the judgment of infxs

this might come off a little accusatory as i'm not an infx (haha) but just a disclaimer and acknowledgment here that all mbti types are judgmental, in their own ways! the reason i'm making this post is part of an upcoming? series of posts about the differences between infj and infp, as i know a lot of them tend to mistype as each other.

i also have quite a number of infj and infp friends (don't worry, i can tell them apart) and i've sort of noticed a similar-but-different pattern in the way that they judge people and people-focused events. and when i say "judge," i don't mean it as a bad thing, as everyone judges. but i think the way that infjs and infps judge are very similar that they can be mistaken as each other - but there's also a difference with which they do it.

the main difference is this: infps use their Fi when judging, while infjs are actually using their tertiary Ti, which as a result gets paired with their auxiliary Fe.

what does this mean?

well, i feel like infps tend to internalize their judgments much more. of course they'll express and try to come up with ideas/solutions if they can - but the main thing is is that it's their values, and purely that, and that's why they can feel so strongly about it. they may still view it as objective or correct or the Only Way, but the source of their beliefs comes purely from just what they feel is right. there is no base on their stance and judgment other than themselves - which is completely valid, of course - but breaking down the way they think and feel and at the core, they need to believe what they believe and if they choose to change or reconsider their judgment, it has to be something that they want to feel comfortable doing. if you try to talk them out of it, you have to make sure you don't talk to them in a way that invalidates them - not just their way of thinking, but, at the core, how they view themselves and their own beliefs. it's not inherently self-centrism or sensitivity. their values and desires are merely at the center of their identity.

on the other hand, the infj's tertiary Ti makes them believe that their judgments are "common sense," or something that should be widely recognizable as correct. this also isn't a bad thing as it also kind of leads infjs to be more open-minded than they may make themselves seem or out to be! they just need to see the logic in breaking down their own argument or the view of others for them to realize that their understanding of logic is different from other's. but because of their secondary Fe, this is why they tend to express their judgments quite often - they want others to understand the logic of their judgment, especially when it pertains to the people they're talking to.

infjs are a little more... overbearing with their judgments, i think, but infps have a tendency to seem more as stubbornly expressing themselves (if they do) rather than pointing something out. infjs are the pointing-out type, because they actually approach their judgments in a more objective way, and when they express it, it's for you. meanwhile when infps express themselves it's for them - again, not a bad thing - and "you can believe what you want but this is what i believe and you can't change that (unless you're able to appeal to me."

obviously being an infj or an infp is no indicator of open-mindedness, especially since infps have their auxiliary Ne so they can be more openminded than this post may make them out to be (lmao.) the point is - the source of an infj's judgment is largely founded on a subconscious objectivity they view on people (because they care about them), while an infp's judgment starts with the self.

my mistyping experiences

so, for a very long time and actually up until earlier this year, i'd typed myself first as an infp, then an inxp leaning f, which is remarkable now that i feel a lot more sure that i'm an intp, haha. the only reason i'd begun to consider being an intp is because i made one of my friends take it when we were 13, and then she said she got intp, and i looked at the profile for it and something about it resonated with me.

personally, i know i'm a very empathetic person who feels very strongly. whether it's about values or about people or just my own emotions, i do know what i like, and what i want is important to me. i do act on my emotions.

but at the same time, i also rationalize things out a lot - especially my emotions. i have to internally explain them to myself, work through a pattern and from a source, understand logics from point A to point B and so on. not only that but it's not something that i try to do - i just do it because i need to internally understand what it is, even if myself, as long as it makes sense to me.

and i think that's the thing, at least for me. there's a strong sense of feeling - but beyond that an even stronger foundation of objective logic. i'm very capable of being subjectively personal, but to me, it's not enough if i'm just like "well, that's just me." to me that doesn't make sense - i can't simply trust myself. it feels baseless for me to go "well it's just me" - i have to drive it into the ground, rationally, rather than, say, musing over my thoughts and values and other things that just come from me.

and it's not to say that infps are illogical - because there's no correlation with that - but rather that if i were an infp, i feel like it'd be more of an understanding of myself. when i realized i was an intp it was actually a lot more through understanding mbti itself, because to me, mbti is an objective system (that is, yes, a theory) that i can use as a logical framework and deepen my understanding of it to apply it to myself. it would've been far more infp of me to locate my wants and wonder if i was only considering an intp because i wanted to be (which flitted through my mind but not much of a fixation) or what parts of me were infp vs intp and where i felt more strongly with either. with being an intp, i was more open to the logical possibilities that could result in me being either rather than personally feeling that i was more one than the either.

but all that aside, i think the main reason i still stuck with infp for a long time was because of how emotional i knew i was capable of being. the thing is, while i may both express and feel strongly, that doesn't ultimately mean that i work logically first. the same way an infp may be very logical and analytical, but still prioritize the way they feel about things rather than an objective logic. which is just as valid as the other! the thing with me is that i felt like my Ti - logic - was so "common sense" that i saw it less of as part of my mbti than my Fi, which was so strong.

but it was so much less inherent than my Ti! like i still use it as a shadow function (and on the topic of shadow functions i also know use my Se a lot) but it's just not the instinctive way i approach things. and Ti isn't a fixation or assistant to anything - i just like doing things that make logical sense to me, like puzzles or code or talking about the technicalities of writing! Fi would be more happier just pursuing personal interests because they're personal interests. they could be logical or not, but it's not founded in logic - it's just founded on personal enjoyment.

anyway - i could also get into my inferior functions here, but honestly it made more sense for me to have inferior Fe than Te bc my perception of having a possible inferior Te was actually just externally projected onto me so i thought it was more reliable than actually a pretty efficient Te as long as i was interested LOL. but yeah!

so to everyone else out there who's still debilitating between types - don't worry, it happens to quite a number of people, especially with T-types who know that they feel strongly. i feel like it's a question of T feels more innate than F, or the other way around, regardless of how much you can feel or how analytical you can be.