Carl Jung’s work on cognitive functions is vastly more useful than the Myers Briggs horoscopey simplification of personality. It defines the way a person prefers to take in and processes information. The type of information that is taken in and how it is processed, affects a person’s personality, what they value and the actions that they may take. It is the key to understanding how people think and why we get along with some people, why we can’t stand others and why some people we find interesting.
So what are the cognitive functions and how are they connected to the Myers Briggs simplification?
Carl Jung defined eight cognitive functions that are organized in several ways.
Four of the functions are perceiving functions, four of them are judging functions. In Jung’s work, the perceiving functions gather information and the judging functions process or evaluate that information.
Two of the perceiving functions are sensing and two of the perceiving functions are intuitive, while two of the judging functions are thinking and two of the judging functions are feeling.
Four of the functions are introverted functions and four of them are extroverted functions. Introverted functions are directed inward, and extroverted functions are directed outward. There are four different ways that a person can be introverted and four different ways that a person can be extroverted.
Every person has a dominant function that consists of most of the reasons why they do things, and what they value. If someone who knows you well is describing your personality, they are likely describing this cognitive function and how it is manifested in your actions. This is also the function that develops first as a kid, this is why children are pretty easy to identify, they are either gathering information or processing the world using only one cognitive function.
The auxiliary function develops when you are a teenager or young adult. It develops in support of your dominant function and is the opposite of your dominant function. For example, if you started with an introverted perceiving function then you will begin to develop an extroverted judging function. Because of this, descriptions or understandings of your personality can seem contradicting. For example, “I love for things to be organized and I want things to make logical sense, but I know that I’m open minded and I can quickly change my mind if I find new information.” Or “I prefer to spend most nights alone, reading or watching television but I also have a lot of friends that I hang out with Friday nights.” The goal is to be closer to balance between judging or perceiving and introverted and extroverted. At least that is the goal, and what Carl Jung determined to be the healthiest development of our personalities. However, some people resist developing the opposite function of their nature, and they will jump straight to developing their tertiary function.
The tertiary function is developed in a person’s twenties or early thirties. It is the same direction as the dominant function, meaning that if your dominant function is introverted, your tertiary function will be as well but it will have the same perception as the auxiliary function, meaning that if you’re auxiliary function is a judging function, your tertiary function will be too. This function may cause a major shift in what you think is valuable and important. Its main goal is to refine and balance the dominant and auxiliary functions. A problem arises, however when a person doesn’t work on developing their secondary function and they go directly to working on their third. People do this because it is very hard to change the direction of your energy. If I’ve been introverted my entire life and I define myself by needing alone time, it often takes conscious effort put myself out there and work on the secondary function, for this reason many people jump to the third function and instead of changing both direction and perception, they only change perception. For example an introvert takes in information using intuition and then skips the extroverted function jumping directly to developing introverted judging function using feelings. This is where unhealthy people create false stereotypes for the personality types defined by Myers Briggs. But I will save that explanation for a later article.
The fourth function, or the inferior function, will be in a the opposite direction of your dominant function and the same as far as perceiving or judging. This function, accounts for a lot of your weaknesses and blind spots. The younger a person is the more that they will detest and fight this outlook. But the older a person gets, the more they will start to accept that some concepts associated with their inferior function have value.
The descriptions of each cognitive function is below, I will relate the vague statements and order I described in the descriptions of each function.
Introverted Sensing (Si) – This function is the dominant function of an ISTJ (SiTeFiNe) and an ISFJ (SiFeTiNe). This function is a perceiving function, which means its primary purpose is to take in information, and since it is introverted, this type of information gathering is directed inward. Dominant Si users focus on information that has been tested and proven to work in the real world. They prefer stability and things to not be stirred up and changed if nothing is broken. But because this is a dominant function, its user is usually concerned more with their own personal traditions and ways of doing things. As children they are often described as being mature and responsible for their age. Romantically, they often have to wait for people their age to value the same stability respect for things that most people have been told but insist on trying themselves. Although their dominant function is perceiving, Myers Briggs labeled ISTJs and ISFJs as Judgers because their auxiliary function is extroverted and judging. This can curb how Si is revealed depending on the auxiliary function.
Introverted Sensing is an auxiliary function in ESTJs (TeSiNeFi) and ESFJs (FeSiNeTi). As an auxiliary function, it will balance ESFJs and ESTJs by requiring them to take in more information about the past and what has worked then what they would like to naturally consider. Because Si is attached to either Te or Fe, it is often associated with being very closed off to new ideas. Si filtered through Fe and Te sounds a lot like “We’ve always done it this way.” So, Si is often seen as being very restrictive, but Si is a perceiving function, its dominant users take in all possible information of the past and then externalize what they judged to be relevant. For this reason, they make great researchers. And its auxiliary users, are often quicker to judge the available past information, for this reason they make great quick decision leaders and perseveres of a process that has worked for hundreds of years.
But often the weaknesses associated with Si users is that they can be stubborn, judgmental of people acting outside of social norms, obsessed with social status and they often find it difficult to relax.
Introverted Feeling (Fi) – This function is the dominant function of INFPs (FiNeSiTe) and ISFPs (FiSeNiTe). This function is a judging function, which means that its primary purpose is to judge information, and since it is introverted these evaluations will be directed inward. Dominant Fi users, spend a great deal of time evaluating their own emotions, values and beliefs. They have a very innate sense of right and wrong and often struggle with verbalizing their own understanding. Their feelings run deep and are complex, for this reason many of our greatest authors and artists were either INFPs or ISFPs since their auxiliary function requires them to externalize their own evaluations of their emotions and let them interact with the world. Because their auxiliary function is either Se or Ne, perceiving functions, Myers Briggs refers to them as Perceivers, even though their dominant function is judging. Externally, they are perceived as being very open minded to ideas and experiences, but it takes a lot of vetting, trust and time to get through to their core values and feelings. But they have a natural ability to see the core of those close to them and for this reason always see the good in people.
Introverted feeling is an auxiliary function in ENFP (NeFiTeSi) and ESFP (SeFiTeNi). As an auxiliary function, it will balance the Ne’s and Se’s desires for constant experiences and new ideas by requiring them to stop and judge the emotional experiences and beliefs that they have gathered and deciding what they really believe in and feel. Because Fi is attached to Ne and Se, it often comes out of its user as “Because that’s how I feel.” Or “I did that because it felt like it would be fun.” They enjoy experiences for the sake of experiencing how it makes them feel and therefore often make great performers.
But often the weaknesses associated with Fi, involves abrupt defensiveness if their feelings are questioned, they are sensitive and can be too idealistic and impractical. INFPs and ISFPs will often focus on how they feel about something or someone and forget to evaluate whether they are being treated with the same devotion and therefore they can easily get taken advantage of. And often Fi users, both dominant and auxiliary, will focus so much on how they feel about something that they will forget to evaluate whether how they feel about it actually matters compared to someone else’s.
Introverted Intuition (Ni) – This function is the dominant function of INTJs (NiTeFiSe) and INFJs (NiFeTiSe). This function is a perceiving function, which means its primary purpose is to take in information, and since it is introverted, this type of information gathering is directed inward. Ni users focus on information that is abstract and new and they love to be the minds at the forefront of a specific expertise. They will focus on new theories and patterns in things that interest them and will develop at a very young age a natural way of understanding the world, how it works, and the patterns involved. INFJs and INTJs are very open-minded, almost anything that they haven’t heard before is considered but because their auxiliary function is either the Te or Fe, judging functions, they are often seen judgmental. The truth is ideas are absorbed and attached to maybe other concepts for consideration but are often challenged through their supporting functions and they can be seen as stubborn.
Introverted Intuition is an auxiliary function in ENFJs (FeNiSeTi) and ENTJs (TeNiSeFi). As an auxiliary function it will balance ENFJs and ENTJs by requiring them to challenge their judgments with new abstract concepts, ideas and patterns. They are similar to ESTJs and ESFJs in that they need a function willing to take in more information to prevent them from making judgments too quickly but the difference is the type of information that they are interested in and take into account for their evaluations. Auxiliary Si users evaluate information based on past experiences in the physical world, while auxiliary Ni users evaluate information based on its ability to abstractly challenge their understanding.
Ni users have a certain mysterious quality to them and a natural confidence in how to navigate their own understanding. Underlying patterns are very easy for them to notice; therefore, they make excellent strategists and counselors. They break a system down or their understanding of a person and quickly pinpoint the issues and understandings that need to change.
However, all of this ability can lead to some weaknesses. Ni users can come off as arrogant, judgmental, and extremely resistant to real world experiences, seeing them as a waste of time or a distraction from breaking down their understandings.
Introverted Thinking (Ti) – This function is the dominant function of INTPs (TiNeSiFe) and ISTPs (TiSeNiFe). This function is a judging function, which means that its primary purpose is to judge information, and since it is introverted these evaluations will be directed inward. Ti users focus on evaluating logical, technical patterns in systems. Dominant Ti users spend a great deal of time evaluating their own logical thought processes. Since Ti is attached to Ne or Se, they will lean towards evaluating either abstract theories and concepts or real-world applications. For this reason, dominant Ti users make great engineers, programmers, and mechanics. The supporting functions, ensure that Ti users are constantly evaluating new information to be filed into their understanding of the system that they are analyzing. All information is collected but it isn’t always included in their understanding. ISTPs rely on real world applications and experiences before it is added to their understanding of their systems, while INTPs rely on evidence and logical arguments.
Introverted Thinking is an auxiliary function in ENTPs (NeTiFeSi) and ESTPs (SeTiFeNi). As an auxiliary function, Ti will balance Ne’s and Se’s constant scramble for information and experiences and require them to evaluate the information and experiences that they’ve gathered and judge their utility or logical value.
While Ti users are great at breaking down a system to its logical skeleton they also have several weaknesses. They become so focused on their internal processes that they forget to attend to things that don’t interest them. This can include anything from basic hygiene to maintaining healthy relationships. And they are also absolutely terrible at recognizing the emotional states of other people.
Extroverted Sensing (Se) – This function is the dominant function of ESFPs (SeFiTeNi) and ESTPs (SeTiFeNi). This function is a perceiving function, which means its primary purpose is to take in information, since it is extroverted, this type of information gathering is directed outward. Se users are primarily interested in collecting experiences for their physical benefits. They are adrenaline junkies, they like the spotlight and are often the center of the party. Very open minded and almost always down for an adventure.
Unfortunately, this constant chase after experiences can cause them to seem materialistic, flighty, unfocused and struggle to plan long term goals. Coupled with Fi, they become sensitive and with Ti, they become insensitive, despite their surface level excellent people skills.
Extroverted Feeling (Fe) – This function is the dominant function of ESFJs (FeSiNeTi) and ENFJs (FeNiSeTi). This function is a judging function, which means that its primary purpose is to judge information, and since it is extroverted these evaluations will be directed outward. Fe users are primarily concerned with harmony in a community. They work tirelessly to bring people together. They are excellent at reading people at social graces and they are some of the most loyal people always there to help one another help if it is needed.
Unfortunately, this can cause them to avoid confrontation at a bigger cost to their well being, they can put to many social expectations on themselves. The desire to help others is so strong that they suppress their needs in a harmful way.
Extroverted Intuition (Ne) – This function is the dominant function of ENTPs (NeTiFeSi) and ENFPs (NeFiTeSi). This function is a perceiving function, which means its primary purpose is to take in information, since it is extroverted, this type of information gathering is directed outward. Ne users are primarily interested in collecting experiences, opinions and ideas for the sake of understanding how people think and how the universe works. Coupled with Ti, ENTPs are primarily concerned with understanding systems and patterns, while Fi users, ENFPs focus on an emotional world and how everything ties together with how they feel and how others feel. Both are typically popular and well liked if they find a group that appreciates their outlook and goofy attitude. They are often all over the place when socialization, taking in as much information as possible. Extremely energetic and open to hearing anyone’s opinions. But these types are also often regarded as the most introverted of the extroverted types. Ne requires a specific type of extroverted exposure. Too much socializing without exploration of the ideas that interest them, causes them to burn out quickly. And Ti coupled with Ne can make ENTPs seem argumentative because they like to attack knowledge and opinions from every angle. And the threat of becoming bored easily and an inability to accept stability and practical matters as important is a big problem for both types.
As an auxiliary function, it gets expressed in their introvert cousins only when they are around people that they trust.
Extroverted Thinking (Te) – This function is the dominant function of ESTJs (TeSiNeFi) and ENTJs (TeNiSeFi). This function is a judging function, which means that its primary purpose is to judge information, and since it is extroverted these evaluations will be directed outward. Te users are primarily concerned with planning and organizing the world around them into logical systems. They are driven and are often leaders, when healthy they listen to their subordinates and evaluate information before showing their arrogance. Both types have very little tolerance for excuses or complaints for why something didn’t get accomplished. They regard most of humanity as being extremely lazy. Coupled with Ni, Te users become extremely efficient at recognizing the utility of others realizing their goals.
Functions with personality code.
NiTeFiSe – INTJ NeTiFeSi – ENTP
NiFeTiSe – INFJ NeFiTeSi – ENFP
SiTeFiNe – ISTJ SeTiFeNi – ESTP
SiFeTiNe – ISFJ SeFiTeNi – ESFP
TeSiNeFi – ESTJ TiSeNiFe – ISTP
TeNiSeFi – ENTJ TiNeSiFe – INTP
FiSeNiTe – ISFP FeSiNeTi – ESFJ
FiNeSiTe – INFP FeNiSeTi – ENFJ
Closed System 