[ZaRocks]

I'm trying to figure out what it means to have an inferior Fe function? Can anyone provide some possible examples? I know a lot of it has to do with the inability to express emotion or respond to others' emotions, but it seems like there are so many caveats to these generalizations that it all becomes confusing.

One example that struck me this morning is that whenever someone else around me feels uneasy (could be nervousness, anger, intoxication, etc.) it affects me to a huge degree, as if I'm completely at a loss of how to respond. It's almost like I'm part of a machine and one of the other cogs froze up. Not sure if this would be attributable to inferior Fe or not.

[madhatter]

I'm just gonna quote from Lenore Thomson's book, because she describes it very well. This is for the ITP types (ISTP and INTP) and the underlines are what I underlined in my copy of the book:

"...Their least-developed function, Extraverted Feeling, gets too far away from consciousness. Indeed, these types can be nearly oblivious to the social rituals and signs of relationship that Extraverted Feeling regulates. If they become aware of this aspect of life, it can strike them as a strategic game...

...On the other hand, the ITP's spontaneous emotional expressions are likely to be downright impetuous. A relationship that 'feels right' to the type can prompt life-changing decisions without much consideration of their Extraverted consequences...

...Well developed, Extraverted Feeling prompts us to find our identity in relationship to others. When Extraverted Feeling is unadapted, however, it's likely to be primitive and egocentric. An ITP who loses touch with it can be overwhelmed be unconscious desires for others' approval and appreciation. These impulses push ITPs away from their usual subjective approach to life and give them a chance to grow.

But like all types, ITPs don't recognize the influence of their unconscious side. What they experience is an increasing sense of being deprived of approval and appreciation. The price of relationship seems too high, so they try to shut out affective claims that might cause them to be hurt or suffer rejection. The more emotionally unavailable they become, the more vulnerable they feel. " (Thomson, 300)

[madhatter]

Also:

"Because Extraverted Feeling is so profoundly unconscious, ITPs feel little responsibility to situations uncongenial to their accustomed sense of self...

...The convictions of extreme ITPs have a slightly paranoid quality...Thus, it can be difficult to persuade them that the conclusions they're drawing, under the influence of inferior Extraverted Feeling, are illogical...

...ITPs in contention with their inferior function are attempting to limit their perceptual intake to what they recognize and can count on, but the unconscious Extraversion of their inferior function is moving them to do it in a way that draws attention to themselves and points up the darker side of Feeling motivations.

In fact, the more ITPs defend themselves against the Extraverted Perception they actually need, the more powerful their Extraverted Feeling impulses become. Such types pay a good deal of attention to the way people react to them....

Their indifference to others is paradoxically combined with the idea that people are trying to make them look bad or treating them with disregard..."

[madhatter]

Under the more specific ISTP section of the book, she says:

"In general, however, these types experience their feelings only in the course of using their subjective logic. Their ability to sort them out and recognize their meaning is not usually well-developed. Somewhat like ISTJs, ISTPs tend to acquire things that will give form to their inner lives.

...However, this Introverted manner of expressing their inner life doesn't give ISTPs any experience with the soical vocabulary that tells people they're cared about and mean something to them. An ISTP's Extraverted Feeling function tends to be undeveloped to the point of being unconscious.

Verbal assurances mean very little to them, and they don't tend to offer them. If someone ask too much of them, they will simply walk away and seek the company of like-minded companions..."

[negativnein]

Would you happen to know where i could find more online material about inferior Fe? E-books in particular, forum discussions are relatively easy to find.

[madhatter]

I found this article here. It's just your basic, slightly stereotypical profile of ISTP, but if you scroll down to the bottom of page 5, it goes into how inferior Extraverted Feeling can affect us.

[madhatter]

Some observations about Fe here. (There's a paragraph where the author starts talking about Tarot...I just skipped that claptrap. The rest is pretty interesting.)