# Extraverted vs. Introverted Feeling?



## Repeating Loop (Jul 3, 2010)

Once again I'm having trouble typing myself. I used to think I was an INFP but now I'm leaning towards INFJ. Here's why:

An INFP's main function is introverted feeling. I just realized that I may actually be really bad at that. I seem to be a bit out of touch with my inner workings. I'm not always aware of my emotions - sometimes people will say, "Why are you so angry?" or "Why are you so distant?" while I have no idea that I'm that way.

Additionally, I never really know what I believe. Religion is a big problem for me, as I can never tell if I really _believe _in spiritual things. I find it hard to believe that an INFP would have problems with these things. What do you think?


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## dp79 (Jun 2, 2010)

If your questioning your feeling (F) function, than you may want to look at your F vs T. Don't take the type as a whole. Look and compare each of the four pairs of functions. If your questioning your Feeling function it likely doesn't change your Perceiving or Judging functions. You may be more of a thinker than a Feeler. (INTP)
Also, just because your an infp doesn't mean you can't question religion or spirituality. And remember that the functions in your type are just preferences. We still have all the functions in us. We just prefer to use the functions in our type. If your well balanced in your functions you may easly switch to using other functions.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

Repeating Loop said:


> Additionally, I never really know what I believe. Religion is a big problem for me, as I can never tell if I really _believe _in spiritual things. I find it hard to believe that an INFP would have problems with these things. What do you think?


As far as I understand (and experience) Fi, I wouldn't say that Fi-users are incapable of not knowing what they believe. Fi makes me ambivalent on most all subjects _except_ the ones I believe strongly in. For example, I don't know my spirituality or what I believe in, but my Fi tells me that it's wrong to push belief systems onto someone else. If someone does try it (a common situation I've experienced is a jeudo-christian trying to convert me), then I will instantly get pissed off and maybe even argumentative. The downside is I have no real argument beyond the value; I can't say "I'm atheist/Jewish/Taoist" because I don't really have a spiritual life or lack of same.

I hope that made sense and I didn't confuse you even more


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## Razvan (Dec 17, 2009)

Repeating Loop said:


> Once again I'm having trouble typing myself. I used to think I was an INFP but now I'm leaning towards INFJ. Here's why:
> 
> An INFP's main function is introverted feeling. I just realized that I may actually be really bad at that. I seem to be a bit out of touch with my inner workings. I'm not always aware of my emotions - sometimes people will say, "Why are you so angry?" or "Why are you so distant?" while I have no idea that I'm that way.
> 
> Additionally, I never really know what I believe. Religion is a big problem for me, as I can never tell if I really _believe _in spiritual things. I find it hard to believe that an INFP would have problems with these things. What do you think?


 
If you are sure about the INF thing, than it's only a matter of J or P.

About religion, that doesn't really have much to do with it, while I am religios and believe, I have seen INFPs who are atheists or spiritual but not religious, quite a few in fact. I don't know % to tell you, but it's not really related to INFPs or not or MBTI...I think, maybe it's more of a culture thing, or education...I don't know. It definitely has nothing to do with J or P. So I would leave that aside.

now, being either J or P...I think these shoudl be relevant (taken from mypersonality.info) I will put in brackets how I am :happy:, you can try to do the same and see which fits you most:

Judging (J)

Judging is the preference outwardly displayed. Judging does not mean "judgmental". Judging people like order, organization and think sequentially. They like to have things planned and settled. Judging people seek closure. 

*Judging Characteristics* 

Decisive (never, not really)
Controlled ( this is kind of 50-50, in some things yes, in other no)
Good at finishing (not really good with finishing stuff)
Organized (lol, nope)
Structured (nope, not really)
Scheduled (I'm late 90% of times)
Quick at tasks (nope, I leave things for last minute)
Responsible (I like to believe I am...because I feel good about myself)
Likes closure (yeah...I know closure is good, but I don't normally do it unless I am pushed over a limit)
Makes plans (my best friend is an ISTJ, he presented me the foreign concept of "lists", I have no idea what it is, but I let him handle those:laughing
Perceiving (P)

Perceiving is the preference outwardly displayed. Perceiving people are flexible, like to keep their options open and think randomly. They like to act spontaneously and are adaptable. Perceivers like to keep things open ended. 

*Perceiving Characteristics* 

Adaptable (true)
Relaxed (very)
Disorganized (very)
Care-free (oh, yeah! )
Spontaneous (yeap)
Changes tracks midway (sometimes, but I do that...sometimes)
Keeps options open (definitely)
Procrastinates (unfortunately yes)
Dislikes routine (I hate routine, at least you can spice it up a lit, make it seem more fun, if you have to do it)
Flexible (very flexible)
Judging or Perceiving Preference

Try to think for yourself how you act in life, in general and see in which department you score the most or which one tends to dominate.:happy:


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## vel (May 17, 2010)

This article goes over the differences between INFJs and INFPs with some examples: INFJ or INFP?


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## Tridentus (Dec 14, 2009)

Fi vs Fe is the feeling of emotions within yourself vs the hypersensitivity of emotions in other people.

from personal experience i tend to find Fi makes me feel slighted more frequently than others, as in other people cross my morals, and an INFP should experience this even more strongly. also as a male with a tertiary T function it competes strongly with my F function and even defeats it sometimes when it comes to my judgement. i have lots of models and theories to complement my emotional judgement- INFPs i've met have been VEEERRRY more strongly Fi, and i know because to me the behaviour born of that function is very distinctive. Fi tends to make people seem dramatic when really it's because that person has had a genuine strong emotional reaction to something. Fi basically has a set of rules for behaviour which if broken lead to an angry reaction.


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## uh huh (Jun 30, 2012)

I know I'm late in joining this conversation but...I have a question about the Fi and Fe. I know the general rule is that you know your an Fi when you are more in tune with your feelings than of others. For me, I would say that's true. You also know you're an Fe when you are hypersensitive to other people's emotions that it can affect your own emotions. I'd say that's true for me, also. So clearly I'm aware of other people's emotions. The only thing that makes me think I have an Fi function is that I can't show many of my emotions on my face (at least I don't think so judging from my pics). However, I doubt that should be a determining factor.It just seems to me that the Fi and Fe are closely related and it's harder for me to separately distinguish them in my personal life than the other functions. Are there anymore ways to distinguish the Fi and Fe function than what was already mentioned here? Is it possible that my Fe and Fi are somewhat equally affecting my dealings with people?


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## Northwind (Jul 24, 2012)

Repeating Loop said:


> Once again I'm having trouble typing myself. I used to think I was an INFP but now I'm leaning towards INFJ. Here's why:
> 
> An INFP's main function is introverted feeling. I just realized that I may actually be really bad at that. I seem to be a bit out of touch with my inner workings. I'm not always aware of my emotions - sometimes people will say, "Why are you so angry?" or "Why are you so distant?" while I have no idea that I'm that way.
> 
> Additionally, I never really know what I believe. Religion is a big problem for me, as I can never tell if I really _believe _in spiritual things. I find it hard to believe that an INFP would have problems with these things. What do you think?


I can speak only for myself, but I can relate to that - not being able to explain why you feel a certain way. 

From when I was little, I remember that my mom would be desperate sometimes as to why I would cry. And I was unable to explain. That feeling of being powerless is still there. I had to learn to use reason to figure out why I would feel these specific (overwhelming) feelings. Feelings in themselves are wordless, I need to analyse (but not judge!) them in order to cope.


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## Trajan117 (Mar 31, 2013)

My interpretation is that Fe is where one's cultural, behavioral, and other social values and beliefs are based on how society as a whole behaves. Society is a validator for people who use Fe. Its not that they don't have a mind of their own or that they don't make indepedent judgments but they are uncomfortable when their peers do not approve of their feeling decisions. Fi on the other hand derives those same values and beliefs from within themselves. They will think of society as more of an informer rather than a judger. Fi people will see many different values and beliefs in society and will decide which they agree with and which they don't and form their own code of ethics and beliefs. Fe will try their best to be in the middle and follow all the things that society views as good and ignore all that is viewed as bad by the majority


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## Ksara (Feb 13, 2014)

Recently I came across a video by Dr Mike on YouTube

Here he describes his take on extroverted feeling and introverted feeling in the context of intuition (believes you can't separate the functions to understand them)
It's how you use you feeling function. Do you extrovert it or introvert it. He describes this as Fe talking with feeling vs Fi processing things with feeling
Such as for an infp, (Fi, Ne) will take in information via feeling. Their inner world will process things by feeling (as in right vs wrong, their values, a rich inner world of their emotions), however they will talk with their Ne. When communicating they won't be emotional, rather communicating with abstract ideas. This explains why an infp may know how they feel but can not communicate to someone why they feel a certain way. A well developed Ne will give the infp their ability to get their emotions out in more abstract ways.
For an infj (Ni, Fe) they take in their world through Ni. The difference is that this is not feeling. They won't experience strong emotion like an infp but will take in abstract ideas. How they communicate is opposite, they will talk with emotion, will express their feeling when communicating with others (even though the place the communication came from wasn't feeling, being Ni). Perhaps this is why they seem to display the social niceties.
The other thing he went on to explain was the order matters. An enfp for example (Ne, Fi) will be able to get their emotions out much more easily than an infp as they are able to use their Ne to communicate many different ideas in abstract ways. however they won't process as much with there feeling function, so the won't feel as strong about things compared to an infp who may struggle to get their feelings out.

I find his take on the feeling functions interesting.

What's people's thoughts on this?


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