#ni-fe

Scott has gotten me into watching Frasier and these characters are satisfyingly typable, so I wanted to make a post elaborating on the MBTI types of the Crane brothers.

Frasier Crane | ENFJ

Frasier’s functional stack is easily readable and because of it, he is a fantastic example of an ENFJ. The outer world and social structures are what defines Frasier’s reality.

Frasier exists in the outer world of established external structures, measurements of value, and social status. He appreciates things that can be thought of as impressive based on external reference, even such as the items he so values in his apartment: “This lamp by Corbusier, the chair by Eames, and this couch is an exact replica of the one Coco Chanel had in her Paris atelier.” He likes things that are socially recognized to be impressive or renowned.

ENFJs also use auxiliary Ni, and as such, Frasier is very insightful and thrives when guiding individuals towards their best path and potential. His radio show allows him to do this on a broader scale with a wider audience, while also allowing him to fulfill his role in a way noticeable externally within the societal structure he values. Fe-Ni tends to work with groups of people such as a classroom as a teacher, and in Frasier’s case, it is his radio show.

Se is tertiary in Frasier. ENJs, though they are not Se dominant, are often very action-based. This advice from Frasier, in my opinion, exemplifies healthy use of an ENFJ’s functions: “Six months ago, I was living in Boston. My wife had left me, which was very painful. Then she came back to me, which was excruciating. On top of that, my practice had grown stagnant, and my social life consisted of... hanging around a bar night after night. You see, I was clinging to a life that wasn’t working anymore, and I knew I had to do something, anything. So, I ended the marriage once and for all, packed up my things, and moved back here to my hometown of Seattle. I took action. And you can, too. Move, change, do something; if it’s a mistake, do something else.”

Tertiary Se is more noticeable than inferior and ENJs may score surprisingly high on Se, caught between their penchant for deriving meaning and passion for making their dreams realities.

Frasier is sensitive to criticism, which comes from inferior Ti. When he is criticized in a column in the Times with the simple statement “I hate Frasier Crane,” he can’t help but feel as though it is an unwarranted personal attack. Ti is a function based in impartial analysis and criticism of structures or methods, completely independent of people and in conflict with an Extraverted Feeling approach.

Further, after he is sold a false piece of artwork, he is infuriated by the injustice, the blatant lack of regard for ethics. His idealism that people are good, respectful, and care for the well-being of others (Fe-Ni) is shattered. He keeps grasping for some way others and systems may help him—first through calling the police, and then by considering hiring a lawyer. When both Martin and Niles say it isn’t worth it and when Martin tells him that sometimes bad things happen in life and there’s nothing you can do, Frasier has immense trouble coping with the concept. Feeling dominants often run into conflict with the approaches of the Thinking functions, which they perceive to be cold, heartless, and, in the more extreme, immoral.

Another characteristic of Frasier’s inferior Ti can be seen in the second episode, when he is still adjusting to his father and Daphne moving in with him. In the case of an inferior Ti eruption episode, Fe dominants become uncharacteristically cold and withdrawn. In this episode, Frasier is perturbed by all of the ways Martin and Daphne have infiltrated the life he worked to build for himself. He is uncharacteristically in a bad mood, seeking solitude, and short with understanding; his tertiary Se is used defensively to defend his uncharacteristic, self-based need for solitude by saying that since the situation isn’t working out now in the present moment, then there is no hope of it getting better and he should change something about it.

Niles Crane | INFJ

Niles’ function stack is also one that is very readable and makes him a great example of an INFJ.

While he is similar to his older brother, there are some distinct differences. Where Frasier’s typical impulse is to seek out others and talk to them, in need of feedback, Niles is more private and withdrawn, mulling over things internally before externally voicing a conclusion. Where Frasier thrives navigating the social world and being a prominent face in the community, Niles considers his radio show “pop psychiatry” and values a more typical setting where he can see patients one-on-one rather than seeking a broad audience and outward recognition. This is not to say that Extraversion and Introversion have to do with sociability or ability to perform in front of an audience—Niles frequently holds group therapy sessions and workshops etc.—but than IFJs and EFJs tend to differ in their natural preferences. EFJs like to immerse themselves actively in a society and have engagement and involvement. IFJs don’t require this external feedback or engagement, and many times like to help others in more controlled, individual sessions.

One example Niles’ Ni is evident is after he and Frasier see their father having dinner with an old family acquaintance. They remember that her family used to be close to theirs until one summer they had a falling out and were no longer acquainted. The next day, Niles arrives at Frasier’s apartment and announces he had been doing some thinking, wondering why their father was with that woman, so he dug up his old childhood journal and an old photo album their late mother had put together. In the journal around the time they remembered the family friends having a falling out, Niles had written that he had seen his father and her in each other’s arms. In the photo album photos from that summer, there were multiple photos with a woman cut out of them. With these things brought to attention, Niles suggests a theory that their father had an affair. This is Ni—seeing something, mulling it over, connecting separate pieces, and arriving at a conclusion. Frasier first strikes down the accusation, saying there isn’t enough evidence. Again, this is Niles’ Ni—the connections he has made are based on internal thought processes, not totally tangible, but make sense in his linear internal logical deductions based on a couple of pieces of evidence. Ni can derive insight and theory based on minimal things in reality and is not dependent exclusively on what is experienced through the senses.

Another example of Niles’ being his type, and perhaps a good example of how INFJs tend to offer advice in general, can be seen in this conversation between him and Frasier in episode 2.

Frasier: Niles, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Dad and I had another fight. I’m afraid if we stay under the same roof together we’ll do irreparable harm to the relationship we have as it is.

Niles: Well, what are the alternatives?

Frasier: Well, if I didn’t feel so guilty I’d, I’d do what I should have done in the first place: just move dad and Daphne into their own apartment.

Niles: Oh, for goodness sake, Frasier. It hasn’t been that long, you have to give it a chance. And you might remember why you moved him in in the first place.

Frasier: Refresh me.

Niles: You wanted to get closer to dad.

Frasier: I still do. There isn’t anything I’d like more, but he makes it impossible. I can’t read my book, I can’t have my coffee, I can’t have any peace in my own home.

Niles: So what you’re saying is, you want to be closer to dad, but you don’t actually want him around. Ask yourself Frasier, have you tried to sit down and talk to him—I mean, really talk to him?

Frasier: Well, I... Maybe I haven’t done my best. I guess I owe that to the old man, don’t I? Well, ah, thanks for the chat, Niles. You’re a good brother, and a credit to the psychiatric profession.

Niles’ dominant Ni urges Frasier to see past the interpersonal rifts and down to the heart of what matters most, which was Frasier’s original goal: to become closer to his father. Conflict that seems unsolvable through talking it out is a trigger to Fe dominants, and as such, it was hard for Frasier to see past it. Niles’ Ni reminds him of the goal despite this conflict, as Ni as a dominant function is more zoomed out and big-picture; while Niles too uses Fe and is people-focused, he primarily views the world through Ni, which sees things outside of the framework of relationships, whereas Frasier’s dominant Fe was stuck seeing only the relationships and the conflict within them and he forgot the original goal. Additionally, Niles’ use of Ni prompts Frasier to point his own auxiliary Ni at himself and remind himself of his personal responsibility and purpose to the situation with his father.

Hello, all! I’ve been working on a couple of posts illustrating the differences between similar types, and here is ENFJ vs INFJ, if you couldn’t already guess by the title. These types can appear quite similar, so I thought I would shed some information on both of them using a character of each type.

I decided to compare Korosensei and Nagisa Shiota from Assassination Classroom. Even if you haven’t seen the anime, this post should still be informational about ENFJs and INFJs.

Korosensei is an ENFJ. He defines himself in terms of external structures and expectations, and is strict with himself about remaining within the boundaries of the roles he has taken up. He is a teacher, and behaves as such, fulfilling all of the characteristics a teacher is expected externally to fulfill. He is embarrassed or ashamed whenever he muddles the image he has carefully procured for the children to see with characteristics more flawed or personal. He knows his effect on others and he is aware of what is considered acceptable and out of place in his role in the outer world.

Unlike Fe-Si, Korosensei’s Fe-Ni looks at a group of people like Class 3E and doesn’t wonder how he is going to uphold the current status quo, but how he can change it. Characteristic of Fe-Ni, he looks at the students and doesn’t see what they currently are, but the potential of what they could be. He sees how he can tap into the students’ potential through his role as a teacher.

Both Korosensei and Nagisa are decidedly people-oriented, with their skills being in helping others to see their potential, gently guiding them along the path. Their difference comes in their relationship with the outer world.

Nagisa is more withdrawn from these outer roles and structures that Korosensei exists in. Nagisa’s definition of things such as teacher are not dependent on external definition and expectation, but by his own internal conclusions. For example, after facing off with Takaoka for a second time, even after all of the danger he put the class through, Nagisa is struck with a new perspective. He recognizes that, although it may not have been Takaoka’s intention, the situation he forced the class to ultimately grow and improve as assassins, while also teaching them more about the real world in the process. Thus, Nagisa declares that Takaoka is a teacher, and expresses gratitude for the lessons he imbued to them, even despite the general trauma of the situation. This is typical to how Ni dominants solve problems--they simply change the perspective, shift the angle of what they’re looking at so that they see it from a new light and thus glean a whole new conclusion and definition. The application of the title teacher to Takaoka is certainly an unconventional one, separate from external definition and characteristic of Nagisa’s dominant Ni.

ENFJs also use Ni, as it is their auxiliary function. However, they use it differently; they are focused on helping others reach their individual potential within the structures and expectations of the external world. Nagisa has an Introverted approach in which he defines things from his own internal analysis, taking an external title like teacher and applying it in a new, unconventional way, separate of external standard and definition, as discussed above.

Further, Nagisa has more trouble deciding how he should define himself in the outer world when trying to pick a career path. He realizes what he’s gifted at—assassination—but knows that that would be a career with certain social implications he couldn’t take lightly. It isn’t until the young girl he tutors helps him see that he is also gifted in teaching that he realizes he wants to follow in Korosensei’s footsteps as a teacher. Conversely, as an Extravert, Korosensei is more adept at embracing social roles and seeing where he fits in.

Additionally, Nagisa, while he possesses strong convictions, is unaware of his effect on others, unlike Korosensei, who is quite aware of his effect. For example, when Nagisa calls the class together and suggests that they try and save Korosensei rather than kill him, it is a concept he has given deep thought internally. However, when he expresses it outwardly to the class, many of them take it as Nagisa trying to exert authority over them, which catches him off guard as it’s not something he even considered. He is excellent at shifting perspectives to create new solutions to problems, but he is not always immediately aware of how it will look from the perspective of the group. Korosensei thrives on and exists in how he effects a group or system, which can be attributed to his dominant Je.

Something else to note is that Korosensei is sometimes noticeably sensitive to criticism or critique towards his own methods. We see this mostly in flashbacks when his first student/protégé (who we know as Reaper 2.0) suggests ideas for improvement for a disarming/combat move of Korosensei’s, to which he is not receptive and asserts for his student to do it the way he taught him. This can be attributed to inferior Ti.

Overall, ENFJs and INFJs are quite similar. Both of them are able to derive profound insights from seemingly simple things they see in reality, and both types tend to make a noticeable mark on the world or groups in which they find themselves. The difference, in my opinion, mostly comes from Extraversion vs. Introversion (not sociability; what I mean here by Extraversion and Introversion is whether they look to the external world for ways to define their reality, which would be Extraverted, or whether they look inward and derive their own definitions for reality, which would be Introverted. I will do a post soon further elaborating on E vs. I!).

INFJ aesthetic

Ni - Fe - Ti - Se