ELSA FROM FROZEN [ISTJ] “The Examiner”DOMINANT FUNCTION: INTROVERTED SENSATION [Si]

ELSAFROMFROZEN 
[ISTJ] “The Examiner”

DOMINANT FUNCTION: INTROVERTED SENSATION [Si]

This Queen is one who prefers to deal in concrete facts and experiences over dreamy ideas and theory. Like Extraverted Sensation types, as an ISJ her perceptions are based on her experiences, however instead of reacting and adapting to these perceptions (Anna ESFP), Elsa internalizes them. These experiences build up her identity. 

Her dominant introverted sensation perception is best exhibited in her perception of her powers throughout the two films. At first Elsa plays around with her powers with Anna. As her powers make Anna happy, Elsa is happy with her powers. However, once she hurts Anna and her parents react negatively to her powers she learns from this experience to fear her own powers the way her parents do. She internalizes this experience beyond any outside person’s intentions. She represses it and pushes it down to a point of wearing gloves and continuing to seclude herself after her parents are no longer forcing her isolation.

Once her powers start to go out of her control she doesn’t try to learn about her powers or about where they came from. She isn’t seeking a deep meaning. Instead she decides to further isolate herself even from Anna. Her experience has continually taught her that the only way to keep others safe is to stay away from them. Therefore she makes her own ice castle where she can fully use her powers but in no way can she hurt others with them. At least that is what she thinks. It takes being pulled outside of herself and seeing the bigger picture to come back. Her connections with people saves her. But clearly this was a temporary fix because she doesn’t truly address her power in Frozen. 

It takes being shaken and forced out of her comfort zone to truly confront the mysteries of her powers and break her home life routine in Frozen II. This is something she wants to do, but is scared and hesitant of. She isn’t looking for some great adventure as she is comfortable and safe in the predictability of her routine. Not until she leaves her home and collects more positive experiences with her powers is she able to change and accept who she is fully. Elsa needs this experience to change her mind. She isn’t one to rely on troll prophecy or wishful thinking. 

SECONDARY FUNCTION: EXTRAVERTED THINKING [Te]

When judging a situation Elsa is far more comfortable with logic rather than working with people. She works specifically with extraverted logic which is grounded in accepted and shared knowledge. This gives Elsa a sense of control, which is huge to her character. She needs to feel in control of herself and the world around her. She doesn’t like to appear out of control to anyone. It is part of what contrasts her with Anna so much. Anna is all about getting out and having new experiences. She takes risks. Elsa does not like being seen as someone who would just let something happen to her like that.

Elsa does not have the best tact. We see that when she verbalizes her thoughts and opinions she isn’t always thinking of the social harmony of it all. Her instinct isn’t diplomacy or navigating the social norms of a situation. She is sharp to Anna about what is best for both of them. Always the practical one, she doesn’t have time for Anna’s flights of fancy at the beginning of Frozen. The more in emotional turmoil she is, the less comfortable she is with her own feelings. This leads are to be harsher to those around her. 

Another aspect of Te we see in Elsa, is her search for finding a role. She wants to be able to use her gifts to help. She initially thinks this is as queen, but it doesn’t sit right. Through her experiences into the unknown she finds what that role truly is. Not until she feels useful in her new role as the in-between of spirits and humans is she fully realized. As an ISTJ, she finds herself calmer and more confident now that she has found a way for her gifts to be used. 

TERTIARY FUNCTION: INTROVERTED FEELING [Fi]

Although Elsa can come off as logical she is a well of deep emotion as well. Because it is lower in her functional stack and is focused inward, being an introverted function, her emotions and feelings are largely unseen on the outside. It can be hard for those who don’t know her intimately to know if she is doing okay or not.

However, Elsa often gets her Fi confused. We see this the most in the first film. Her over reliance on Fi rather than Te judgement is what brings us to her self isolation. First she takes in her experiences with Si, her inferior Ne scares her, and instead of going to her Te she recedes into Fi judgment. This is tricky, because it fuels her Si perceptions that grant her comfort in isolation. She thinks it is the moral thing to do. Elsa becomes stubborn in the idea that this is the good thing to do and that she will only cause harm to others. The feeling of being morally right guided simply internally and not by anything or anyone outside herself really shows itself in how much she digs her heels in to stay away from everyone.

INFERIOR FUNCTION: EXTRAVERTED INTUITION [Ne]

Elsa has a particularly difficult time with change. Don’t get me wrong, once she internalizes the change through her other functions she is open to a new path, but she initially struggles with the chaotic world around her altering. As things initially started to change with her and her sister being able to leave the palace grounds, she sticks to isolating herself and the familiar. She finds comfort in the predictable. Which makes her repression of her powers all the worse as they start coming out.

As an ISTJ, Elsa can feel comfortable going inward when really it is outward that she should really be looking. Because of this she misses her sister trying to reach out to her. A huge part of her journey throughout both films is being more comfortable with the external world and the meanings hidden within it. We see her really engage with her inferior Ne journey in the second film. Although it was experience that pushed her to it, she learns where her powers come from and what they mean. This was crucial to her finding happiness but was not something that came innate to her. 

We see her embrace an Ne perspective by the end of the second film as she accepts her role and the amount she can control within it. Although it is great she found her way to her role in the forest, a big part of that was letting go of control of the kingdom and Anna. She had to learn what she can’t control the world around her and she can’t keep overly controlling herself to find comfort. She learns to accept the external world that has meaning outside of herself.