Fe Notes on Psychology
May 13, 2013 16:44:23 GMT -5 by Auburn
sitbone, ayoungspirit, and 3 more like this
Post by Auburn on May 13, 2013 16:44:23 GMT -5
Fe
As you guys know, when it comes to psychoanalysis there is a lot of risk of presenting information in ways that may be interpreted differently than intended. I've been avoiding posting psychological profiles or information for this reason, and focusing more on the observable phenomenon. The actual humans who, by their very testimony and life, give the necessary information to understand the processes in a way no description could do justice. But I do want to share some elements of this here and hope that they make sense to others.
Fe Polarity
In this pairing Ti is reactive, and Fe is the proactive process. Thus Fe takes initiative and Ti is the one that analyzes the effects; the aftermath of the action. Fe will act to either yield/conform to the social dynamics at play to better align itself to them, or push/influence the social dynamics to have others align with them. But in order to move the social dynamics in any direction it requires that Fe not accept the present dynamic as it exists. It denies the present arrangement for the pursuit of an alternative, 'better' reality, however it may define better.
This bias has repercussions which arise naturally from the holding of expectations. In holding expectations of the world, Fe enters an emotional contract with the world. Fe will, without anyone's direction, place itself in emotional debt to itself. From the desire to better a dynamic with others it may create a positive emotional situation, or offer encouragement, without means or justification for it. When, rationally, there's no reason for things to be positive, Fe may make them positive. But subconsciously the Fe knows this is a fabrication, and the warmth it elicits without a justification comes at a cost to itself. Whenever Fe fills a situation with warmth, it takes the toll, the emotional investment, from its own resources.
Because of this fundamental and near unavoidable dynamic, all Fe users have a tendency toward Bipolarity. Unless every emotional push Fe exerts/invests is perfectly counterbalanced by reciprocation from the world - the net effect will be one of debt or indebtedness. Although it was of its own initiative, Fe may grow resentful of people for having 'forced' them to act positively, and may feel resentment toward them for not responding how they expected. Or, inversely, it may feel in debt of others for their generosity. If the distance from equilibrium is too greatly offset to their detriment, Fe may feel divided between desiring to maintain emotional generosity, and withholding due to the inequality of the reciprocity. If the Fe holds a value of unconditional kindness, then it may see its own dissatisfaction as a flaw in character and come to resent themselves for feeling bitter about not receiving recompense, and try to focus on being more giving without needing recompense. But the emotion will not automatically vanish, and this dynamic gives rise to two conflicting opinions of Fe; one lighter and one darker, one of which may predominate at any given situation based on the perceived social climate.
In people who integrate this divide into themselves, they may be known to change from completely empathic and warm one moment, and completely hostile and condescending the next - depending on what side of their values you are standing.
Not to rely strictly on an animated series as an example, but FeNi Haruno Sakura is a fictional, archetypal embodiment of this two-faced nature. Fe may have a tendency to be two-faced, and want to present the light side of Fe to the public while hiding the other. Not all Fe individuals suppress their negative-Fe.
In other individuals this desire for disassociation from one's own perceived unrighteousness/ugliness may become pronounced to the point of creating a backlog of suppressed and invalidated emotions. The (otherwise correct) judgment of Fe's darker contrast, which simply informs on the imbalance of emotional energies, may become a separate persona in the psyche. I've met and known 5 Fe users at a deep/personal level who displayed this duality and three of them, including myself, had given names to the two personalities.
The only way not to become emotionally polarized is if one did not over-estimate or under-estimate. If one simply reacted to a situation with the realistic amount of energy due to the situation, then the debt/debtor duality wouldn't arise. The light/dark contrast wouldn't arise. And this is how it typically is for Te users, who have Fi. Their emotional energies are their own, and so they act (Te) dispassionately and invest only the logical amount of energy needed to move a situation - dependent more on environmental conditions, rather than emotional reciprocity. In this way they don't often develop personal emotional debt to themselves. If they dislike someone because they're not reciprocating they'll just stop giving and move on. They won't play martyr to feel better about themselves, or use other Fe tactics.
Fe Martyrs
This is how you get Fe-martyrs. Fe martyrs are people whose Fe realizes/knows that they're on the self-sacrificing end of the spectrum. They know that they've given more than they've received and despite the awareness of this they prefer to be the ones emotionally indebted to, than the ones in debt. Such people may also refuse to have others do favors for them, while wanting to do favors for you. This tactic is to perpetuate their sense of nobility, which is in fact spawn from the Fe equilibrium equation.
The one who is imbalanced on the side of having taken too much and not given the same amount, is the one less noble, compared to the one who gave more than they've recieved who is more noble. This is a sort of (unintentional?) emotional manipulation Fe users utilize to retain their Fe's concept of their own worth/rightness.
[to be continued]