These articles are an attempt to condense Chapter X of Psychological Types into a more readable format. I’ve tried to stay as true to the original texts as possible. Enjoy!
Remember, these describe “pure types”, or types without a differentiated auxiliary function.
Extroverted Feeling
Extroverted Feeling’s value judgements are largely dependant on the outer world. This might seem seem strange, since feelings are usually seen as inherently subjective things. With this type, insofar as her Feeling is extroverted (and there is a spectrum!), it’s in harmony with the traditional or generally accepted values of the time. It’s also influenced moment-to-moment by its peers. The criteria for its judgements come from all kinds of external conditions. For example, a painting, regardless of how good it really is, might be called beautiful because it’s the work of a famous and well-loved artist, or because calling it anything worse might ruin the atmosphere or offend the owner. These aren’t lies, but merely an act of adjustment.
This kind of feeling is extremely important to a society, since it facilitates a collective harmony. It is responsible for the cohesive existence of social and cultural institutions – anything from fashions, to parks, to art galleries – since these require the collective effort and consensus of people with the “right” values.
However, when the external factors completely overwhelm the personal quality of Feeling, it loses its creative potential and charm. It becomes empty and cold, it agrees with everything and everyone in contradictory ways, to the point where it looks at though something’s up and the Fe user is playing a manipulative game. In reality she might not have ulterior motives, or at least she’s not consciously aware of them. She is essentially being buffeted around by all the external demands on her Feeling, which are compulsively accommodated.
The Extroverted Feeling Type
This type follows her feelings as a guide throughout life. Since her feelings are oriented by the outer world, they harmonise with her current situation and its general values. She seems thoroughly adapted to her social environment. In a healthy type, her feelings still have a personal, genuine element at their core, however much it’s masked and modified to accommodate external conditions. For example, her love interest tends towards the suitable person with a good and conventional nature, rather than someone who satisfies hidden desires. This also isn’t a lie – it’s her real feeling of love, regardless of how impersonal her choice might appear.
This type represses any Thinking that would disturb her values. She isn’t necessarily bad at Thinking by any means, but she can only form conclusions as long as they fall under the umbrella of what her Fe considers good or acceptable. In fact, her Thinking, more often than not, is essentially a rephrasing of her dominant values in an intellectual way. Any conclusion that contradicts her values, however logical, is rejected before it can be consciously thought.
The Fe type risks completely suppressing her subjective side in favour of external values. If this happens, her life becomes a series of situational value judgements, with no internal consistency, that almost gives the impression of a split personality. Feeling is no longer an expression of her whole being, but of her current mood at best. She might try twice as hard to establish a rapport with people, to compensate for the emptiness of her Feeling, but the overbearing display only drives them further away.
If this happens, the personal element goes to Thinking in the unconscious. It tries to disrupt the conscious personality by releasing morbid and intrusive chains of logic, specially designed to destroy the Fe type’s dearly-held values. This kind of unconscious Thinking is particularly negative, destructive, and scathing, but it has the potential to violently rebalance the unhealthy personality.