Barefoot Personality
Deciders: Extraverted vs. Introverted
There are two sides to the Decider coin — Thinkers and Feelers. Every one of us has to make decisions every day. We’re all Deciders. But thinkers and feelers base their decisions on different criteria. Not only are there thinking criteria and feeling criteria, but there’s also extraverted criteria and introverted criteria. Again, we all use all these criteria, but how we combine the criteria — what we give more weight to and what we give less weight to — can be different from person to person.
This page focuses on the extraverted (focusing on the tribe… those outside ourself) and introverted (internal) data points to make decisions.
Extraverted Deciders
De = Te or Fe
When we’re using our extraverted decider function, our point of reference is those around us. Does this work for the tribe? Where do I fit in the tribe? Should I do this… well what would the tribe do? We make our decisions based on what we *think* the tribe wants from us (whether or not that’s actually what the tribe wants from us).
Introverted Deciders
Di = Ti or Fi
When we’re using our introverted decider function, our point of reference is internal. Does this work for me? How does this jive with my values? Do I like this? We make our decisions based on what we *think* is best for us without feeling any need to cross-check that with what those around us think.
“My identity exists as the sum total of others’ perceptions.”
“My identity is intrinsic, independent of others.”
Te
Will give you all the reasons for what they’ve done, why they’re doing something, or what they plan to do. Their goal is for you to understand the processes that they are engaged with.
Fe
An extraverted feeler will tell you all about what they’ve done (or are doing, or plan to do) and who was involved in those situations in order to give you a sense of where they fit within the bigger picture of work/school/friendships/life.