# What type is most likely to lack empathy?



## bluekitdon (Dec 19, 2012)

Empathy is the capacity to recognize feelings that are being experienced by another sentient or fictional being as I understand the definition. So people with very low F functions would probably be most likely to feel the least empathy towards others. 

On the other hand, a high T person would likely think through the consequences of their own actions, and possibly try to put themselves into the other person's shoes to think through their potential reactions, hence emulating empathy. So it's a circular logic problem that I don't think the MB system clearly answers.


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## bluekitdon (Dec 19, 2012)

reckful said:


> I hadn't heard that before. A 1982 study involving patients hospitalized for depression (Bisbee, Cynthia, Robert Mullaly and Humphry Osmond, "Type and Psychiatric Illness." Research in Psychological Type, 5, 49, 1982) found that the significantly over-represented types were ISTJ, ISFJ and ISFP.
> 
> And here's a 2002 study that found that ISFPs and INFPs were the types most likely to suffer from (unipolar) depression.
> 
> I'd be curious to know if there's any significant data supporting an INTJ-depression correlation.


Hard to say, I've been diagnosed with depression before, and had a lot of spells as a teen that would probably have been considered depression had they been diagnosed. But those periods were all relatively short lived, and I never resorted to medication to work through it even though it was offered. Would be interesting to know how many of each type actually went to a doctor to be tested in the first place, some types may see that as a weakness rather than as a logical step in solving the problem.


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## FlaviaGemina (May 3, 2012)

reckful said:


> I hadn't heard that before. A 1982 study involving patients hospitalized for depression (Bisbee, Cynthia, Robert Mullaly and Humphry Osmond, "Type and Psychiatric Illness." Research in Psychological Type, 5, 49, 1982) found that the significantly over-represented types were ISTJ, ISFJ and ISFP.
> 
> And here's a 2002 study that found that ISFPs and INFPs were the types most likely to suffer from (unipolar) depression.
> 
> I'd be curious to know if there's any significant data supporting an INTJ-depression correlation.



As I said, it was just some bloke's website. If I remember it I'll post it here. 
How do you get access to all those typology journals and stuff? Aren't they dead expensive? 
I've tried to find them at the uni library, but alas, Liverpool is too provincial to have them.


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## reckful (Jun 19, 2012)

FlaviaGemina said:


> How do you get access to all those typology journals and stuff? Aren't they dead expensive?
> I've tried to find them at the uni library, but alas, Liverpool is too provincial to have them.


I've got a good university library nearby that I spent some time at (just browsing out of curiosity) after I learned about the MBTI. Otherwise I pretty much just have access to what's free on the internet.

I probably should also have noted that, as I understand it, the personality dimension that's most associated with depression is probably the Big Five dimension that doesn't really have a corresponding MBTI dimension (although it mildly correlates with introversion). It's sometimes referred to as Neuroticism (although, within the normal temperament range, it's not a disorder) and sometimes called Emotional Stability. As the Wikipedia article notes, "Neuroticism is a risk factor for the 'internalizing' mental disorders such as phobia, depression, panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders (traditionally called neuroses)."


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## AlbaSaab (Dec 11, 2013)

reckful said:


> I hadn't heard that before. A 1982 study involving patients hospitalized for depression (Bisbee, Cynthia, Robert Mullaly and Humphry Osmond, "Type and Psychiatric Illness." Research in Psychological Type, 5, 49, 1982) found that the significantly over-represented types were ISTJ, ISFJ and ISFP.
> 
> And here's a 2002 stud that found that ISFPs and INFPs were the types most likely to suffer from (unipolar) depression.
> 
> I'd be curious to know if there's any significant data supporting an INTJ-depression correlation.


Wouldn't asking already depressed people to take the test, perhaps conclude inaccurate results? Just a thought.


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## I Kant (Jan 19, 2013)

Anything can be twisted.

Even empathy.

You can punish the innocent for your suspicions and still sleep well at night believing you were right, as a classic example of the abuse of power.

Or you can just tell yourself the party you hate is less than human. Then round up the black people or jews. If you have the means, the rest is history.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

I don't see why ESTP's are presumed to be the most likely to do this. Why is a type with tertiary feeling being presumed to be more vicious than types with inferior feeling functions?


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## SoulRefugee (Jan 27, 2014)

Its possible that with the Se of a ESTP that they come off as more assertive. Plus a good amount of the bad stereotypes line up with the unhealthy estp archetype. Seems some of the more introverted types who have inferior Fi don't tend to display their "lack of empathy" as much.


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## Derange At 170 (Nov 26, 2013)

Different types deal differently with empathy. Ne+Ti is great for empathy (regardless of what people say), but I'm assuming it'll be different from say Ne+Fi's empathy.. which it is.



monemi said:


> I don't see why ESTP's are presumed to be the most likely to do this. Why is a type with tertiary feeling being presumed to be more vicious than types with inferior feeling functions?


Yep

I believe people get too caught up in what they believe empathy superficially _implies_ and what F-functions superficially _imply_.

Empathy isn't just about feelings, but also about thoughts. That doesn't mean that F picks up feelings and T picks up thoughts, that's an extremely infantile way of looking at it and just plain incorrect.

An empath can put themselves in someone else's shoes, so they can imagine what someone feels and/or what they think. For example, since I'm an Ne+Ti user, my Ne picks up behaviors, facial expressions, body language, tone of voice. My Ti can further process that, adding nuances or details to my innitial Ne interpretation. Tada, empathy. Magic!

My Fe doesn't do a whole lot for empathy. I had that before I developed my tertiary. It just made it more pronounced outwardly.


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## Pyroscope (Apr 8, 2010)

MonogamyIsLame said:


> I'm a bit repelled by all of this knee-jerk "everyone can empathize" reaction. MBTI studies how we function at the cognitive level - this includes how we do or do not empathize. Pointing out that everyone is capable of some degree of empathy seems to be absolutely beside the point of the question, which never implied anything contradictory. In fact, the question implies the presence of empathy in all types, given that it is asking which type is most likely to "lack" in empathy.
> 
> I wish the MBTI community were more willing to get over this "everyones a winner" attitude that greatly detracts from our ability to acknowledge the details of contrast that serve for the very foundation of this tool. It's like there is a sensitivity to a person being judged over who they are, and so we give in to acting like we're all the same, when we aren't *exactly*. I think it's an insult to try to defend peoples character by portraying it as something other than it is. It implies that, were this not the case (and it isn't) that they should be judged for those differences.


I'd say it's a valid question to ask. However, I don't think that type is a factor in empathy, as it indicates more how you perceive and evaluate things whereas empathy seems less actively conscious.

Stereotypically F-types are thought of as more empathetic, due to their more 'human' focus. Feeling is apparently more concerned with people than Thinking. On top of that, Intuition is thought to be better at honing in on 'what's really going on' in front of you, thus leading to the idea of NFs 'magically' knowing what's wrong with people. Going even further, Fe is often attributed with more concern with others whereas Fi is more about one's own values. Thus if we believed in these views ENFJ would come out as the most empathetic.

But I don't believe this to be the case. Why? Because F-functions are just about making evaluations. Fe is tuned into social expectations and rules particularly. This is a whole different matter from empathy, which would be closer to stepping into someone's emotions rather than seeing in what way they don't fit what they _should_ be like. However, I'm not saying that Fe-users just want everyone to follow the social rules with no concern for their wellbeing, because plenty of them have a healthy dose of _empathy_ which will lead them to try and understand the person without pushing expected ways of being onto them. Equally Ti/Te/Fi users will empathise with a person independent of their functions. The functions may influence what they focus on and how they attempt to connect with the person (which is where different types may _look_ different in terms of empathy displayed) but it won't affect their actual levels of empathy.

There are many many T-preferring types who express concern for others and frustration at not being able to help others, because they are empathetic and pick up on these things. Their natural preference of Thinking may lead them to try to _fix_ the problem in a seemingly impersonal and unempathetic way, but the concern in the first place is what points at empathy, _not_ whether they know what to do and how to respond when they feel the empathy in the first place.

I'd sum this up by saying that type would affect the way one displays empathy, rather than whether it's felt in the first place.


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## InAName (Apr 9, 2013)

Narcissists. Narcissists lack empathy. As one very strong example.

To stereotype it based on MBTI functions seems like just that - a stereotype. Based on my limited understanding of Narcissistic Personality Disordered individuals, I suspect a lack of empathy can be found in any type based on a variety of environmental factors. I don't see a direct link to MBTI functions.


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## Argentum (Feb 23, 2014)

I'm an INTP and I know that I lack empathy for a lot of things. I know that's inferior Fe.

I was treated for depression, which then was recognized as bipolar disorder...but even when I got the right medications and therapy, that empathy that I thought I was "supposed" to feel wasn't there. Then I looked back on my life and realized it was missing.

I tried therapy for that too, because I'd like to care about so many things, like family issues...but after a while, we just kind of concluded that it wasn't there, and that was my normal state. I feel what I feel.

It's not that I'm incapable of empathy, it's just limited to very specific things, like my husband and my cats.

Is this type driven? I don't know. But I thought that I would put my experience out there for people to think about.


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## Satan Claus (Aug 6, 2013)

It would be a type with really low Fi so maybe an unhealthy INTJ or ENTJ


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## FlaviaGemina (May 3, 2012)

Satan Claus said:


> *It would be a type with really low Fi* so maybe an unhealthy INTJ or ENTJ


An Fe-dom.


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