Can an INFJ have Fe-dom?

[Wanch]

A lot of the time when I take online tests for cognitive functions, I get Fe and Ni as equals. I try to take many of them to get the most average result over time as well. However, the more I'm taking them, the more I'm seeing a trend of getting higher Fe, and it recommends I may be an ENFJ.

The problem with that is that I am in no way extroverted. I hate leadership positions, I dislike attention and parties and all that. I prefer to be in the background and do my own thing. I'll go to social events if I feel obligated, but I don't gain attention, and people don't really look up to me. I'm not interested in them doing so. I definitely get tired interacting with people and part-ways through an event I usually back away and get myself some space.

I get Fe scores highly because ethically I really value humanity and place a high value on peace. I'm fascinated with people from afar and love how they work. I hate confrontation and always try to smooth things out with people one to one after a conflict arises. I do care deeply about how people feel about a situation because the idea of anyone being upset around me - especially if it is something I'd caused or that I could correct - is upsetting.

I've only recently gone looking into INFJ because before a few weeks ago, when I took tests for just the 4 letters, it gave me INFP with a 90% I and about 55-60% P. Cognitive functions clarified that I couldn't be infp, but now I'm left with this new predicament.

What do you think? Is it possible to have a higher Fe than Ni and be INFJ? Is it a problem with the system? I definitely identify more with INFJ descriptions than ENFJ ones. It's a pickle!

 

[5r6jhd]

Very possible you're ENFJ. I am ENFJ and just as you described. the problem with MBTI descriptions if they are 2 dimensional.

I've debated INFJ vs ENFJ for a long time. I'm definitely not the most extraverted of extroverts and I have high Ni, but i'm still ENFJ.

 

[Wanch]

Very possible you're ENFJ. I am ENFJ and just as you described. the problem with MBTI descriptions if they are 2 dimensional.

I've debated INFJ vs ENFJ for a long time. I'm definitely not the most extraverted of extroverts and I have high Ni, but i'm still ENFJ.

If you don't mind me asking, what was it that sealed the deal for you in deciding between the two? In other words, how did you know? Was it just consistently getting Fe over Ni or was it other factors?

 

[5r6jhd]

If you don't mind me asking, what was it that sealed the deal for you in deciding between the two? In other words, how did you know? Was it just consistently getting Fe over Ni or was it other factors?

Yep, it mostly came down to the functions. I think those are the most accurate way to judge. You need to let go of the type descriptions. They often end up being innacurate pop psychology pieces that get people who are very interested in MBTI acting certain ways to fit into two dimensional boxes.

At the end of the day, even if I don't fully fit a "type description" of ENFJ, I am definitely NFJ and definitely do lead with Fe. I discussed it with another member here and they told me about some theory...I can't remember what it's called. Basically an ENFJ that can have a tendency to lead with Ni. So while I lead with Fe and am ENFJ, I have a very strong developed Ni that can confuse me sometimes.

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? As we age and mature, we tend to develop our functions better and they can get stronger with can sometimes make typing ourselves difficult.

Life experience also comes into play. And ENFJ wth some bad experiences in life may be more reserved, a little less open and outgoing or social etc.

There are a lot of factors

 

[Wanch]

Yep, it mostly came down to the functions. I think those are the most accurate way to judge. You need to let go of the type descriptions. They often end up being innacurate pop psychology pieces that get people who are very interested in MBTI acting certain ways to fit into two dimensional boxes.

At the end of the day, even if I don't fully fit a "type description" of ENFJ, I am definitely NFJ and definitely do lead with Fe. I discussed it with another member here and they told me about some theory...I can't remember what it's called. Basically an ENFJ that can have a tendency to lead with Ni. So while I lead with Fe and am ENFJ, I have a very strong developed Ni that can confuse me sometimes.

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? As we age and mature, we tend to develop our functions better and they can get stronger with can sometimes make typing ourselves difficult.

Life experience also comes into play. And ENFJ wth some bad experiences in life may be more reserved, a little less open and outgoing or social etc.

There are a lot of factors

I'm 24. That theory sounds very interesting, that could be what this is for me. Maybe I just have a preconception of what Extroverted is, but I really have trouble being open/outgoing/social, which is why it feels off to me. : / Maybe it's down to life experiences like you suggested?

 

[charlatan]

The simple answer is that the dichotomies and functions are different approaches to typology. They do not yield the same answers necessarily at all. It's better to not smooth this over, as some do, and simply be precise: what we mean by E/I in the dichotomies (which correspond well to the Big 5 model) is the outgoing/social stuff, whereas the functions are a much less empirical, more philosophical system, and there tends to be more debate about the best version of the system, and what E/I means in that context. Highly interesting but not as decided.

I think there are very reasonable interpretations within which someone can score INTP and be reliably INTP in the dichotomies, but be more of a Ne-dom than Ti-dom.

 

[ZcM4xzkjgzCjytBc]

By definition, no.
Every type has a fixed function order

 

[charlatan]

Responding to this thread after a while: while one can define "INFJ" as having the NiFe order, when examining whether that's a natural thing to do, we have to consider that it is rooted in Myers' theory that her dichotomies types built based on a psychometric instrument called the MBTI are indeed well-correlated with the functions stackings she proposes (note that she did NOT originally say the attitude of the tertiary coincides with that of the dominant).

That theory is far from being free of controversy, as she was disputing Jung for one thing, and second, it really doesn't seem to be theoretically feasible to extract it from the psychometric theory -- since the MBTI seems to be based on linear modeling with four dimensions which are independent, you would simply expect those to behave like four vectors which can combine in four-dimensional space in various ways to generate the coordinates.
This would yield the interpretation that, quite simply, you go farther and farther away from a type as you change the dichotomies! That is, an ESFP is maximally far from INTJ -- there would be no room to speculate they have something special in common (such as having Se, Fi, Te, and Ni...or even just Ni and Se).

What I'm basically saying is not only is the functions stacking adopted not Myers' own originally proposed one, and not only is her own proposed one controversial, but it's also extremely hard to see how to reconcile it with the dichotomies, i.e. what we should mean when we use a type code "INFJ."


The TL;DR version is: I think it's much truer to the situation to define INFJ as the dichotomies type, define the functions type as NiFe...(TiSe if you want to subscribe to Harold Grant's stackings), and then give reasons why you think there should or shouldn't be a correspondence between the two.
A priori, being a dichotomies INFJ who identifies more with Fe than Ni is far from surprising to me.