MBTI's confusing preference: Thinking or Feeling

[dark_castle]

Well, I've pondered a lot about this confusing preference. The myers briggs system and the keirsey system have agreed that thinking corresponds to the preference of being objective, and not involving your emotions in the way of deciding. The feeling preference however corresponds to your subjective decisions in decision making.

I'm really confused about this part.

Let's say, what if you're an objective person but includes the feelings of those people around you in your decisions? would that be the Thinking preference or the Feeling preference? personality type theory seems to mix being objective with being impersonal and being subjective with being personal but i'm not really sure if this is the case.

what if you're a subjective person (one who always gets his/her emotions in the way of making decisions) but you're impersonal to the feelings of others -- meaning you're inconsiderate to their needs and feelings, would that make you a Thinking preference or a Feeling preference?

So, enlighten me, what does having a Thinking or a Feeling preference really mean to make it clear?

[psychopath]

FUck, I feel stupid. Time to update my philosophical side.

[SoulRiser]

Quote:Everyone uses Thinking for some decisions and Feeling for others. In fact, a person can make a decision using his or her preference, then test the decision by using the other preference to see what might not have been taken into account.

From here: http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-pers ... eeling.asp

Basically it seems that whether you're a Thinking or Feeling preference just depends on which is easier or more comfortable for you. And if they're both equally comfortable, you could be right in the middle. And it's generally a good idea to use both even if you lean more to the one side.

[dark_castle]

"Don’t confuse Feeling with emotion. Everyone has emotions about the decisions they make."

This says that that the Thinking-or-Feeling preference isnt all about being "mind over heart" (being objective) or "heart over mind"(subjective) (Correct me if I have a mistake of defining "objective" and "subjective"). It actually says that: "Do you like to put more weight on objective principles and impersonal facts (Thinking) or do you put more weight on personal concerns and the people involved (Feeling)?" -- which means that Thinking-or-Feeling is all about how you evaluate the people around you when you make decisions, if you are impersonal and stick to your strict principles, or consider other people's feelings.

However, there seems to be a contradictory:

under the Thinking preference, one of the descriptions says:
"I make decisions with my head and want to be fair."

and under the Feeling preference, one of the descriptions says:
"I make decisions with my heart and want to be compassionate."

if Feeling doesnt have anything to do with emotions, then why does it say 'making decisions with the heart' as if it has something to do with deciding your emotions or being subjective? Or maybe it means "use your heart" as in, relate well with others but not necessarily getting emotional about it?

What do 'objective' and 'subjective' mean anyway?