The Real MBTI Guide

Cognitive Functions

It's also not too hard to answer, at least in my own opinion. With those examples, you can look back at times you may have done certain things in the examples and it's really handy.

If you look at MBTI memes, they do usually use the 16personalities avatars, but only a fool will actually believe that 16 personalities is good. (Coming back to write again and that was kind of harsh. I mean fool in a good way, like a person who likes to do inaccurate stuff for fun. No shame).

Now, cognitive functions. There are eight of them. There are:

Feeling
Thinking
Intuition
Sensing

axioms.

So, we have feeling, thinking, intuition and sensing.

We now measure these on where they are focused on.  Internally or externally? That's where introversion and extroversion comes in. Introverted functions are focused internally. Extroverted functions are focused externally, on the world around them.

So, that would mean that we have:

Introverted feeling (Fi)
Extroverted feeling (Fe)

Introverted thinking (Ti)
Extroverted thinking (Te)

Introverted intuition (Ni)
Extroverted intuition (Ne)

Introverted sensing (Si)
Extroverted sensing (Fe)

That's eight.

So now let's dive into these and what they actually mean.

We have four main slots in where our functions come in.

1. Dominant
2. Auxiliary
3. Tertiary
4. Inferior

(DOM)INANT

Our dominant function is used over 90% of the time. It's always on autopilot. We don't even know that we use our dominant functions how natural it is. It's like the captain if a ship. It is the main one controlling Mose of your interactions in your day-to-day life. Dominant functions are the first things we always go to. If someone's dominant function is extraverted, that means that they're an extrovert. It is not in a social sense, it is in a sense of whether you focus your main function outwardly or inwardly.

(AUX)ILIARY

Auxiliary functions are used a lot too, but they are kind of the second thing you go to. They are a little more conscious than your dominant function, so you'll be aware of when you're using it. But it will not feel uncomfortable using it. You use it a lot but not as much as your dominant. This function starts to develop in adolescence to early adulthood. If you have a dominant extraverted function, your auxiliary will be introverted. If you have a dominant introverted function, your auxiliary function will be extraverted.

(TERT)IARY

Tertiary is a funny one. It's sort of in the middle. You may feel uncomfortable using it at times, and may feel uninterested in it for quite some time, but this function gets really comfortable to use the older you get. Around mid-life, you may start to realise the potential of your tertiary function. Your tertiary function will be the opposite to your auxiliary function. For example, if someone has Ne as their auxiliary function, they will have Si as their tertiary, because sensing is the opposite to intuition and introversion is the opposite to extraversion.

(INF)ERIOR

My favourite to explain! Inferior functions are those functions that you just hate. You have them, but you just really find that it interferes with your dominant function. And you always use your dominant function, so of course your inferior function will be really, really, annoying and threatening to you. Your inferior function is the exact opposite to your dominant function. Say someone has their dominant function as Ti. Their inferior will be Fe because feeling is the opposite to thinking and extraversion is the opposite to introversion.