# Most and least emotionally expressive types?



## The Nameless Composer (Sep 20, 2014)

You'd think E over I, and F over T in general, but Fe in general, but how would you compare say, an INFP which is Fi-dom, to an INFJ with Fe as aux?

I mean you'd think ESFJ/ENFJ would be most, being Fe-dom, the least might be types that have Fi as their last function. But then ENTJ has Fi as fourth, and INTJ as third, but INTJ certainly seems no more expressive. Have no idea about those in the middle, or if you could even rank them even in a theoretical way.


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## yellowtoccata (Jun 17, 2015)

My experience has been ESFP and ENFP as most expressive and ISTJ as least expressive. But of course this is an extreme generalization that relies largely on personal experience rather than reliable data. 

As to INFP vs. INFJ, I am going to hazard a guess. I am INFP and my best friend is INFJ. She has solid goals for the future and I, as a perceiver, am less sure and thus more self-doubtful. This self-doubt causes me to be very reserved. She, however, is generally quite happy with herself and confident about her future, and thus doesn't often worry whether she is "good enough". I feel that this really does come down to the P vs. the J function. 

On the other hand, many variables come into play here: one of us has experienced child abuse, while the other hasn't; one of us has pets and thus experiences a particular kind of love and companionship, while the other doesn't; one of us has been in college for a few years longer than the other; one of us has more siblings than the other; one of us drinks more coffee than the other ... 

All I'm trying to say, of course, is that environmental factors make a major difference in terms of how cognitive functions manifest. I've known INFPs who are very confident and INFJs who aren't. And of course one could have a whole other thread about nature vs. nurture (environment vs. biology) in the development of MBTI identity.


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## The Hammer (Aug 24, 2015)

I agree with @yellowtoccata, ExFPs as the most expressive and IxTJs as the least expressive based on experience.


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## reckful (Jun 19, 2012)

The Nameless Composer said:


> You'd think E over I, and F over T in general, *but Fe in general*, but how would you compare say, an INFP which is Fi-dom, to an INFJ with Fe as aux?
> 
> I mean you'd think ESFJ/ENFJ would be most, being Fe-dom, the least might be types that have Fi as their last function. But then ENTJ has Fi as fourth, and INTJ as third, but INTJ certainly seems no more expressive. Have no idea about those in the middle, or if you could even rank them even in a theoretical way.


If, when you talk about "Fe" and "Fi," you're talking about FJs and FPs, you're focusing on the wrong dichotomy combination for "emotional expressiveness" purposes.

Anybody who's under the impression that the average INFJ (because "Fe type"!) is more _emotionally expressive_ than the average ENFP (because "Fi type"!) has let a silly "cognitive functions" model lead them seriously off the rails from a _reality-based_ perspective.

What's more, they've certainly adopted a perspective that's inconsistent with Jung. Jung rightly understood that emotional expressiveness was first and foremost an E/I thing. As he explained:

The extravert has no especial difficulty in expressing himself; he makes his presence felt almost involuntarily, because his whole nature goes outwards to the object. ... The introvert, on the other hand, who reacts almost entirely within, cannot as a rule discharge his reactions except in explosions of affect. He suppresses them, though they may be just as quick as those of the extravert. They do not appear on the surface, hence the introvert may easily give the impression of slowness. Since immediate reactions are always strongly personal, the extravert cannot help asserting his personality. But the introvert hides his personality by suppressing all his immediate reactions. Empathy is not his aim, nor the transference of contents to the object, but rather abstraction from the object. ... As a rule one is badly informed about the introvert because his real self is not visible. His incapacity for immediate outward reaction keeps his personality hidden. ...

Both [extraverts and introverts] are capable of _enthusiasm_. What fills the extravert's heart flows out of his mouth, but the enthusiasm of the introvert is the very thing that seals his lips.​
If you're looking for the types who are the most and least "emotionally expressive," you should mostly be thinking in terms of the EFs and the ITs, not in terms of the FJs/TPs vs. the FPs/TJs. And probably needless to say, if somebody's MBTI perspective revolves around the goofy Harold Grant function stack (where INFJ = Ni-Fe-Ti-Se) — a model that's inconsistent with Jung and Myers, and has no respectable validity — they're likely to mostly or totally ignore combinations like EF and IT.

EF? IT? WTF?! They don't correspond to any _functions_, man.

As a final note, in case anyone's interested in a further (long) discussion of why Jung didn't think _any_ IF type would be an "Fe type" (or any EF type would be an "Fi type"), see this post.


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## Rabid Seahorse (Mar 10, 2015)

I'd say people with auxillary Feeling functions as the most and tertiary ones as the least. People use their auxillary function to parent and help others, whereas tertiary is only for relief. Dominant Fi/Fe users do show their emotions, but as the dominant function they have such strong control over its use and since it's not their "parent" function I notice they don't use it to correct others as much. Inferior Fi/Fe users show it more than Tertiary users because they're more prone to outbursts of emotions. My INTP friend will be like "YO WTF" moment when people start getting mad at each other, and my ENTJ dad will just lose his temper. Tertiary users are in that sort of limbo where they have just enough control to not have outbursts, but it's just weak enough that they don't care enough to express it often. INTJ's and ISTJ's have ice in their veins....


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## The Nameless Composer (Sep 20, 2014)

yellowtoccata said:


> My experience has been ESFP and ENFP as most expressive and ISTJ as least expressive. But of course this is an extreme generalization that relies largely on personal experience rather than reliable data.
> 
> As to INFP vs. INFJ, I am going to hazard a guess. I am INFP and my best friend is INFJ. She has solid goals for the future and I, as a perceiver, am less sure and thus more self-doubtful. This self-doubt causes me to be very reserved. She, however, is generally quite happy with herself and confident about her future, and thus doesn't often worry whether she is "good enough". I feel that this really does come down to the P vs. the J function.
> 
> ...


Yes of course two is way too small a sample to make any meaningful conclusion.


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## The Nameless Composer (Sep 20, 2014)

reckful said:


> If, when you talk about "Fe" and "Fi," you're talking about FJs and FPs, you're focusing on the wrong dichotomy combination for "emotional expressiveness" purposes.
> 
> Anybody who's under the impression that the average INFJ (because "Fe type"!) is more _emotionally expressive_ than the average ENFP (because "Fi type"!) has let a silly "cognitive functions" model lead them seriously off the rails from a _reality-based_ perspective.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that eye-opening response, reckful. It does make sense, though, if an introverts functions in general are more inwardly directed, than I wonder how that would affect even having Fe. In the same way, though, wouldn't that mean that introverts can't have ANY extroverted functions, like Ne, Te, Se? Since introversion is to do with being generally focused on the subjective self versus the environment. I'm not that well-read on Jung so I don't really know. But yeah, ENFP definitely still seems more expressive than INFJ, although if you compare ExFP vs ExFJ it starts to get interesting.


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## The Nameless Composer (Sep 20, 2014)

Not sure I'd agree with you rabid seahorse, but interesting theory anyway.


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## Raawx (Oct 9, 2013)

The Hammer said:


> I agree with @_yellowtoccata_, ExFPs as the most expressive and IxTJs as the least expressive based on experience.


<3


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

yellowtoccata said:


> My experience has been ESFP and ENFP as most expressive and ISTJ as least expressive. But of course this is an extreme generalization that relies largely on personal experience rather than reliable data.
> 
> As to INFP vs. INFJ, I am going to hazard a guess. I am INFP and my best friend is INFJ. She has solid goals for the future and I, as a perceiver, am less sure and thus more self-doubtful. This self-doubt causes me to be very reserved. She, however, is generally quite happy with herself and confident about her future, and thus doesn't often worry whether she is "good enough". I feel that this really does come down to the P vs. the J function.
> 
> ...


Very good response. Definitely EXFP for the most expressive and IXTJ as the most reserved. 

As you pointed out, it can vary when comparing two similar types, such as INFP and INFJ, depending heavily on life experiences.


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## The Nameless Composer (Sep 20, 2014)

niss said:


> Very good response. Definitely EXFP for the most expressive and IXTJ as the most reserved.
> 
> As you pointed out, it can vary when comparing two similar types, such as INFP and INFJ, depending heavily on life experiences.


Why would ExFP be more expressive than ExFJ though? Considering the latter is Fe-dom.


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## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

The Nameless Composer said:


> Why would ExFP be more expressive than ExFJ though? Considering the latter is Fe-dom.


I agree with you - Exfp may be expressive from Fi individuality but I highly doubt emotionally . Fi deals with its emotion alone- even the overly extroverted one . I find Fe Dom to be most emotionally expressive 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Amy (Jan 15, 2015)

I think the most is ExFJ, and the least is IxTP


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

The Nameless Composer said:


> Why would ExFP be more expressive than ExFJ though? Considering the latter is Fe-dom.


Perceiving functions trump judging functions in seeking expressive outlets, as a general rule.


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

ai.tran.75 said:


> I agree with you - Exfp may be expressive from Fi individuality but I highly doubt emotionally . Fi deals with its emotion alone- even the overly extroverted one . I find Fe Dom to be most emotionally expressive
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Empirically speaking, this is not the case - assuming that we are talking about the same thing, when we say emotional expression.


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## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

niss said:


> Empirically speaking, this is not the case - assuming that we are talking about the same thing, when we say emotional expression.


How so according to the people that you have dealt and interact with ? 
From my experience esfp can be very expressive in terms of entertaining a crowd or telling a story - as to enfp may appear bubbly but their emotions is rarely express (although we can't fake our emotions) it's hard for us to express our emotion through words . As for fe doms has a tendency to explain their own emotions very well and express it very well .
For example - I recalled being happily in love wandering around humming under my breath and spacing out into thoughts one time at a party and people were asking me " what's wrong ? Why do you look so sad ." As to when my enfj friend is happy you can feel the radiant coming through from her . Same with dealing with negative emotions - I must and need to be alone and I don't usually share my feelings until the problem has been resolve . As to my esfj mom enjoy sharing feelings asking for feed back and going out whenever she's sad . I guess the only time when Fi are more emotionally expressive than fe is when they're feeling angry at their breaking point - i find fe can blow up get mad one min and feel fine the next it's like whatever happen with their emotion like they have objectively dealt with it already as to fi tends to keep in so after we burst we require a massive amount of time alone and our emotion can't alter from one to another as quickly also an fe . 
I avoid using these examples because it's stereotypical - but I agree with mbti and socionic explanation of introverted feelings , those theory applies for me 


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

ai.tran.75 said:


> How so according to the people that you have dealt and interact with ?
> From my experience esfp can be very expressive in terms of entertaining a crowd or telling a story - as to enfp may appear bubbly but their emotions is rarely express (although we can't fake our emotions) it's hard for us to express our emotion through words . As for fe doms has a tendency to explain their own emotions very well and express it very well .
> For example - I recalled being happily in love wandering around humming under my breath and spacing out into thoughts one time at a party and people were asking me " what's wrong ? Why do you look so sad ." As to when my enfj friend is happy you can feel the radiant coming through from her . Same with dealing with negative emotions - I must and need to be alone and I don't usually share my feelings until the problem has been resolve . As to my esfj mom enjoy sharing feelings asking for feed back and going out whenever she's sad . I guess the only time when Fi are more emotionally expressive than fe is when they're feeling angry at their breaking point - i find fe can blow up get mad one min and feel fine the next it's like whatever happen with their emotion like they have objectively dealt with it already as to fi tends to keep in so after we burst we require a massive amount of time alone and our emotion can't alter from one to another as quickly also an fe .
> I avoid using these examples because it's stereotypical - but I agree with mbti and socionic explanation of introverted feelings , those theory applies for me
> ...


IME, Se and Ne dominants are very sanguine and emotionally expressive. Those with a judging preference are noticeably less expressive.


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## VinnieBob (Mar 24, 2014)

Rabid Seahorse said:


> I'd say people with auxillary Feeling functions as the most and tertiary ones as the least. People use their auxillary function to parent and help others, whereas tertiary is only for relief. Dominant Fi/Fe users do show their emotions, but as the dominant function they have such strong control over its use and since it's not their "parent" function I notice they don't use it to correct others as much. Inferior Fi/Fe users show it more than Tertiary users because they're more prone to outbursts of emotions. My INTP friend will be like "YO WTF" moment when people start getting mad at each other, and my ENTJ dad will just lose his temper. Tertiary users are in that sort of limbo where they have just enough control to not have outbursts, but it's just weak enough that they don't care enough to express it often. INTJ's and ISTJ's have ice in their veins....


says the ENTP who's user name is rabid sea horse:shocked:


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## The Nameless Composer (Sep 20, 2014)

I don't really agree with you @niss, I still think an Fe-dom would be moreso than someone who is Ne/Se-Fi. I could see why you might think Se might make one more physically expressive, but Im not sure how much that plays into thing. I think Fi CAN be as expressive as Fe, I mean I'm pretty facially expressive, but nothing like some. A lot of ESFJ types just seem over the top to me.


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

The Nameless Composer said:


> I don't really agree with you @niss, I still think an Fe-dom would be moreso than someone who is Ne/Se-Fi. I could see why you might think Se might make one more physically expressive, but Im not sure how much that plays into thing. I think Fi CAN be as expressive as Fe, I mean I'm pretty facially expressive, but nothing like some. A lot of ESFJ types just seem over the top to me.


That's fine, as I'm not trying to convince you. Everyone is expressive - only some tend to do so more readily than others. To attribute such behavior exclusively to cognitive functions is missing the boat, in my experience.


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