One of the personality types noted in the Myers-Briggs Indicator is the dependable, intuitive, and caring ISFJ. While these types are warm and make excellent peacekeepers due to their love of service to others and striving for harmony, they also have their insecurities to deal with.
ISFJs are insecure about their self-worth. They lack confidence in expressing their emotions and sharing their interests and hobbies for fear of scaring others away. ISFJs are insecure when criticized and take this very personally. They struggle with change and are anxious when they need to adapt.
It may seem strange that such caring and compassionate personalities would be insecure, but the reality is that ISFJs put their own emotions on the back burner to take care of others. This, together with a martyred perspective of their own value, can lead to numerous insecurities.
Are There Things That ISFJs Are Insecure About?
ISFJ personalities, just like any other type, have strengths and weaknesses. This personality type is also known as The Protector or The Defender since ISFJ types tend to be responsible, warm-hearted, nurturing, and friendly. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things they feel insecure about.
Based on the defining traits of this personality type, ISFJs may struggle with confidence in their abilities and expressing emotions. Further dissecting the ISFJ personality type will help us to see what this looks like in reality.
ISFJ Personalities And Defining Traits
The ISFJ personality type is an acronym that represents the Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging dichotomies, which highlight how people with this type of personality perceive the world and interact with those around them.
Some key characteristics of ISFJ personalities include:
- Empathy: True to their sensing nature, ISFJs are in tune with the feelings of those around them. They can pick up on the emotions of other people intuitively.
- Traditional: ISFJs are not fans of abstract information, philosophies, and theories and prefer factual knowledge, established values, rules, laws, and doing things the way it has always been done.
- Habitual: ISFJs like to be organized and have some structure and routine in their lives. They are planners, detail-oriented, and don’t often stray from how they have constructed their lives to be.
- Loyal: Because ISFJs are nurturing and protective, they commit to being loyal to those around them. They often feel a sense of duty or responsibility for taking care of others and are conscientious about the needs of those around them.
This brings us to the strengths and weaknesses of ISFJ types:
Strengths
- Compassionate: Often the overarching trait, ISFJs feel deeply responsible for helping others and will often put the needs and safety of others above their own. They can sense the emotions of people around them and will go above and beyond to mitigate the discomfort or pain they feel in others.
- Organized: As a planning type, the ISFJ prefers to have everything organized and scheduled, with routine playing an important role. They tend to be pedantic about details and are pretty perfectionistic.
- Trustworthy: As they hold laws, rules, values, and beliefs in high regard, they keep their word and can be trusted. With a sense of honor in caring for others, they also feel that keeping promises and being dependable are essential.
- Practical: Because of their high work ethic and problem-solving abilities, they can find practical, logical, and pragmatic solutions. They are not afraid to get their hands dirty and work well in a team or on their own.
Weaknesses
- Bottle things up: As ISFJs tend to put others’ emotions so high on the priority list, they tend to neglect their own. They prefer to keep their own emotions suppressed rather than burden others with them.
- Avoid confrontation: Since they place such high value on harmony and the importance of other people being happy, they will avoid confrontation and try to keep the peace at all costs.
- Change resistant: A disadvantage of the ISFJ type is that they often dislike change – planning and order are important, so when things are changed at the last minute, it can derail them entirely.
- Reserved: As part of the Introversion grouping, ISFJs also tend to keep to themselves. They are friendly and enjoy company but require alone time to process and recharge.
5 Things ISFJs Are Insecure About
Now that we have a clearer idea of what ISFJs are like, some critical questions will help us reach an answer regarding what ISFJs are insecure about:
1. Expressing Emotions: Do ISFJs Hide Their Feelings?
One of the inherent traits of ISFJ personalities is that, despite being intuitive and receptive to the feelings of those around them, they find it challenging to express their emotions for fear of being a burden to others. To avoid causing what they perceive as problems for those around them, they suppress what they feel instead.
ISFJs hide their feelings and prioritize the emotions and well-being of those around them. And while their sense of compassion is certainly admirable, it’s not a healthy means of existence. Bottling up your emotions for the sake of others or because you are afraid you will scare them away is a typical ISFJ trait, but it is detrimental to your mental health.
2. Self-Belief: Are ISFJs Confident?
In terms of being outspoken, extroverted, and self-confident, ISFJs are quite the opposite. Due to their introverted nature, ISFJs prefer a more measured, reserved approach. However, this doesn’t mean they aren’t confident in their abilities, and they are great at mediating to find peaceful solutions.
The Myers-Briggs does make allowance for more Assertive ISFJ types, however. But regardless of whether ISFJs feel validated from within or through others, they are not overly confident about their self-worth. As a result, they often feel inadequate, less significant, or less impressive than those around them.
3. Change And Unfamiliarity: Can ISFJs Adapt?
Part of the ISFJ personality is the need for routine, planning, order, and harmony. When this is disrupted, ISFJs can feel anxious and insecure. Not knowing what is happening next or not being prepared is something the ISFJ type avoids at all costs, so the idea of something unplanned happening will make them feel disoriented and out of sorts.
The same applies to significant life changes and anything new – while some planning can be done to mitigate such significant changes, the apprehension about the unfamiliar can be incredibly difficult. While they will adapt in the long run, this isn’t easy for ISFJs.
4. Criticism: Are ISFJs Able To Deal With Critique?
The ISFJ type is susceptible to emotions, how others see them, and how they affect those around them. Together with the fact that they hold themselves to incredibly high standards and prioritize the happiness of those around them over their own, ISFJs take any criticism very personally.
Due to an underlying lack of confidence in their self-worth, many ISFJ types find criticism harsh and incredibly painful. They struggle to take the critique constructively and tend to see such feedback as a flaw or failing on their side.
5. Interests And Hobbies: Are ISFJs Insecure About How Interesting They Are To Others?
Once again, touching on how ISFJs struggle to see their self-worth and the value they bring to those around them, they are also insecure about expressing their interests and sharing their hobbies, fearing that others may not receive these well.
The sense of being less interesting, accomplished, or less ‘cool’ than others is something ISFJs deal with daily. As a result, they do tend to be reserved and quiet rather than passionately sharing their pastimes and interests with others.
Conclusion
ISFJs are responsible and dependable carers who invest a great deal of time in putting the needs of others above their own. With a keen ability to detect the emotions of those around them and work towards ensuring the happiness of their loved ones, ISFJs do tend to bottle up their feelings in a way that sees them feel insecure about expressing how they feel.
Because they also prioritize the well-being of others so highly, ISFJs tend to downplay their own their self-worth and interests and will respond very negatively to criticism. Due to being insecure about their own capabilities, the ISFJ is sometimes seen as a bit of a martyr.
