Perhaps the question of the thread is not so much whether INFJs have a low self-image, but how the type forms a self-image in contrast to how another type might. External vs. internal validation, introversion vs. extroversion, empathy vs. detachment, and all these things can form different basis for how a sense of self is formed for various types.
Sure, that will also be interesting to discuss, feel free. But I still want to know about the INFJ. I really need to know how to help... my sister and best friend are INFJ's with low self worth, and if I could do anything to make them not believe such things about themselves I would.
(Also, my sister became a bit more confident in herself when she started Uni and began to express herself in a more intellectually free capacity, rather than being constrained by concrete SJ values).
Also other non-INFJ posters, I think a couple of NT's, keep generalising that any type can have good or bad self-esteem.
Sure, I agree... but
I want to know about the INFJ in particular as it seems pretty consistent, especially after reading all the INFJ posters in this thread.
This thread is still young, but it is interesting that so far every INFJ post has explored the issue in an open manner, and the non-INFJs who report knowing the type state that the "INFJ is happy and confident".
This has really been the case hey. Everyone else has this conception that INFJ's are quiet yet happy and confident individuals.
And I'd aggree that most of the INFJ's I know present themselves like this to most of the world, but in actuality, underneath, lifes a bit of a struggle.
I experienced this too. I found it intolerable and suffocating. I think that type of environment also affected my health. The sad part is that the distress the environment had caused led me to almost submit to it and become part of it. I did manage to pull away, however, and become myself again. Unfortunately, I think I've become permanently scarred from the experience.
I also have gone through this. I honestly think that it is our Fe process losing the ability to form a harmonious environment around us, and the Ni picking up the full intellectual clashes that arise between individuals and everything seems so hopeless. Its full on, and you can definitely feel like you're losing yourself. Important to take time our and re-centre yourself, as lame as that may sound, otherwise you end up in a pile on the floor, metaphorically of course.
So, I guess
another question, after reading through these posts...
Do you think INFJ's (similar to ENFJ's)
project a different outward image for others to read than what their true self is experiencing?
ENFJ's project a huge variety of 'masks' mainly for social purposes.
But if the INFJ is doing a similar thing, it possibly seems to be more to hide what is really going on... or even to try and ignore it themselves for a time?