# Is 'criticism', 'critical' or 'critique' a negative word to you?



## liza_200 (Nov 13, 2010)

> So, I was wondering if this was one of those Thinker-Feeler differences.


You know it depends on the individual in each way he/she takes it. I'm a NF, and criticism is really not at all bad as long as it is directed to me as a source which can bring improvement in me. But if it is meant to insult me, I don't take it personally but I do defend myself if I really have a reason.


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## JungyesMBTIno (Jul 22, 2011)

I view "criticism" and "critique" rather neutrally for some reason..."critical" seems more loaded to me for some reason. Perhaps it is the state that it describes, rather than the actions that the latter two reflect that makes it come off this way to me...


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## LotusBlossom (Apr 2, 2011)

no, they're not.


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## MooseAndSquirrel (Apr 10, 2012)

To me it really depends on the context in which each is used. In college I was expected to use "critical thinking" and learn to "critique" and appreciate being "critiqued" in my major field (music) so perhaps I tend to hear these words in a more encouraging and positive way than most. As for "criticism", it can be heard as a positive or negative depending on how its used.


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## Stan the Woz (Apr 10, 2012)

To me (instinctively; this is not a conscious thought, when I know they can all be taken in many different lights) criticism and critical are negative, critique is neutral. Blame my upbringing, though, that's what I do. I don't know if it's a type issue for me so much.


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## @RedCapMarie (Apr 13, 2012)

The word CRITICAL does it for me. For an INFP most things we do during the day are done after careful consideration and often with lots of meaning behind it.


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## MilkyWay132 (Jul 15, 2010)

It really depends on the context, and how it's done. Criticism can be a positive or negative thing, critical seems like a bad word because it is describing a characteristic rather than an action, and critique sounds okay. Again, about the whole 'characteristic' thing. I am much more likely to be offended if, say, I'm called a bad writer rather than simply told I did something wrong, such as miss-spelling a word. The former would be questioning my ability to write, and the latter would just be describing mistakes I made, which would make it less offensive.


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