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[Jungian Cognitive Functions] Is the Fear of Insects Type-Related?

Name your dom or aux type/fear or non-fear of insects

  • Fi - insectophobic

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Fi - non-insectophobic

    Votes: 3 15.0%
  • Ti - insectophobic

    Votes: 2 10.0%
  • Ti - non-insectophobic

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • Fe - insectophobic

    Votes: 2 10.0%
  • Fe - non-insectophobic

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Te - insectophobic

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Te - non-insectophobic

    Votes: 6 30.0%

  • Total voters
    20

Mal12345

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As children we may have thought that fear of insects was sex-related, because most of the little girls were afraid of bugs and those who weren't afraid of bugs were just strange. But then I found out that my friend Doug is extremely terrified of June bugs, and later in life he told me his MBTI type was INFP.

Could it be that the girls who aren't afraid of insects are Thinking types, and the boys who are afraid of insects are Feeling types?
 

meowington

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I think it's not exclusively type related. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's a statistical corelation between F types and perhaps phobias altogether.
Because rationalization is definitely one way to deal with it. Or the lack of rationalization a trigger / contributing factor.

There's also a strong corelation with the way mothers react to insects (or how anxious mothers are overall).

And ofcourse overall past experiences with insects.
 

Sacrophagus

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I think it's not exclusively type related. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's a statistical corelation between F types and perhaps phobias altogether.
Maybe, maybe not. F types who are not afraid of animals or insects might be the harmonious archetype seeking that balanced symbiosis between all creatures, while T types might assess the situation as seeing that fear and worry are unjustified, unless there is enough evidence to take precautions.
 

Virtual ghost

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It all depends on how you define "Phobic". Is it panic attack type of phobia or is it simply being cautious with bugs that are objectively dangerous (or you simply don't know if they are dangerous or not).


I would say more none phobic than phobic for myself. After all I am often the one that deals with those "nasty things".
 

Red Memories

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I am Ne-Fi and I am not afraid of most bugs.

I am weirdly phobic of bees and a spider coming at me will frighten me.

besides that come at me bugs. I normally name them.
 

Tiger Owl

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I walked through a spiderweb in route to my car the other morning while leaving for work. I didn't think much of it. As I was driving I felt something tickling my neck, I reached up and brushed my neck and a large spider fell onto the crotch of my pants. I just reached down and picked up the spider and held it until I reach the next stop light where I opened my door and tossed it out. If I were to be afraid of anything it would be unpredictable people; I have never found any suitable reason to fear animal life, invertebrate, or vertebrate.
 

Doctor Cringelord

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other than cockroaches, bugs don't bother me too much. They're more of a nuisance, for instance I don't mind moths flying into my house except for the fact they usually want to fly around my face and bang into light bulbs and make a dinging noise. I like spiders and will try to rescue them when I find them in my house. I tolerate hornets and wasps.
 

biohazard

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Not here for most bugs... except the good ones. Like honeybees, mason bees, ladybugs, daddy long legs, etc.

I do have a phobia of bugs though and squirm when I killl them.
 

Zeego

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I'm not afraid of most bugs, but I do find stick insects to be aesthetically creepy.
 
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I've found it usually stems back to some event that freaked someone out. Like Indiana Jones falling into a bunch of snakes as a young man. I had a friend who blew up a tree stump with a buddy when they were kids (used m-80's I think). He was showered in all manner of creepy crawlers and after that he geeks with bugs.

I don't mind bugs too much and assess the situation based on logic. Does it bite sting, level of aggression. Except for arachnids like spiders. I fucking hate spiders and will kill them with extreme prejudice when they're in my home. My home is my web bitches! Otherwise live and let live.
 

sobers0910

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I don't usually have a problem with insects, but I and another INFJ I know are both extreme arachnophobes. We both try to be rational because it makes no sense, but it doesn't work. We both have stories of being paralyzed from fear, and if a spider was on us we shed our clothes and freak for hours. Neither of us cry much, but when we have a close encounter with a spider there's tears and hyperventilation and gagging and... Yeah it's stupid.
 

Norrsken

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I hate all bugs except butterflies, lady bugs, and snails/slugs. Spiders give me panic attacks.
 

ChocolateMoose123

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Fear of condiments, obviously SJ.

But no. No bug phobia here. I have affinity toward bees because I played with them as a kid. If one was in my home I'd save it to release outside. Same with moths. (Sometimes I kill them, depends).

Spiders get killed on site same with roaches. No love.

Mosquitoes are enemy #1.
 

Metis

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As children we may have thought that fear of insects was sex-related, because most of the little girls were afraid of bugs and those who weren't afraid of bugs were just strange.

When I was a little girl, my entire group of friends shared the same favorite colors at one point. We also got ideas from each other about what we wanted to do when we grew up, what books we liked, and so on. It's possible that a lot of those little girls would freak out around bugs because they learned from one another that that's what girls do. I don't recall that being a fad among kids I knew, but it wouldn't be surprising if some of them were genuinely afraid and others were just trying that sort of reaction on for size.

a large spider fell onto the crotch of my pants. I just reached down and picked up the spider and held it until I reach the next stop light where I opened my door and tossed it out.

That was nice of you.

if a spider was on us we shed our clothes and freak for hours. Neither of us cry much, but when we have a close encounter with a spider there's tears and hyperventilation and gagging

LOL!

I would camp out in the living room for about a week anytime I saw a spider in my bedroom when I was little.
I was afraid that it would crawl into my ear, nose or mouth if it had a chance.

Fear of condiments, obviously SJ.

Weird. Mustard, huh?

:eeep:



:butterflee:
 

Virtual ghost

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I wonder how many people would be comforable with Meganeura in their room. This is basically huge dragonfly that got extinct long time ago.

To get the idea:


 

Eric B

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I've found it usually stems back to some event that freaked someone out. Like Indiana Jones falling into a bunch of snakes as a young man. I had a friend who blew up a tree stump with a buddy when they were kids (used m-80's I think). He was showered in all manner of creepy crawlers and after that he geeks with bugs.

I don't mind bugs too much and assess the situation based on logic. Does it bite sting, level of aggression. Except for arachnids like spiders. I fucking hate spiders and will kill them with extreme prejudice when they're in my home. My home is my web bitches! Otherwise live and let live.
With me, fear of spiders seemed to start with IIRC my mother's reactions to seeing them, likley in camping trips when I was around 6 or so, or the daddy longlegs (harvestmen) you would see when turning over a rock in the woods, or even in the backyard. But that's funny, as she used to scream at anything, like the common roaches in the house, though they didn't become a problem until I was older. But with the spiders and harvestmen, it's something about the way they move; the prominent legs, and also webs being icky.
So now, when I should be getting over this, I have this wife who's extremely afraid of spiders (can't even see a picture of a big one), and for even the wispy little ones in the house occasionally, I have to be alarmed by a scream which just shoots my adrenaline up and not knowing what I'm going to find when I go in there. (While my mother says she sees spiders in a garden, and seems to think nothing of them now).

So it seemed for me to be tied to some inferior Fe reaction, but it doesn't seem to correlate perfectly. I always think they're so little and we're so big, so the fear is irrational, but it seems to be very ingrained (and it would be similar for other very leggy insects, or weird ones like the sticks or leaf. And if anyone knows [MENTION=179]iwakar[/MENTION] on FB, you should see the weird thing she posted from her door post just this morning). I wondered if Trickster Se or ASD could be involved, but again, it doesn't seem to be type-stack specific, and no studies have been done on this.
 
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