• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

The Form of the Inferior - ETJs

Cegorach

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
12
The following is an excerpt from Naomi Quenk's book "Was That Really Me? How Everyday Stress Brings Out Our Hidden Personality":
(Further types will be posted in the future.)


The Form of the Inferior Function

One of the manifestations of any inferior function is diminished effectiveness in the use of the developed dominant function. For Extraverted Thinking types, there may be a loss of ability to think logically and take effective action, or an inability to recognize the relevance of logic in a situation. One ESTJ said, “I bounce from task to task with no results. I have internal arguments with myself, but I can’t come to any conclusion.” And an ENTJ observed, “The feeling that I am unappreciated becomes the central thing, and I can’t consider anything else.” An ENTJ said that she “becomes disorganized and loses things. I’m late to meetings and miss deadlines, and I focus on non-priority activities and tasks. I procrastinate and do only what is due immediately.” Others report being unable to think, having tunnel vision, and being easily fatigued at work. What they normally do very easily requires great effort. An ESTJ described being unable to organize the structure for a work assignment. An ENTJ felt powerless to influence future events significantly. Another reported that, when under great stress, he would lose the capacity for verbal expression and would have difficulty getting his words out. In general, there is an uncharacteristic reduction in productive work accompanied by a feeling of failure.

In the initial stages of the process, ESTJs may lose access to their auxiliary Sensing, while ENTJs may lose access to their auxiliary Intuition. They seem to function only “from the neck up,” as one ENTJ described it, operating entirely out of their heads. This results in an exaggeration of their Thinking, which they and others experience as the excesses of their natural approach. It is an example of how a dominant process operates
without the balancing effects of the auxiliary. As dominant and auxiliary functions continue to recede into the background, the qualities of inferior Introverted Feeling become manifested in hypersensitivity to inner states, outbursts of emotion, and a fear of feeling. For ESTJs, tertiary Intuition appears in the form of negative possibilities, and ENTJs’ tertiary Sensing emerges in the form of undeniable facts—both serving to confirm their inner turmoil and fears of being unappreciated and unworthy. The comparison between dominant and inferior Introverted Feeling is shown in Table 2.

Von Franz (1971) captures all three aspects of inferior Introverted Feeling (hypersensitivity to inner states, outbursts of emotion, and fear of feeling) in the following statement, which also describes the all-or-none, often one-sided expression of inferior Introverted Feeling in Extraverted Thinking types:

Table 2
Dominant and Inferior Expressions of Introverted Feeling
As Dominant Function of As Inferior Function of

The hidden introverted feeling of the extraverted thinking type establishes strong invisible loyalties. Such people are among the most faithful of all friends, even though they may only write at Christmas. They are absolutely faithful in their feelings, but one has to move towards it to get to know of its existence. . . . [But] unconscious and undeveloped feeling is barbaric and absolute, and therefore sometimes hidden destructive fanaticism suddenly bursts out of the extraverted thinking type. (p. 40)


ISFPs and INFPs
• Inner harmony
• Economy of emotional expression
• Acceptance of feeling as non-logical

ESTJs and ENTJs
• Hypersensitivity to inner states
• Outbursts of emotion
• Fear of feeling


Hypersensitivity to Inner States

Effective dominant Introverted Feeling types use a finely developed awareness of their inner values as a reliable guide for judging themselves and others. In the grip of inferior Introverted Feeling, Extraverted Thinking types become hypersensitive to their own and others’ emotions, often misinterpreting comments from others as personal criticism. In their dominant approach, they typically interpret objectively offered criticism by respected colleagues as an appropriate means to promote excellence. In the grip of their inferior Introverted Feeling, they may easily take offense and overreact to such criticism.

Unaware of the Extraverted Thinking person’s vulnerable “altered” condition, however, colleagues, family members, and friends may communicate criticism as directly as usual. Even mild negative comments may provoke hurt feelings when the Extraverted Thinking type is in this state. ESTJs and ENTJs report having difficulty acknowledging, even to themselves, but particularly to the person who has helped bring about the situation, that their feelings have been hurt. They may lash out at others instead, as the examples below illustrate. “I feel that I am being criticized unfairly,” said an ESTJ. “I blame others for my own faults and find fault with others over nothing. I become demanding because I am in a panic about possibly missing deadlines. I watch the clock. I think lots of negative thoughts, put myself down, and feel that others dislike and reject me. My self-esteem about my abilities gets lower and lower.” Note the illogical progression of his thoughts. “I think I’m pretty confident about my abilities as a trainer,” said an ENTJ. “But when I’ve worked very hard preparing for a training session and am especially tired out, I am plagued with the thought that the trainees don’t like me, that they like my colleagues better, especially if the colleague I’m teaching with is a Feeling type.”

Another ENTJ described “feeling like a victim—persecuted, unappreciated, and used. I don’t see things clearly and I can’t seem to think. I take things personally and am hypersensitive. I will say something without thinking, then become defensive and feel threatened.”
An ESTJ made this observation: “I find myself taking a martyr role, alone and unloved, totally unappreciated. Then I shut down.” An ENTJ described being “particularly sensitive to any signs of being excluded from important roles. When that happens, I feel that my contributions are not being valued.” And another ENTJ described “feeling isolated or excluded and having a sense that people don’t respect me, especially people I respect.”

In a variation on this theme, some ESTJs and ENTJs describe situations in which they effectively apply their usual action-oriented, logical problem solving. But later (perhaps even years later), if they are in a vulnerable state, they will recall a specific incident and beat themselves up for not being conscious of other people’s feelings. One ESTJ recalled thinking,“ Why did I say that to Ellen at that party five years ago? How stupid and insensitive of me!”
Some Extraverted Thinking types are painfully aware of the dilemma they face in dealing with relationship issues within a task-oriented setting. Focusing on others’ feelings inhibits their ability to take effective Thinking action, though it prevents negative feedback from others about their lack of caring concern.


Outbursts of Emotion

Effective dominant Introverted Feeling types show an economy of emotional expression. They are typically quite selective and discriminating in revealing their deepest and most cherished values and feelings. Extraverted Thinking types in the grip of inferior Introverted Feeling lack control and discrimination when expressing their inner emotional states. However, their fear of having others witness their rejected, irrational selves strongly motivates them to stay in control if at all possible. They especially worry about losing control in public, particularly at work. Avoiding a public display often results in an even stronger outburst of affect at home, directed at family members, since the emotions
have to be released somewhere. An ENTJ said, “I feel lost and out of control. I know I am not myself, but I can’t help it. I don’t want company or to be touched. I want to be
left alone and I want to escape.” “I will get a headache or shoulder ache and feel really tense. I feel like crying but try to hide it. I hide my feelings inside and push them down, and then become angry, depressed, and withdrawn,” recalled an ESTJ.

Both ESTJs and ENTJs report sometimes feeling suddenly tearful for no apparent reason, and crying in private. However, if the worst happens and they lose control, they may explode in public. This may begin as expressions of intense anger about others’ incompetence but may quickly evolve into tearful recriminations about a lack of appreciation and recognition.
In recalling one such incident, an ESTJ said, “I am normally not an emotional person; at least I don’t show my emotions. I am a very steady person externally. My outburst was quite unlike me.” One ESTJ said she is “more emotional and not calm—I’m irritable, can easily snap at people. Another ESTJ woman commented, “I get so emotional I can’t stand myself.”

As is the case for all the inferior function expressions, anger is a commonly mentioned response for both ESTJs and ENTJs. This is as true for women of these types as it is for men. ESTJ and ENTJ women list “emotionality” as their most frequent grip reaction, and although men of these types mention this much less frequently, they often report episodes of emotionality in describing inferior function experiences.
An ENTJ minister worked hard over a period of five years and saw his church grow from a few hundred to more than a thousand members. Throughout this stressful time he managed all facets of his work calmly and effectively. But one day at a church board meeting, he broke down sobbing, lost all control, and was unable to function in his job. It took him several months to recover completely, during which time his grateful and concerned church officials carried on his work for him.

Extraverted Thinking types may be on shaky ground in situations that call for expressions of feeling. One ESTJ described her difficulty with intimate relationships this way: “I’m normally gregarious and outgoing with people. But if I get into a one-on-one relationship that’s significant, especially romantically, I can’t express what I feel or what I’m experiencing. Eventually, I blurt out some really exaggerated emotion at exactly the wrong time. I feel childish and silly and don’t want to ever do that again.”


Fear of Feeling

Talking about innermost values, feelings, and concerns is quite difficult even for dominant Introverted Feeling types. Jung (1976a) observed that “the very fact that thoughts can generally be expressed more intelligibly than feelings demands a more than ordinary descriptive or artistic ability before the real wealth of this feeling can be even approximately presented or communicated to the world” (p. 388).

Effective dominant Introverted Feeling types accept the nuances of feeling they experience as natural and welcome evidence of their own inner complexity. But feelings and emotions intruding into the consciousness of an Extraverted Thinking type who is in the grip of inferior Introverted Feeling are experienced as so alien and overwhelming that
they are inexpressible. From a Thinking point of view, the eruption of “illogical,” uncontrolled, and disorderly feelings is like being at the mercy of strange and overwhelming forces that threaten a person’s equilibrium, if not his or her whole existence. As a result, Extraverted Thinking types are rarely able to communicate their distress to others, often maintaining their typical controlled demeanor while fearing that they will lose control of their emotions. In extreme instances, they may be terrified that they are going crazy.

To fend off the feared result, initial attempts involve maintaining cool and detached effectiveness and objectivity. Casual observers will not detect the intense inner battle for control. More careful observation, however, may reveal uncharacteristic silence, withdrawal, moodiness, or flat and depressed affect. Men and women of both types typically report becoming uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn. An ESTJ described feeling “a swirling in the pit of my stomach and a desperate attempt to figure out why and to define my reaction logically.”
Because the Extraverted Thinking type has few resources for communicating what is going on inside, potential helpers may remain largely unaware of any distress, even when the person is in serious trouble. The despair, sense of isolation, and feeling of worthlessness may become so extreme that the person may become severely depressed, sometimes requiring medication or hospitalization. Acquaintances and colleagues may be surprised to learn that such an episode has occurred because until final control is lost, the ESTJ or ENTJ may appear fairly “normal.” “I’m calm on the outside, in control, very logical, solve problems, yet it ties me up inside,” said an ENTJ. This manifestation of the inferior is an exaggeration of the dominant Introverted Feeling type’s “economy of emotional expression.”

Two Extraverted Thinking types described their experiences with their inferior functions in these ways after their episodes had run their course:
“I became overly sensitive and tried to cover it with biting sarcasm. My energy was focused inside and I felt shaky. I wanted to be alone. I put on a front of being a strong soldier, but it was really only a protective shell to hide my vulnerability.” “I was different in being very negative. Everything appeared bleak. I was disoriented and aggressive. I talked to myself more. I got emotional (angry or sad, tearful or despondent). In very bad cases, I even contemplated suicide.”
 

Windigo

New member
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
446
One of the manifestations of any inferior function is diminished effectiveness in the use of the developed dominant function. For Extraverted Thinking types, there may be a loss of ability to think logically and take effective action, or an inability to recognize the relevance of logic in a situation. . . an ENTJ observed, �The feeling that I am unappreciated becomes the central thing, and I can�t consider anything else.� An ENTJ said that she �becomes disorganized and loses things. I�m late to meetings and miss deadlines, and I focus on non-priority activities and tasks. I procrastinate and do only what is due immediately.� Others report being unable to think, having tunnel vision, and being easily fatigued at work. What they normally do very easily requires great effort. . . An ENTJ felt powerless to influence future events significantly. Another reported that, when under great stress, he would lose the capacity for verbal expression and would have difficulty getting his words out. In general, there is an uncharacteristic reduction in productive work accompanied by a feeling of failure.

ENTJs� tertiary Sensing emerges in the form of undeniable facts�both serving to confirm their inner turmoil and fears of being unappreciated and unworthy.
Von Franz (1971) captures all three aspects of inferior Introverted Feeling (hypersensitivity to inner states, outbursts of emotion, and fear of feeling) in the following statement, which also describes the all-or-none, often one-sided expression . . . ENTJs report sometimes feeling suddenly tearful for no apparent reason, and crying in private

Wow! Thanks for sharing . . . having just come out of one of the most stressful episodes of my life . . . this certainly explains a lot! Now I know why I am continually losing my keys, missing appointments and fighting back tears and then wondering if I'm going insane.
 

Eric B

ⒺⓉⒷ
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
3,621
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
548
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I've been noticing a pattern I've seen with apparent ETJ's, and also have just finished reading Quenk.

TJ's have a vulnerable, easily bruised Fi, but you never know it, since it lies behind their aggressive Thinking; and when violated, they go on the attack, and the other person has no idea what they did to deserve that level of retaliation.
In fact, it often escalates slowly in a periodic, passive-aggressive fashion at first, that looks more like them just being nasty for no reason, or in bad moods, etc. rather than some real specific issue they have against you.

At some point, they unleash all their beef, usually in the (true "J" fashion) form of listing your "history" or "pattern" of offenses. It's often down to the minute detail (Again, Fi's meticulousness as an introverted judgment). They sometimes even then become the 'public defender', and cite instances of "you did this to this person...".

At this point, they can seem like FJ's, but by now, inferior Fi has degraded to its shadow, the Demon, which seeks to publicly destroy (humiliate, knock down, etc) the offender.
People see "getting personal" like that as an F trait, but F's desire harmony first, and usually try to avoid such conflict. It's only if you really attack or hurt them they might be pushed to that point. Not usually just some little thing you said that they didn't like.
This aggressive "getting personal" is more characteristic of inferior F. (In which a person projects his feelings of inferiority in the area by trying to bring others down, or at least projecting "shoulds" as Berens says. It could also be the "child" associated with the tertiary, which is also vulnerable).

What's worse, is that when you react, they then deny the severity of their behavior, and even tell you to have a 'thicker skin!' "Oh, it's nothing; you just pissed me off". "It's just these little things you do". One person even denied it was a "conflict"! Today, a person tells me that he's not angry, but must have "struck a nerve" [in me]. (Why was anything escalating from his side in the first place?)
Or, the best one, "constructive criticism" (which I used to get from TJ's of both the E and I stripes in my family and elsewhere). Then, "don't be so defensive", "this is just how people react in life; you have to learn to deal with it", etc.
If you continue to be upset and respond accordingly, then they will claim you're "attacking" them.

This is the projection of their own "hypersensitivity", as the book calls it, which they are in denial of. (Why start these things, if it's "nothing" to be upset about?)

In my experience in recent years, first, it was a person in another type site, who seems to be ENTJ, though posing as an FJ. Then, another poster here (my only real conflict here). Just these past few days, someone else, on another board (not type related, and though I've never paid attention enough to type him, it is clearly fitting the same pattern. If not ETJ, this sort of behavior is also common among the similar ITJ's with tertiary Fi, which were some of the above examples).

It seems they get pissed off at some little things you say in passing, that was not even offensive, and in a friendly or at least neutral discussion, and meant nothing to you, but seems to mean a lot to them. This is from Fi's "unspoken values" being violated. In addition it is often interpreted totally wrong, with some sort of negative motive assigned to it out of nowhere. (Again; negative Fi judgment).
The person today interpreted my beginning a couple of sentences with "Well..." as "standoffish" and "dismissive". (One of them was actually agreeing with him on something, and the other was being filtered through the next error). He thought I was trying to deny something to others, but missed where I clarified that two items we were discussing should be divided, not both denied one group. From this, another statement was then taken as "spiteful". I'm like "where on earth is all this coming from?"

This isn't to bash ETJ's, but it does explain they way others think that I really could not understand for many years (and used to drive me to want to give up on dealing with people!) Quenk doesn't quite cover this side of the Fi "grip", but it is very good to know, as conflicts like these can get quite nasty, and as I told the person today, it's really just miscommunication and misunderstanding, and a lot of assumption. (And of course, to be fair; on my part, there's the Fe grip going right up against this).
 

EJCC

The Devil of TypoC
Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
19,129
MBTI Type
ESTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
The OP is astoundingly true. I agree with it entirely.

And [MENTION=3521]Eric B[/MENTION]: I didn't take your post as ETJ-bashing at all. It rang true with me. One thing I would like to address, though:
What's worse, is that when you react, they then deny the severity of their behavior, and even tell you to have a 'thicker skin!' "Oh, it's nothing; you just pissed me off". "It's just these little things you do". One person even denied it was a "conflict"! Today, a person tells me that he's not angry, but must have "struck a nerve" [in me]. (Why was anything escalating from his side in the first place?)
Or, the best one, "constructive criticism" (which I used to get from TJ's of both the E and I stripes in my family and elsewhere). Then, "don't be so defensive", "this is just how people react in life; you have to learn to deal with it", etc.
If you continue to be upset and respond accordingly, then they will claim you're "attacking" them.

This is the projection of their own "hypersensitivity", as the book calls it, which they are in denial of. (Why start these things, if it's "nothing" to be upset about?)
I think some of this may have to do with the health of the ESTJ. Not all of it, but the bolded -- and the parts about projecting on the other person -- sounded like someone who is VERY out of touch with their Fi. But it doesn't ring true with me personally. I may downplay my outburst, I may blame it on the other person, but, discounting the misreading of people mentioned in the OP (which is specific to reading offense into benign remarks), I don't think I misread people like that. (Although I have seen behavior similar to the bolded in closed-minded NTJs on the forum....)
 

Eric B

ⒺⓉⒷ
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
3,621
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
548
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
It may be lack of touch with Fi (I really don't know that' person's type, nor his age and cognitive development, but just used it as it was very current, and seemed to fit in with the other examples), but it seemed more to me like just an argumentation method. A kind of sly ad-hominem attack. To prove he's right, just by virtue of being composed like that implies more "rational". So it might not even really be "misreading". The point was he was the one who had some sort of issue, yet tried to make me out to be the one overreacting, which was the "projection".
 

Evo

Unapologetic being
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
3,160
MBTI Type
XNTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I know for me, everything that's in the first and third post is all true about me and any stressed ENTJ i know. Pretty terrible how i can react to things these days. I recently read a random paragragh online about how most ENTJ's act when under extreme stress compared to low stress or even moderate stress and all of my answers were "yes I act like this most of the time" when the actions of ENTJ under extreme stress were liste. It's as if I act like a 10 year old isfp that is ready for a fight because i'm assuming someone is probably going to hurt my feelings today...I hate it and it's soo hard to get out of this funk... :( So if anyone actually knows how to help, let me know lol !
 
T

ThatGirl

Guest
The only thing you can do is go back and fix whatever is causing the stress.

Remove yourself from the situation, and observe exactly where it is coming from and why. Stay removed until you are confident in your actions (acting once to fix the problem), and it is solved.

This may be bad advise, but that's what I do.
 
Top