Basic i*fu (EcFuUu)

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This is the most intellectualized or internalized and contemplative of the primitive EFU orientation. The i*fu has defended against his dependency needs and has disciplined his tendency to be environmentally fickle and to be easily distracted by external events. Unlike the i*fa*, [EcFuUc] the i*fu has not developed the tension and external perceptivity represented by the a* compensation; as a result, he is much relaxed about, and indifferent to, social-interpersonal stimuli. Depending upon his intellectual level, the i*fu can be very productive, particularly in fields of an empirical (naturalistic) and creative (collective) nature. The i*fu is particularly skilled in storing up and clarifying his own experience as well as interpreting and remembering the experiences of others. Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past is a classic example of the i*fu production. The i*fu cluster includes people who live almost entirely on recalling and reliving their past lives as well as well-organized and well-ordered historians, who can reconstruct the past lives from minimal cues. Many biologists, bacteriologists, naturalists, and archaeologists are also found in this cluster.

The i*fu tends to be relatively passive, although his passivity has an element of tension. He is less irritable than the i*fa*, [EcFuUc] primarily because he is more indifferent to interpersonal distraction; he also lacks the need to please and the superciliousness characteristic of the i*fa*. [EcFuUc] The i*fu is independent and can be much more comfortable being conventional than can the i*fa*. [EcFuUc] He also lacks the undue neatness and the social snobbery that may occur in the i*fa* [EcFuUc] pattern.

For the most part, the i*fu is a curious, preoccupied person who, when he becomes interested in a subject or event, will have an air of fascination and focus that is very obvious to the external observer. Many people will react negatively to the i*fu be cause his intensity of eavesdropping or observation makes the object of interest very uncomfortable. The i*fu can precipitate a paranoid panic reaction in those who are vulnerable to this and may, thus, become the object of paranoid hostility. Some of the stranger and more preoccupied i*fu may be considered as sorcerers and wizards, especially since muttering under the breath and talking to one's self are characteristics of the preoccupied i*fu.

The i*fu is easily embarrassed, but he tends to handle this problem by avoidance and preoccupation. He does not allow himself to get into situations that are likely to cause embarrassment for him. Unlike the i*fa*, [EcFuUc] he feels little guilt about his lack of social versatility, but is very difficult to get him to take responsibility for others; in most instances, he will passively resist doing so. At the same time, he is not necessarily a social isolate, for he will seek out and become active in congenial and compatible groups. He rarely joins a group out of feeling obligation, but will do so when he really reels like it. Once he establishes a relationship, he is very possessive and can be quite jealous of potential subversion and defection.