[FreeBeer]

I noticed something peculiar today. I was listening to this old lady cry about things, she had tears flowing down her cheeks and I felt...very detached . I don't know what it is but I do that often. I'm highly resilient to emotional outbursts from other people and can take on a very cold and logical approach to it in my mind. Like I understand through intuition but don't really empathize in the moment. It feels like my emotions and me are separated during the event and we come together once it is over.

Things like movies or books or personal stuff can get to me thou and I do process the emotions when I'm alone. Base my decisions on how I feel about things and am moody, highly reactive so I am an INFP, but something is off.

I think I lack empathy or find it hard to connect to my emotions in that moment...or maybe it's the constant stress I'm under right now.

I'd say I understand in an intuitive way what others feel but the emotions rarely if ever overwhelm me. The expressed emotions have to be really strong for me to actually feel the same :P. When it comes to my own emotions and what i feel from moment to moment, yeah I'm highly in tune with that. I can tell every second what i feel and how it feels in my body too. Hard to put into words. I don't feel what others feel thou, I just understand.

How do you guys experience this? Am I supposed to be feeling all the time and things like this are supposed to drive me to tears or is that Fe?

I can also pick up on very slight expressions of emotions in people, even in text. Like I just know what is going on and understand how they feel, but it is an understanding and not me experiencing the same emotion. I detach from the emotion itself but know how to react to the other person experiencing it, what they are feeling, what it means for them and where it is coming from. It's like being in their shues minus being overwhelmed by the emotions.

[Shorttail]

It takes lots and lots of practice to cry and laugh when you're supposed to and opening up for the stream of emotion will crush you time and time again and you will swing from super ultra mega receptive to stoic when the bursts have taken too big tolls and the mood changes will feel bad quite a lot of the time and even when you're emotionally super open and consuming people will be quite very much convinced you are totally insane but they will like you anyway because it's sooooooo nice to be near someone who can show what they feel and not hide the pleasure and pain.




:3

[nyfantana]

I know what you mean, an old lady at my work was upset about her cats being stolen, I felt bad and told her the logical thing to do, but I didnt really hurt for her, I did but only a bit.

[glisten]

I feel the emotions of those around me immediately and intensely. Sometimes it makes it hard to determine whether what I'm feeling is a product of my own mood or of whoever I'm around at the time.

[FreeBeer]

o.o hmm could I be an INTP? :S I kinda doubt it cus I score really bad on both Te and Ti lol.. :\ and I only partially identify with the description.

Why am I so shut off from feeling what others feel in the moment? Is it the stress?

[Michael82]

I feel the emotions of those around me immediately and intensely. Sometimes it makes it hard to determine whether what I'm feeling is a product of my own mood or of whoever I'm around at the time.

Likewise. That last part I have all the time.

[Pixie Wings]

I feel the emotions of those around me immediately and intensely. Sometimes it makes it hard to determine whether what I'm feeling is a product of my own mood or of whoever I'm around at the time.

I think that is why I work so hard at making sure everyone around me is happy because then I am happy. I know immediately if I will get along with someone or not as I sense their authenticity or lack there of quite quickly.

[Mei]

o.o hmm could I be an INTP? :S I kinda doubt it cus I score really bad on both Te and Ti lol.. :\ and I only partially identify with the description.

Why am I so shut off from feeling what others feel in the moment? Is it the stress?

I have been thinking about this for a little while now of myself too. What Glisten described used to be how I am when I was younger. These days, I find that, unless I am very mindful in that moment in time, do I then realise the actual situation and can feel the vibe very easily. It does feel somewhat energising and "real" in that moment. I have not been able to do this for quite a while. Do you think that this is because our T is also kind of fully developing itself now?

I do not know if I am a developed INTP, cos I have been so analytical for a long while now... and I need to regress back to some Fi. Cos I do feel that it is quite absorbing. If you find the answer, then please let me know! :D I do not like my desensitized self. It is a selfish Self.

[FreeBeer]

I have been checking out the difference between Fi and Fe. What I experience is Ne-Fi. Fe seems to be the one which allows us to feel what other people feel.

Fi - Introverted Feeling

It is often hard to assign words to the values used to make introverted Feeling judgments since they are often associated with images, feeling tones, and gut reactions more than words. As a cognitive process, it often serves as a filter for information that matches what is valued, wanted, or worth believing in. There can be a continual weighing of the situational worth or importance of everything and a patient balancing of the core issues of peace and conflict in life’s situations. We engage in the process of introverted Feeling when a value is compromised and we think, “Sometimes, some things just have to be said.” On the other hand, most of the time this process works “in private” and is expressed through actions. It helps us know when people are being fake or insincere or if they are basically good. It is like having an internal sense of the “essence” of a person or a project and reading fine distinctions among feeling tones. <---this is what I experience. I just know what is going on in the other person without actually feeling how they feel. Crying does not drive me to tears, laughing does not necessarily make me laugh...but I will just understand...it's hard to put into words. It's an instant gut reaction from out of nowhere.

Fe - Extraverted Feeling

The process of extraverted Feeling often involves a desire to connect with (or disconnect from) others and is often evidenced by expressions of warmth (or displeasure) and self-disclosure. The “social graces,” such as being polite, being nice, being friendly, being considerate, and being appropriate, often revolve around the process of extraverted Feeling. Keeping in touch, laughing at jokes when others laugh, and trying to get people to act kindly to each other also involve extraverted Feeling. Using this process, we respond according to expressed or even unexpressed wants and needs of others. We may ask people what they want or need or self-disclose to prompt them to talk more about themselves. This often sparks conversation and lets us know more about them so we can better adjust our behavior to them. Often with this process, we feel pulled to be responsible and take care of others’ feelings, sometimes to the point of not separating our feelings from theirs. We may recognize and adhere to shared values, feelings, and social norms to get along.

o.o Fe is what you guys seem to be experiencing. Has anyone typed INFJ by chance before?

[susurration]

I'm really empathetic, mainly to pain. However, i'm very selective regarding things that effect me. I always saw Fi as a fine tuned emotional sonar ray, and Fe as being more broad. I'm not one of those people who become emotionally swayed by everything, in fact, only very specific and particular things move me internally (there aren't that many things that reach my core). I'm out of touch with reacting in the moment as well.

I actually have an advantage in most situations, because I can be detached and objective from the situation. I feel less around other people, because the intensity of emotions I feel by myself for very specific things, and once I've got into the motion of actually feeling the emotion. I have to get myself into a state of mind to feel things, because honestly, i'm not feeling deep emotions all the time. I can certainly tell the difference between what I and others feel. There might be infps' with different ranges of 'emotional boundaries'. My shell is pretty hard- most people probably wouldn't be able to tell though. I still communicate through empathy regardless.

I think stress is a factor that can effect the ability to be moved by things though.