MBTI: Thinker, Feeler?

I am primarily introverted, intuitive, and perceiving, but I am unsure of the third letter. My preference changes depending on my surroundings. I could be a rational feeler, because one of Ti's roles in my mind is justifying my Fi; however, I could also be an irritable, feeling rational, because I see Fi as an extension of my Ti.

One of my major hang-ups is that, when I do feel, though it is seldom, I am impassioned. I feel DEEPLY and FERVENTLY. I am either completely indifferent/neutral, in love, hate, or disgust.

The times that I exhibit clear Feeling tendencies the most are when I'm stressed (i.e. work, school) or with my boyfriend (an INTJ), due to the elimination of introversion by virtue of familiarity. While at home, with no one to annoy me, I think, sing, read, and philosophize. Now, though my philosophizing or thinking may seem like a pastime suited for, well, a thinker, it is interlaced with feeling; if I think "too much" about a deep subject without an uplifting distraction, (e.g. a person, music, CommunityChannel, &c.) I also start to feel too much. When feeling lonely and thinking about the mundanity of life, this can lead to suicidal ideology.

With the help of the Myers-Briggs Personality website, I have compiled the bullets from the Thinking and Feeling lists which best suit me:

• I enjoy technical and scientific fields where logic is important.
• I notice inconsistencies; I am concerned with harmony and nervous when it is missing. (Both apply.)
• I look for logical explanations or solutions to most everything; I look for what is important to others and express concern for others. (Both apply.)
• I make decisions with my heart and want to be compassionate; I make decisions with my head and want to be fair. (Both apply.)
• I believe telling the truth is more important than being tactful.
• I can be seen as too task-oriented, uncaring, or indifferent; I am sometimes experienced by others as too idealistic, mushy, or indirect. (Both apply.)

I think it is important to note that my image has always been one of a thinker, but that internally, I often find myself boiling with frustration or bubbling with excitement without actually expressing such feelings. I want to, but I fear embarrassment and do not.

According to the 131-question Enneagram test at SimilarMinds.com, my personality traits are as follows:

Type 8 - Score of 57 - I must be strong and in control to be happy.
Type 5 - Score of 56 - I must be knowledgable and independent to be happy.
Type 6 - Score of 49 - I must be secure and safe to be happy.
Type 9 - Score of 46 - I must be peaceful and easy to get along with to be happy.
Type 4 - Score of 44 - I must avoid painful feelings to be happy.
Type 3 - Score of 40 - I must be impressive and attractive to be happy.
Type 7 - Score of 39 - I must be high and entertained to be happy.
Type 1 - Score of 33 - I must be perfect and good to be happy.
Type 2 - Score of 15 - I must be helpful and caring to be happy.

Type 8:





SP/SX/SO:



Sorry for the onslaught of information! If you read through all of this, I hail you.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Very informative post, thank you. From what it sounds like, you definitely seem to use Fi more than Ti, but again, your doubts are founded. I'm not sure what the purpose of the inclusion of your Enneagram results were, so if you could expand on that (as well as your doubt concerning T vs. F), it would be very much appreciated.

While you have the idea about feeling vs. thinking it is important to remember that the names of the two different styles are not literal. To be a thinker does not always mean that one is cold and distance, and to be a feeler does not mean to be bubbly, a cry baby or any other stereotypical things people can come up. Rather it's about how you make your decisions. If you're a feeler than your most natural reaction to making a decision is to use subjective reasoning and if you're a thinker than your natural response is that of a logical one.

I would recommend that you look at the congruent functions. These are the functions that make up whatever type you may be. For an INTP, there dominant function is Introverted Thinking which you can read more about here and here. As for the INFP type, their dominant function is Introverted Feeling which you can also read about here and here. It's also important to note that both functions are rational. I think sometimes subjective gets mixed up with always being irrational when that is not always the case.

Anyways, I would like for you to read over those two dominant functions and see which applies to you more, however if you can't figure out which than I'm going to direct you towards this Congruent Functions test and it might help determine or at least enlighten us a bit on what type you might be.

Hi Saboteur,

It all comes down to how you make decisions. Because the decision process is a bit of a "black box" it can be difficult to figure out.

Your difficulty in choosing the T/F makes me suspect that you are a Thinker because we seem to over analyze things a lot.

Some common reasons for T/F confusion include:

• It is socially preferable to be seen as compassionate instead of logical (which is more tied to the Perceiving/Judging traits, in my opinion).
• Also, it's easy to confuse an Introvert's intimate awareness of the inner state with the Feeler's overwhelming emotion.
• Plus, Thinkers can feel that they have strong emotions because they feel overwhelmed by them (because they aren't accustomed to them).

You have to be careful trying to sort yourself from a list of traits because the words chosen are shaded by the personality type of the person who assembled the list. Every trait can be cast in both a positive and negative way. I've kicked around the idea of assembling such a list from all the types.

What I suggest is reading the full personality profiles for the two types, usually you will feel much more affinity for one than the other and ... viola! You've found yourself.

In any case, good luck!

Welcome! I share your experience of Ti and Fi being co-conspirators (although in my case it's more Ti backing Fi). I think people see Fi and Ti more at odds than they must be for some individuals. I'll be interested in hearing your perceptions as someone technically oriented on just the other side of the T/F border.

I hope you enjoy PersonalityCafe and look forward to your posts.

@Gray: It was included because Enneagram types can correlate to MBTI types. If one were to look strictly at this correlation, one would deduce that, as I just discovered, I am a thinker. (I would link a source or two, but since I only have five posts and links cannot be posted until ten, type and search "Enneagram MBTI Correlation" in Google.)

@So Long So Long & SoSaysSunny: Both of your posts combined led me to the conclusion that I am undeniably a primary Thinker, though Feeling does come closely afterward.

@Seymour: Thank you very much!

@All: Thanks for the unexpectedly accurate, kind, and quick responses. This is my kind of forum!

Oh, I forgot to add ...

I originally tested 50/50 on three of the four dimensions: X N X X.

Although you can test 50/50 by having a well-developed secondary trait, most people will actually fall into one or the other category after further examination.

I also think this was due in part to the way Keirsey worded his Temperament Sorter. For instance, he always asked questions about social situations to figure out the Introvert / Extrovert dimension. I am very social among friends and am unafraid to welcome strangers into MY group. I also easily strike up conversations with people on the bus or in a grocery line. But when I am the outsider of an established group, I am totally the opposite.

Plus, his questions never probed my need for private time and space. They also didn't really examine my observing nature (even while participating).

But reading through the profiles completely cleared things up ... the sentence that describes me to a "T" was:

Possessing a desire to understand the universe, an INTP is constantly looking for natural law. Curiosity concerning these keys to the universe is a driving force in this type.

-- Please Understand Me, pg. 186

Being an Astrophysics major wanting to do research in theoretical physics, you can see how this totally nailed down my type.

Here are two online profiles to compare: INTP & INFP

@SoSaysSunny: Thanks again!

The sentence that proves it to me is (the bold text is my own), "For Architects, the world exists primarily to be analyzed, understood, explained - and re-designed."

i am in the same quandary awaiting additional posts. good luck to you.

Originally Posted by So Long So Long

While you have the idea about feeling vs. thinking it is important to remember that the names of the two different styles are not literal. To be a thinker does not always mean that one is cold and distance, and to be a feeler does not mean to be bubbly, a cry baby or any other stereotypical things people can come up. Rather it's about how you make your decisions. If you're a feeler than your most natural reaction to making a decision is to use subjective reasoning and if you're a thinker than your natural response is that of a logical one.

I would recommend that you look at the congruent functions. These are the functions that make up whatever type you may be. For an INTP, there dominant function is Introverted Thinking which you can read more about here and here. As for the INFP type, their dominant function is Introverted Feeling which you can also read about here and here. It's also important to note that both functions are rational. I think sometimes subjective gets mixed up with always being irrational when that is not always the case.

Anyways, I would like for you to read over those two dominant functions and see which applies to you more, however if you can't figure out which than I'm going to direct you towards this Congruent Functions test and it might help determine or at least enlighten us a bit on what type you might be.

This is very true. People expect the processes to be identical to the descriptions and clearly evident.

Edit:

By the way, I originally shared that article when it needed to be cach'ed. My friends' articles are up again now at:

http://greenlightwiki.com/lenore-exegesis/