Brynmala wrote:Well, that was interesting. I approached the whole thing as i usually do with personality type questionnaires of the sort in magazines... with interested skepticism. And when I got the answer I read the whole profile right to the end. My partner also did the test, but couldn't be bothered to read the profile, and the whole thing led to a long conversation and me reading out her profile. And this plays into both our profile types! She's INFP (Introverted, intuitive, feeling, persuasive?) , and I'm INTJ (Introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging) and yes, we thing that they've just about got it right. Other than being strongly introverted I'm more or less borderline on all the other traits though. I wouldn't consider myself a particularly good strategic thinker, but i really don't do emotions well, and will always come up with a practical solution rather than emotional support to a problem.
So now we know we can't help the way we are, and have a bit more insight into each other's characters, perhaps it will lead to a better relationship for us?
This is why I would strongly suggest researching the functions and the function stacks (links provided in my previous post on this thread). Once you learn about the functions and how they work, you can identify the ones you use within yourself and your personal preferences (MBTI is about what you prefer to do, not necessarily what you are good at doing). Once you identify a function stack, you then know what your letter code is.
Essentially, the four letters are determined by a particular set of functions and how they stack up in order of strength/preference in the individual.
INFJ use Ni (introverted intuition) as their dominant function, followed by Fe (extraverted feeling) as their auxillary function, with Ti (introverted thinking) as their tertiary function and Se (extraverted sensing) as their inferior function.
I'm an INFJ, so I'm going to use myself as an example when explaining the functions.
Ni is an information-gathering function, and it is a largely unconscious function. Introverted intuition absorbs everything happening around the individual and identifies a singular outcome. Ni is the type of function that leads to a lot of "eureka!" moments, and a gut feeling with Ni is knowing that something should be done, but not necessarily knowing why. An example of how my Ni works--when driving I have an uncanny ability to identify where I need to go, even if I've never been somewhere before. If you ask me how I knew to head in a general direction, I couldn't actually tell you what it was that made me believe quite strongly that I needed to be there. However, upon reflection, I know where the location is on the map, I probably took note of the position of the sun and various landmarks unconsciously and aligned it with where I needed to go. Then the conscious throught formed identifying the direction I should be going in. I'm not consciously aware of how that decision was actually made--I didn't think "I know that we have to travel roughtly southwest, and it's still morning and the sun is on my left, so we're definitely going south, and we have to head away from the sun to go west, and we just passed that fountain that's near the library, and we need to head away from that, too ..." All of that went on in the background of my brain to give me a niggling feeling that taking the next right will put us in the right place.
Ni also identifies patterns, and tends to project thoughts in images, not words. It's a very abstract function that looks at the big picture and then funnels its information in to a singular decision.
Fe is extraverted feeling, and it is a decision making function. That means I make decisions taking in to consideration the impact that decision will have on others. That does not mean I can't use logic in a decision--I just prefer to think with my heart and not just my head. To me, things aren't necessarily black and white, but more shades of grey, and there is always room for compromise. Another interesting thing about Fe is the ability to read emotions in others, sometimes to the point of taking them on yourself. Fe is natural empathy--you don't need to have experienced a situation to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and completely understand what they are going through. Interestingly, Fe users struggle to identify their own emotions very well--we don't necessarily have a great emotional connection with ourselves, and often have to bounce our thoughts off of others and have them reflected back to us before we can identify what we are really feeling. Generally, when I'm voicing my thoughts about things, that's when I come to the realisation of "wow, this thing really made me angry, much more so than I initially realised" or "this situation is actually really starting to depress me and it's very unhealthy" or "I'm actually really, incredibly excited for this!". It's almost like hearing my thoughts and feelings out loud are the only way I can really process them.
Ti is introverted thinking. As the tertiary function, it doesn't get a whole lot of use until a person starts to develop and stretch--usually in their late teens, early twenties. Up until this point, people generally rely on their first two functions to get them through life, as they are the dominiant functions and the one the person is most comfortable using. Ti works like an internal filing cabinet, and is a decision making function. When decisions can't or shouldn't be made with Fe, Ti will come in to play, or Ti can be used as a sort of sense-check against Fe to weigh heart vs head, pros vs cons, black and white vs shades of grey. Ti takes all of the information it receives from Ni and Se (more on Se in a moment), and stores it, bringing out relevant facts and information as and when they are required. I personally use Ti a LOT in my job as an information analyst. Ti helps me identify the logic required for coding reports, then organises all of the information I'm looking at and identifies a probable root cause or a gap where there could be a solution. The more you use your tertiary function, the more comfortable it becomes, but it will never be as comfortable as your first two functions, because you will always have to skip over a preferred function to access it.
Se is the inferior function, and it's an information gathering one. The inferior functions largely sit in our unconscious, and tend to manifest in times of stress. Se stands for extraverted sensing, and it's basically being in the moment. A stretch for someone with Se in the inferior function is to really focus on being in the moment. Healthy versions of this are consciously doing things that require your full attention, such as giving a presentation, exercise or cooking. Most people with Se as an inferior function tend to take up hobbies such as this when their in their late twenties, thirties or even forties. Because Se is largely so unconscious during the first half of our life, however, it tends to manifest in really unhealthy ways when we're under stress. Inferior Se users tend to disconnect from everything going on in their heads (Ni) by overindulging the senses and doing it to excess. Things such as binge-watching Netflix, binge-reading, mindlessly eating, playing video games for days on end, being so lazy that they won't get out of bed or dressed for an entire weekend ... these are all things that people do sometimes, but during times of stress, inferior Se users will partake in these activities regularly, and largely unconsciously, as an escape mechanism.
There are also four shadow functions that manifest themselves unconsciously (hence the shadow function), but we won't get in to that.
INFP (the P stands for Perceiving) has a totally different function stack. Their function stack is Fi Ne Si Te.
So, the INFP leads with introverted feeling. They make decisions based on what fits in with an internal set of self-checks. That is not to say an INFP is selfish, or won't make decisions on what is best for a group--if group dynamics are an important part of their self-check system, they absolutely will take that in to consideration. Introverted feelers need to identify if the decision feels right for them. A gut-feeling for an introverted feeler is very different than for an introverted intuitive, as an introverted feeler will feel very strongly that something must be done. It's not a hunch like the intutive, but something in their self-checks is telling them that this is absolutely the right way to go. Introverted feelers are very in tune with their own feelings, and can identify them easily. They may sometimes struggle to identify the feelings of others, and empathy can only occur with an introverted feeler if they have already experienced the situation themselves. An introverted feeler who has gone through depression will immediately be able to recall that feeling in themselves and empathise with another about it, however, one that has not experienced depression may be able to sympathise with another individual about their condition because they know the theory of how depression makes a person feel, but they cannot truly empathise because they have never experienced it themselves and therefore have no such feelings to be able to recall.
Ne is another information gathering function, and stands for extraverted intuition. Ne works consciously compared to Ni's unconscious, actively absorbing information and abstractedly creating a big-picture scenario. Whereas Ni can only see one outcome (What is becomes What will be), Ne can see many possible outcomes, all equally valid (What is becomes What could be). Ne can therefore tend to manifest itself as a bit disorganised ("We could do this ... or this ... or this ..."). Ne notices patterns and connections as with Ni, but those connections lead to a web of more possible connections, instead of one singular outcome.
Si is introverted sensing, and is an information gathering fuction. Again, as a tertiary function, Si is often not used until the individual begins to develop and stretch themselves, and usually begins to manifest in the late teens or twenties. While Ne is focussed on all of the future possibilities of the present, Si accesses past events to try to predict what will happen. Like Ti, it creates an internal database to be recalled when necessary, but instead of the database being one of facts and figures, it's one of impressions and memories. When Si comes across a situation that feels familiar, they recall the last time they were in this situation and what the outcome was, and use that information to identify what their next steps should be. Si users are not necessarily dependent on their past or historical tradition--they just like to relate what is happening to what has already happened.
Te is extraverted thinking, and as the inferior function, this will again manifest largely unconsciously through the first few decades of life. Te likes external systems. Someone who access their Te via healthy hobbies may be in to building computers, coding or doing improvement projects. Te likes an orderly system and logic. Again, in an inferior position on the function stack, Te will often manifest in unhealthy means during times of stress as a way to disconnect from making decisions based on feelings. This could take the form of obsessive list making, rigid organisation and an insistence on keeping things to a schedule.
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Sorry for the novel! Functions are a really great way to fully understand and utilise MBTI. What I've written just scratches the surface--when I first got in to MBTI, I spent months learning about all of this stuff. It really is incredible, and I use it a lot in my every day life to interact with people--I know an ESTJ, for example, is going to lead with Te and have inferior Fi, so they are going to struggle to connect to people on a personal level and won't pick up cues that they may have been offensive or cold. They're also not going to respond to emotional pleas, they want facts. In contrast, an ESFJ will want to know what's happening in people's lives and make sure the group is happy with what's happening. Te and Fe are so different that even the language they use is in stark contrast to one another. Te users will usually say "I think" or "I know". Fe users will usually say "I feel".
It's really helpful to learn about the functions and the function stacks--then you can observe others and identify what functions are used when, which helps you tailor your communication/interactions with that individual.
"Just one small aubergine..."
