Quote Originally Posted by BandD View Post
I think Singu and Myst... you both are right really, it depends on the context and circumstance if its manipulative or not. A celebrity or therapist/social worker or somebody with a high power job being nice to you is often just being manipulative, but somebody on your level that has no drive or ambition or reason to step on you to get ahead... is probably not being all that manipulative and remember that genuine emotions can also be exaggerated for comedic effect, or because its part of that person's personality. I don't think they necessarily lose their genuine-ness when this is the case. And anyway, everybody is a *little* manipulative, if you weren't you would be dead lmao. I've seen even Fe polrs be manipulative with certain Te/Fi valuing ppl they look up to and respect. It is manipulation, even though they would never see it that way. Being Machiavellian is like anything else, the dosage dictates the poison.
Actually, I doubt this has all that much to do with drive or ambition or position. I've known people who were not in any position of power, in fact they probably saw themselves as victims (not socionics victim), but they tried to get money and other services from others by being manipulative, playing nice and all that. I don't see therapists or social workers any more manipulative than anyone else, weird idea to highlight them as examples of that.

And yeah, I wouldn't call exaggeration for comedic effect fake. Wanting to do a comedic effect can be a pretty valid reason in some situations. I think overall I don't link emotions (or whatever you call "Fe") and manipulation tightly together: there are many ways to manipulate, not just by emotional expression.