N's feeling pressured to act like S's?

[King sns]

I'm thinking of this because sometimes I feel that someone is an N but I have little information to back it up. They talk sensor things. Sometimes I think so based on their job, or general demeanor, or other random data. (Their shirt has a button missing or something . Kidding!!! ) Also, regarding "sensor bashing" a few on this forum mentioned that it may be because they are introverted intuitives living in a world of extraverted sensors and they want to blame things on them- or along the lines.

So what do you think?
Do you N's feel pressure to act like S's in this S-focused world? How do you cope? If you do indeed try to hide your awesome N ness, how well do you do?
And what would you tell us S's to do to make N's feel understood by us? (Without losing our sensorishness.)

I'm mildly expecting a lot of you to say, "no, I don't feel pressure." Since you already know about MBTI. Do you know any N's that seem to feel out of place?

 

[BlackCat]

For me I try to "blend in" in a social situation if I'm not familiar with the people there. Gradually I'll let out more Nness, but until then the apparent S presence makes me adjust accordingly. I have no issue doing it, it's actually refreshing to not be so deep all of the time, and realizing that people are going to take things on a surface level in a social situation.

When people adjust to me I let out my Nness with my humor, my humor is eccentric and odd, and people tend to think it's hilarious. They seem to realize "this guy is different", but don't really care since they adjusted to me in the first place with how I acted at first.

I have plenty of sensor friends, I don't have a problem with them and they don't have a problem with me. I am borderline on all preferences including S/N, that may change my perspective.

That's how I do it, others are probably different. I hope that made sense.

 

[527468]

I think I know what you're talking about. From my experience, there are a lot of ENxPs who act like sensors even though they notice the same patterns I do and disregard detail. Maybe acting like a sensor is a harsh phrase, but they more live with a sensor crowd and have sensor friends, conform with these sensor friends, thus act like a sensor. It's fair to say ENxPs do this more, since they are the most popular N, members of their type can feel obligated to take after them, thus multiplying their attitudes. If an ENTJ were to do this, there would be less conformity not because of less members of this personality, but because there would be less of a chance for that specific personality's role model to make availability.

 

[MacGuffin]

Job openings are always "detail-oriented". No one ever looks for an "abstract thinker who will leave the details to others".

 

[Lady_X]

nah...i really don't. don't ever really think about it. i can do just light and social and be in the moment. delving deep into some abstract conversation typically just happens with people i know well or in a more intimate environment...or i guess it happens naturally with other n's but it's not something that's an issue ever. i am used to saying odd things and people telling me i'm weird but they seem to like it about me anyway...so i don't care.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Job openings are always "detail-oriented". No one ever looks for an "abstract thinker who will leave the details to others".

Nice that N is almost 2-in-1, whereas S is.. eh.. 1-in-1

After all, forming abstraction needs something to form it on.

I still somehow hate how S manage to cope with their backwardness, and don't desperately need N so much

 

[CJ99]

Hmm sometimes. When I was a kid I think I did because being different was considered wrong by other kids. Or atleast more wrong than it is now at 17.
I don't think it bothers me now i'm starting to get over the social akwardness of my youth. Actually I think a lot of people actually find my Nness quite interesting. Like when i was doing a show back in November the curtains opened in 5 min and everyone was on stage talking while i sat on the floor in my world air guitaring and one the girls turned around and said "Aww Haha he is in his own little world" and everyone kinda did that little laugh/smile/aww look for a sec rather than that "whats wrong/your weird/you okay" look. Then the same person (an 100% ESP) told me i was hilarious almost everytime i talked to her. She said the same to my sis a infp.

I think SPs like Nness. My best mates are an ISTp (hate it when he goes J) and an ESFP. the ESFP soaks up my style of humour like a sponge.

SJs on the other hand are far more guarded about Nness. They hate it or seem to.

But i'll shut up now as i am rambling (like Led Zepplin! !?!? actually i just though i'm listening to foo fighters!)

 

[Sentura]

Job openings are always "detail-oriented". No one ever looks for an "abstract thinker who will leave the details to others".

that's a bold overstatement if i've ever seen any. it entirely depends on what you can and want to do. some jobs require you have a good overview of things. would you have a general sit and focus on one platoon of troops or on the entire army?

--

yes i mostly feel pressured, but then that may be a good thing. i have discovered ways to circumvent the S dominance and find other N people without much effort. it requires only handling an array of questions that you ask people at social gatherings and a threshold for those questions. if they answer the question one way, they're below the threshold, but if they answer the question a certain way, then there's a 100% probability of them being N.

it's like the riddle of the sphinx put into a modern context. most people don't even know that they are being tested.

 

[Azseroffs]

I feel more pressured to be E. To be perfectly honest I can't even think what it would mean to be pressured to be S. I think simply living in an existing world that requires sensual data in order to react with it is pressure to be S.

I do feel somewhat pressured when people go on and on about what they did last weekend or something of the like, but I think that's more E pressure than S. I do notice conversations run a lot smoother with other N types though, so it just may be S pressure.

 

[Azseroffs]

that's a bold overstatement if i've ever seen any. it entirely depends on what you can and want to do. some jobs require you have a good overview of things. would you have a general sit and focus on one platoon of troops or on the entire army?

I think he's pointing out that a majority of jobs are better performed by S types. Jobs that are better suited for Ns tend to be the upper management and such jobs, where a sense of the "bigger picture" is important. Lets face it. Those jobs aren't exactly something you just apply for, and a majority of jobs are the monotonous detail oriented ones. Detail being better worked on by S types.

 

[maliafee]

Nice that N is almost 2-in-1, whereas S is.. eh.. 1-in-1

After all, forming abstraction needs something to form it on.

I still somehow hate how S manage to cope with their backwardness, and don't desperately need N so much

This is an interesting perspective. I know you were being somewhat tongue-in-cheek there, but it's weird. Actually I was talking with my ISFJ yesterday about some of the artists in his art class -- how he doesn't understand how artists can dress badly and make art no one understands (pretty sure he's talking about a specific INTX in his class actually who frustrates him), how he doesn't think such people are actually artists if they don't naturally understand color/form. We were joking that being an S is 2 in 1 (you can always delve into the mind, but having a grasp on reality is harder to achieve from our points of view) but that Ns are relegated to the world of the mind.

In reality we are all 2 in 1...

 

[Lauren Ashley]

Yes, I feel pressured to be more extraverted sensor-ish if I'm in that kind of environment aka the world at large. I don't cave to the pressure though; instead I try to find a common ground.

 

[MacGuffin]

that's a bold overstatement if i've ever seen any. it entirely depends on what you can and want to do. some jobs require you have a good overview of things. would you have a general sit and focus on one platoon of troops or on the entire army?

LOL "some jobs". That's a bold overstatement... how about "next to no" jobs?

We all know jobs comparable to being an army general are just as plentiful as those comparable to enlisted men.

 

[bluebell]

I feel more pressured to be E.

This. I've had to learn how to crank up pseudo-Eness at work. Extreme introverts tend to get viewed fairly negatively.

I also get a lot of explicit pressure to be more F at work. I get a lot of 'you're very logical and rational, but you need to really improve how you deal with other people's emotional reactions' feedback.

Pressure to be more S is more implicit and tends to come more from chatting with people.

 

[OrangeAppled]

Do you N's feel pressure to act like S's in this S-focused world? How do you cope?
I do, yes. I don't think it is just "N", but being both introverted and intuitive.
I cope by using Te (see below), staying quiet, and coming off as bland as I cannot communicate in sensor style and be interesting. I definitely feel out of place, but that's also an INFP thing.

If you do indeed try to hide your awesome N ness, how well do you do?
Pretty crappy I imagine. I may resort to Te to communicate over Ne and then I come off as harsh & abrasive, even if clearer. It works best when I use Te to organize Ne I guess (which is expressing Fi? haha).
Using Ne, people's eyes glaze over and they just don't get what I am trying to say or they just think I am a weirdo. I don't tend to blame others....I recognize it's mostly my responsibility to communicate effectively to people. However, when I am happy and feeling comfortable, I use Ne and am much more charming, so it's in everyone's best interests to accept the Ne

And what would you tell us S's to do to make N's feel understood by us? (Without losing our sensorishness.)
Don't tune us out when we start to speak about things outside of the here-and-now. Don't discount any metaphors/analogies we use as irrelevant because it seems "hypothetical" to you & therefore invalid (my ESFP sister always does that to me...grrrr!). We're using seemingly unrelated things to explain our point, so try and follow along, please.
Don't view our visions as impractical, but get excited with us & even offer to help fill in the details. My S mom continually picks N husbands cough: ) and is very good at nurturing our creative sides. It can be done!

Do you know any N's that seem to feel out of place?
Most of the N's I know are very independent people, and I realize now they have to be.

 

[OrangeAppled]

he doesn't understand how artists can dress badly and make art no one understands (pretty sure he's talking about a specific INTX in his class actually who frustrates him), how he doesn't think such people are actually artists if they don't naturally understand color/form.

This is funny, because this boggles me too and I am an INFP. I dress pretty well (albeit quirky) and naturally have a good sense of color/form, but I've seen many other INxPs who do not; however, it's only in their dress or home where they are lacking. In their art, they will have a wonderful sense of color and composition. How they don't apply it everything is beyond me.

As for understanding the art, well N's are visionaries. We have to be ahead of our time. Just give it 50 years or so

 

[Snow Turtle]

Hehe. No pressure to be an S here.

However I do feel alot of pressure on these things in the social arena.
"E, Ne, Ni and Fe" and to an extent "Se" -

It's just the friends I surround myself with. One of my biggest fears and nightmare is that I'm boring and I can't entertain others well.

Often Ne humour is just... too quick for me. I'm often left going "Uhh... You fool" because I can't come up with something quick enough to shoot back. Neither do I have the sort of Ni like humour as well. I definitely think intuitives are rather funny or interesting people.

 

[Southern Kross]

Job openings are always "detail-oriented". No one ever looks for an "abstract thinker who will leave the details to others".

I think he's pointing out that a majority of jobs are better performed by S types. Jobs that are better suited for Ns tend to be the upper management and such jobs, where a sense of the "bigger picture" is important. Lets face it. Those jobs aren't exactly something you just apply for, and a majority of jobs are the monotonous detail oriented ones. Detail being better worked on by S types.

OMG so true!

I can vouch for this because I have been searching for a entry-level job in my field for months! And this is in the arts and entertainment sector! I am going insane! :steam:

In general, I would say I do play at being a sensor - especially around people I'm not close to. This requires toning down/elimnating the philosophical babble and engaging in (much loathed) small-talk, speaking in a concise to-the-point manner, not straying too far from stating the obvious. Anything more than that and people's eyes start glazing over, then you are interrupted in order to return to the previous topic as if you never had spoken.

I'm being harsh on sensors, I know. They can be great fun to be around, and some of my best friends are sensors! But that is what it feels like to me a lot of the time. I have real trouble just relaxing and being myself when I have to cater to everyone limited attention spans and lack of imagination. It makes life a lot of work.

 

[Sentura]

LOL "some jobs". That's a bold overstatement... how about "next to no" jobs?

We all know jobs comparable to being an army general are just as plentiful as those comparable to enlisted men.

you're giving me semantics, sailor, so i'll give you the same: you implied that ALL jobs were looking for detail oriented people, i just proved you wrong.

besides, since there are so many less people being N, it is only natural that there would be less N based jobs, don't you think? and if you can't find those, then i'm thinking you're looking in the wrong places. try google?

 

[Athenian200]

Well, I'm not sure what counts as Sensor behavior. The only thing I suppose I'd ask of anyone is that they be fairly quiet and subdued, give me plenty of personal space, and try to avoid chaotic behavior. Basically, don't do anything you wouldn't do in a Library around me.

Anyway, I feel that society as a whole only expects me to make enough money to survive, purchase basic goods and services on a regular basis, obey the law, and pay my taxes. If you do those things, they seem to leave you to your own devices. It might be different in some other areas, though. I'd say society is very, very TJ in nature, with a few basic FJ influences as well. Don't really see much strong I/E or S/N in it.

The only way I really modify my behavior in public is that I get very J. I plan out my actions before venturing outside, making sure I know what I need to do, how to do it, and where I need to go in order to accomplish the things I need to do. I also make sure that every action I might potentially take (and every condition I might find myself in) in any of those situations is permitted. In the time inbetween steps, I default to standing off to the side and standing (or sitting) still.

In other words, I don't really have a personality in public. I just carefully follow a series of scripted interactions with designated people and objects, and would probably be confused about what to do if I encountered a situation that wasn't covered in that script. Rather like an NPC in a video game (except that I can program myself). It seems that's what most of the others around me are doing as well, which is why I don't claim to know the personality of any of the people I see in real life. I never see theirs, and they don't see mine.