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[Ne] Do Unhealthy INFJs Test People to Find Weakness?

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
14,037
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
496
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Especially in person, vulnerabilities in people tend to stand out to me through body language and verbal cues. It wouldn't occur to me to test someone, because I can usually see it anyway. I see more than I want to and so leave it at that because it makes it more difficult to interact for me. I've accidentally tested people to see how far they cross the line in exploiting and such, but avoid doing that now and just minimize contact with people who don't inspire trust.
 

Lexicon

Temporal Mechanic
Staff member
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
12,342
MBTI Type
JINX
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I think my ability to see and distantly sort of feel many weaknesses in others is one of the reasons I could never bring myself to use them against an individual. It's just a destructive, repulsive act to me. No good can come of it, for anyone.

But yeah, for the less healthy people in general, not just INFJs, this is a common behavior. Helps the unhealthy person keep from having to examine him/herself when their fragile ego/sense of reality is affected/''threatened.'' Places the focus and the fire on others. Basically hurting others to avoid their own internal problems, and infecting everyone around them with their mental poison.

Sad and disgusting behavior.


As for other kinds of ''testing,'' well.. INFJ are a cautious breed, hah. We hoard data and are pattern seekers. It's just to have a well-rounded understanding of the intra/interpersonal dynamics of another person.
It's not really some specific PASS/FAIL, thing. Just a means of processing.
 

Kitsune413

New member
Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Messages
59
MBTI Type
enfp
Whenever you take away a persons 'tools' and make them fall back on an inferior set its bad. An enfp example would be that if you shoot down Ne I think we tend to fall back on introverted feeling to just maintain 'station'. But come at us after that and all our tools left are pretty nasty. Some of that being the personal insight Ni brings.

When you shoot down Infj's they withdraw. I have an INFJ friend that this happens alot with because she makes alot of judgements with limited information. So when I question those judgements she will feel criticized and withdraw. But being a P when she withdraws I have always let her be. I've never chased that rabbit down its hole.

I imagine that if you did you'd find alot of nasty surprises from that Ni. But I've never seen it.
 

Ratinas

New member
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
6
I had a friend who did just that. She even went as far as to seek information about people using online resources . At one point it got really scary. She is on some heavy meds right now, but doing better.
 

Elfboy

Certified Sausage Smoker
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
9,625
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I really don't think this is type related. Anyone who is insecure will test people in various ways. We all have insecurities, but the more of them there are, the more likely it is that we either will feel in competition with others or that we will need to keep proving to ourselves that we have value to others. Ironically, the process of seeking this kind of self-validation tends to drive other people away, even those who really care.

I suppose that depending on type, people's way of dealing with their insecurities may manifest in slightly different ways, but I don't think there is a defining characteristic for each type, either healthy or unhealthy. A lot depends on previous life experiences, trust level to begin with, the type of relationship the two of you share, the person's character and so on. There are just too many variables I think to really give an answer to your questions.

Just as a side note, INFJs generally don't have Ne in their main function lineup. They are Ni doms, which means that introverted intuition is their primary function.

actually, it is type related, it's just applicable to more than 1 type
types prone to testing are
MBTI: FJs, STPs (though STPs do this more to "size people up" in a social setting
Enneagram: 2s, 6s, 8s
Instinct Variant: Sexual
 

StarsPer

New member
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
35
MBTI Type
INFJ
I don't really see why a person has to be unhealthy or insecure to test the integrity or poll the raw context of another. That seems like complicating what is, with me, a very regular part of my behavior that is about obtaining information so that I know my environment and how to work with it, or whether I even want to.
 
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