# Introverted Feeling (Fi) and Empathy



## Tridentus (Dec 14, 2009)

1-
being in tune with your personal value system, and having a heightened sense and awareness of your own emotional reactions to things makes it easier to notice them within other people. really it's just reading body language, but in a way that others don't consider. you're so focused and scoped in on how your emotions and values affect you, that purely the attention you've given it throughout your life gives you a heightened awareness (practiced skill, if you like, it's just we never think of it that way) of it in general, whether it be you or someone else. we have this thing we talk about as ENFPs about how we have such a low awareness of physical pain because of inferior Si, that's how functions develop- we prefer some and improve them through repeated use. we're just never consciously aware of the process ourselves, it just feels like "you being you".

3-
Fi is _personal_ values, or individualistic values.. the values won't be devil's advocate _all the time_, but the fact that they might put you in a minority won't affect you, because it's of personal importance to _you_. some issues with Fi users might be that this individualism can give them the license to "cherry-pick" their moral values and to choose to disregard others that they don't find important (russell brand is an example, very passionate about some things, chooses to completely ignore other things). this obviously depends on the individual however, and as Fi is the subjective moral system, it is also the most variable from person to person (although two Fi users who lead similar lives and face similar problems are of course likely to have similarly shaped moral systems).

Fe is much more simple than that- it aims to have the "best" all round moral system based on what a person has grown up with- in this way, an Fe user is much more likely to pick up on morals from the society that encircles them.. it's basically the "normal" moral system- and that's why, for example, ENFJs who lead with Fe are so darn normal (not to mean boring.. just.. normal and adhering of societal rules and values). Fe users have a heightened awareness of societal values, or even just group values, in the same way that Fi users have a heightened awareness of personal values. i've noticed Fe dominants sometimes find my individualistic view on things a little disconcerting, as if they can't understand why, although again it depends on the person.


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## februarystars (Aug 22, 2012)

*1) How does Fi (being strongly in tune with one's personal value system) have any implications on empathy and the ability to pick up emotional vibes in others? I somehow can't see a connection between those two concepts, to me they don't seem to be essentially related (apart from empirical evidence of course)

*In my understanding Fi also means being in tune with one's own emotions (maybe this is linked to values - when I say emotions I really just mean subjective though processes). So you are very aware of your own emotional state, from day to day, hour to hour. You would use other functions (like Ne or Se) to pick up external information that 'fuels' these emotions - external stimuli that makes you happy/ sad/ angry etc, as well as stuff that's already just floating around in your head. 
These extraverted functions will also provide you with information about others emotions, from their body language, what they say etc, or just from your intuition about their state of mind if its Ne. These cues then goes through your Fi (which has given you a very deep understanding of emotions) and results in empathy. You are empathetic because you truly understand how they feel. _*You need to use your extroverted function to pick up on the cues though. If you don't use them Fi can actually be quite selfish.*_ That's my understanding anyway.
*
2) Is strong (perhaps even "ridiculous") empathy as pictured above a result of a Fi/Ne pairing (I'd expect Ne to amplify the ability to realistically imagine yourself in the situation of another person or even thing) or is it a trait of Fi-doms in general (ISFPs, can you relate?) or Fi-aux as well?

*I *think I'm ISFP and I can relate to this (tho I could be INFP). However I've noticed this trait in EXFPs too, so I think its just a general Fi thing. For example I have known my friend's Dad who I'm sure is EXFP for years. He asked me about my current boyfriend and I told him we had broken up. He looked genuinely so sad to hear this, I could read it in him. When just moments before he seemed happy and upbeat. Yet he didn't really express it to me, I could just see that it made him sad. And later my friend told me he had commented that he really hopes I meet someone nice soon, so I know that it did actually affect him. This to me is an example of Fi empathy - it really makes you sad to know that someone else is in pain. You don't just momentarily understand their pain, you actually feel it too and carry it with you. 
*
3) What are the distinct qualities of Fi-empathy (compared with empathy in general or Fe-empathy)

*Going on from the above I think Fe types also feel others pain when empathizing. But they are perhaps more able to separate themselves from it and offer Fe type practial comforting etc. Fi empathy is perhaps in a way less useful in a crisis because it doesn't necessarily know how to do and say the right things to make it better. but it maybe has a deeper understanding. And sometimes knowing someone truly understands and feels your pain is helpful in itself. 

Btw I have an INFJ friend who has been invaluable to me. In INFJ they know how to do the Fe stuff which helps immensely but they also have this deep understanding which I think comes from Ni. It seems to me that Ni underpinned by Fe can produce similar deep understanding.


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