"If Fe goes undeveloped and leaves SiTi to handle the majority of
cognition, the ISFJ is prone to feelings of terror that his trusted
support network will fall out from under him at any given moment.
Trusting others to handle important tasks becomes an uneasy endeavor at
best. Since the feeling of trust and security upon which Si depends so
heavily is never connected in any meaningful way to the bonds and
relationships defined by interaction with others, the SiTi loop ISFJ
feels that no one but himself can ever be depended upon to bring him the
sort of consistently reliable experience his dominant function
necessitates that he have access to. Without a way to describe or
objectively designate his feelings for others or theirs for him, no
sense of faith in upholding mutual responsibilities can form--he must do
everything for himself, or risk total ruination through the failure of
other less reliable individuals to uphold their agreements and
obligations. If you want something done right, you have to do it
yourself--or risk facing the unknown, totally unprepared--which, of
course, represents Si's worst fear of all."
"When applied negatively in a poorly developed state, Ti may cause
counterproductive changes as its insistence on "just knowing" that
something is (or is not) inherently fair or reasonable can reinforce all
of Si's worst tendencies in terms of subjective self-reference as the
ideal solution to any and all problems or disagreements. Convinced
beyond all doubt that only he has the true depth of experience to
understand the problem in realistic terms, the SiTi loop ISFJ may reject
any and all outside opinions regardless of the status or relationship
implied by the characteristics of the person offering them. "Listen, my
wife doesn't know what's best for our children--I'm the one who's been
there looking after them from day one!" Neglecting Fe's vital external
input can leave the ISFJ lacking any sort of meaningful outside standard
against which to weigh his own subjective evaluations of the overall
value of any given idea, practice, or methodology."
"On the other hand, once Fe has been granted the necessary growth and
development time, Ti may step in to assist it with the evaluation
process and remind the ISFJ that yes, it is possible for our family and
friends to be wrong, and sometimes we need to have the courage to stand
up for our own beliefs when faced with decisions that will directly
impact our own lives and personal needs. More importantly, Ti allows the
aforementioned sort of retroactive "map correction" process by which
internalized sensory experience can be questioned, devalued, and
ultimately overwritten with more effective and consistent ideals. For
the ISFJ, Ti is there primarily to serve as a reminder that his own
experiences and impressions do not always equate directly with the
mostly universally just or reasonable approach, and that, somewhat
paradoxically, sometimes the only person who can make this distinction
to the necessary degree is himself."
If an ISFJ were stuck in a Si-Ti loop for an extended period of time how would s/he get out of it?
What could be things a person close to the ISFJ could do to encourage them to get out of the Si-Ti loop?
ISFJ Personal Growth
