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[MBTI General] Are ISFJs the better INFJs ?

Purple INFJ

New member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
69
MBTI Type
INFJ
I'll just come out and say this:

No type is the best type.

Being an INFJ can feel like bliss when you go into those Ni trips, piling ideas upon ideas. But we generally lack the ease with detail that ISFJs posess.

And ISFJs are better at anticipating the unexpected than INFJs. We can see the potential long-term impact of our actions (generally speaking), but seeing possibilities without concrete reference points tends to be much harder.

I think I can be good with Ne, but can only use it to stretch myself a bit, and I think I tend to be in preferential mode most of the time, so I guess I can easily ignore objective possibilities most of the time.

While I can struggle with Se, it's certainly my main source of inspiration. Noticing evident things can easily drive me to Ni trips.

ISFJs, on the other hand, tend to me more inclined to notice what is not evident and cross-check that with past experiences and stored data (if I understand Si right). I imagine that they tend to use Se like I'd use Ne.

MBTi shouldn't be used to say "I'm this type so I'm better than everyone else". We all have differing strenghts. Yes, I'd say the human ego can be vulnerable to unnecessary comparisons, but we are all different and it's important to understand that.
 

Psyclepath

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
122
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
541
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I've been lurking around the NF forums for quite some time now and I have been searching there for someone to help me with my personal problems, like for example psychologists help. I tho have a misfit way of speaking about my things, which didnt get noticed with any of the psychics over there (except for one or two enfps, who really have a knack for such things).

Instead I met arrogance, abusive behaviour, the occasional bragging about them being like god, when it comes to their abilities or sheer ignorance.

So I came to think: An ISFJ, who types her-/himself that way from the start and who doesnt even assume for the slightest moment that he is special in any way, because she or he for example never achieved anything special so far (which would be prolly the case with 90% of the Ns), isnt she or he much more down-to-earth and more realistic + able to look at the world from an (as much as that is possible) objective point of view and to give people real world advice and help, cause he isnt blinded by his own ego ?

I dont want to discredit all of the INFJs over there, but I am still refering to around 90%.

Any thoughts ?

Don't forget that many folks on this forum are mistyped. You'll find people of nearly every type claiming to be INFJs. Other types are not that much better as far as having mistypes in their representation is concerned.

ISFJ certainly isn't better than INFJ, nor vice-versa. The two are totally different in their perceptions. To compare them is absolute folly.
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
14,037
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
496
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I am still looking for the 'separate Ni from Si' spectrometre
Si is more shaped by experience, so if one's family always prepares Thanksgiving in a certain way, then Si values recreating the experience in all its details. I think Si has a kind of nostalgia to it and cares about recreating special memories. That's why it is a function that is more likely to remember anniversaries, what someone enjoyed eating or wearing. It can be an incredibly thoughtful function because it does remember all of those concrete preferences for the people they love. Si is expert at finding exactly the right gift. I'm in awe of kindhearted Si people because of this.

Ni ideally is more aware of the inner, abstract patterns of the people they love. I have a hard time remembering exactly how to fix a sandwich for someone I love, exactly what type of pickles they prefer, or if they eat pickles. Most people have a great many concrete preferences, so I work incredibly hard with lists to try to compensate for the fact that I don't even hold these preferences for myself. I only approximate preferences for type of bread or anything. What I can understand is the way a loved one's parents have influenced their psychological makeup, or how they organize their inner thoughts. Ideally it enables the ability to adapt to different forms of communication. I personally cannot do this unless I am paying attention to the person, so it mostly applies to the people most important in my life. What amazes me is just how different each person is internally.

So a Si-dom will observe and learn how their loved ones interact with the world and what their preferences are. They absorb thousands of details about the needs of others. The Ni-dom will observe and learn how their loved one is internally structured and how they think. This also requires thousands of details to internalize.

I think that when a Si-dom is self-centered they would tend to impose their own concrete preferences onto others - we have to fold the towels this way only. When a Ni-dom is self-centered perhaps they impose their own internal world onto others - you are thinking this way because I am. The loving Si-dom makes the noodle soup with every detail the way another desires it regardless of their own preference.The loving Ni-dom will take time to understand how the other person thinks without the assumption it is anything like their own thoughts.
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
14,037
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
496
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Been watching "Kung Fu", and can suggest he is an ISFJ. He relies on tradition and the past to shape his life, and he spends his life helping people he meets. He is completely different from everyone in his current environment, and so may not seem like a Fe-person, but the Si-dom of his character is what has internalized his unique life experience as his point of reference. He is well aligned with the environment of his early experiences. And he kicks ass. Kudos to the ISFJs.

david-carradine-kung-fu.jpg
 

entropie

Permabanned
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
16,767
MBTI Type
entp
Enneagram
783
Been watching "Kung Fu", and can suggest he is an ISFJ. He relies on tradition and the past to shape his life, and he spends his life helping people he meets. He is completely different from everyone in his current environment, and so may not seem like a Fe-person, but the Si-dom of his character is what has internalized his unique life experience as his point of reference. He is well aligned with the environment of his early experiences. And he kicks ass. Kudos to the ISFJs.

But isnt so everybody's life ?
Not being shaped by experience is only possible if you dont participate in life. Then you can bloom with options, cause you havent found your way, yet.
 

Psyclepath

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
122
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
541
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Been watching "Kung Fu", and can suggest he is an ISFJ. He relies on tradition and the past to shape his life, and he spends his life helping people he meets. He is completely different from everyone in his current environment, and so may not seem like a Fe-person, but the Si-dom of his character is what has internalized his unique life experience as his point of reference. He is well aligned with the environment of his early experiences. And he kicks ass. Kudos to the ISFJs.

david-carradine-kung-fu.jpg

Tradition is the focus of an extraverted function, unless it's a tradition deeply personal to the self. But the people who are obsessive about retaining traditions are more likely to be ExxJ types than Si-doms. Si, as with all perception, doesn't have any intrinsic structures.

I haven't seen the film, but your description doesn't particularly sound like an Si-dom to me.
 

tinker683

Whackus Bonkus
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
2,882
MBTI Type
ISFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I am married to an INFJ and I would say...no, shes a much better human being than I am :wubbie:
 

tinker683

Whackus Bonkus
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
2,882
MBTI Type
ISFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I've been lurking around the NF forums for quite some time now and I have been searching there for someone to help me with my personal problems, like for example psychologists help. I tho have a misfit way of speaking about my things, which didnt get noticed with any of the psychics over there (except for one or two enfps, who really have a knack for such things).

Instead I met arrogance, abusive behaviour, the occasional bragging about them being like god, when it comes to their abilities or sheer ignorance.

So I came to think: An ISFJ, who types her-/himself that way from the start and who doesnt even assume for the slightest moment that he is special in any way, because she or he for example never achieved anything special so far (which would be prolly the case with 90% of the Ns), isnt she or he much more down-to-earth and more realistic + able to look at the world from an (as much as that is possible) objective point of view and to give people real world advice and help, cause he isnt blinded by his own ego ?

I dont want to discredit all of the INFJs over there, but I am still refering to around 90%.

Any thoughts ?

To actually respond to the OP: This doesn't sound type related, it sounds like you just met a bunch of assholes

ETA: I realize this is 7 years too late, but if you need to talk to someone, I'd be happy to listen :)
 

Forever

Permabanned
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
8,551
MBTI Type
NiFi
Enneagram
3w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I am married to an INFJ and I would say...no, shes a much better human being than I am :wubbie:

:blush:

~*•Plot Twist•*~

That's right hubby. Hahaha
 

Norrsken

self murderer
Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Messages
3,633
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
In all my years, I have met horrific people of all sixteen types as well as wonderful company in each and every one of them. To stereotype a certain MBTI personality is a sign of intellectual laziness as well as poor social skills. Sorry for the harsh answer.
 
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