Empathetic MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Empathetic? Empathetic is an ENFJ personality type in MBTI, 2w1 - so/sx - 296 in Enneagram, SCOAI in Big 5, EII in Socionics.
[1/3] This post will begin with a preface since many, understandably, are hesitant to read the original post below due to its length. —Jung says of empathy here: “[I]t is easy to see that empathy corresponds to the mechanism of extraversion” (pg. 293, CW V6). Then he proceeds to describe it in more precise terms: “Empathy is an introjection (q.v.) of the object” (pg. 425, CW V6). This is a process exclusive to extraverted cognition, and Jung emphasizes this fact: “Introjection is a process of extraversion (q.v.), since assimilation to the object requires empathy (q.v.) and an investment of the object with libido (q.v.)” (pg. 452, CW V6). This being said, empathy can only be represented by an extraverted function, and this conclusion cannot be argued around, as it is stated, again, in the first citation: “[I]t is easy to see that empathy corresponds to the mechanism of extraversion” (pg. 293, CW V6). It is my mistake, however, for not originally including concise definitions for empathy and introjection. Below is the original post, which elaborates further. - The intention here is not to disparage either type, but rather to clarify their differences without sugarcoating. It must be kept in mind that either type can exhibit both developed interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence, but we still acknowledge that introverted feeling is not an empathetic function at all, rather it is sympathetic. And we understand empathy to be the cognition of external emotional states, whereas sympathy is fundamentally the excitation and dissolution of certain internal emotional states in response to a social stimulus. Though, I am not asking you to take my word alone for it, as Jung is very clear about this type distinction himself, in which he delineates introverted feeling as unambiguously sympathetic and extraverted feeling as unambiguously empathetic. The purpose of introverted feeling is to differentiate subjective feeling states and values, whereas the purpose of extraverted feeling is to differentiate objective feeling states and values. In other words, introverted feeling utilizes objective data predominantly as a mere starting point for the differentiation of its own internal states, to amplify whatever internal feeling the unconscious is most partial to at that moment. “It is a feeling which seems to devalue the object, and it therefore manifests itself for the most part negatively… It glides unheedingly over all objects that do not fit in with its aim. It strives after inner intensity, for which the objects serve at most as a stimulus… There is little effort to respond to the real emotions of the other person; they are more often damped down and rebuffed, or cooled off by a negative value judgment…” (Jung). In this manner, the introverted feeling type is less concerned with the feelings of others and more so with the flavor and intensity of her own emotions; in matters of people, she is concerned principally with whether an individual might function as a suitable stimulus for the internal states that her unconscious strives to develop. “In order to communicate with others, it has to find an external form not only acceptable to itself, but capable also of arousing a parallel feeling in them. Thanks to the relatively great inner (as well as outer) uniformity of human beings, it is actually possible to do this, though the form acceptable to feeling is extraordinarily difficult to find…” (Jung). It would seem as though the introverted type’s valuation and understanding as to others is, then, measurably constrained, and this is true even in the event that she attempts deliberately to make real contact with the object.
Biography
Showing an ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Synonyms: sympathetic, sensitive, compassionate, understanding. (Synonyms are included for sake of search accessibility)
