Interviews -- Miia

Miia's interview is embedded below:


Observations:

• Very quiet, thoughtful. Takes a long time to thoughtfully answer questions. Unsure about how to answer many of the questions posed to her.
• Particular unwillingness/difficulty to answer questions on certain topics. In particular seems to have difficulty making broad generalizations ("What is a problem with society today?"). Also has a difficulty with being critical ("What should people do less of", "What are social situations that you dislike", and so on).
• Describes a dislike of "marketing" oneself.
• Describes materialism as a moral issue.
• "Just do it" described as unhelpful. Seems not to lack for motivation but more for proactivity.
• Describes an aspiration to self-sufficiency
• Emotionality throughout the interview is very subdued (and this is referenced very explicitly -- Miia seems like a very good self-observer). Emotionality is shown verbally and contained in interior space. Formal demeanor.
• Describes no distinction of intimacy between friendship and romance. Intimacy occurs naturally and not forcibly.
• "Never had a light relationship" -- sees no point in frivolous relationships or playing "games" romantically at least for herself.
• Describes preoccupation with conflict avoidance.
• Extensive good faith in answers -- for instance, with preoccupation with frivolous relationships or playing hard-to-get, tries to offer explanation of why people are motivated to do that and avoids saying that it is wrong, merely that it is not her preference.
• Described orientation to situational influences: "I don't think I really process my emotions by bursting out in some kind of emotional expression, more like if the situation is making me feel negatively then the situation has to change."
• Describes dwelling on negative emotions in particular.

These observations of Miia could not be more characteristic of EIIs in my opinion. The formal, distant, and said-not-shown emotionality (with an interior locus) that Miia displays throughout the entire video is characteristic of Fi-valuing types and especially of Fi dominant types. Miia tells us and shows us that she has many stormy emotions inside her, but she does not do that by showing us those emotions directly -- she holds herself at a distance. The viewer is left to infer the meaning that her "hidden" sentiments have to her somewhat indirectly.

Her behavior as described in other ways -- taking relationships very seriously and never being in a fling or frivolous relationship and seeing the development of intimacy as a natural process but not something to be done forcibly or even intentionally, and seeing others as often not being open to greater intimacy (and feeling uncomfortable when others overstep these boundaries) -- are further evidence of a "formal" and direct approach to managing her emotions in the outside world, and a sort of "robotic straightforwardness" that is often present in Fi and Te dominant types.

Miia's descriptions of people often show good faith and resist being critical -- she describes others as having different viewpoints and behaviors than she does, but she takes effort to nonjudgmentally describe their motivations and acknowledge a range of factors that may make them different. She never gives off the attitude that she is being critical of others and indeed describes herself as very conflict avoidant. She describes herself as precipitating interpersonal discomfort in a somewhat formal but emotionally direct way in the service of pressing and irreconcilable disagreement.

The comments about dwelling on negative emotions, and about self-sufficiency are also characteristic of EIIs in my opinion. EIIs tend to be quite noncommital (which I see from Miia's difficulty speaking about herself and difficulty making strong statements about herself or the people she interacts with) and also in my observations are often somewhat depressive. Furthermore, self-sufficiency is often an issue for delta introverts who are individualistic in values but also focused on the resources available in their immediate surroundings (Fi+Si). These are both very minor points and not strong evidence in the context of this interview as Miia does not describe either of these issues in much depth, but they are subtle clues and in my opinion are entirely consistent with my other observations.

Similarly she describes orienting herself to the underlying conditions and situations influencing her life and emotional states -- describing that she is more inclined to make small adjustments to the situations than to try to push other people by means of emotional outbursts (or charisma, or emotional guilt/pressure) as Fe dominant types might. Instead her focus on the underlying causes and situations leading to unfavorable circumstances is more typical of Ne+Fi valuing types, who are oriented to the potential of character, and how certain situations and conditions might improve or realize it.

Miia offers a very interesting contrast to Paul A., who I blogged about previously. Miia and Paul are superficially similar -- they are both quiet, thoughtful, relaxed, and sensitive -- but their interviews reveal considerable differences in emphasis. Whereas in Paul's interview, there is some extensive discussion of philosophy and metaphysics, with the general theme that the physical world is a nuisance, and considerable discussion of Paul's attitudes towards the society around him. There is no discussion of philosophical or intellectual topics at all in Miia's interview and and she has great difficulty making sweeping comments about society. Instead she spends most of her time discussing themes the character of other people and her relationships towards them, which Paul barely discusses at all. Another interesting difference is that while Paul describes the expenditure of energy as a pressing issue for him (Comments very similar to "I feel that if I am not establishing a relationship with someone, then I am wasting my limited supply of energy"), Miia does not show or describe any difficulties with directing her vitality; instead she describes that people who tell her to "just do" something are being quite unhelpful, and that she really has more difficulty with "how to do" something. I interpret Miia's and Paul's interviews as very different in emphasis, contrasting introverted ethics and introverted intuition.