# Does this sound like an ISFJ?



## Dynamic Equilibrium (Oct 31, 2011)

I'm obsessing over typing all my friends and my oldest, dearest friend is actually hardest for me! She is a high school science teacher and has taken MBTI tests before and says she tests either as INFP or INTP but this doesn't sound right to me, not least because those two have opposite functions and orientations for their Dominant and inferior cognitive functions. Seems more likely that T and F are aux and tert. I'll start with what I am most sure about and go from there:

I'm positive she has Fe. She is considerate to a fault, always wants to be kind, sympathetic, I've never heard her say anything bad about anyone. On a less formal personality quiz she came out as a type that gives everyone around her positive energy. She is extremely sensitive to when others don't fulfill her interpersonal expectations like returning calls etc. 

Her friends and family are treasured. She deeply feels that her family is part of who she is, she's connected to them in a way no one else I know is, and it is entirely positive. 

She can feel incredibly betrayed when someone turns out to not be who she thought they were, when she falls in love she falls oh so hard, but is very shy about it almost like she isn't worthy of it. It was kind of a curse for a long time and she'd always fall for people who were on the rebound and then lost interest in her, but that may not have anything to do with MBTI. But despite all this she seems to wear her heart on her sleeve, or maybe that is just because I know her so well and see it and hear about it, I'm not sure she shows it so much to others.

She's really sensitive to expectations at work and fears conflict. When her boss thought she wasn't accomplishing enough as a lab manager she was petrified and distraught (she was actually already doing the work of at least 2 people). She ended up changing careers to teaching and now she just radiates, she has found her calling. Her students mean so much to her it almost hurts. She feels so strongly for them because she had a hard time in high school and teachers really helped her, and she wants to do that for her students who struggle either academically or socially. 

She is an amazing teacher because she has an incredible ability to capture things with metaphors and creative explanations and mini experiments. One reason I'm not sure about ISFJ is because it is hard for me to think of her as a Sensor. She seems very intuitive in her ability to connect concepts and generate such creative metaphors and conceptual examples, but maybe this can come from Si and tertiary Ti. I just don't usually feel so much on the same wavelength with S types, but I know that isn't exactly solid evidence. 

She has a quiet, joyful serenity about her. And a sadness, kind of a loneliness, but still joyfully serene, the joy and sadness like two sides of a coin, making a whole that can't be balanced any other way. 

I am not even certain about intro vs. extravert because though she initially strikes me as an introvert, I know connecting with others is very important to her. She kind of bugs me in how much she calls or IMs sometimes to the point that I block/avoid her for a while. Not so much any more because we talked about it and she gets that I'll be there when she really needs me and the rest of the time I come around in my own time but don't like to feel socially pressured. It used to be that she had a way of making me feel really guilty about that, I think it was strong Fe in her bouncing off my inferior Fe. 

Certain things about her seem very J, she has a way of being a little bit controlling of people and things around her, pointing out semi-important things I forget and I feel a little stupid about it sometimes. Definitely a teacher, one who is very supportive with the very best of intentions but one who doesn't miss anything and who you don't want to disappoint. 

She has these puppydog eyes and she knows how to use them. It isn't like she is maliciously manipulative, but she'll give you these puppydog eyes and a bit of a passive guilt trip if you don't help her or do what she wants sometimes. She knows she's doing it and kind of overdoes it, like a little game, not serious guilt tripping, but it is really effective, and I get the sense she really is hurt and feels rejected if you don't cave. 

So I'm positive she has strong Fe, and I get an Si sense from her, kind of a nostalgia and need for security, so ISFJ. But my initial instinct about her being a sensor and maybe extraverted made me strongly consider ESFJ. I've also considered INFJ. 

About the Si, she seems to surround herself with things that make her comfortable and happy. Her place is cozily cluttered and parts are really messy, but it is all things that she wants to have around because they make her happy. I feel like even the food she eats is special to her, never just nourishment. 

She is a romantic. She wants the sweet boy, not the bad boy. She watches wedding shows like "Say Yes to the Dress". She wants a fairytale happy ending. I think this is another reason I thought she was NF at first. 

Okay, I'll stop there, I know it is a lot and not very organized, please let me know what you think and if you have questions, please ask!


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## kittychris07 (Jun 15, 2010)

I think from the description she sounds like an IXFJ, but not sure what the x is. She kind of sounds like an intuitive from the way you describe the metaphors she uses--I as an ISFJ would be more likely to make she all my details are accurate or tell you interesting facts about something to make it more interesting.


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