Originally Posted by
Adam Strange
I'm LIE-Te, and in my experience, there is a very noticeable difference between people of the ESI-Fi and ESI-Se sub-types.
I usually summarize the difference by calling them the "sports model" (the ESI-Se) and the "nesting model" (the ESI-Fi).
The way that the difference manifests to me is that the ESI-Se feels closer to my impression of the SEE-Fi, and the ESI-Fi feels closer to my impression of the EII-Fi. Basically, the ESI-Se feels more like Activity, while the ESI-Fi feels more like a comfortable Semi-Dual.
Now, Stratiyevskaya has written that it is much easier to get close to your Semi-Dual than to your Dual and she's absolutely right, and I don't hang out with many SEEs because we compete for the stage, so you'd think that that would make the ESI-Fi easier to start a relationship with, but I have found the opposite to be the case.
I can quickly form a bond with an ESI-Se (when I meet them in person, that is.) That's the influence of Activity relations, and ESI-Se's love to physically challenge themselves to do more stuff, and I'm out there doing stuff in the real world, so they get that and they like it. However, ESI-Se's are constantly looking for that next challenge, which means that they are constantly leaving the things they were just doing, in favor of the next adventure.
It takes me a long time to form a bond with an ESI-Fi, so it's a good thing that I'm very patient. The default position of the ESI-Fi is to sit way back and observe for a long time and send out small probes and do small tests to see how people react, without actually showing their hand.
They are always stunned when I tell them, early in the relationship, that they "divide the world into two groups; the good and the bad, and once they place someone into a category, that person never gets out. And they will never tell a person which category they are in."
Lol. Thank you, Socionics. ESI-Fi's do not outwardly react to that news, but they recognize themselves immediately and then they wonder who this guy is that can see into them? It's a cheap way for me to short-circuit the otherwise lengthy process of getting their attention, but it's not evil for me to do that.
ESI-Se's are more like cats, and ESI-Fi's are more like dogs, and I prefer dogs. I need that steady Fi faithfulness more than I need the glamorous excitement of Se.