okay so I have a super solid grasp on the judging functions and how people use them, including myself
BUT the perceiving functions are a BITCH like I understand how each of the four of them work and I understand how people would use them in theory yet I have no idea how I use them??? because all four of them seem applicable to me??? even tho I clearly only use either Si-Ne or Ni-Se, and I think my low self-awareness of how I *perceive information on a cognitive level* is to blame
See, it's like, I feel like I definitely do use Tert-Se because I have never found myself perceiving in any way even remotely near to Tert-Ne but but but it's really Ni vs Si that's the bitchass and statistically I'm probably an ESTJ instead of an ENTJ just based on the numbers
Can someone please, pretty please, illustrate how high Ni (Dom or Aux) works using a single, super duper basic and real life example? Because a lot of descriptions of Ni seem wonky on Tumblr and I have no idea how to model it in my head based on some of these descriptions that are like "Ni makes mystical prophetic leaps and predictions" like ???
Myers Briggs Cognitive Functions (How To Figure Out Your Myers Briggs Type)
It’s been awhile since I posted on here, but I wanted to post something that would be helpful. Often on the internet I see a lot of misconceptions about the Jungian cognitive functions, so I wanted to try and create more compact summaries of the functions as Jung described them. I’m currently waiting for my WikiHow article on how to figure out your cognitive functions to get approved (if it ever will), so for now I’ll just write out what I wrote for the article here.
I also added some extra notes for beginners on the bottom if you are completely new to typology and confused about what any of this means.
Without further ado, I’ll now get into the summaries.
Introverted Feeling. Jung describes introverted feelers as 'Still waters run deep' type of people. They are quite silent and inaccessible, and can be rather difficult to understand. They often act childishly or banal, and sometimes quite melancholic. They don't tend to shine, and rather keep a type of concealed air about themselves. They don't wish to change others or affect others and don't care to impress. People see them as having a sense of indifference or coldness to their behaviors. They prefer not to be emotional, but their emotions often end up infiltrating their unconscious mind. People may see them and not think that they are feeling, but their feelings are intensive rather than extensive. They develop into their depth. When they try to express sympathy, it often looks like coldness despite their intentions, due to it doing nothing visibly. They may express their aim in inconspicuous ways, preferring to put their passions into things silently. Due to this, this type may often be drawn to the arts. This type of person may particularly draw in extraverted types of people. When they are unhealthy, they may become mischievously cruel or unscrupulous in their ambition.
Extraverted Feeling. Jung describes extraverted feelers as people who follow the guiding lines of their feeling. Their personality often adjusts to external conditions, such as the people that they are talking to. Their feelings correspond with objective situations and generalized values. They often have requirements for the people that they tend to date, and these tend to be things that can be measured on an external level. People who value this function highly often repress their logic to make room for their feelings. This does not mean that this person does not think logically at all, and they could easily think a great deal. They just prefer to use their feelings as a guideline and use their logic to back up what they feel. This type of person would be described in the phrase "I cannot think what I don't feel." When this individual is unhealthy, they tend to become a servant to their feelings. These people may have the most obsessive and hideous thoughts during this time, which breeds even further doubt in them therefore furthering the control of emotions onto them.
Introverted Thinking. Jung describes introverted thinking types as being influenced by their subjective logical ideas. They will follow their ideas internally, seeking to understand their logic with intensity. This person may have a distinct feeling that they only matter in a negative way. They often will have an indifference to objective sources and prefer to stick to their subjective ideas. With this person, everything about them externally remains concealed. Their judgment appears cold, obstinate, arbitrary, and inconsiderate, simply because they are less interested in the objective reality than the subjective thoughts. Courtesy, amiability, and friendliness may be present in their behaviors, but they often display this with uneasiness. When it comes time for them to transplant their ideas into the world, they merely expose them and are annoyed when their ideas fail to thrive in objective reality. This person often lacks practical ability, and may even have an aversion to practical matters. If in their eyes their idea seems subjectively correct and true, it must also be in practice, and others have to bow to that truth. Hardly will they ever go out of their way to win anyone's appreciation of their ideas, especially if it be anyone of influence. At their unhealthiest, they may allow themselves to be exploited in negative ways if it means that they can continue their internal pursuit of ideas. Their convictions may become rigid and unbending, and they may become incredibly isolated and dependent on their internal world.
Extraverted Thinking. Jung describes extraverted thinkers as people whose constant aim is to bring their total life activities into relation with their intellectual conclusions. These intellectual conclusions are always oriented by objective facts or generally valid ideas. This type of person gives the deciding voice to objective reality, not only to themselves but to people around them as well. They determine good and evil through this measurement, as well as beauty and ugliness. All is right that corresponds with this formula, and all is wrong that contradicts it, and everything that is neutral to it is purely accidental. The person who refuses to obey this law is unreasonable or immoral in their eyes, and without a doubt has no conscience. Purely ethical aims may lead these individuals into critical situations, which sometimes have more than a semblance of being decided by quite other than ethical motives. These people may find themselves in deplorably compromising situations, or in dire need of rescue in this case. Their resolve to save often leads to them employing means which only tend to precipitate what they most desire to avoid. At their unhealthiest points, their desire to advance the salvation of man is so consuming that they will not shrink from any lying and dishonest means in pursuit of their ideal. They may neglect their health in pursuit of their ideals, even neglecting their family or the people that they care about. They may also become incredibly dogmatic, to a rigid extent.
Introverted Sensing. Jung describes introverted sensing as a type characterized by their peculiarities. They are an irrational type, as they are guided simply by what happens to them. They may stand out by the calmness and passivity of their demeanor, or by their rational self-control. They may have an illusory conception of reality, and in the worst-case scenario may even reach a complete inability to discriminate between reality and their subjective perception of reality. Due to their lack of knowledge of objective reality, they can often appear quite strange and odd in character due to their differing perception from objective reality. When others treat them badly, they may prefer to take a position of stubbornness and resistance than to full out aggressiveness. At their unhealthiest, they are incredibly aware of every ambiguous, gloomy, and dangerous possibility in their reality.
Extraverted Sensing. Jung describes extraverted sensing as a type characterized by their attentiveness to reality. Their sense of objective facts is extraordinarily developed. Their life is an accumulation of actual experience with concrete reality. This person does not believe themselves to be subject to sensation. They would actually ridicule that statement as being inconclusive since, from their standpoint, sensation is the concrete manifestation of life. Their aim is concrete enjoyment in objective reality, and their morality is similarly orientated. For in their eyes, true enjoyment has its own special morality, its own moderation and lawfulness, its own unselfishness and devotedness. This person may have little tendency for either reflection or commanding purpose. When they wish to create in objective reality, they do so aiming to fill their senses. They may be incredibly good at putting together aesthetics, or creating great sensational experiences. At their unhealthiest, they become crude pleasure-seekers or unscrupulous hedonists. They don't see reality as a beautiful thing anymore, but rather something to use to solely feed the endless need for new sensations. They may become incredibly jealous individuals running off of high anxiety. They may even turn morbidly primitive, or extremists in behavior.
Introverted Intuition. Jung describes introverted intuition as producing a peculiar type of person. This person may be a mystical dreamer and seer on one hand, and a fantastical crank and artist on the other. There is a general tendency of this type to confine themselves into the perceptive character of intuition. The intensification of their intuition naturally often results in an extraordinary aloofness of the individual from tangible reality, they may even be a complete enigma to their own immediate social circle. If they are an artist, they reveal extraordinary, remote things in their art. Their art may be lovely and grotesque, or whimsical and sublime. They may have visions, where they think to themselves "What does this thought mean for me and the world? What emerges from this vision for me and the world?" The pure intuitive who represses judgment will never meet this question fundamentally, because their only problem is the how of perception. They concern themselves with the meanings of their visions, and troubles less about its further aesthetic possibilities than about the possible moral effects which emerge from its intrinsic significance. At their unhealthiest, they may become quite impulsive, and struggle with unrestraint. They may also have issues talking to people about their visions, as they are often arguments without convincing reason.
Extraverted Intuition. Jung describes extraverted intuition as producing a person who is always aware where possibilities exist. They have a keen nose for things that have a promising future. They can never exist in stable, long-established conditions because they are always looking for new possibilities. Stable conditions often feel suffocating to them. They take on new subjects with extreme enthusiasm and intensity, only to abandon them cold-bloodedly and seemingly out of nowhere. As long as a possibility exists, this person feels bound to it. They have their own characteristic morality, which consists in a loyalty to their intuitive view of things. At their unhealthiest, they may rely entirely upon a perception of chance and possibilities. They may become incredibly attuned to hazards in their life. They may also become a hypochondriac as their fears and phobias increase.
What do I do now?
Order your functions. You will now need to order your functions from most used to least used. You will want to choose one thinking function, one feeling function, one sensing function, and one intuition function. Then order these based on the amount that you use each of them, from most to least.
In Jungian cognitive functions, there is a rule that each function in your stack has an opposite opposing it.
These opposing functions are thinking & feeling and sensing & intuition. Each person will have one of each function, and they can only have two introverted functions and two extraverted functions. You can't have two extraverted opposing functions, nor can you have two introverted opposing functions. You also can't have two extraverted functions paired right next to each other, or two introverted functions paired next to each other.
An example of this would be the function stack of ISTJ: They lead with introverted sensing, then their auxiliary function is extraverted thinking, then their tertiary function is introverted feeling, then finally their inferior function is extraverted intuition.
Another example is the function stack of ENFP. They lead with extraverted intuition, then their auxiliary function is introverted feeling, their tertiary function is extraverted thinking, and their inferior function is introverted sensing.
Remember that lesser valued functions will not be as apparent in your life. A high introverted thinking user may not relate to the extraverted feeling description of preferring emotion over logic, and that is to be expected. The function you value less is often suppressed for the greater function until you learn to use them in harmony.
Know the names of the cognitive functions.
Each function has a name as well as an abbreviation that is commonly used.
Introverted Feeling, also commonly referred to as Fi.
Extroverted Feeling, also commonly referred to as Fe.
Introverted Thinking, also commonly referred to as Ti.
Extroverted Thinking, also commonly referred to as Te.
Introverted Sensing, also commonly referred to as Si.
Extroverted Sensing, also commonly referred to as Se.
Introverted Intuition, also commonly referred to as Ni.
Extroverted Intuition, also commonly referred to as Ne.
The Types:
ISTJ - Si-Te-Fi-Ne
ISFJ - Si-Fe-Ti-Ne
ESTJ - Te-Si-Ne-Fi
ESFJ - Fe-Si-Ne-Ti
ISTP - Ti-Se-Ni-Fe
ISFP - Fi-Se-Ni-Te
ESTP - Se-Ti-Fe-Ni
ESFP - Se-Fi-Te-Ni
INTJ - Ni-Te-Fi-Se
INFJ - Ni-Fe-Ti-Se
ENTJ - Te-Ni-Se-Fi
ENFJ - Fe-Ni-Se-Ti
INTP - Ti-Ne-Si-Fe
INFP - Fi-Ne-Si-Te
ENTP - Ne-Ti-Fe-Si
ENFP - Ne-Fi-Te-Si
Learning how to narrow types. If you find that you have a function stack that is oddly laid out, such as Ni-Ti-Fe-Se, determine the closest likely type. In the case of those functions, the closest match would be INFJ. In the case where you relate to two extraverted functions of opposing function groups, you must determine which of the two you relate to more. For example, if you relate to both Te and Fe, try to narrow down which you think describes you better and choose the introverted function for the other one.
If you need any further help, feel free to shoot me an ask at any time.
INTJ vs INTP cognitive mechanics - an analysis based on an observation
With study of the cognitive functions I'm finally starting to recognize what INTJness actually feels like.
The other day, I was going through a programming tutorial as part of a larger book on the functional programming style. I was modifying the example slightly to produce a different output, and suffice it to say it wasn't working. I called on my INTP, who is doing the same tutorial, to see if they could figure it out.
Basically, my approach was trying to "tap into" my Ni, looking over the script from a zoomed-out perspective and getting a feel for where the problem might be. I get the general feeling that the second half of a certain function isn't working. I test this assumption, I was right - so now I try to narrow down in my mind where it "seems off", and come to a vague conclusion that it's probably the order of execution. I test this assumption. It works. The example is now working as expected. I don't have a clear, 100% understanding of why exactly the order of the statements was causing the particular bug, but I move on, because I realize that this kind of error is more of a general silly-mistake in how I wrote the algorithm, and isn't something instrumental to the greater goal - which is understanding the mechanics of the functional style.
My INTP friend, in contrast, looks at the script not from a zoomed-out perspective, but goes through the logic, one step at a time, analyzing exactly what each statement does and the effects it has - and how the result should look at each point in time, and why, until they figure out exactly what was wrong and why. They didn't just get a vague intuitive understanding of how to fix it and move on, they understood in detail how every single component interplays with every other, why the statement execution must be in this order for the algorithm to work, and all the other ways changing the order of the statements would affect the output. They have understood all the mechanics of the algorithm through pure logic, and it took them much longer to move on than it did for me - but unlike me, who was doing the problem for its general purpose within the goal of understanding functional programming, they felt that understanding the algorithm (which on its own is not related to functional programming at all, and is just a modified sort algorithm), was something they wanted to understand all the components of, regardless of whether it is meaningful to the purpose of the assignment.
This felt like a very illustrative moment in understanding the differences between how INTP and INTJ approach problem-solving. Of course, as INTJ I am also compelled to learn the mechanics of all sorts of things, even those irrelevant to the overarching goal of whatever the book or the tutorial or class or the thing I am studying is right now - but I would tend to note them and set them aside for later to learn, as something separate from the process. I went back over the sort algorithm with a more Ti approach myself later, after I had grasped the concepts in the chapter I was working on, and was ready to take a break. The first "goal" was gaining an understanding of the concepts in that chapter of the tutorial, and I did not allow myself to be distracted from this purpose - but when it was done I went back to the algorithm I got wrong and Ti-ed my way through the logic, step by step. But this happened in a separate process from doing the tutorial, and a separate timeline - I didn't allow the "working on this chapter" timeline to fork into the subprocess of working out this unrelated algorithm error for any longer than it absolutely needed to.
For my INTP friend, however, following this unrelated tangent - right then and there, in the middle of the process of understanding the chapter and in the same timeline - was something perfectly natural. It was natural for them to make many "deep forks" in the path to understanding the chapter, almost so much so that they may not even make it through to the end of the chapter, and instead get lost in the study of the forks and tangents along the way. As an INTJ I just could not do this - I would feel very mentally unsettled about this.
I feel the INTP approach with Ti/Ne is very thorough but incremental and undirected in its understanding; the Ni/Te approach of the INTJ is a lot less thorough, and more "overarching" - focused more on setting up the "skeleton" or the inner structure of the framework first, and then filling it out with details - and being always painfully conscious of the shape of the path one is following. Almost as if there is always this voice nagging you that this item may be irrelevant right now, come back to it later. It is like an architect trying to capture the overallness, or a writer trying to synthesize the outline of the entire story out of thin air first, and then refining all the generalities and fleshing them out. The coherent whole comes first, and is always there and always something one is deeply conscious of, and driven by. It is like the INTJ is going through every process with a general (usually not very detailed) map or compass that they follow, always internally tugging them back to North, whereas INTP is wandering through all the nooks and crannies of the landscape without a map or a compass, and seeing what kind of fascinating mental discoveries they have on the way. They may have a purpose in mind, but it can be diverted away from indefinitely and come back to later, if there are more interesting paths to explore on the way - whereas for the INTJ the interesting paths will be noted and come back to later, as it would feel "wrong" in a fundamental way to divert away from the purpose.
I still have a difficult time figuring out how Ni worked the way it did - I suppose part of it is that I already have a decent amount of programming experience, and was able to subconsciously extract a deep pattern from what I had experienced before, without knowing where exactly I had seen this before or what it was based on. My intuition was like a synthesis of patterns I had extracted before - like a deep-learning algorithm "figuring things out" from intermediate representations. This may be why it required a lot of Se input and Ti-type analysis in the very start of my programming study before I could begin to "grasp" it, as it served to "feed" my Ni with raw materials and structures to synthesize patterns and meta-patterns from, and later synthesize hunches like this. So now I can often "feel" the way to solve something, without explicitly working through the logic.
Naturally everyone who gains proficiency or experience in some field finds themselves doing this - as humans we are equipped with all the cognitive functions, after all - but as an INTJ it is my first instinct to do this to everything, and is my most visceral response to a problem - and the impulse to analyze with Ti usually comes later, as a conscious decision. As far as I understand it, for my INTP friend it was the opposite - the first response to a new concept or a problem is to analyze it and all its components and understand every small piece of the mechanics - even if they get an Ni "hunch" about what is wrong, they tend to not trust it as much, and the impulse to analyze is first and foremost.
Just some rambling observations on Ti and Ni mechanics.
- Because ENFJs and INFPs have the same order of functions, they’re likely to prioritize the same things and will have a natural understanding of each other’s needs.
- While INFP and ENFJ have the same order of functions, the functions themselves differ in terms of introverted/extroverted, creating a nice balance.
- Fi users like the INFP tend to prioritize their own well-being over other’s. This is not to say that they don’t care about their partner, just that in an argument they are likely to stand their ground.
- To contrast with this, Fe users like the ENFJ are more likely to back down for the good of the relationship, which means that conflicts between the two will likely be short-lived and not occur regularly.
- Ni users like the ENFJ are often focused, and place higher value on cohesive thinking and static concepts.
- Ne users, like INFPs, would rather be more open and focus more on spontaneity. The Ni-using ENFJ helps to ground and focus the INFP, and the Ne-using INFP can help the ENFJ open up and have more fun.
- Se and Si work in similar ways, with the Si-using INFP being more comfortable with routine and the Se-using ENFJ being better under pressure. Like with Ne and Ni, in this way the INFP and ENFJ can support each other in places where they are weak.
- Least noticeable for both ENFJ and INFP is their Ti and Te, respectively. I won’t go too in-depth because this is unlikely to affect their relationship.
- Ti users like the ENFJ focus on working slowly to get to a goal, putting more attention on consistency.
- Te users like INFPs would rather focus on efficiency, believing facts can be cleared up later. Though this is unlikely to come into play, it could mean that they have a healthier relationship because both are content with knowing different amounts about each other.
CONS
- Because the INFP is likely to prioritize their own well-being, the ENFJ may feel like the INFP doesn’t care about them as much as they care about the INFP. At the same time, the INFP may feel smothered by the ENFJ.
- Since ENFJs are likely to keep their problems to theirselves, they may accumulate anger and sadness towards the INFP without the INFP ever knowing. This can lead to outbursts about small things, leading to the INFP knowing that something is wrong but not knowing what.
- The INFP is more spontaneous, and may feel dragged down by the rule- centered ENFJ. At the same time, the ENFJ may feel like they don’t get any down time.
- ENFJs are interested in new experiences, while the INFP is more comfortable with routine, which may lead to conflict. The INFP also struggles under pressure, which may make them irritable and cause conflicts.
- ENFJs, as Ti users, don’t like to make assumptions. They believe that their partner should reveal things in their own time, and are more likely to ask than to guess at what the INFP is feeling. The INFP, a Te user, is likely to assume that the ENFJ is feeling a certain way, which can lead to confusion and hurt feelings.
All in all, I would give the pairing an 8/10. The INFP is the ENFJ’s natural pair, and the pitfalls are easy to avoid if you know what to be careful about. All it takes for a good ENFJ/INFP relationship is two thoughtful, conscientious individual that understand each other.
ENFJ/ENFJ
FeNiSeTi / FeNiSeTi
PROS
- The ENFJs, both dominant Fe users, are likely to share the same priorities and have a natural understanding of each other’s reasoning and feeling.
- Both are Ni users, and will tend to be more focused. When the pair puts their collective minds to something, they’ll most likely get it done.
- Se users tend to be better in a crisis than Si users, and therefore even when the pair is under pressure, they’re likely to work well together.
- As both are Ti users, they’re likely to have the same hopes for the relationship and want it to go at the same pace.
- Because both are the same type, there’s bound to be a natural understanding between the two, and an immediate bond will cause them to be comfortable with each other.
CONS
- As both are Fe users, they will likely shy away from conflict and both may bottle up feelings to the point where they accidentally alienate themselves from their partner.
- The combination of being Ni and Se means that though the pair will often have big plans for things they want to do, they may not act on them and will end up caught in a loop.
I think at the end of the day I would give this relationship a 6/10. The pros outweigh the cons, but you have to be willing to put work into the relationship and more often than not, if you aren’t very invested it won’t work out.
Should an Introverted Feeling type (IxFP) be angered enough over time, the characteristic tolerance, flexibility and quiet carong diminishes as the energy available to their dominant Introvert Feeling shrinks.
“I lose my concern for harmony, my connection with my inner values,” said an INFP. An ISFP said he “searches for conflict and forgets about others' feelings.”
ISFPs may also lose access to their auxiliary Sensing function. “I react quickly without finding out any facts,” said one. INFPs may similarly lose sight of their auxiliary Intuition. One INFP said that she “cannot process information, thoughts, or ideas” and becomes “focused on detail, making elaborate plans that are unnecessary.”
Initially, INFPs and ISFPs may control their urge to blurt out hostile thoughts by engaging in destructive fantasies directed at just about anyone available. Alternatively, they may employ biting sarcasm and cynicism. As these tactics fail, the negative Extraverted Thinking of their inferior function becomes manifested in judgments of incompetence, aggressive criticism, and precipitous action.
