# Inferior Fe, Fi, Se, Si



## Jordan J (Apr 1, 2015)

I'm trying to evaluate my type in terms of my problems. I know I'm an NT, and I currently think I'm an ENTJ, but I could be any of the 3 NT types, really.

So what do each of these four look like as trouble making functions? And what do they look like when they are inferior but dormant, as in not causing trouble? 

Also, bonus points for answering the same two questions, but for tertiary functions.

Thanks!


----------



## Valtire (Jan 1, 2014)

From Carl Jung: 

Inferior Si results in paranoid hypochondria
Inferior Fi will falsify evidence to match ideals (minimal integrity)
Inferior Fe is antisocial
Inferior Se is completely out of touch with reality, associating people with ideas that simply aren't true.


----------



## VagrantFarce (Jul 31, 2015)

Inferior Se:


An otherworldly, alien and unsettling presence - look for the tell-tale piercing, blank eyes as they "stare through" everything
Strongly "in-their-head", having left behind their physicality and volition - "heads on sticks", passive and disconnected from life, content to listening to the "undercurrent" of life but not really taking part
Simultaneously out of touch with their physicality and strongly protective of their energy - "watching and waiting" behaviour
Neglected hygiene and bad habits
Prone to short bursts of excessive, unmanageable binging - exercise, food, sex, drugs, media etc.
A distaste for intrusive or "loud" sensations, can be aspergic-like
Either unaware or dismissive of their physical presence, can oscillate between "too strong" and "too weak" without really knowing how to effectively modulate between them
Big-picture thinking turns into self-serving paranoia, disassociation, depersonalization, or just plain delusion


----------



## mistakenforstranger (Nov 11, 2012)

@VagrantFarce, your description made me think of this song:

We got heads on sticks
You got ventriloquists


----------



## bigstupidgrin (Sep 26, 2014)

From Celebrity Types. "Repressing" being the same as having the function as their Inferior/4th spot:

Repressing Fi: they sometimes forget what is important to them.
Repressing Si: they "sweat the small stuff" sometimes with tragicomical results.
Repressing Se: they may forgo living life to its fullest.
Repressing Fe: they may have difficulty emoting and figuring out what others need from them emotionally

Trying to get bonus points: 

Tertiary Si (commenting because that's me): details are tough to follow, and when we get defensive we'll look to the past (or past results) as a safety net of sorts.


----------



## Jordan J (Apr 1, 2015)

bigstupidgrin said:


> From Celebrity Types. "Repressing" being the same as having the function as their Inferior/4th spot:
> 
> Repressing Fi: they sometimes forget what is important to them.
> Repressing Si: they "sweat the small stuff" sometimes with tragicomical results.
> ...


Based off of these, I feel like I likely have Se and Fi as my tertiary and inferior functions. I guess part of the question now is which is which. I relate to the negativity of them both in some ways.

Se: sometimes I get very much lost in my head. Not too long ago I was lying on my bed in utter agony because my own thoughts were so annoying. It was this weird thing of having thoughts come to my consciousness and then analyzing those thoughts and analyzing my analysis and getting so frustrated. I felt like I didn't know who I was. I've also been tempted by solipsism in the past - in really bad moments I've genuinely wondered if I'm the only one who exists in a pitiful existence - wondering if there were any real objects that held their own apart from my perception of them. I sometime find it hard to remember that other people genuinely are people.

Fi: I can randomly feel incredibly insecure; I feel a need to impress people. Often I will read into things that people do some sort of malice or ill intent toward me. I've noticed especially while dating that I'll begin making connections between different things my girlfriend says and turning them into evidence as to why she's secretly harboring anger or dislike toward me.


----------



## Ksara (Feb 13, 2014)

Jordan J said:


> Based off of these, I feel like I likely have Se and Fi as my tertiary and inferior functions. I guess part of the question now is which is which. I relate to the negativity of them both in some ways.
> 
> Se: sometimes I get very much lost in my head. Not too long ago I was lying on my bed in utter agony because my own thoughts were so annoying. It was this weird thing of having thoughts come to my consciousness and then analyzing those thoughts and analyzing my analysis and getting so frustrated. I felt like I didn't know who I was. I've also been tempted by solipsism in the past - in really bad moments I've genuinely wondered if I'm the only one who exists in a pitiful existence - wondering if there were any real objects that held their own apart from my perception of them. I sometime find it hard to remember that other people genuinely are people.
> 
> Fi: I can randomly feel incredibly insecure; I feel a need to impress people. Often I will read into things that people do some sort of malice or ill intent toward me. I've noticed especially while dating that I'll begin making connections between different things my girlfriend says and turning them into evidence as to why she's secretly harboring anger or dislike toward me.


I don't see how your example of inferior Fi is inferior Fi. Inferior Fi pertains to a hypersensitivity to ones own feelings, a fear of feeling.
Inferior Fe is much more concerned with and sensitive to relationships between people, IMO what you seem to be describing. Coupled with you first example, I see over analysis and being overly logical, another aspect of inferior Fe.


http://personalitycafe.com/intp-articles/76783-recognizing-inferior-function-intp.html

This is just a brief glance. I do not claim I know something.


----------



## bruh (Oct 27, 2015)

Fried Eggz said:


> From Carl Jung:
> 
> Inferior Si results in paranoid hypochondria
> Inferior Fi will falsify evidence to match ideals (minimal integrity)
> ...


Do you have the rest of the functions?

(Whered you get this link pls)


----------



## AdInfinitum (Oct 21, 2014)

Hm, the inferior function often displays as both an adoration (intriguing and "magnetic") element sought in others as a means of balancing oneself from a cognitive standpoint. So therefore your own terrible performance and awareness of the specific element gives birth to a high desire towards finding it in other's whose attention centers around it. It is mostly about seeking the missing key in one's inflexibility in the area dominated by it.

As an idea, even though the subject could be derived in many other ways, angles, with many other viewpoints, the inferior function is a craving of your own cognition. Inferior Fe could be seen as an appreciation towards those able to manipulate emotional situations ( e.g. emotional expression), to support a specific emotional atmosphere, towards those able to recognize and impose objective moral values, etc. In exchange it can also mirror the person's handicap in manipulating those elements, various IXTP's encourage open discussions, with everyone participating but they do not know how to establish the atmosphere and emotionally encourage people to share their opinions so I have often encountered weird smiles, facial gestures thrown around at random times due to the lack of general awareness towards how to properly utilize Fe. 

Inferior Fi is an inability to be flexible in one's morals, determine one's closeness or distance from enemies/friends and therefore tend to mistake one for another, a struggle to set an internal set of values or to ethically interpret an issue so therefore it spurs an appreciation towards those with a fine understanding of intentions, with an advanced "sense" for personal ethics and able to voice and understand one's opinions from an ethical standpoint.

Inferior Si is usually recognizable through a lack of body awareness, exaggeration of one's physical states, lack of understanding of body signals, complete lack of protection in front of rough environment conditions, difficulty in dealing with everyday routine as well as chores, short attention spawn towards everyday issues, overall vital details of existence,remaining realistic about events overall. So the individual might be appreciative of an environment in which dealing with these elements is encouraged.

Inferior Se is a general disassociation from the environment's elements, therefore everything is seen through a symbolic lens, a difficulty in relating to the concrete reality, exaggeration of the gravity of the current situation, a desire for power but lack of will or determination, a craving towards force, lack of ability to force/pressure others, difficulty in presenting reality "the way it is". So you will have a multitude of clumsy INXJ's that do not know how much pressure a situation requests but they look up to those capable of achieving such heights.


However I do get the feeling the theory must be handled carefully as it can be taken for the personal drives in Enneagram so the inferior function must only be considered from a cognitive standpoint in day to day uses as personal mobilization elements are a different theory.


----------



## Valtire (Jan 1, 2014)

bruh said:


> Do you have the rest of the functions?
> 
> (Whered you get this link pls)


Inferior Ne: Seeing everything that can possibly go wrong and nothing that can go right.
Inferior Ni: Phobias, Compulsiveness.
Inferior Te: Assumes other people are scheming and plotting evil things; forms rivalries and tries to be superior.
Inferior Ti: Dark thoughts about the things they care about, childish opinions, only believes what they feel.

I read a book. Psychological Types by C. G. Jung (1921)


----------



## katanon (Apr 20, 2016)

Jordan J said:


> I'm trying to evaluate my type in terms of my problems. I know I'm an NT, and I currently think I'm an ENTJ, but I could be any of the 3 NT types, really.
> 
> So what do each of these four look like as trouble making functions? And what do they look like when they are inferior but dormant, as in not causing trouble?
> 
> ...



This is a very difficult way to figure out your type, IMO, because whether a function is inferior or you don't have it in your stack..it can kind of all look the same! For example, regardless of whether you are en ENTP (tertiary Fe and inferior Si) or ENTJ (tertiary SE and inferior Fi), you would likely struggle with being inattentive to your physical surroundings and be poor with routine AND not identify with others'/your own feelings well.

What might be more helpful is to identify which you use and which you do not. An obvious one for me when I was trying to figure out if I was an ENTP or ENTJ was whether I used Fe or Fi (knowing I did not use too much of whichever it was- haha). When I looked at it in those terms, I knew for sure I was an ENTJ because I have zero consideration for group harmony and there wasn't a people-pleasing bone in my body (Fe). I did, however, get very protective/defensive over others when I felt there was a specific injustice that I could empathize/sympathize with.

if Fe/Fi isn't as easy for you...try it with Se and Si!


----------

