[INFJ] Does your ability to empathize make you a weaker person?

From a non-INFJ perspective, I don't perceive others as weaker based upon their ability to empathize. However, if they are easily moved by any sort of emotional content which may or may not just be manipulated or devoid of any rational backing, that is a weakness.

 

Being able to empathize allows for greater understanding of individuals or groups. That understanding in turns allows for an easier ability to manipulate through better understanding. IE, empathy if used in a specific way can make your position stronger.

Whether it affects you directly I wouldnt be able to say.

 

Untrained shotgun style empathy could be problematic like this, but for me empathy plus savvy has gotten me further than anything else.

In person, people see me less as weak and more as keen and perceptive, and potentially an ally.

 

Sounds a bit more complicated than what I envision as empathy.

Do you have any working examples?

 

I see empathy just being one way to understand people better, nothing more to it really. It's not a weakness by all means, it's a rare gift. What we should all thrive for is better understanding of the world.

 

Non-Infj Perspective here

It depends if it is coupled with a better than average tendency to project.

 

Projection is when you relate/see/attribute your own issues to someone else. So while you may see it as "empathy" it could just be a form of projection and not a valid observation or instance of employing "empathy".

 

Empathy is the only thing saving us from everyone turning into serial killers. I don't care whether it makes you weak or not. It is extremely important regardless.

I do think it takes a certain kind of strength and mental fortitude to not become numb to all the horror that occurs in this world.

 

Your abilities don't make you weak or strong. You just have them. What makes you strong is using them to survive, to grow, to learn, to create, and to add beauty to the world.

 

Sounds like a spot where compromise or communication was warranted.

Unfortunately we get into spots where there aren't tidy solutions that make everyone happy. May happen often.

 

The way I see it, this is a world that is largely ruled by ruthless, cold and illogical egotism.

If empathy and empathizing means sacrificing yourself for others, then you will often find yourself in a weaker place than the person you helped. That being said, I think that empathy is a broad concept, and that a lot of it is needed to live civilized with other people.

Does empathy make you a weaker person? I'm tempted to say that your actions determine whether or not you are a weak person. My best advice would be to keep your own interests at heart and mind, while helping others who need it.

 

If you feel that this time round you handled the situation the wrong way then make a mental note that when the situation occurs again you will be resolved to handle it differently...and do so