This is one of the reasons I like the cognitive functions interpretation - in its light, J and P actually make sense.
@
corey_vann - According to the
cognitive functions view, our MBTI letters don't just indicate cognitive preferences on dichotomous scales; they indicate preferences in broad patterns of thinking. An ENTJ is Extraverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging, according to the baseline MBTI. However:
We can take that a step further and break it down, saying that we know this person is a J, which means they
extravert their Judging (decision-making) preference - they use external-to-the-mind reorganization as a primary means to achieve their goals - and in this case, the ENTJ's decision-making preference is Thinking, so they prefer to engage the cognitive pattern of
Extraverted Thinking (Te) - thinking about how logical organization of systems, processes, and objects in the external world can facilitate their goals.
Then we can take the other preference, the Perceiving (information intake) preference - the ENTJ prefers iNtuition - and infer that the ENTJ uses
Introverted iNtuition (Ni) - internal focus on future envisioning, forecasting, predicting - to support their Extraverted Thinking, since they must have a primarily-preferred introverted thought pattern, too. The ENTJ is extraverted, so they lead with the extraverted function, and follow with the introverted: thus they can be classified as TeNi. (To extrapolate 4-letter code from the function shorthand, we know that Te is an extraverted Judging function, so we get E__J, specifically Thinking, so we get E_TJ, and Ni is N, so we get ENTJ.)
This is significant because it differentiates types based on more than just 2-scale preferences: we begin to better understand similarities between ENTJs (TeNi) and ENFJs (FeNi) because we know they both manipulate the external world (ENTJ the world of operations (Te); ENFJ the world of people relations (Fe)) to facilitate their goals, as guided by their inner visions and predictions (Ni). We also begin to better understand the differences between ENTJ (TeNi) and ENTP (NeTi), who, despite being only 1 letter apart, are
very different because they have two completely opposite ways of focusing and goal pursuit.
As a P, ENTP (NeTi) is not nearly as motivated to reorganize his external circumstances to suit his needs. The P outlook - extraverted Perceiving - is to take in large amounts of information from the environment and reorganize our
internal schemata to facilitate our goals. Js are more initiating, whereas Ps focus more on
how to appropriately respond to situations. To get into the functions, an ENTP is an Extraverted Perceiver, which means he cognitively leads with Extraverted iNtuition - identifying connections, patterns, broad concepts - and supports that with Introverted Thinking - his decision-making process - which assesses logical validity. In comparison to the ENTP, ENTJ is much more goal-oriented and self-starting: ENTJ generally pursues results while ENTP generally pursues novel ideas. ENTJ is also more narrow-sighted (less time for information intake) and more behaviorally rigid.
So to finally get back to your question, in function theory, the strength of your Jness or Pness (groan) has to do with the balance of functions. If your J (T or F) function is much stronger than your P (N or S) function, then you are a strong J. If they are similar, you are a weaker J - because you'll be spending more time on Perception, on information intake, and less time on external judgment calls. How much concentration does your ENFJ (FeNi) friend put into her external people-environment - into motivating, leading, mentoring, facilitating, mediating, etc.? That will indicate strong Extraverted Feeling (Fe) and therefore a strong J. How much concentration does she put into analyzing situations, identifying trends, predicting future occurrences? That will indicate strong Introverted iNtuition (Ni), and therefore a weaker J.
The interesting thing is, if she's a weak J, that doesn't make her closer to ENFP - NeFi - it makes her closer to
INFJ - NiFe. My best friend is actually a Ni-heavy / weak-J ENFJ. Her dad is an INTJ, and so she grew up with him strongly encouraging her Ni. She spends a lot of time analyzing, assessing, and future-planning - though she's still an extravert at the core.
Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense, and I'll clarify what I can.