The Eight Function-Attitudes

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Typology
The Eight Function-Attitudes

Failure to develop the less dominant functions results in overuse of the primary and can cause it to flood when presented with its opposite either through external social communication or internal surfacing.

The tertiary function straddles the threshold between the conscious and subconscious worlds and thus exists within both light and shadow. Subconscious is not to be confused with introversion which is an internal direction of thoughts, feelings, perception and energy, whereas subconscious is below awareness where a person is unaware of thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Linked to both states of awareness, the tertiary function is the portal to the subconscious.

The surfacing shadow calls a person out of a feeling of emptiness; it may manifest as a pull toward living more from the lesser attitude. This does not mean that a person will suddenly live more within the lesser attitude than the dominant. The dominant preference will always be dominant, but a person will become more balanced, developing and maturing qualities of the lesser attitude; for instance an extravert may choose to socialize less than her norm and an introvert may choose to socialize more than his norm.

Avoidance exhausts the primary function until it becomes so overworked that it loses energy and operability. The shadow, acting through the tertiary and inferior functions, surfaces regardless of whether desired. Since the functions within the shadow are undeveloped, these attempts to avoid this surfacing result in primitive and reactive bursts from these lesser functions.

The Eight Function-Attitudes
Each person can access the qualities of all of the Function-Attitudes, but in varying degrees. The MBTI type code in parentheses refers to the types who use the particular function-attitude as the primary preference. Those who have these as a primary or auxiliary preference are most likely to display these in the greatest development. Regardless of which is primary, the extraverted functions are likely to be more noticeable to others since this is the function used in the outside world.

For a person so focused in the sensory world, introversion is a journey inward to unfamiliar territory. He is uncomfortable in and thus avoids silence and solitude where thoughts can grow and his mind can wander. But in midlife it is this world which calls, pulling him into its foreign depths; transitional growth is either imposed upon him by an external force such as an ultimatum from his spouse or a threat to his career, or internally through the overuse and subsequent failure of his dominant functions.

Midlife Development & Overuse: An MLCer initially dismisses the inward call as an unimportant nuisance. When the call refuses to cease, he deliberately ignores it and seeks more action instead. He fears that if he stops he will lose his purpose which is what grounds him to reality. Constant motion yields exhaustion and the lesser functions are able to invade, while at the same time his reliable sensory skills may begin to fail from abusive overuse.

In his efforts to avoid looking inward, he seeks more and more sensory experiences, objectifying people as a mere means to more sensation. The eventual dysfunction of his sensory skills is a complete reversal of his world; he doesn’t know what to do with the rush of thoughts and feelings. His 3˚ function is also extraverted (though less developed) and may erupt publicly in primitive ways.

Ambiguity confuses Se-s who are fixers and unable to fix their own emptiness and confusion. Relying on his dominant functions, he will decide his course by evaluating his sensory data and privately consulting through his auxiliary function, either Ti is or Fi. But amidst emotional crisis these functions which he relies on may give him tainted data and thus poor advice.

Introverted-intuition is the inferior function for primary extraverted-sensing. It is through this abstract and subjective function that we ask many of the profound questions regarding existence. Who am I? Where do I come from? What is my purpose? There are literal and factual answers; you are Joe Smith from Seattle Washington and your purpose is to earn a living by managing construction projects for public buildings. But those are not the answers sought through the intuitive function. Se-s avoid these questions which are thus relegated to the subconscious. A primitive Ni functions within fear, the abstract intuitions becoming paranoid premonitions of disasters either through the violence or dishonesty of men or acts of God.

Si-s self-identify through their life roles and may feel a loss of purpose as these roles change. They fear becoming useless and thus a burden. During times of upheaval they need something to which they can cling for stability. They feel they are losing control and will drowned without something solid and unchanging which can hold them up. ISFJs, with their auxiliary Fe, seek stability in people and external authorities. They cling to people, values, beliefs, jobs…anything that has seemed a strong and unchanging force through out their lives. If they cling to a person, this action may seem to indicate a fear of abandonment, but the deeper motivation is to hold something stable as a defense against the risk of chaos or confusion caused by change rather than a fear of being alone.

Instead of people, ISTJs cling to conclusive thoughts and interpretations of their sense-impressions. They identify themselves with their skills and fear that they have nothing else to contribute. They may appreciate the logical structure of formal assessment exams which by self-reflecting incorporates their need to internalize their sensory information. They may willingly agree to take structured self-exams to assist in identifying additional skills and interests which they will then process through their extraverted thinking function to identify ways in which they can use the skills to help others.

Concerned with usefulness, Si-s are interested in an activity only if it both benefits others and interests them. ISTJs like to work in a logical and organized manner with objects where they appreciate the tangible feel of working with their hands; the benefit to people is indirect. As extraverted feelers, ISFJs are skilled at recognizing people’s likes and values and use these skills to work in a direct, often service-oriented context with people. Since they seek security in their usefulness toward helping others, they are people-pleasers and are able to empathize with others while often lacking an understanding of their own feelings and values.

Value and belief systems often originate from associative and connective ideas which Si-s, with undeveloped intuition, do not grasp well. Thus they look externally to determine what they are supposed to believe. They seek to meet everyone else’s expectations, accommodating their parents, religions, spouses, employers, philosophies… and resisting going against such authorities. Parental rules and religious or cultural institutions provide a stable structure for the Si’s security, thereby providing a defense against much-feared chaos.

ISFJs fear that changing may compromise what they were taught to value and believe. Since they are detached from knowledge of their own values and beliefs, they fail to consider that changing may not compromise values they may find more authentic and valid, though failing to change may compromise them. But it is easier to avoid conflict and instead compromise their own beliefs than to go against what they have been taught to believe.

Lacking a well-defined intuitive function, Si-s are poor judges of subjective systems which rely on patterns and association and they lack the skill to generate a range of alternative ideas and theories. They therefore feel it is arrogant to question the traditional authorities who clearly understand what seems vague to the sensory focused Si-s.

Where ISFJs use people and institutions to define and defend their belief systems, ISTJs use accepted philosophies and analytical results of data which they may have interpreted themselves through their auxiliary thinking function, or through studying the logical thoughts and conclusive findings of others.

Midlife Development & Overuse: In midlife the stable structures established through analyses, conclusions and authorities begin to crumble, causing chaos and panic. As sensors, Si-s are familiar with their body’s physical sensations and well-being. Fearing the surfacing of their undeveloped 3˚ and 4˚ functions, they suppress them. This defense may take a toll through physical ailments.

ISTJs are uncomfortable with their 3˚ feeling function, which they fear because its emergence may reveal itself through sentimental displays which they may interpret as weaknesses. Out of embarrassment they may retreat to process the experience through their more familiar sense and thinking functions.

Midlife growth is about learning to accept the process of life even as it goes against the structural rules and traditions which have provided them with safety and security. They need to learn to resist the urges to plan and program their lives and instead allow life to happen rather than forcing outcomes. As they do this, they will open themselves up to their developing intuition and learn to trust and depend on themselves, thereby defining their own value and belief systems.

Focused externally and needing approval and praise from outside sources, Ne-s find it difficult to reflect inward. Since such reflection excludes outsiders which the Ne relies on for his grounding and sense of connection, he feels guilty wasting his own thoughts and feelings—such behaviours are selfish and he mistrusts because of their disconnection from the external world.

Wading through sensory stimuli frustrates the Ne who feels distracted from his primary purpose of dealing with people. He dislikes strategizing and creating incremental plans and goals, preferring to act and see what happens.

Ne-s are not problem-solvers, rather they thrive on constant change and dismiss their own problems, hoping they will just go away. Facing one’s own problems requires reflection and will not provide the instant gratification Ne-s find so motivating. ENTPs are merely giving life a try-out and ENFPs loves beginnings; they do not want to bother with details or loose ends. If there is no one who can take over after the idea stage, the Ne’s poor foresight and, distaste for planning and failure to consider consequences are likely to result in a string of unfinished projects and failures—jobs, relationships, businesses…

An Ne-s greatest fear is for stagnation and boredom which they equate with death. This fear also has the tendency to make them commitment-phobic, fearing they will become stuck in a boring job, project, marriage, life… They have happy feet and are always on the go, seeking ever-changing excitement and the mystery of uncertainty. Change is an unavoidable part of life; Ne-s understand and embrace this; as extraverts they need this stimulatory pressure for optimal performance.

Midlife Development & Overuse: ENFPs rely on relationships, they are pleasers. Their undeveloped sensing function results in limited data processing abilities, which leads to indecisiveness. Their solution is to seek external resolutions, hoping someone else will fix their problems. For ENTPs the reliance is not on relationships as much as it is non-sensory information which they process through their introverted thinking. For both the undeveloped sensing function fuels their mistrust in their own decision-making skills. Midlife encroaching of their 3˚ function activates the flight response. ENTPs are overwhelmed with emotion which they have suppressed, believing feelings to be mushy sentimentalism while ENFPs do not want to deal with their thoughts which they may find embarrassing or even wrong. This belief in their inherent badness increases their guilt.

As they avoid their lesser functions, intuitive flashes become like an addictive drug; their mind races in the search for greater and faster ideas. They become a string of instant ideas, with the attention span of a moth flitting from one idea to another; without action nothing gets done. They need the high of the initial excitement to sustain them and stave off the encroaching boredom which they feel is a part of anything internal. They neglect their sensory messages from their own bodies believing that the solution to any ailments is to come up with more ideas in less time—if they can think of enough ideas, the solution will be in one of them.

Until they learn to slow down and reflect, giving time to prioritizing their goals and continuity of life rather than a series of abandoned commitments, they will be destined to continue the repetition of their mistakes. This will require learning to trust and rely on their inner auxiliary functions which are necessary for processing their ideas and the input from their inferior sensing, which cannot grow in the absence of an inner trust in their own thoughts and feelings.

An internally and intuitively focused person needs space and solitude to recharge. He is easily over stimulated in noisy and busy environments, avoiding these as a regular part of his socialization—preferring smaller more intimate gatherings. Due to cultural pressures toward extraversion, he may have developed this auxiliary attitude more than an extravert may have developed introversion—but with neglect of and thus at the expense of his primary attitude.

For Ni-s, reality is inward, over stimulation through too much sensory-detail—especially disruptive and interruptive noise and too much visual action—creates internal chaos in which their intuitive insights have difficulty processing to their auxiliary functions Te or Fe. An absence of inner peace threatens their existence.

To avoid overwhelming an Ni with extraneous sensory-detail, when offering something such as instructional information, pare it down to the bare minimum, otherwise they may hear: head North on Main Street, blah blah blah, turn right on 4th, blah blah blah, go 1 mile past the blah blah blah, turn right, blah blah blah… Typically the blah blah blahs are information about how many specific landmarks such as gas stations you will pass between points or bits of trivia about the locations—details often helpful for extraverts. An Ni forced to endure too much detail may become flustered if he is unable to tune out the extraneous information; his brain is already adding additional information through his many simultaneous intuitive insights as the external sensory detail is also provided.

Ni-s are not data collectors which requires a strong sensory function, but their ability to focus by tuning out external sensory stimuli gives them a high-level of detail orientation for analyzing and organizing data—especially INTJs.

Midlife Development & Overuse: Ni-s are more detached than other types from their bodies. Due to this they may view illness as a nuisance, dismissing their own physical ailments and interpreting illness in others as evidence of weakness. They are poor delegators, feeling instead that they should be able to do it all. The INFJs do this in an effort to please, whereas the INTJs are slow to trust in the abilities of others over their own.

There is within Ni-s an idealism and need for authenticity; if there is something of great value that no one will do, they will do it. If someone will do it, the Ni will do it anyway since if you want something done right, do it yourself. This attitude is most prevalent for things personally valued by the Ni, who views time spent away from their values as wasted and may feel dissatisfied and disillusioned if their time is spent in what they view as non-productivity toward their personal values. In such conditions an Ni loses his sense of purpose and may retreat internally and is prone to depression—whether it is turned inward or manifested outward. He is easily stuck inside his internal abstract flashes of insight and communication through his auxiliary function falters. Of all types, Ni-s are the greatest at risk to turning completely inward and rejecting outer reality.

Those who turn inward reject outsiders—including their spouse. They become increasingly angry with themselves as the pain they cause for families, but this only causes them to spiral further into their internal world.

Extraverted-sensing is the inferior function for primary introverted-intuition. Se is a grounding function. Development of his sensing function can stabilize an Ni1 in his grounding, giving him a connection to physicality and helping to define reality with greater dimension.

For Ni-s, keeping chaos at bay is vital. Sensory stimuli, which is external and therefore outside of personal control, refuses to stay away, interrupting more insistently through midlife. The person who does not embrace this may instead find himself attempting to control the external world through obsessive or compulsive behaviours.

Te-s appreciate organized and logical goal-oriented plans, but unlike ESTJs, ENTJs easily abandon outmoded systems. Their auxiliary N1 function allows them to recognize alternative solutions that may provide better results. ESTJs do not have finely-tuned intuition and therefore mistrust innovation and new ideas; they prefer tradition and have difficulty dismissing methods which have served well in the past. To accept change, they need to understand the rationale.

In relationships, Te-s are the people claiming that love is an action. Since they have difficulty understanding emotions, they try to weaken or dismiss them. They fail to understand people’s need for emotional displays that show or prove love and that words alone and non-emotional actions are insufficient.

For Te-s, reality is a rational world. They are impatient with incompetence; they know which way is best and may seek to control everyone else—since they have their best interests in mind. In doing this they are seeking to create a dependency in others to prevent abandonment. ENTJs use their intuitive function to generate alternative ideas and solutions, whereas the sensing ESTJs easily recognize concrete data which points to direct conclusions. Both types do not understand and are impatient with people who either lack imagination for ENTJs or cannot see what’s right in front of their eyes for ESTJs.

Since Te-s know what is best, and have a person’s best interests, they may become nitpickers and constant nags. They fear they are not being responsible if they do not point out someone’s faults—since fixing a problem is not possible until it is recognized. Remaining silent would be dishonest and could lead to failures. They fail to realize that they are not helping but are instead controlling.

Since they lack skill in recognizing options, ESTJs need to feel secure in the limited options they feel are available. They need clear, process-oriented and sequential methods of working rather than conceptual or theoretical conditions which they are not easily understandable without the skill at recognizing associations and patterns. Known for being critical, Te-s expect everyone to meet their high standards. ESTJs judge people against a mental checklist of concrete information, whereas ENTJs are critical when they feel people lack the imagination to be able to connect disparate ideas which are obvious to the ENTJ.

Te-s recognize their failure to understand certain types of people and may seek to remedy this personal flaw. But their main motive is for the purpose of finding out what is wrong with other people rather than a genuine interest in the individuals. For the Te, the purpose in understanding someone else is to apply understanding to achieve a resolution or fix the other person. His need to understand is a defense, sheltering him from recognizing and thus facing his own failures.

Te-s speak with deliberation, avoiding figurative detail. They do not want to mislead and thus seek a clear intention through their words—honesty is important to them. But authenticity has little value and they may not understand the concept or need, but will instead confuse it with honesty. Te-s are forceful personalities; they know how their world should be and run a tight ship to see that everyone is obedient to their vision of reality. If reality wavers, they maintain the appearance so that outsiders are unaware there may be mutiny. Family problems such as physical or sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug addictions, divorces, infidelity, teenage promiscuity and pregnancies…are swept under the rug and denied to both outsiders and insiders alike. If insiders expose the problems, a Te-s anger may manifest in banishment or blame for the problems.

Te-s are career and status oriented and though they may intellectually desire to raise their children to be healthy and independent adults, if they do not have other people to manage and lead and problems to solve after their children leave home, they may have difficulty adjusting. They derive their value through managing and problem-solving; it is their defense against the extravert’s fear of abandonment. They may create or project problems on to people to create dependency and a problem which they can then fix. But needing to fix problems is a problem in itself unless they recognize this as a skill they can use to enable change—such as through consulting work. But within a family or a static job they either fix themselves out of their job or create additional problems which they can solve. This is especially dangerous in families where they encourage co-dependency through enabling addictive behaviours by denying, hiding and defending from outside exposure.

ENTJs may have a tendency to ignore or suppress their auxiliary intuition; their need for logical thought may dismiss the subjective intuitive ideas since they cannot explain their origins. They admire the ESTJs who hold them accountable for their data. But even with the suppression, ENTJs have a more natural understanding of theories and concepts than sensors; they merely need to develop their skills.

For ESTJs, their sensing function can be the path to understanding their feeling function. Attuned to their bodies, sensors react to their environment in tangible ways—such as exhaustion as a reaction to overwork or stress. ESTJs are sensitive to such communications and can use them to look deeper toward their root feelings. But with their quick-fix-it get ‘er done mentality, they may find communication from their body relevant, but will ignore it until the problem they can recognize is fixed.

Since relationships involve dealing with their inferior feeling function, a Te’s need to solve problems coupled with problems in relationships creates a dilemma. A Te may initially try to solve a relationship problem or prevent another by consulting external sources: mental health professionals, self-help books, religion…but unless they are at a place in their lives where they are prepared to face their primitive feeling function and allow it to grow, they will likely dismiss it all and bury their misgivings, carrying-on through sheer willpower. These issues will surface again at midlife.

Midlife Development & Overuse: Refusal to consult the auxiliary function prevents a Te from internalizing and thus understanding his thoughts. He wants to be a respected leader, but instead he becomes a loud blow-hard whom everyone seeks to avoid. He may realize a high-turn over of his work force and that his teams lack the cohesion of other companies or departments. Since a Te knows best and his way is right, he will not consider looking at his own behaviour to remedy the situation and will instead become more forceful with his staff. With the additional surfacing of his undeveloped 3˚ and 4˚ functions, he becomes a domineering tyrant who is unable to take a day off, take a break or give his employees those courtesies; as he continues to resist and avoid he seems like a stressed heart-attack waiting to happen.

As a logical person, he most fears his inferior feeling function which in its primitive state may manifest in an innocent sentimentality. Many outsiders would find this humanizing and sweet, but the Te who is avoiding will not allow this weakness to show. As with other undeveloped functions at midlife, it will persist, frustrating and angering him as he spirals further downward into resistance. Though a workaholic, he has always been a leader and manager of people and was able to delegate responsibility to others, but now he may trust his staff less and less and take on all the responsibilities for his own. Though his hidden emotions are mired in sentimentality, those that escape may be anger and rage.

They maintain control of reality by carefully calculating results and organizing data from their auxiliary functions, Se or Ne. Ti-s interpret information in literal black and white terms and have difficulty understanding how others cannot see what is obvious. Since they can understand what is obvious, they may conclude that everyone else is stupid, giving them a superiority complex. For INTPs, intuitive imagination provides skill in seeing connections and patterns which seem obvious to them, whereas ISTPs love concrete sensory data and direct conclusions.

Since their dominant function is introverted, it is the auxiliary function, Se or Ne which they show the outside world. Though they process the auxiliary data with introverted thinking, they differ in their methods of data selection and collection. The intuitive INTPs are skilled at connecting seemingly disparate things. They are comfortable with subjective theories and concepts and developing structural systems for organizing the ISTP’s more concrete data.

ISTPs are linear, to understand patterns and connections they need concrete information—someone needs to connect the dots for them. Apples and oranges both grow on trees and taste sweet, but what makes them both fruit? To see and except the fruit connection, an ISTP needs to understand the scientific classification system—possibly to the structural level of chemicals and DNA. If associative data does not have a clear and concrete connection they will dismiss it; circumstantial evidence is not sufficient.

Ti-s do not like to admit weaknesses, but their greatest fear is loss of control. When they feel overwhelmed, such as in times of crisis, they quickly seek guidance. But they want a quick-fix solution and are unwilling to take time for self-exploration to realize true resolution. They want the professional to fix the problem. When seeking a mental health professional they may request a pill to solve their problems or to be told precisely what actions to take to provide immediate results. They want the professional to rescue them from chaos, rather than help them to diagnose and get through it.

ISTPs focus on practical applications and without well-developed intuition they view subjective inner explorations as impractical. Since their reality is physical and sensory, they value tangible or material things. They may not know what they want to do, but they know that they are unwilling to sacrifice their lifestyle—income level, a nice house… INTPs are focused on ideas and are thus less interested in status through physical accumulation and experience. They want freedom to be themselves through free-reign of their ideas; they value authenticity.

ISTPs are unable to take leaps of faith, they are slow to trust and require a personal understanding of purpose toward a resolution. They are present-oriented and don’t want to waste their time doing something that might work someday—especially when they cannot understand how it will work. Development of intuition is a major task necessary for getting through midlife. It might seem logical for data-loving ISTPs to appreciate collecting and calculating information about skills, interests, values—assessment tasks. But this is not the case. With an extraverted sensing function an ISTP is not interested in wasting time collecting data about himself—that would be of interest to an introverted sensor such as an ISTJ.

Since thinking is a function based in logic, Ti-s think they are logical, honest and direct. Without a developed feeling function, they do not understand how they or others feel about things and have a habit of being unkind when verbalizing their thoughts. Of all types they may seem the most cold-hearted, uncaring, mean and critical and fear the foreign reality of feelings. An introvert’s greatest fear is chaos; they defend themselves against it through attempts to control their reality. For Ti-s, feelings have no logical foundation and are thus pure chaos—there is no way to control them.

Midlife Development & Overuse: Ti-s do not know how to handle the midlife surfacing of their undeveloped 3˚ and 4˚ functions which feels like chaos, tripping their fear and panic alarm. Their first reaction is to run and hide in their thoughts and analyze the data—sensory for ISTPS or theoretical for INTPs—and try to make sense through meticulous organization. But these actions are merely stalling devices and eventually fail. They are frustrated with the failures, with the data which is not yet giving results and with their inability to understand feelings. They may now realize their flawed logic in the avoidance of feelings, but are not yet capable of dealing with it. Later they will face the paradox that it is not always rational to require rationality in a world guided by emotions.

Frustration in their attempts to understand yields anger and for the first time they may lose control of their world, their thoughts and thus themselves. Ti-s fear the power within their feelings and have difficulty communicating their thoughts which may build-up and explode in angry bursts. This loss of control embarrasses them and they quickly suppress the outburst behind a cold façade of calm. Ti1 MLCers resist and retreat behind their defensive wall of thoughts which becomes both their safe zone and prison. Thoughts may flood or fuel them as they rely on them to maintain their reality and as their surrogate friends; they lose their tangible sense of reality and thoughts become the only things that are real to them.

Fe-s greatest need is to be needed and thus there greatest fear is that they will become obsolete. Extraverts are people pleasers in general, but Fe-s depend on pleasing others more than any other type. Paying attention to themselves would distract them from the busy task of rescuing the world. Looking inward risks discovering that their feelings and values are not congruent with their lives and the values and beliefs of others. They thus avoid this inward journey since what lies within has the power to dismantle their reality—even if their reality is a house of cards.

ESFJs use their sensory skills to evaluate the data and process through their feeling function, which being extraverted focuses on what others value and feel. They view negative data (a child’s school failures or drug problems) as direct evidence of their failure and thus blame themselves. If in addition, they evaluate the historical evidence which points to the positive uses of their skills, they become resentful and offer reminders of all they have done. They will not review their record of successes (a daughter who is a lawyer) to provide evidence that they are not failures—this requires more developed intuition. A single failure cancels multiple successes. Self-blame and resentment are the necessary ingredients for martyrdom.

Midlife Development & Overuse: They give up their lives for the benefit of everyone else, risking martyrdom, whether those they serve succeed or fail in the lives the Fe-s have given them. Midlife becomes the great scream: it’s my turn! As the people they have served become independent and successful in their own lives, an Fe may begin to feel unneeded and underappreciated, resenting their successes and eventually blame them for his sacrifices and resultant lower levels of success. If rather than success, those an Fe has served bring hardship and failures upon themselves, he may feel resentment due to being exposed as a fraud. The other person’s failure strips away the Fe’s mask and everyone can now see that he is not the world’s greatest dad, son, husband…

Ignoring the inward call, Fe-s become increasingly dependent on the opinions and validation of others. As the world’s rescuer, they need for the world to be dependent; independence threatens their existence. They thus may attempt to create dependence either by making themselves indispensable or through more destructive behaviours—emotionally hurting or trying to destroy self-worth in others: You’ll never be anything without me. This negative behaviour causes their feeling function to falter and they may fantasize feelings and beliefs in others that fit their need and imagine crises and failures where there are none.

ENFJs evaluate their intuitive ideas, trying to understand patterns to determine how they went wrong, but with an undeveloped sensory function they fail to search for or notice the sensory data. ESFJs, with their skilled sensing function, see the data clearly and refuse to waste time reviewing possibilities—which they cannot see anyway since their intuitive function is undeveloped. ESFJs want to fix things now through immediate action, without giving consideration to what the action should be or whether it is a resolution. They need to develop their 3˚ function of Si, considering the limitations and facts of the situation or Ni, considering the possibilities.

With a refusal to grow and look inward, they may become bitter as resentment increases in midlife. Their self-blame is tormentuous. As their inferior thinking function surfaces, they fill with negative thoughts and cycle from self-blame to external projections. They keep score of everything they did which helped others and how they are now underappreciated. This self-righteous martyrdom serves to alienate them further from those who they depend on to feel needed and they cycle deeper into anger and depression.

Within Fi-s there is an indecisiveness; there is a desire to sort through their feelings, embrace their feelings and learn what their feelings are trying to say. They do not want to be presented with choices; instead, they hope to find meaning and clarity through the exploration of their feelings. They are like a rudderless ship floating at the mercy of the wind. Instead of setting goals to get through unpleasant situations, Fi-s want to immerse themselves in the experience, they are certain that everything has meaning and they are determined to learn from it.

This immersion is more valid for INFPs. ISFPs sensing function encourages action, but without foresight or excitement. Without intuition’s ability to generate multiple ideas, or outside assistance, they recognize few options. They feel resigned to act, though often without believing their actions will lead to success—but it is better than doing nothing. Rather than rudderless, their rudder is random. They go with the flow and then make a sudden change and go with the changed flow. Because he is making a change, the ISFP defends his actions as attempts at solutions, but in actuality his need to act without first thinking or reflecting is a coping device used to avoid dealing directly with the conflicts in his life.

Fi-s desire for harmony causes them to make choices geared toward pleasing others rather than themselves. Thus their hesitancy to make choices is a fear that they will sacrifice their authenticity by putting others first. Feeling thus pressured, they may withdraw from others to protect their sense of Self, but this also creates a feeling of loneliness and isolation. They may also not be aware of their withdrawal and feel rejected.

Fi-s may seem passive—rocking the boat would affect the flow and disrupt their attempt to derive meaning from the experience. They are accepting of situations without bothering to evaluate the situation to determine whether acceptance is the wisest choice.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

They understand the Serenity Prayer, but feel it is either not their place or within their abilities to change the situation; they do not yet have the wisdom to know the difference.

Without a well-developed intuition function, ISFPs have limited ability to recognize patterns and associations. They absorb sensory information, but dismiss the information if it does not make sense to them. This may seem logical, but often they dismiss things which are rich in connections and that make sense to others. They have trouble grasping abstraction which is a trait of intuition. To grow through this challenge, they need to learn to trust the information coming from outside sources—their sensory function. In addition they need to embrace their feeling preference and allow inward reflection—something they may have neglected in building an external-world persona.

Midlife Development & Overuse: At midlife, the greater insistence of both the primary function, which may have been dormant, and the undeveloped 3˚ function, causes a feeling of entrapment. But since Fi1s go with the flow, they feel resigned; this is either their fate and they will accept it or they must experience it because it is a necessary life lesson. This thought process seems as though it embraces the journey, but it is actually a form of avoidance; the midlife call is to act while considering the consequences. For ISFPs it is to learn to recognize the subjective patterns in the objective data and for INFPs it is to consider the sensory data as relevant; this can help guide them and they will learn to recognize their best choices.

Fi-s feel that thinking, which is their inferior function, destroys the sense of wonder and simple beauty within an idea or object. Analyzing God and religion destroys both the mystery and personal experience; dissecting a flower destroys its simple and perfect beauty by separating it into cells, processes, and chemicals. Thinking, therefore, destroys the authenticity of an object or idea.

Not wanting to destroy their sense of wonder, they avoid using their thinking function. They are often overwhelmed when required to think. Their thoughts are often ephemeral, disappearing before they can process and analyze them. They may become flooded if their thoughts do not dissipate quickly. Thoughts may refuse to leave and they will spend hours in afterthoughts, reviewing conversations, puzzles, problems for how they could have responded differently.

TypologyThe Eight Function-Attitudes

Typology
The Eight Function-Attitudes