INTP Empathy: How Well the INTP Empathizes With Others
When it comes to empathy it can be a difficult thing to teach, but not impossible for people to learn over time. Most of the time though, we have a natural sense of empathy or we do not. Empathy simply means having a strong understanding or natural grasp of the emotions and intentions of others. Being able to empathize means being able to fully step into someone else’s shoes and understand what they are going through, without having to experience it firsthand. Some people can be caring and sympathetic, but that does not mean they are good at empathizing, as this isn’t always an easy ability to manage or deal with,
INTPs are not often viewed as empathetic people, because they don’t tend to focus much on emotions. Instead INTPs find it more natural to bury their feelings and focused on logic and information. This makes them shy away from showing feelings, or showing just how empathetic they can be. While they might not find it quite as easy to connect with emotions, INTPs do have a natural ability to be empathetic in the right circumstances. They still utilize certain functions which help them to connect with the feelings of others, even if this is only for a brief amount of time. For the INTP, it is a bit more complicated, and depends on the circumstances or how much they have strengthened their weaker functions.
INTP Empathy
When it comes to showing a sense of empathy, it can be challenging for the INTP at first. This doesn’t mean they are incapable of it, they might even find themselves feeling these empathetic emotions without really realizing it. INTPs prefer to focus on facts, or on ideas, rather than drawing close to inner emotions. Their own feelings can be rather overwhelming at times, and they don’t really know how to process them. INTPs want to try and analyze everything, including emotions which can be a bit troubling at times. Certain feelings cannot be understood in logical ways, and so INTPs are likely to try and avoid them. When it comes to connecting with their own feelings it can actually be challenging for the INTP, they experience these emotions but aren’t sure how to fully process or understand them.
INTPs do use extraverted feeling (fe) even though it is their inferior function. They are capable of picking up on changes and behaviors in others, the more they strengthen this function the stronger this becomes. INTPs actually can find themselves empathizing with others, and putting themselves into their shoes. They become even better at this when they practice it on their own, rather than doing it when faced with an emotional person. INTPs simply because uneasy when they are around someone who is too emotional, as they can feel overwhelmed and even drained by these feelings. When they are alone and try to think about and process what someone might be going through, they find it much easier to bring out this sense of empathy. They can often place themselves into that person’s role, seeing and rationalizing how they could feel or behave a certain way. INTPs can even develop a sense of empathy for people they normally wouldn’t agree with, being able to see their side of things by using their other functions as well. They are imaginative people who enjoy thinking of things from many different angles, and this open-mindedness can lead the INTP to rationalize certain choices or behaviors of people they wouldn’t expect to.
The Empathetic INTP
The INTP who has worked more on their inferior function is likely to be very empathetic and understanding. They are capable of connecting with people and can also use their problem solving skills to help them figure things out. For the INTP it is more natural to use their Ti as a means of helping people problem solve, as dwelling on emotions for too long can be draining. That doesn’t mean that the more mature INTP cannot handle these emotions for much longer periods of time, they just might need to retreat for a while afterwards. They are good at connecting with people and actually know how to see their point of view where others might struggle to do so. Their sense of empathy is something which can certainly be developed, as INTPs do naturally utilize this without realizing they are doing it. Most of the time it is used as a means of connected their information to the people around them, and finding ways to pick up on smaller signals from people. When they develop this more INTPs are capable of putting themselves into the shoes of others, seeing where they are coming from and what their inner motivations are.
Sometimes empathizing too much can be jarring for the INTP though, especially when they try and empathize with people who aren’t all that good or honest. They might start to find themselves going down a rabbit hole of emotions and thoughts, where they can spend time analyzing all of this information. For the INTP being empathetic is something they are certainly capable of, especially with the right circumstances and the right people. They might not be someone who naturally finds themselves empathizing with everyone they meet, but over time this can become a stronger skills in which they can utilize in order to understand people. An INTPs who is more empathetic is capable of navigating things in a much more efficient manner. They can understand people better and find ways to strengthen their relationships by expressing things a bit more openly. For most INTPs it can be hard to show their feelings and express how much they care for people, but the more they work on this part of themselves the more that can improve. INTPs are deeply caring people when they are connected to someone, it just isn’t easy to open up and be vulnerable. The more they can empathize with others the better they can become at showing their more sensitive side.
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