys experienced this before, do you have any words of wisdom to share about these types of situations?
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I think it's my responsibility to be as kind as I know I can, but given that, I have no responsibility for just how the other will react.
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Omg. Not at all. I have a responsibility to be as clear as possible, to not play with people, to not lead them on, to NOT TROLL them, to not lie to them, but.....after I have explained myself or what is going on, fuggetaboutit!, there is no way I want anything to do with your emotions (as in responsible for what you do w/them). Yuck. It actually makes me ill, to think I could be that involved with another human being. I'm responsible for me, not you. Sounds like Drama class 101, you know, where people feed off of each other's *drama* (soap opera). In other words, I think I'm waaaaaay too detached or strive to be detached from others.
I think INFPs value 'emotional autonomy' (a term I just coined) a lot. I think we resent it when people try to manipulate our emotions so wouldn't think about doing so with others (generalisation I know). Well I know I do.
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