Ashfur MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Ashfur? Ashfur is an INFP personality type in MBTI, 4w5 - sx/sp - 461 in Enneagram, RLUEI in Big 5, IEI in Socionics.
Ok, I was sure he was a 2, but after rereading Naranjo's description of 4 I feel that type actually fits him better - a lot of the aspects people are using to point towards 2 can also apply to 4, while in a lot of other ways he contradicts descriptions of 2 and fits descriptions of 4. To elaborate: As I understand it, Ashfur is voted 2 because of his relationship with Squirrelflight; he is at first seemingly kind and protective of her, standing up for her against Brambleclaw and protecting her in the badger attack. But it soon becomes clear that he expects Squirrelflight's love in return for that kindness, and when he is not loved romantically he reacts disproportionately to punish her. While this is indeed indicative of 2, it is also typical of 4. Quoting Naranjo: "Ennea-type IV people are usually considered thoughtful, understanding, apologetic, soft, gentle, cordial, self-sacrificing, humble, sometimes obsequious. Their nurturant quality not only appears to constitute a form of “giving to get,” i.e., dependent onthe love need alone, but on an empathic identification with the needs of others that causes them to be concerned parents, empathetic social workers, attentive psychotherapists, and fighters for the underdog. The nurturant characteristic of type IV can be dynamically understood as a form of seduction in the service of the intense need of the other and its painful frustration. Caring for others may be masochistically exaggerated to a point of self-enslavement, and contributes thus to the self-frustration and pain that in turn activates the demanding and litigious aspects of the character." So 4s can potentially exhibit some 2-like qualities of being gentle, kind, unassuming, all to get love. Furthermore, 4s have a tendency to idealize romantic love to an unhealthy extent. During the section where he is looking for precedents for the type in psychological literature, Naranjo quotes Karen Horney saying about this type of people: “er*tic love lures this type as the supreme fulfillment. Love must and does appear as the ticket to paradise, where all woe ends: no more loneliness, no more feeling lost, guilty or unworthy; no more responsibility for self; no more struggle with a harsh world for which he feels hopelessly unequipped. Instead love seems to promise protection, support, affection, encouragement, sympathy, understanding. It will give him a feeling of worth, it will give meaning to his life, it will be salvation and redemption. No wonder then that for him people often are divided into haves and have-nots, not in terms of money and social status but of being (or not being) married or having an equivalent relationship.” So if both 2s and 4s are capable of Ashfur's behavior of idealizing and desperately wanting romantic love, acting kind and friendly to get it, and then retaliating when it is denied, how do we know which of the two types he is? What exactly differentiates 2s and 4s if they are both so similar in this way? Well, remember that while 2s are defined by their passion of pride, 4s are defined by their passion of envy. So 2 is an assertive, extroverted type that wants to feed its ego by providing to others and proving that it only gives and never takes or needs things for itself. 4, on the other hand, is an introverted type that, rather than. being prideful of what it has, dwells on what it does not have (envy) and a sense of tragic loss and suffering. Which one fits Ashfur better? Ashfur never really shows pride, is never this gregarious figure attempting to seduce and be loved by everyone or step up as the caretaker of his family and Clan. He is "nice" to Squirrelflight, but in an understated way that more reflects on his idealization of romance with this one particular cat than a constant search for love in general. Instead, he is just another anonymous, quiet warrior with no particular great contribution to his Clan - a role a 2's pride would make them unlikely to fall into. When he does appear in the narrative, it's to express his bitterness and argumentative nature (like in Graystripe's Vow where he's mentioned to be the most argumentative cat in the Clan), which also reflects 4 and its tendency for anger and bitterness. (continued in reply)
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