mbti and jungian cognitive functions;
a comprehensive thread on how myers briggs types actually work!

FIRST OF ALL:

– forget everything you read on the website 16personalities, both their test and their type descriptions are wildly inaccurate

– mbti typing is NOT based on the letters (I vs E, N vs S, F vs T, J vs P)

– mbti is not actually about personalities

( if im wrong about anything in here or missed anything please feel free to correct me )

what is mbti actually about?

– to put it simple: information processing. how your brain collects and judges information input.

what is mbti based on then?

– so called cognitive functions, a theory developed carl jung

– each mbti type is determined by their set of cognitive functions and in which order they interact

can your mbti type change?

– short answer: no.

– long answer: you will always use the same function stack, the only thing that may change is how well you use each function or which function you rely on more, which could potentially cause them to shift positions

which cognitive functions are there?

- there are Perceiving cognitive functions, responsible for information collection:

— Introverted Sensing (Si)
— Extroverted Sensing (Se)
— Introverted Intuition (Ni)
— Extroverted Intuition (Ne)

- there are Judging cognitive functions, responsible for judging information that you collected:

— Introverted Feeling (Fi)
— Extroverted Feeling (Fe)
— Introverted Thinking (Ti)
— Extroverted Thinking (Te)

what do each of those functions mean?

- heres a chart overview with a short description of each function:

- to put it simpler:

— Si vs Se

Si: perceiving in relation to your past experiences

Se: perceiving in relation to what you experience right now

— Ni vs Ne

Ni: perceiving the big picture

Ne: perceiving details

— Fi vs Fe

Fi: judging based on your internal moral compass

Fe: judging based on whats best for everyone

— Ti vs Te

Ti: judging based on whats logically sound

Te: judging based on whats practical and realistic

what does a function stack look like?

– every function stack includes one Sensing, one Intuition, one Feeling and one Thinking function

– one function stack includes four functions: a dominant, auxiliary, tertiary and inferior function

how do you use these functions?

– dominant: the function you mostly rely on, the most well developed

- auxiliary: the function you use to support your dominant function

- tertiary: the counter function to your auxiliary

- inferior: your weakest function, often underdeveloped

- heres a graphic that tries to explain how you use your functions at the model of driving a car

- your dominant function is your driver, your auxiliary the co-pilot, your tertiary the 10 year old and your inferior the 3 year old

how do you determine your stack?

– if your Sensing function is introverted your Intuition function must be extroverted and vice versa (Ni - Se or Ne - Si)

– if your Feeling function is introverted your Thinking function must be extroverted and vice versa (Fi - Te or Fe - Ti)

– if your dominant function is a Perceiving function, your auxiliary and tertiary functions must be your Judging functions, and your inferior function must be the other Perceiving function (and vice versa)

– so:

— J - P - P - J

OR

— P - J - J - P

– the functions in your stack must always be in order of:

— I - E - I - E

OR

— E - I - E - I

(I- introverted, E - extroverted)

- here the first function determines whether your type is introverted (Ixxx) or extroverted (Exxx)

so whats a possible function stack?

– ex. INTP: Ti - Ne - Si - Fe

– fills the criteria:

— one of each function types (S, N, F, T)

— judging-perceiving order (J - P - P - J)

— introverted-extroverted order (I - E - I - E)

where do the letters come from?

- I vs E: determined by the dominant function in the stack

- N vs S / T vs F: determined by whether Sensing or Intuition / Feeling or Thinking function is higher in the stack

- P vs J: determined by the first extroverted function

- so for INTP:

— I: first function is introverted (Ti)

— N: intuition above sensing function (Ne)

— T: thinking above feeling function (Ti)

— P: first extroverted function is perceiving (Ne)

heres the function stack of each type:

ISFJ: Si - Fe - Ti - Ne

ESFJ: Fe - Si - Ne - Ti

ISTJ: Si - Te - Fi - Ne

ESTJ: Te - Si - Ne - Fi

ISFP: Fi - Se - Ni - Te

ESFP: Se - Fi - Te - Ni

ISTP: Ti - Se - Ni - Fe

ESTP: Se - Ti - Fe - Ni

INFJ: Ni - Fe - Ti - Se

ENFJ: Fe - Ni - Se - Ti

INTJ: Ni - Te - Fi - Se

ENTJ: Te - Ni - Se - Fi

INFP: Fi - Ne - Si - Te

ENFP: Ne - Fi - Te - Si

INTP: Ti - Ne - Si - Fe

ENTP: Ne - Ti - Fe - Si

another graphic for more visual input:

anyways i hope this helped !! in case anything is confusing or i left out some details feel free to ask !! also i'll probably remember that i forgot something soon and add more to this thread shdbbdbd