I.   What Is Type?            - Cognition vs Behavior            - Personality is Interactive            - Personality is Not a “Box”            - Personality Evolves II.  The Functional Stack            - The Four Cognitive Processes            - Cognitive Orientations            - Cognitive Function Order            - Translating MBTI Code            - Confusions & Controversies III. The Primary Cognitive Functions         1. The Role of the Dominant Function            - Dominant Si/Ni, Se/Ne, Ti/Fi, Te/Fe            - Considerations for Dominant Assessment        2. The Role of the Inferior Function            - Inferior Si/Ni, Se/Ne, Ti/Fi, Te/Fe            - Considerations for Inferior Assessment        3. The Role of the Auxiliary Function             - Auxiliary Si/Ni, Se/Ne, Ti/Fi, Te/Fe            - Considerations for Auxiliary Assessment        4. The Role of the Tertiary Function            - Tertiary Si/Ni, Se/Ne, Ti/Fi, Te/Fe            - Considerations for Tertiary Assessment IV.  Function Dynamics           - Perceiving Conflicts (Si & Ne, Ni & Se)           - Judging Conflicts (Ti & Fe, Fi & Te)           - Considerations for Type Assessment V.   Bring It All Together

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PART I: WHAT IS TYPE?

Interest in personality theory often stems from curiosity about individual differences among people, especially when differences produce misunderstanding or conflict. There are many personality theories out there, and they differ in terms of: 1) how they conceptualize and systematize individual differences, 2) how they explain the origin and existence of differences, and 3) what the differences mean and what to do about them.

Many people are introduced to type theory through online quizzes and short type descriptions, however, these only scratch the surface of what type is about. Some people understand type through memorizing labels or stereotypes that fail to honor the true diversity and subtleties of each type. If you want to understand type and yourself beyond oversimplified labels, crude stereotypes, or generic average descriptions, it is necessary to learn some key principles of type theory.

Type theory, broadly speaking, includes several different interpretations of Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types, of which the MBTI system is but one well-known school of thought - others include Keirsey’s Temperaments, Socionics, Beebe’s Eight-Function Model. The ideas presented in this guide are an attempt to synthesize the best aspects of several models while still adhering to the key principles of Jung’s analytical psychology. Theory is only as good as its correspondence with empirical fact, so this guide has been painstakingly revised and refined many times in accordance with real experiences and feedback from individuals of each type. Although lay people might find it difficult to learn theory, I believe it is worth the effort, because type theory has shown great promise in helping people make sense of themselves and others. It has even helped people resolve some long running psychological issues. 

While Carl Jung wrote about psychological types, his main focus was not personality per se but actually psychoanalysis and the relationship between therapist and client. He was largely concerned with understanding the therapeutic relationship and how to best help people heal their psychological problems. Therefore, it is difficult to fully understand his ideas about personality without knowing the broader context of his way of doing therapy, which is often referred to as analytical psychology (sometimes classified as belonging to the psychodynamic or psychoanalytic school that was founded by Sigmund Freud). Jung and an entire generation of subsequent disciples and critics were instrumental in developing many of the ideas that we now take for granted about psychology. Generally speaking, analytical psychology seeks to understand individuals and how they psychologically develop and mature, heavily emphasizing the role that the unconscious mind plays in influencing our thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

Before getting into the details of each type, it is important to first understand the basis of what type is.

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Cognition versus Behavior

Type theory conceptualizes personality as a set of cognitive frameworks. People are sorted into different personality categories according to their natural tendencies. The categories are not hierarchical (i.e. no type is better than the others); they are all considered equal in that each type has its own set of strengths and limitations as well as its own unique role to play in the world.

In order to understand what type is, the first major principle to learn is the difference between cognition and behavior:

• cognition: the perceptual and evaluative mental processes that one uses to make sense of the world and navigate it successfully

• behavior: observable or measurable characteristics, traits, or actions that manifest from cognition

Type is found in cognition.Too often, people only look at behavior. For example, both ESFPs and ESFJs tend to be energetic and friendly people. However, the cognitive processes that give rise to the “friendliness” trait and subsequent “friendly” behaviors is different for the two types (i.e. Se-Fi vs Fe-Si). Therefore, if you were to try to type someone based only on the observable trait of “friendliness” without knowing why or how that trait arose cognitively, it becomes all too easy to confuse the two types.

Without cognition, you wouldn’t have ideas, thoughts, feelings, beliefs or values and your behaviors wouldn’t have much meaning because you would be ruled only by your autonomous “animal” brain that is geared for physical survival. It is through cognition that we develop a sense of self, make meaning out of life’s events, evaluate situations and make decisions, and visualize what is in store for us in the future - cognition is what makes us human. This implies that cognitive processes can go awry because some people do not develop a strong sense of self, some people have difficulty finding meaning in life, some people make problematic judgments and decisions, and some people can’t envision their future self very well.

The challenge of type theory is not only to categorize people according to their similarities and differences, but also to make sense of them, especially when they stem from cognitive dysfunction. Therefore, there is an underlying developmental aspect that is baked into the center of Jung’s conception of personality.

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Personality is Interactive

Since type theory conceptualizes personality primarily as one’s cognitive processes, personality is understood as dynamic. Your mind is constantly interacting with the world and trying to make sense of environmental stimuli - you act upon the world and the world acts upon you - which means that a good theory of personality must take into account not just individual traits but also how those traits interact with the larger world in which a person lives.

While cognition and behavior are interdependent, they don’t have a one-to-one relationship, i.e., thinking about something doesn’t automatically lead to doing something. Your personality can’t predict all of your behavior because there are factors aside from personality that also influence you (such as: situational stress, socioeconomic pressure, mental illness, etc), but personality does go a long way to explain how and why you made the choices you made. 

Humans are complex. We presumably have free will, so you can make a conscious choice to override your type tendencies whenever you deem it necessary. For example, even though you are introverted, you are able to perform some extraverted behaviors when situations demand. Putting aside your introversion for a short time produces a temporary mismatch of personality and behavior, but it doesn’t cancel out your true type. An introvert who learns to ACT more extraverted will never BE a true extravert, because the natural cognitive dominance of introversion in one’s mind can’t be negated by simply pretending. Type theory differs somewhat from other personality theories because it takes ingrained cognitive frameworks as most primary for defining a person.

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Personality is Not a “Box”

Type should not be conceptualized as a “box” that restricts or limits how a person should live their life. Personality type is often mingled with other concepts that should be treated separately.

Type should not be conflated with intelligence, though the two interact with each other. Intelligence refers to learning ability. While type is likely to influence the kinds of things you get INTERESTED in, type itself does not guarantee that you will end up being GOOD AT those things. To be good at something includes many contributing factors: intelligence, natural talent or aptitude, passion and motivation, hard work and determination, repetitive practice, educational opportunities, access to good learning resources, etc. Not every individual ends up liking things or being good at things that you would expect for their type. Remember that learning is heavily influenced by one’s social environment and life experiences. Type should not place an unnecessary limit on your interests, hobbies, or career choice.

Type should not be conflated with emotional stability. Emotional stability refers to one’s ability to manage emotional life. While your type influences how willing you are to take into account feeling valuations when decision making, type does not determine whether you will be an emotionally well-adjusted person. To be an emotionally intelligent person requires learning, experience, and practice - it coincides with psychological maturation. Anyone can learn to have better emotional management skills as long as they value having such knowledge and set out to master it.

Type should not be conflated with stereotypical behavioral traits. One reason people mistype is because of common stereotypes that make people believe they can’t be a certain type if they don’t behave a certain way. For example, there is a stereotype that ESTPs are all good at sports, so a clumsy ESTP with two left feet might feel that ESTP traits don’t fit. Many generic type descriptions easily morph into stereotypes that people rely on to understand themselves/others. Stereotypes can be harmful if they prey on your insecurities, if they offer you a false sense of validation, or if you use them to pigeonhole others unfairly. On the surface, stereotypes might seem positive because people want to feel validated and labels are an easy device for communicating about yourself to others. However, simplistic labels and stereotypes can lock you into perceiving yourself and others in a very narrow and rigid way, thus cutting off the potential for personal growth or mutual understanding.

Type should not be conflated with sameness. Don’t assume that everyone of the same type is the same. Everyone has their own unique history and life circumstances to deal with, so every individual is a unique example of their type. Think of it this way: All humans have a face but no two faces are exactly the same. Even identical twins diverge as their physical bodies respond differently to the wear and tear of living different lives. Some faces look similar, some look more unique than others, some look more extreme than others. It’s not very useful to describe someone simply as having a face, which is basically what you do when you stereotype, because by this crude measure, all humans are the same. Overgeneralizing erases the diversity and the distinctiveness of the individuals within the group.

Let’s say that you meet someone who likes science and is kind of reserved. Do you automatically type them as Introvert and Thinker? There are many non-type reasons for liking science or being reserved, are there not? A person might like science simply because their favorite parent was a scientist. A person might be reserved because they’re suffering from depression. Stereotypes aren’t useful because they’re too limited. To really understand someone, you must contextualize their behavior, by examining all the different forces that might be motivating them. Personality type is only one of many important forces driving human behavior, so it’s important to separate dispositional factors (one’s personality) from idiosyncratic factors (one’s experiences) from situational factors (one’s environment) when doing type assessment. 

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Personality Evolves

Type theory conceptualizes personality as a process of psychological growth. Your type never changes but type expression evolves over time as you slowly learn to harness the “missing” parts of your personality. Imagine that personality is like a weighing scale: If you are introverted, then you are likely to develop the strengths and advantages of introversion more naturally, which means that you will spend less time to develop the strengths and advantages of the opposite attitude of extraversion. This produces an imbalance among these two sides of your personality when you’re young. But as you get older, you gradually become more conscious of this imbalance and then feel a natural desire to rectify it. This is why someone might type as introverted early in life but then as extraverted later in life, assuming that they only use a simple questionnaire to assess themselves. The person is indeed introverted but their personality evolved to more fully embrace extraversion. Normal personality development should make people more well-rounded over time, though not everyone develops normally, for a variety of reasons.

However, you cannot embrace the opposite side of your personality to the extent that it becomes the natural or dominant part of your personality, which means that there is some truth in the old adage that people never change. There are indeed limits to personality development because you can’t be all things at once. However, you can learn to harness some of the strengths that were inaccessible to you earlier on in life. Type theory outlines how each personality grows and develops. When you understand the principles of type development, you are able to consciously steer yourself in a more positive growth direction. The challenge of type development is not to become superhuman or godly but to gradually increase self-awareness, which allows you more opportunity for effective self-management. Being more self-aware, you understand yourself and the world better and then make better decisions.

As you read through the guide, you might notice that I often use the words “unconscious” and “conscious” to describe how a person uses their cognitive functions. The mind is complicated and I use these two terms to simplify the concept of self-awareness. Generally speaking, you use a cognitive function unconsciously when: 1) you don’t know why you think or behave a certain way, 2) you are unaware of how a cognitive function is influencing you, 3) you are unaware that lazy cognitive “shortcuts” are producing inaccurate perception and flawed judgment, 4) you are unaware of the underlying emotional reactivity that distorts your perception and judgment processes. Needless to say, a person who uses their cognitive functions unconsciously most of the time is going to have difficulty assessing their own type because they have a shallow or distorted view of themselves.

By contrast, using a function consciously means that you are self-aware and possess a correct understanding of your intentions and motivations. You understand how function misuse leads to cognitive biases and distortions. You make an effort to correct any cognitive processes that run amok. Deepening self-awareness allows you to peel back the layers and consciously bring out your positive aspects by appropriately resolving the negative aspects.

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PART II: THE FUNCTIONAL STACK

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The Four Cognitive Processes

In type theory, a cognitive process refers to a particular method of making sense of the world. There are two kinds of cognitive processes:

1) Perception processes gather or generate information. The two perceiving processes are Sensing and Intuition.  2) Judgment processes consolidate or structure information for making rational judgments and decisions. The two judging processes are Thinking and Feeling.

Perceiving ProcessJudging ProcessS (Sensing)concrete infoT (Thinking)systemization impersonalN (Intuition)abstract infoF (Feeling)valuation inter/personal

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Cognitive Orientations

When a cognitive process is active, it directs mental energy to achieve a cognitive goal. Mental energy flows in two possible orientations: inwardly or outwardly. If each of the four cognitive processes can be directed inwardly or outwardly, then there are eight possible modes of cognitive functioning:

Cognitive ProcessIntroverted FunctionExtraverted FunctionPerceiving ProcessSSi (Introverted Sensing) sense reminiscenceSe (Extraverted Sensing) sensory interactionsNNi (Introverted Intuition) intuitive connectionsNe (Extraverted Intuition) actualizes possibilitiesJudging ProcessTTi (Introverted Thinking) formulaic principlesTe (Extraverted Thinking) structural orderingFFi (Introverted Feeling) personal valuationsFe (Extraverted Feeling) interpersonal valuations

The introverted orientation channels mental energy inwardly, toward the objects that comprise one’s subjective experience. Introverted cognitive functions compel you to interpret information through an individual lens, to create a sense of self from within. The extraverted orientation channels mental energy outwardly, toward the objects and events of the objective world apart from oneself. Extraverted cognitive functions compel you to interact with the world and integrate well with your surroundings. Everyone possesses both introverted and extraverted functions that should, ideally, work well together to maintain proper equilibrium between oneself and the world.

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Cognitive Function Order

To address common mistyping patterns, this guide groups the eight cognitive functions along these categories:

CategoryFunctionsGoalsOperationIntroverted PerceivingSi or Niconserve energy set prioritiesfilter information by its subjective importanceExtraverted PerceivingSe or Nereceptivity adaptabilityopenness to interact with environmental cuesIntroverted JudgingTi or Fiindependence uniquenesshonor one’s own experience & judgmentExtraverted JudgingTe or Feorganization affiliationmanage and order the external world

Why categorize like this? A person predisposed to using Si may superficially resemble a person predisposed to using Ni, behaviorally, because both functions seek to conserve energy and set personal priorities (same for the other three categories). However, S and N use different cognitive strategies to achieve their goals. Remember that type is found in cognition, so the fact that one seeks to conserve energy isn’t as important to examine as the HOW and WHY - the particular method chosen to conserve energy and the reason for wanting to conserve energy. This distinction between the what (behavior) versus the how+why (cognition) is crucial for assessing type correctly.

Under normal circumstances, whether you are able to use a cognitive function successfully to achieve its goal is largely determined by the function’s position in your functional stack. Each type is defined by a unique functional stack that orders the functions according to their degree of dominance in your psychology. From top to bottom, the stack positions are called the dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior functions. Stack position refers to influence only; it doesn’t indicate how mature the function is in development terms. Of course, the more influence a function has, the more likely you are to use it, and the more opportunity you have to learn how to use it maturely. However, function development isn’t automatic and not always a smooth process for everyone.

MBTI Code vs Functional StackMBTIDomAuxTerInf“Shadow Functions” ISTJ ISFJSiTe FeFi TiNeSe-Ti-Fe-Ni Se-Fi-Te-NiINTJ INFJNiTe FeFi TiSeNe-Ti-Fe-Si Ne-Fi-Te-SiISTP INTPTiSe NeNi SiFeTe-Si-Ne-Fi Te-Ni-Se-FiISFP INFPFiSe NeNi SiTeFe-Si-Ne-Ti Fe-Ni-Se-TiESTP ESFPSeTi FiFe TeNiSi-Te-Fi-Ne Si-Fe-Ti-NeENTP ENFPNeTi FiFe TeSiNi-Te-Fi-Se Ni-Fe-Ti-SeESTJ ENTJTeSi NiNe SeFiTi-Se-Ni-Fe Ti-Ne-Si-FeESFJ ENFJFeSi NiNe SeTiFi-Se-Ni-Te Fi-Ne-Si-Te

The job of each cognitive process - SNTF - is to orient you toward a particular aspect of reality, similar to how eyes are for seeing and ears are for hearing, and so on. Everyone uses all four cognitive processes, and when used well together, they should provide a comprehensive understanding of the world. But reality is never so simple. In reality, cognitive processes have an oppositional relationship (S “vs” N and T “vs” F). Oppositional relationships in the mind play a crucial role in spurring psychological growth. Just the right amount of psychological stress forces you to rise above and grow, but too much psychological conflict can create dysfunction and damage well-being. 

Oppositional processes have the potential to clash and create psychological conflict when you try to use them at the same time. Using S tends to negate N, and vice versa. Using T tends to negate F, and vice versa. On top of this, the cognitive orientations of introversion and extraversion are also oppositional. In order to minimize severe psychological conflict, some cognitive functions must be given priority over others, some functions are better paired with some than others, and some functions are disruptive enough that they must be kept in a state of unconscious repression.

The dominant function is the “leader” of one’s personality and the root of one’s identity. The auxiliary function is the “sidekick”, so it must be a function that doesn’t produce too much conflict with the leader. The dominant and auxiliary team, with their combined strengths and weaknesses, contribute the most mental activity to one’s psychology. Psychologically unhealthy people have difficulty accessing the team’s strengths and often use them too aggressively in extremes. Psychologically healthy individuals are on average more likely to express the team’s strengths than weaknesses. Psychologically mature individuals know how to consciously maximize the team’s strengths and minimize weaknesses.

To avoid direct opposition in the team, a perceiving dominant function (S or N) cannot be paired with the opposing perceiving function, and a judging dominant function (T or F) cannot be paired with the opposing judging function. This means that: 1) a perceiving dominant function can only be paired with a judging auxiliary function, and 2) a judging dominant function can only be paired with a perceiving auxiliary function.

Remember that cognitive orientation is very important for maintaining equilibrium between you and the world. This makes it necessary for the dominant and auxiliary team to be oppositional in a way that produces a complementary relationship between the subjective and the objective. This means that: 1) an introverted dominant function must be paired with an extraverted auxiliary function, and 2) an extraverted dominant function must be paired with an introverted auxiliary function. 

To have a well-functioning dominant and auxiliary team: 1) the perceiving and judging functions complement each other such that one gathers enough information and the other processes it thoroughly to make good judgments/decisions, and 2) introverted and extraverted functions complement each other such that you possess a strong sense of self that also feels a strong sense of existence in the world.

The tertiary and inferior functions operate less consciously, which means that it is harder to access their strengths and it is more likely to encounter their weaknesses. Psychologically unhealthy people are more likely to misuse these two functions in quite serious and even destructive ways. Psychologically healthy people misuse these two functions only occasionally, while psychologically mature people make efforts to avoid misusing them. 

If the dominant function is perceiving (S or N), the opposite perceiving function must be the inferior function (N or S). If the dominant function is judging (T or F), the opposite judging function must be the inferior function (F or T). Because the functions are directly oppositional, the other perceiving/judging function must be assigned the least amount of influence in the functional stack, in order to give enough space and energy for the dominant function to grow and mature. Because the auxiliary function doesn’t have as much influence as the dominant, its opposition with the tertiary function isn’t as pressing to manage, so it’s more okay for both functions to be perceiving or judging.

In the normal course of type development, people come to rely more heavily on one perceiving function (Sx or Nx) and one judging function (Tx or Fx), as indicated by the dominant and auxiliary functions. Taking a closer look at each functional stack, you begin to see how it affects your attention and priorities. For example, if your dominant function is an extraverted judging function (Te or Fe), you tend to prioritize your relationship to the objective world and, as a consequence, you naturally place less importance on carving out subjective independence and uniqueness, because that would remove and separate you from the world. If your dominant function is an extraverted perceiving function (Se or Ne), you tend to value being open and flexible in responding to what is happening in the objective world and, as a consequence, you naturally place less emphasis on conserving energy and having well-defined subjective priorities, because doing so would limit your movements.

It’s not that the lower functions are ignored or never used, they are simply lower on your list of what’s important, which influences decision making. If you tried to pay attention to and prioritize everything equally, you’d often get overwhelmed and stuck in contradictions, which wouldn’t be good for psychological well-being. Analogy: Imagine that you walked into a room and every physical detail hit you equally hard, it would be very difficult to extract the useful information, and your memory would quickly get overloaded. Cognitive functions help you process information more efficiently, but the drawback is that you must neglect, ignore, or overlook some things in the process. 

There is continual debate about how much of personality is inborn or when exactly these cognitive tendencies arise during childhood development but, so far, science does not have the technological means to answer such questions with certainty. It is my personal opinion after reviewing early development research that personality type is already set at birth. However, analogous to the concept of epigenetics, how a particular individual ends up expressing their personality throughout life is dependent upon how they interact with their environmental challenges. Every person is a unique example of their type.

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Translating MBTI Code

Myers and Briggs chose to emphasize the extraversion/introversion (E/I) and judging/perceiving (J/P) aspects of type, so they gave these two concepts their own labels. They believed that refining the theory in this way made it more practical. A person is introverted (I) if their dominant function is introverted (i) OR extraverted (E) if their dominant function is extraverted (e).

The J/P dichotomy points to one’s attitude about the EXTERNAL world specifically, so it is only concerned with the extraverted functions or a person’s relationship to the objective world:

- The P designation refers to types who like openness, so they prefer less external structure. They have an extraverted perceiving function as one of their first two functions: 1) Se or Ne will be the dominant function if the person is E or extraverted; 2) Se or Ne will be the auxiliary function if the person is I or introverted.

- The J designation refers to types who like closure, so they prefer more external structure. They have an extraverted judging function as one of their first two functions: 1) Te or Fe will be the dominant function if the person is E or extraverted; 2) Te or Fe will be the auxiliary function if the person is I or introverted.

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Confusions & Controversies

Regarding theoretical confusions about the functional stack, some theorists argue for a primary functions model (top four functions only), while others argue for a full stack model (all eight possible functions), while some even deny that functions have an i/e orientation. There also continues to be disagreement about the true order of the functional stack, particularly regarding the auxiliary and tertiary functions, with the confusion stemming back to Jung himself (he was not known for writing with clarity).

It is beyond the scope of an introductory guide to dive into theory disputes but I will say the following: 1) I don’t think that a full stack model postulates anything that can’t already be explained by a primary functions model. I am not closed to the idea but, so far, full stack models seem excessively complicated, difficult to interpret consistently, difficult to apply effectively in therapeutic situations, and somewhat redundant. I believe that full stack models require further development and critique. 2) Drawing upon my one-on-one experience working with hundreds of individuals and their psychological issues, the conventionally accepted alternating functional stack (eiei/ieie) has proven most useful in correctly diagnosing cognitive development issues as well as prescribing the appropriate remedies. 

I recommend conceptualizing the functional stack as the ideal path for achieving individuation over the lifespan, rather than using it merely as a type assessment instrument. Many people suffer from type development issues. Stunted development doesn’t mean that a person won’t fit a functional stack, rather, it means that expression of their functions is problematic, which can make it more difficult to type correctly in some cases (and why it’s important to clearly distinguish cognition from behavior). However, once their type is correctly identified, the alternating stack is an effective guide for healing their maladaptive tendencies.

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PART III: THE PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

This part explains the eight cognitive functions and how to identify each of their four possible positions in the functional stack. Each section covers one position of the four-function-stack and concludes with notes about common type assessment errors. While it is necessary to discuss the functions separately in order to clarify and distinguish between them, it is important to remember that, in real life, functions are continuously interacting with each other in complex ways. Also, possessing a function doesn’t mean that you know how to use the function well, which means that you must consider whether you are a healthy, unhealthy, or immature example of your type.

If assessing your own type, take some online tests to narrow down the field, then examine those functional stacks in depth to see which one fits best. In my opinion, a thorough type assessment should examine all 16 types impartially and narrow them down systematically to the correct type.