MBTI?

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Freshman year, during that short hype around personality types, I took one that everyone was talking about: the 16personalities test (https://www.16personalities.com/). And weeks later, when the interest died out and my friends had stopped sharing their personality types, I continued to fall down the rabbit hole of the MBTI personality theory. I was hooked—at first by the thrill of self-discovery and understanding through reading about my own personality type, and then later by the insight that this method of analysis provides on other people’s personalities.

Now, I’m well aware of all the criticisms surrounding the Meyer-Briggs personality test and its invalidity. Vox.com argues that its results are inconsistent, and that the test is a poor predictor of success or behavior. Some even compare MBTI to astrology (which I find mildly offensive), due to its lack of scientific backing and tendency to idealize each “type” or “sign”. But, I think if we looked into this theory a little more, we’d find that MBTi is actually a very effective tool in understanding ourselves and others! If used properly, that is. 

What I’ve noticed from talking to friends and reading online posts on MBTI is that, while the 16 personality categories and the dichotomies within these types (Introversion/Extroversion, Sensing/iNtuition, Feeling/Thinking, Perceiving/Judging) are well known, the original fundamental theory that these 16 personalities were derived from is often neglected or unknown. 

The most serious issue with the Meyer Briggs test is that it ignores the somewhat more complex aspects of Carl Jung’s theory, and instead explains the personalities by the letter dichotomies I mentioned previously. The problem with this is that, as many critics have pointed out, people cannot be split into, for example, purely “thinking” and “feeling” categories, because everyone will have both emotional and logical tendencies. 

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Cognitive Functions Explained

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In Carl Jung’s theory, types are not based on these letters, but rather “cognitive functions,” or a set of thinking processes unique to each personality type. 

Because the functions can be a little complicated to explain, I’ll just give a brief overview here. (To learn more about what cognitive functions you use, take this test: https://www.idrlabs.com/cognitive-function/test.php).

Basically, there are four functions to each personality type: your dominant function, auxiliary function, tertiary function, and inferior function. As expected from their names, the dominant function is a person’s strongest function, (or means of perception), and the inferior function is a person’s weakest. 

There are 8 types of functions: introverted/extroverted sensing (abbreviated Si and Se respectively), introverted/extroverted intuition (Ni, Ne), introverted/extroverted thinking (Ti, Te), and introverted/extroverted feeling (Fi, Fe). 

A person cannot have both introverted and extroverted versions of a function (for example, by this theory, it is not possible to have both Ti and Te in your “function stack”), and your inferior function is always the opposite of your dominant function (if your dominant is Ti, your inferior is Fe). 

 

Here’s a quick rundown on the 8 functions!

 

• Ti: Analytical, deep thinking based on logic. Strives to understand and learn. Visit https://personalityjunkie.com/04/introverted-thinking-ti-intp-vs-intj-extraverted-thinking/ For more details! 

 

• Te: Efficient, organized functioning. Seeks to control and process external environment objectively. 

https://personalityjunkie.com/10/extraverted-thinking-te/  

 

• Fi: Prioritizes personal morals, values, and individuality. Deeply empathetic, and operates based on emotions. 

https://personalityjunkie.com/12/introverted-feeling-fi-vs-ti-ni-fe/

 

• Fe: Focused on people around them, prioritizes group values. Seeks emotional harmony and communication.

https://personalityjunkie.com/03/extraverted-feeling-fe/ 

 

• Si: Focuses on and often references past experiences to form values. Preserves tradition and tends to stick to what’s familiar and comfortable. https://personalityjunkie.com/09/introverted-sensing-sensation-si/ 

 

• Se: Seeks and concentrates on new experiences. Takes note of sensory and external details.

https://personalityjunkie.com/extraverted-sensing-se-vs-introverted-sensing-si/ 

 

• Ni: Draws deeper meanings and connections from information that often results in moments of insight. https://personalityjunkie.com/10/introverted-intuition-ni/ 

 

• Ne: Focuses on “what if” and possibilities. Innovative and creative. https://personalityjunkie.com/10/extraverted-intuition-ne/  

 

To give an example of how these “functions” might express themselves in an individual’s personality, let’s take a look at the INTP’s function stack. If your personality type is INTP (like mine!), your functions would be Ti (dominant) – Ne (auxiliary, or second strongest) – Si (tertiary) – Fe (inferior). This would make you logical and curious (Ti), creative and scatterbrained (Ne), somewhat nostalgic with a tendency to reflect on the past (Si), and socially awkward not naturally strong at processing emotions or interacting with others (inferior Fe).

 

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What’s So Good About Them?

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In comparison to the simple 4 letter dichotomies, these functions might seem unnecessarily complicated. But, they’re really very helpful when it comes to being more conscious of how you think and process the world around you! While the 16personalities way of typing gives characteristics of each type, it doesn’t do much more than that. Knowing that you’re a “feeler,” instead of a “thinker” doesn’t really tell you much more than the fact that you might be more prone to being emotional. But understanding what your cognitive functions are allows you to identify patterns in your thinking, and work with your strengths and weaknesses. Knowing that my “dominant” function is Ti, for example, helps me realize that I do better when I take time to get a full understanding of things before taking action straight away. And knowing that my “inferior” function is Fe makes me more aware that I can often be unaware of my own emotions and have difficulty expressing them (and also that I can be painfully bad at interacting with other people, but I’m working on it!). 

 

If you ever decide to follow in my path and delve into a detailed analysis of your (and your friends’) personalities through the scope of MBTI and cognitive functions, be sure to keep in mind that this theory is pretty subjective. The functions were derived from Carl Jung’s speculations and observations, so they aren’t a hard science. But even so, as long you use the theory simply as a perspective rather than as an exact measuring tool, there is much that can be learned from it!