Merced
Talk to me.
- Joined
- May 14, 2016
- Messages
- 3,596
- MBTI Type
- ESTJ
- Enneagram
- 28?
- Instinctual Variant
- so/sp
I talk a lot about MBTI in real life and usually I have to give an explanation of the basics. I've never written out what I say when I do explain it before so now that I have done that, I want to post it here. So I don't lose it.
"No problem! I personally suggest understanding MBTI before even looking at Enneagram, as it has more structure to it. I tend to ramble a lot when I'm talking about stuff I'm excited about (like this) so bare with me. Before anything is typed, you should learn about functions. There eight functions. Conveniently, there are two types of functions that fall into two categories. Extroverted and Introverted, Judging and Perceiving. It's a darn shame that those words have the connotations that they do, because their denotations are way smarter and inclusive.
Introverted and Extroverted aren't necessarily about socialness. I like the way Michael Peirce, a youtuber with fantastic content on MBTI, describes them. Introverted is 'Subjective' while Extroverted is 'Objective'. As in, an introverted function focuses on the internal factors while an extroverted function focus on the external. Perceiving and Judging, in my eyes, is basically 'getting information' and 'using information'. I can elaborate more on that with the introduction to the actual eight functions themselves.
Your judging functions are Extroverted & Introverted Thinking and Extroverted & Introverted Feeling. Think of the Thinking functions as one that focuses on the gears of a machine and the Feeling functions as fuel. Extroverted Thinking (Te) is the opposite of Introverted Feeling (Fi) while Extroverted Feeling (Fe) is the opposite of Introverted Thinking (Ti). So, objective view of facts vs subjective view of values and objective view of morals vs subjective views of evidence.
Your perceiving functions are Extroverted & Introverted Sensation and Extroverted & Introverted Intuition. Sensation deals with the physical and tangible world while Intuition deals with the abstract and theoretical. Intuition is the idea and Sensation is it's execution. Another thing to note is that these functions have a lot to do with your awareness and goal setting mindset. Extroverted Sensation (Se) is the opposite of Introverted Intuition (Ni). Se is in the present while Ni is in the future. Extroverted Intuition (Ne) is the opposite of Introverted Sensation (Si). NE is in the future while Si is in the past.
To briefly recap, the eight functions are Te, Fi, Fe, Ti, Se, Ni, Ne, Si. Your MBTI type depends on how these functions fall in priority for you. Socionics is much more in depth with this, because you use all eight of those functions, but in base level MBTI, you focus on your main four.
Your function stack has two judging functions and two perceiving functions. Each function is on an axis, which means if you have one function in your stack, you will it's opposite. There is a pattern to it, as well. Your stack will either be:
Introverted function
Extroverted function
Introverted function
Extroverted function
or
Extroverted function
Introverted function
Extroverted function
Introverted function
Along with that, the second pattern all types follow is like this:
Judging function
Perceiving function
Perceiving function
Judging function
or
Perceiving function
Judging function
Judging function
Perceiving function
This is why there are 16 types. Because there are 16 possible combinations of eight functions. Never determine your type based on a description of the type or stereotypes or by comparing yourself to others. Type is determined by function, not behavior. I'll use myself as an example. My function stack is:
Ne
Fi
Te
Si
My lead function is Extroverted Intuition. Because Intuition is higher than Sensation, I know that the second letter in my type is N. The same with Feeling. Because Feeling is higher than Thinking. The third letter in my type is F. Determining the first and last letters can be confusing sometimes. That first function is Extroverted, so my first letter is E. Lastly, the first function is a perceiving function, so my last letter is P. E-N-F-P. When I first got into MBTI, it took me forever to actually understand why the letters were the way they were, because if you lead with an introverted function (meaning if your first letter is I), then your last letter is the opposite of what it is."
"No problem! I personally suggest understanding MBTI before even looking at Enneagram, as it has more structure to it. I tend to ramble a lot when I'm talking about stuff I'm excited about (like this) so bare with me. Before anything is typed, you should learn about functions. There eight functions. Conveniently, there are two types of functions that fall into two categories. Extroverted and Introverted, Judging and Perceiving. It's a darn shame that those words have the connotations that they do, because their denotations are way smarter and inclusive.
Introverted and Extroverted aren't necessarily about socialness. I like the way Michael Peirce, a youtuber with fantastic content on MBTI, describes them. Introverted is 'Subjective' while Extroverted is 'Objective'. As in, an introverted function focuses on the internal factors while an extroverted function focus on the external. Perceiving and Judging, in my eyes, is basically 'getting information' and 'using information'. I can elaborate more on that with the introduction to the actual eight functions themselves.
Your judging functions are Extroverted & Introverted Thinking and Extroverted & Introverted Feeling. Think of the Thinking functions as one that focuses on the gears of a machine and the Feeling functions as fuel. Extroverted Thinking (Te) is the opposite of Introverted Feeling (Fi) while Extroverted Feeling (Fe) is the opposite of Introverted Thinking (Ti). So, objective view of facts vs subjective view of values and objective view of morals vs subjective views of evidence.
Your perceiving functions are Extroverted & Introverted Sensation and Extroverted & Introverted Intuition. Sensation deals with the physical and tangible world while Intuition deals with the abstract and theoretical. Intuition is the idea and Sensation is it's execution. Another thing to note is that these functions have a lot to do with your awareness and goal setting mindset. Extroverted Sensation (Se) is the opposite of Introverted Intuition (Ni). Se is in the present while Ni is in the future. Extroverted Intuition (Ne) is the opposite of Introverted Sensation (Si). NE is in the future while Si is in the past.
To briefly recap, the eight functions are Te, Fi, Fe, Ti, Se, Ni, Ne, Si. Your MBTI type depends on how these functions fall in priority for you. Socionics is much more in depth with this, because you use all eight of those functions, but in base level MBTI, you focus on your main four.
Your function stack has two judging functions and two perceiving functions. Each function is on an axis, which means if you have one function in your stack, you will it's opposite. There is a pattern to it, as well. Your stack will either be:
Introverted function
Extroverted function
Introverted function
Extroverted function
or
Extroverted function
Introverted function
Extroverted function
Introverted function
Along with that, the second pattern all types follow is like this:
Judging function
Perceiving function
Perceiving function
Judging function
or
Perceiving function
Judging function
Judging function
Perceiving function
This is why there are 16 types. Because there are 16 possible combinations of eight functions. Never determine your type based on a description of the type or stereotypes or by comparing yourself to others. Type is determined by function, not behavior. I'll use myself as an example. My function stack is:
Ne
Fi
Te
Si
My lead function is Extroverted Intuition. Because Intuition is higher than Sensation, I know that the second letter in my type is N. The same with Feeling. Because Feeling is higher than Thinking. The third letter in my type is F. Determining the first and last letters can be confusing sometimes. That first function is Extroverted, so my first letter is E. Lastly, the first function is a perceiving function, so my last letter is P. E-N-F-P. When I first got into MBTI, it took me forever to actually understand why the letters were the way they were, because if you lead with an introverted function (meaning if your first letter is I), then your last letter is the opposite of what it is."
