Social anxiety and Ti in INFJ's | INFJ Forum

Social anxiety and Ti in INFJ's

AUM

The Romantic Scientist
Feb 8, 2009
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Is it possible that due to social anxiety, an INFJ can develop their Ti first rather than their Fe?
 
Yes, this is exactly what happened to me when i was young. My Fe was low, and my Fi was extremely high. I did fairly well in school because emphasis, was placed on academics, so i think my Ti was more developed than my Fe. This explains my childhood i believe.
 
Yes, this is exactly what happened to me when i was young. My Fe was low, and my Fi was extremely high. I did fairly well in school because emphasis, was placed on academics, so i think my Ti was more developed than my Fe. This explains my childhood i believe.

I thought so. Maybe it's one of the reasons that sometimes I don't feel completely INFJ and more INTP. It's easier for me to go inside my head even more(Ti) then to actually go out and use an extraverted function.

Thanks Restraint.
 
I think that social anxiety is the development of Fe. I always found it difficult to get past social matters and my feelings about them in order to focus on thinking through problems carefully. I would guess that the higher your Fe is (and mine is extremely high), the more difficult it will be to develop your Ti.
 
I thought so. Maybe it's one of the reasons that sometimes I don't feel completely INFJ and more INTP. It's easier for me to go inside my head even more(Ti) then to actually go out and use an extraverted function.

Thanks Restraint.

My Ti is much higher than my Fe. I can't function effectively if i'm having to focus too much on Fe. It's a difficult compromise. I also associate Fe with social anxiety and people pleasing. When i'm having to focus on what others need from me interpersonally, i can't get to the truth or the details (Ti), and so i start to crumble metaphorically. I have learned to balance Fe and Ti over the last few years, but i still find that i'm less productive when having to exercise Fe for long periods of time. Go figure.
 
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I think that social anxiety is the development of Fe. I always found it difficult to get past social matters and my feelings about them in order to focus on thinking through problems carefully. I would guess that the higher your Fe is (and mine is extremely high), the more difficult it will be to develop your Ti.

My Fe is very high too, except I think I suck at it...badly. My Ti is more developed since I "understand" it and can integrate it to my internal process but I "use" my Fe much more since it's what I show to the world.

I don't know if that makes sense? lol

Thank you for your insight Dragon.
 
Yes, this is my case my I has always been extremely high, and I feel very anxious in any social setting, not to mention that I am in a loner state at the moment, m Ti has developed a lot more than my Fe. I have always tested as an INTP because of might not so high Fe, bu I know Im a feeler and an INFJ that just needs to develop a more extroverted side.
 
It's probably what happened to me, actually.
 
Yes.

I'm still waiting for my Fe to catch up to my Ti.

Heck, it might be easier to just work on my Ne and switch types.
 
Hmm. I think I can relate to this slightly.

Some days I really really just don't want to be social. Some days people will say hi and I'll acknowledge them, but not very much. Sometimes I think I'm being more Fe than I really am. People will tell me "gee you look grumpy" and my response is typically "Oh."

I think you can really tell an introvert vs. extrovert or use of introverted vs. extroverted functions when someone is an an uncomfortable situation. I think this may be a bit more of an Ni thing, because we are hypersensitive to the overall atmosphere of places.

But yeah, my Fe kind of sucks at times. I have like this "selective Fe" thing where I choose who I want to be polite with, and when. :/
 
I can get horribly nervous in social situations, and then other times I thrive off of them. I'm a mixed bag, but I don't know enough to make any speculations about Fe and what not.
 
This is interesting. I definitely think that my Ti has been stronger than my Fe for most of my life. I've enjoyed schoolwork (math) and analysing stuff, and although I have wanted to please people and felt socially anxious (which I think are manifestations of Fe), I really have never felt comfortable being the "mother hen" type of person (which I think is a manifestation of strong & healthy Fe). I have actually started developping my Fe more in the recent years-- if I have understood the processes correctly, that is.
 
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My Fe is very high too, except I think I suck at it...badly. My Ti is more developed since I "understand" it and can integrate it to my internal process but I "use" my Fe much more since it's what I show to the world.

I don't know if that makes sense? lol

Thank you for your insight Dragon.

Sucking at Fe is still the development of Fe. In other words, even when you are deciding to retreat away from people and avoid getting to learn about their emotional sides, you are still developing your Fe even though you probably aren't developing it as you'd like to. At least, that is my understanding.

My other theory is that in INFJs, Fe and Ti work in conjunction with each other. You will employ your Ti to analyze and pick apart your social situations, but the reactions that you are picking apart (your reactions to your situation, that is) will be that of your Fe, unless you are analyzing your social relationships in a very Spock like manner.

A person who is deciding how to negotiate their relationships based on Ti will act very differently than one negotiating them based on Fe. The person using Ti wont be too worried about the reactions of others. For this reason, some INTPs can be extremely outgoing. In fact, the most outgoing person that I know is an INTP.
 
I read this thread and keep seeing this pattern. I really think you guys are giving Ti the credit of what is actually an internal process dominated by Ni, with Ti supporting. Ni, in my opinion, is a lot like thinking, but more about the patterns (skme crap about unconscious free-association). Ni is a type of thought. I'm not saying you're all wrong, but it just seems incorrect that so many of you claim to have a Fe so underdeveloped that your Ti is somehow more developed? Just because math is so left-brained, doesn't really mean that it's pure Ti at work. Math is about patterns and ideas, and only in high school is the redundant step-by-step shit applicable... and fuck high school. My hatred of high school isn't what I'm trying to get at, what I want you to consider is this. The introverted functions are frameworks for different ways of dealing with things. The Ni is a blueprint for thinking about patterns and such in a ore "meta" way, and is built up over time with info unconsciously collected by Se... I would call it "same thing as Ti, but unconscious," however I now realize that is not fully incorrect. Ti is a framework for problem solving in a logical and orderly way, and so is Si. There's a difference between Si and Ti which is hard to describe, one is more applicable to physical reality and "useful," that's Si. While Ti is more objective and critical. Fi is a framework for sorting through feelings... But I'm pretty out of touch with that. Another point, you don't know what it's like to be a Ti-dom like ISTP, not Fi-dom like ISFP, and not Si-dom like ISTJ. You are likely Ni-dom (if INFJ) so it's hard to say what's what and what isn't what and whatever and so fourth... Ni is supported by Ti, blurring the line between unconscious association and its conscious realization. I often say I solve math problems more so with intuition than thought (and I'm often wrong and have to go back and do it step-by-step... hate high school).

I'm just an 18 year old dude going on a tangent now... completely exhausted from the past two days, haven't slept for about 30 hours and am probably not really communicating anything coherent right now. Fookin ell it's time to pass out. Good night all (Fe).
 
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I'm introverted and distant since I can remember myself, it has never changed. I was never eager to please the others. I wanted to protect people, yes, but it has developed a bit later. I see it as my feeler manifestation. Whenever I try to be more outgoing and supress myself I see it as a mask, sometimes a neccessity. It isn't me and so I don't associate it with either Fe or Ti. My F and T are currently dating and quite successfully, so I think I let them be for now.
 
I guess since my parents had been pushing me into extroversion for much of my life, my Fe has been better developed, now I have to focus on Ti and Se (driving tires me more than I think it should). When I look back on myself as a child I sometimes resent that when I tried to be outgoing I always ended up looking like a fool, but in the end I am happy I had the practise.

I read that my Ti is the supposed reason that I am always searching for the right combination of words in order to convey a higher level of clarity. I can totally vibe with that.
 
My Fe is totally genuine but I sometimes hesitate because I wonder whether people want me to help.

I don't really know where I am but I know that I often adjust myself (publicly) to fit in and appease other who I feel are probably less certain of themselves in spite of their obvious self assurance.

I know who I am and that's all that matters. It will become apparant to those who understand but to the people who never can or aren't worth the effort; I become whatever will keep them chilled and at my level.
 
Pardon to interrupt, but what if the Social anxiety we think we have in fact isn't coming from us, but a direct result of a highly sensitive fe , . That in face we are just picking up everyone else bullshit of social survival , because to be honest me as an infj i really don't care about fitting in ,

but while i'm there i wish to be excepted as i am as i do everyone else is all , but after going through a transformation is how i have come to this conclusion and i have learn to control it. Either way its a matter of controlling your fe and not letting it run you , and it will kick in overtime when you forget to take time to reflect to separate you from the people you been around...