#si inf

[mbtiofwhys]

Hero / Protagonist (Persona 5)

ENFP

Functional Order: Ne - Fi - Te - Si

Disclaimer This article will cover our process in typing the Hero of Persona 5. Royal will be taken into consideration as well, so please be warned of the spoilers for both games before progressing further.

Premise This typing is a very atypical one. The Hero of Persona 5 falls into the ‘silent protagonist’ category, so he’s not a proper character per se. For this exact reason, we proceeded a bit differently with him: given how his personality is left to the player to a certain extent, we came to our conclusion by process of elimination instead of by confirming evidences. Therefore this article is structured following a dichotomous approach, instead of our usual perceiving/ judging functional axis one. This is obviously our own take on the Hero, nonetheless we firmly believe that the starting point with his typing should be in any case ExxP. 

Why E instead of I?

Aside from him being silent, there aren’t really much other clues that speak about Introversion. He’s quiet and reserved, and we see that his answers are always short and straight, but that’s all. Of course this is partially influenced by gameplay mechanics, but despite him being a quiet type, he makes friends and acquaintances incredibly fast. The game is based on wandering through Tokyo all day and night, talking to people, striking deals, gaining intel and leading massive group infiltrations. Between these many things going on at the same time, his assertiveness and his leading position, his attention is directed much more toward the outer world than to his inner one. An Introvert would surely be able to do all those things, but not without taking time for himself in the middle, be it for self-reflection or simply to recharge their ‘social batteries’. Obviously and Introvert could as well be a leader or be in a leading position (you can take a look at our Griffith analysis), but we find that there are more clues that point to Extroversion than Introversion for the Hero.

Why N instead of S?

From how other characters describe him, the Hero appears to be not only smart, but very perceptive and quick witted. This isn’t to say that a S can’t be smart (look at Makoto), but a high Si user would do things much more ‘by the book’ (which the Hero doesn’t) while a high Se user would maybe be more impulsive, restless and grounded in everyday life. It is true that the number of activity you have to manage is huge and that the Hero must be a very flexible person, yet being a sensor means that one is focused on the sensorial, the direct experience and the practical over the intangible. We instead believe that him always spacing out during lessons and conversations, as well as him being a reflective planner more than a pure doer, are all things that lead to N more than S. Every time the Phantom Thieves need to find evidences about a new target, the Hero has an approach based on the evaluation of the possible clues and possibilities. He takes nothing for granted and finds underlying patterns in apparently unrelated events. We know that this is mostly for a gameplay purpose, but it is still how the Hero manages to solve problems. Royal does, in our opinion, a more in-depth job of showing his reflectiveness, especially in matters regarding the third semester, but overall we think it can be seen throughout the entire game that he can react fast if needed, but he tends to ponder and reflect more than he tends to impulsively act.

Why F instead of T?

‘Scheming’ is certainly a way to describe the Hero, but he also is a caring person who tends to take problems by heart and fight moved by emotions more than logical thinking. Even if the Hero establishes a give-and-take bond with the various confidants during the game, his actions aren’t exclusively opportunistic. Sure, by helping confidants the Hero gains useful perks and skills for his second life as a phantom thief, but he also genuinely assists people affected by difficult problems and in need for help. What he does isn’t charity, but at the same time he hasn’t a pure opportunistic view of people and he values what he does for them. As an ENFP, this means that he his well aware of how many benefits he can obtain from confidants through his tert Te, but he’ll only pursue them in a win-win context in which he deeply cares about their problems and their emotional well-being, because that’s aligned with his personal moral code (auxiliary Fi). Why have we excluded Fe? Because Fe, even in a lower position, makes one interested in the emotional environment and its balancing. It is true that the Hero can be a social chameleon and he does a really good job of making himself liked by others, but from what we learn from the game and the way others describe him, it’s more of a natural consequence of his actions than a goal he has. It must also be said that being loved by people and doing that on purpose isn’t a trait exclusive to Fe - think about Akechi (ENTJ).  In our opinion, aux Fi suits better Hero’s independency,  his reserve, his free spirit and his moral compass.

Why P instead of J?

J means searching for structure and closure, and the Hero is far away from that. He’s responsible for the Thieves planning and he’s the one who paces progress, but this doesn't necessary mean he’s a J. Actually, he’s a very open and versatile person, who can change and adapt based on what the situation requires. We see him moving from his supposedly little hometown to the metropolis of Tokyo, literally thrown out of his life from day to night - yet he’s capable of organising back his routine from scratch and get used to his new life in Leblanc’s attic as a Shujin student and phantom thief. Thieves’ heists and plans are always affected by a certain degree of uncertainty (the biggest bet being their plan to thwart Akechi’s murderous plot) but this doesn’t seem to affect their leader, who keeps a calm and cool composure, and can always turn the twist of events for the better.

Conclusion You can find the Hero also typed as: ENTP, ESFP, ESTP. We can see the reasoning behind them, even though we prefer ENTP as the alternative to ENFP. Even if we see ENFP as the more suitable one, we’d also like to discuss it with others who may have a different opinion. In the end, as we stated, the Hero hasn’t a solid and unambiguous personality, so we believe that ExxP (with a preference for ENxP) is what can get everyone to agree on - the E and P being his most definite traits. 

PS: the real reasons why we think he’s an ENFP, courtesy of mbtinotes (1) and funkymbti (2) here on Tumblr :P

[mbtiofwhys]

Kasumi Yoshizawa

Spoiler warning

This article will cover Kasumi’s analysis with heavy spoilers from Persona 5 Royal and her confidant. Don’t even read the premise if you haven’t finished the whole game yet.

Premise

Analyzing Kasumi reveals a series of problems tied to a lack of characterization and poor writing in some areas of the game. We love Persona 5, and typing the main cast was entertaining and we put our best effort in it; however, we can’t blindly praise the game when those praises aren’t earned and, to convey the most objective analysis, we must also consider what went wrong.

Atlus surely gave Kasumi and Sumire an identity, but at the same time the two of them don’t always feel like two realistic and rounded characters, as they rather follow the plot to a point where they become tools used to craft a story.

First there is Kasumi. Since it’s actually her sister Sumire impersonating her, typing her requires a bit of suspension of disbelief, since the real Kasumi is dead and we see her mostly through Sumire’s eyes and memories, which are strong enough to mimic Kasumi’s supposed personality. She may sometimes seem a Mary Sue, especially in her first interactions, as we see her mainly in major plot points created to keep the player interested in the story. That being said, Maruki’s cognitive distortion and consequently Sumire’s biases are enough to assume Kasumi’s MBTI type through what Sumire shows us before the third semester, since she not only behaved like Kasumi, but she also followed her cognitive patterns.

Then there is Sumire. Sumire can’t be typed based on what happens before the third semester since she wasn’t truly herself, thus our analysis will focus on what we can see during January and in the last five ranks of her confidant. One last consideration about Sumire revolves around her character arc. Persona 5 sends a positive message to the players, since it shows how people may suffer in their lives and yet they can recover from past mistakes or traumas. Sumire is one of the characters with the most tragic background but, even if the game gives her a happy ending, we humbly think it’s the only case where there isn’t a real character development, because in the end she still roots her identity in Kasumi, honoring her memory. She doesn’t find her inner strength, either, since she still depends on the protagonist and his support.

Kasumi Yoshizawa 

ENFP

Functional Order: Ne - Fi - Te - Si

Perceiving Functional Axis

Extroverted Intuition (Ne) / Introverted Sensing (Si) 

Kasumi appears as a polite kouhai, with very good manners and a tendency to over-apologize. But past the superficial, first approach, she reveals to possess both a strong enthusiasm and a certain boldness. Kasumi can be pretty straightforward, she doesn’t shy away from discussions, isn’t afraid of asking questions and never backs off from challenges. Her Ne can be spotted in various points in the game, both inside and outside her confidant. She enjoys debating things, both as a way to express her point of view and as a mean to broaden her knowledge and worldview - she repeatedly uses outer inputs from protagonist in her confidant in order to get some clues on how to get out of her slump. She doesn’t have a clear vision on how to do it, but she knows that if she keeps sticking with protagonist and asking for his opinion and advice, she’ll figure something out. Her first instinct isn’t to restlessly train more, do more, experiment more: the most suitable solution she finds is to seek a perspective different from hers, so she can reflect on herself and approach the problem in a less direct, more global way.

Also, despite the quiet appearance, Kasumi is clearly competitive and ambitious. She doesn’t compete for the fun or the averageness, she competes for the top. But her problem (with gymnastics but this also applies in other situations) lays in her unbalanced NeSi axis: she tends to assume that only because she talked to protagonist and discovered something new about herself that has ignited her determination, she will succeed in everything she does, precisely as she wants to. But spoiler, this isn’t how things work: unrealistic expectations that don’t consider precise steps to take to reach a goal and thus lead to failure are a common high Ne problem, more so since she’s so young. This can also be seen in her approach with cooking a bento for protagonist and her try at the batting cages: she came up with an idea in her head, get over-excited over it, and ended up hitting a wall because she didn’t take proper time to reflect/learn/practice the required skills.

Since her confidant stops at rank 5, her inferior Si isn’t properly developed throughout the game, but it can still be seen in both her tendency to skip middle steps in order to reach a goal faster and her habit of looking at the past and the things that already worked in previous situations, so she can fuel her Ne with more material for self-reflection and comparison.

Judging Functional Axis

Introverted Feeling (Fi) / Extroverted Thinking (Te)  

Auxiliary Fi shows in Kasumi through her sense of self and her motivation to train. She spends a great deal of time in her confidant on self reflection, as a way to bring out in her routine what’s inside of her. At the same time she has a strong personality, she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid of actually doing things to obtain it (also due to her Te).

She’s clearly an extrovert but can be very self-aware and self-focused: she defends her beliefs and her hard work as a gymnast, has a clear opinion on the Phantom Thieves’ actions and doesn’t like getting a preferential treatment as a honor student, because she doesn’t see it as a fair thing. At the same time, she’s not scared or influenced by the gossips spreading about her in school, she’s simply annoyed by them - in the end, the petty opinion of other people doesn’t matter, as long as she knows what she’s fighting for. Her love for gymnastic is deep, and this is why she’s so hard on herself when she doesn’t accomplish the goal she’s set: not because she failed other people, rather because she failed herself. Kasumi isn’t much influenced by external pressure, because she is the one who pressures herself the most.

Regarding her Te, the case is similar to her Si: since she only got five ranks, her third and fourth function aren’t properly addressed in the game. Still, her Te can be found in her tendency to take concrete action and look at the results: she searches for external and practical confirmation of her progresses and achievements.

Sumire Yoshizawa

ISFJ

Functional Order: Si - Fe - Ti - Ne

Perceiving Functional Axis

Introverted Sensing (Si) / Extroverted Intuition (Ne) 

Sumire doesn’t clearly show her dominant function throughout the game, so we proceeded with a process of elimination. Sumire has a high Fe and is an introvert, thus she must have either Si or Ni as her dominant function. Going deeper in her analysis, her introversion stems from a preference for an inner focus, rather than external stimuli. Sumire always thinks about what went wrong, her past, her sister. When she isn’t focused on her past and how it affects her emotional well-being, Sumire has an external focus tied to what people think about her in comparison to Kasumi, an unhealthy Fe attitude we’ll discuss about later. However, even if she has a high Fe, Sumire doesn’t actively contribute to shape the emotional environment, she rather tries to maintain social harmony if it’s threatened. So, given this premise, we seeked evidences for either Ni or Si. Ni is mostly absent in Sumire: as we stated in Makoto’s analysis, finding what one truly wants to do in life is unrelated to high Ni, since it’s rather a natural human process of self-discovery, required to find one’s place in the world. Since Sumire doesn’t realize what she cares about through a process based on abstract data collected to envision a realistic and plausible future scenario, we may assume she has Si in her stack, in a dominant position.

Evidences of Si may be found in her approach to the past. We always say how Si mustn’t be confused with a simplistic view based on a traditionalist attitude or one’s focus on the past. However, Si does use past experiences to shape the present and this is Sumire’s case. When she faces her true self, thus leaving her fake persona behind, she starts to spend time with the protagonist again. During the second half of her confidant, she tells him how her past defines her: her memories about gymnastics and Kasumi aren’t a mere legacy of what her sister was, something to remember as a way to honor Kasumi. Her past experiences are rather a set of perceived data she now uses to define her life. Sumire wants to reach the top of the gymnastic world, because this is the main goal she shared with Kasumi. A note about this topic: there’s a blurred line between Sumire’s true intentions and her sister’s memory. As we stated before, Sumire tries to understand what she really strives for but, in the end, we believe she only goes back to the starting point, still bound to Kasumi and her love for gymnastics. So, even if Sumire justifies her wish to compete in sport as a self-affirmative activity, we still find appropriate to specify this aspect of her character. 

Her dominant Si is paired with inferior Ne. Sumire blindly follows her sister’s dream, she never asks herself what she really wants. This is what she does after leaving her fake persona behind, thus she begins to use her inferior Ne to explore new possibilities. Sumire initially struggles trying to be herself but, even if we aren’t fully committed regarding her catharsis at the end of her confidant, the game shows her resolve to be a gymnast without mimicking Kasumi’s style and boldness. Since she suffers from a trauma so severe it caused her an identity crisis, even her attempts to be open in her training is a sign of a more healthy Ne. On a final note, Sumire is generally more open to new experiences, be it with the Phantom Thieves or protagonist. 

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Feeling (Fe)  / Introverted Thinking (Ti) 

Sadly, Sumire’s auxiliary Fe shows mostly in an unhealthy way. Sumire deeply cares about what other people think about her and this is one of the main reason behind her fake persona. She always compares herself to Kasumi, since she has self-esteem issues so deeply rooted she doesn’t even know who she is outside her bond with her sister. So, Sumire joined her in training and initially followed that road because she simply found it pleasurable (in her confidant, she talks about how she liked to eat ice cream as a reward for her training). But then, Sumire started to compare herself to Kasumi, who was the one always on the top, the perfect athlete, while Sumire was the little sister always a step behind her -or at least this is what Sumire thought. What we discover playing the game, though, is how Kasumi, too, admired Sumire and her personality: actually, there was a mutual respect between the two, but Sumire’s unhealthy Fe made her think she was imperfect, incomplete, so she started to mimic Kasumi as a way to become better not only as a gymnast, but also as a person. This is a common Fe problem related to identity: underdeveloped Fe may lead one to heavily rely on external approval and to be overly focused on what people think about them. 

Sumire shows Fe also in a more mature and constructive way when she stops pretending to be Kasumi, thus starting to show her caring side. Sumire is always concerned about the emotional well-being of the group, she prefers to be quiet rather than breaking social harmony.

Her auxiliary Fe is paired with tertiary Ti. As for Haru, and since Sumire has only five ranks in her confidant and little screen time in the last semesters (even if she’s involved in major plot events) her Ti is more a consequence of her auxiliary Fe.

For those reasons, this will be a more speculative typing process rather than one based on solid evidences. Sumire may show Ti in her approach to gymnastics: she doesn’t go with the flow, in fact she rather prefers to dissect even an activity so instinctive like sport - she overthinks her style and has a methodical approach. Kasumi, as a P, learned with a process of trial and error: her Te led her to try until she succeeded. Sumire, however, as a J with Si and Ti in her stack, is always focused on details and on finding her personal way to solve a problem, even if it’s one related to sport.

[inspirenfp]

Little known about Inferior functions

One of the things I commonly explain in MBTI is how one stresses into their inferior function. An inferior function will always be the least mature and least developed function in your stack, and may not even reach the bare minimum of development and maturity until much later in your life.

It’s very easy to identify stress-inferior. Ne-infs know when they’re ideating on all the negative possibilities, Si-infs know when they’re in a stranglehold of their past mistakes, Ti-infs know when they’re constructing a flawed logic, Fi-infs know when their own emotions are overshadowing their logic and the emotions of others, and so on. These are the easy parts to identify. 

What’s not so easy to identify is when we use our inferior functions to decompress. Yep, I said that. One thing we do use our inferior functions to do is relax. And it’s way harder for people to identify when they are using their inferior functions to relax because, in those situations, the use of the function has to come naturally.

Some examples from my own experiences include: Inferior Si (ENxPs: my dad, gigi, and myself) - Si-infs when in a relaxed or content state will reminisce on very specific past experiences, especially in the comfort of others. My dad and I recount very specific events with our family when we have our chill breakfast. I tell very specific stories of my experiences when hanging out with my friends, and so does gigi. Inferior Se (INxJ: bb sis) - My sister is a competitive swimmer. She's a pretty hardcore athlete, and athletics are a fairly Se thing, where you need to immediately process inputs and react. And she is a fantastic swimmer, so it makes sense that she decompresses with something so physical. Se-infs look for very physical activities that require little intensive planning, and end up in a kind of muscle memory thing for them. Inferior Ti (ExFJ: the domestic) - My partner spends a great deal of time playing card games like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. I find these games incredibly boring for the amount of strategy they require, but he loves them. Ti-infs look for activities that require the same kind of deconstruction and deep understanding that Ti-doms use regularly. Inferior Te (IxFP: vicjr, kay) - My buddy vicjr is huge in old school Runescape, particularly in questing and some repetitive tasks. He had a decently ranked Ironman account, and now he does a lot of tic-manipulation. Kay spends a lot of her free time play Pokemon Shuffle. Both are engaged in activities that are fairly repetitive, objective-based, and have little room for doing things outside of a tried-and-true method. These are the exact activities Te-infs look for when looking to relax. Inferior Ne (ISxJ: julie) - Julie is a writer, and her creative baby is a long fanfiction based on a possibility that could branch off the canon storyline. Not only is the fic an exploration of the events that could happen as a result of going through with a choice in the canon narrative, but it is filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of original characters she created. Ne-infs do not simply create in order to decompress, but they create alternative possibilities and exercise ideation so they can decompress. Inferior Fe (IxTP: alex) - Alex is an introvert of the highest caliber, in his element when he can be alone to think. However, when he wants to relax, he will look to his friends for good company. Despite being introverted, he does desire for easier way to spend time with the people he cares about, and he still make the effort to go out with new friends. Fe-infs decompress by spending time with at least one other person, if not a small group of people, and by having a nice time while they’re with them.

Mind you, these are all conclusions I have come to based on my observations of people I know very well, so they’re not exactly concrete.

And, a further question to others that read this: Think about a time you realized you were using your inferior function to decompress. What did you notice?