What makes someone "sheltered"?
A general lack of experience (or 'street savvy', they say). Mind that one can be sheltered in different aspects of life; one can very much be experienced in matters of love while still being sheltered in career terms, for instance.
How would you go about unsheltering yourself?
The concept, I think, is 'to open yourself'; sometimes you listen, sometimes you do and try, sometimes you talk, sometimes you see.
Are INFJs more likely to be the sheltered or unsheltered type?
I am personally a sheltered type in most terms.
...I mean, what's the point in unsheltering yourself when you already generally know the consequences of bad experiences?
If you seek to understand, knowing and feeling are two different things.
having certain things happened to you as opposed to 'reading' about it can bring SO MUCH DIFFERENCE in terms of intensity, subjectivity, significance and salience.
If you seek happiness, being sheltered and unwilling to open oneself can block a lot of paths and roads.
Evading bad experiences is one thing, knowing that you MAY get that something you seek if you just have one pinch of courage to take that step is another thing entirely.
If you seek to live in peace, being sheltered means living in a sort of blissful ignorance, or dreamy confidence.
do so if you want-- but know that a sheltered peace is a very fragile one.
Sometimes trying to defend the castle and sustain that shelter will do so much worse than simply--opening it.