- Joined
- Dec 23, 2009
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- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 6w5
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/sp
Do you think we use all 8 functions? Do we just use the top 4? To what degree?
Yes. As much as I do not enjoy using them, I'm actually better at Fe and Ni than I am at Te and Si, though the latter two feel more natural, though exhaust easily. Fe and Ni feel like a tool in a box that works for what I need it for, but is made for right-handed people instead of the lefty that I am.
I've read somewhere that we use our shadow functions under abnormal levels of stress
Edit: Sensing that no one was going to read or appreciate this brilliance, I added some appeal/pizzazz.
After you described the Ne/Ti role in sports and started a topic named SEX, I was expecting to read how Ti and Ne work during the activity.god i am so alone
Do we use all 8 functions?
As far as I can understand, barely. The 4 primary functions of each MBTI type are laid out as they are for a reason.
I've read somewhere that we use our shadow functions under abnormal levels of stress, I don't know how credible that is because they also say our tertiary and inferior functions are more appearent under stress I assume it depends on the individual and the circumstances, now something else I've read is that we don't use them on a normal bases but they do come in certain situations, yeah I feel it is impossible that we couldn't use all 8 functions due I feel that they serve us as some sort of support system or instinct that when our other functions fall short we resort to using our other functions.
This is just personal observation and not MBTI info, but it does seem like besides the top four functions there are ways that people who strongly use their dominant function also use a related function. It appears like people who are strongly Ni-dom might also score high on Ne, so that people can posses both the i and e versions of their top functions.
Another observation is that people who strongly use their dominant function can also exhibit the parallel opposite function like Ti/Fi, Ni/Si, Fe/Te, Se/Ne.
Not sure if there is a way that this connects to any of the established theory, but it is just an observation fwiw.
Edit:
I know that I score high in Ni, Ne, Fi, and Fe.
I have noticed other people with the other relationship like my strongly INTP partner's emotional framework is more Fi than Fe, but if there ever was a Ti-dom, it is him. He also has some Te going on, so I've noticed both relationships.
I've noticed some INFJs have strong Si, while others have a touch of Ne, etc. etc.
there are only four functions; T, F, S and N and we use all of those four. introversion and extraversion of the functions are function attitudes and the opposite gets repressed "to the furthest limit"(<- jung said this). what for example introversion and extraversion of F means is that when using F, you have trust on the subjective side and habitually AND automatically go to the subjective aspect of F rather than the objective and have mistrust on the objective. or with sensing i could use myself as an example. i see and hear just like people with Se people do(except that are often more aware of the sensations), however i dont have this sort of trusting relationship to what i perceive, but i do trust what the sensations evoke in me. also as Ne is related, i dont trust the sensations themselves like Se people do, but have an attitude where i see the possibility of something else lying behind the sensation and that the sensation itself might lead away from some hidden "truth" behind it. or with thinking, i always question everything, no matter who says it and how professional that guy might be in his field, it has to make sense to me and i need to see the logic behind it to believe. and especially if the reasoning behind what the other person is saying goes against my reasoning, i refuse to buy that before i understand why he says what he says. i mean i do seek to understand what the other person says what he says to the furthest end, but if he is unable to give any good reasons for what he claims and cant debunk my logic, well i got no reason to believe him, even if he was albert einstein..
oh yea and also like oblivious said, functions can imitate each other, for example Ti led by Fe can look A LOT like Fi.
Do we use all 8 functions?
As far as I can understand, barely. The 4 primary functions of each MBTI type are laid out as they are for a reason.
We use our dominant 2 functions for as much as we possibly can. Even if a task is designed for another function, we tend to figure out a way to use the dominant functions creatively instead.
The inferior 2 functions are the ones for which he has no ability to do this "bypassing" because they are the exact polar opposites of the dominant 2. So they wind up being stumbling blocks. Prime example: INTPs in the social and dating world. INTPs tend to analyze systems until they have a sharp theoretical understanding so they can achieve predictability. They treat their social lives no differently. That's why so many of them try to study personality type theory (as now) and things like PUA theory. Unfortunately, Ti and Ne, no matter how strong, can never fully systematize social interaction. It is beyond theory. There is too much irrationality, too many variables, too much hidden context. It's impossible. Thus, they struggle despite their efforts.
Every type has this same structural problem. They can use their dominant perceiving and judging function for everything until they stumble across something that requires the polar opposite functions to be used.
There is a solution, and it is an unexpected one. Avoidance. This is where a little self knowledge and the MBTI can really come in handy. Instead of putting in a huge strain and trying to bend oneself into something one is not, he can simply focus more on what he is good at, and things turn out better.
My other major experience with this besides my social life is my 5 year stint as a high school science teacher. It was the same song and dance, in a different setting. I was always at a big disadvantage because of my inferior Si and Fe. I would try as hard as I could to compensate with Ti and Ne, coming up with creative and clever gimmicks that I thought might make them happy, but my success never got me much beyond mediocre. I simply always lacked that sense of being an advocate - a cheerleader, a disciplinarian.. that is so essential in teaching. In the end, I began to believe that if I just stopped trying to use Ti and Ne to my social advantage, people would see that I had my own thing going on and join me. Nope. The opposite happened. It was rapidly revealed to me that when I was being my true self, public school teaching was NOT the place for me. I obviously didn't really care about, even resented, the kids' personal struggles with life and with science. I never knew, up until then, that that was mostly what teaching was about. I thought I could chill, talk science, blow shit up, and tell some kids what to do and be done. To a certain extent, kids saw that about me, and it made them think I was cool, but it just wasn't enough to ever actually get the job done. As awful as it sounds, I never thought the job would require me to actually care.
There's more to this story. The terrible system that is public education in America... the struggles I had with bosses and other teachers... they had what I didn't, but I had what they didn't. They were the advocates I was not... but I understood everything that was going on, saw the forest while they were lost in the trees. Their only goal is to work hard, do their jobs, and advocate for children, and they don't even tend to see or think about how illogical some of the things they do can be. That might give you a hint about the struggles of some of the SJ, SP, and FJ types, as I have only really talked about INTPs in this thread, and I think I've given a pretty damn good understanding.
I suspect there are even more than "8 functions" and that the basic components of our personality interact and reconfigure a bit like a kaleidoscope. Each one of us is a different kaleidoscope that might share some of the same underlying colors and shapes and we each place emphasis on certain components (certain colors and shapes are larger and more prevalent), but as we move through life and experience different contexts, these continually reconfigure forming new relationships and patterns.
It makes sense that there are some basic, underlying components to personality, but the application of these components in each individual and within each life context are going to be capable of great complexity and nuance.
Well so then how is it that we look at functions in pairs? Ni + Se --> almost like Ni can't function without the use of Se. This is one of the things that confuses me. How can my dominant function be paired up with the inferior one and that be a habitual way of viewing the world and yet not use the inferior function all the time?
I agree with you to some extent. That is, in general, we have certain talents. We are more effective when we focus on using our talents than when we try and use non-talents or try to get better at those non-talents. So, I can stop doing things I suck at. Yes that's true. However, I don't think attempting to ignore the tertiary or inferior function is an effective path towards growth. I don't believe that works at all. There might be a relationship between the two but cognitive functions are not the same as talents.
I don't think you're looking at this the right way. It appears to me that part of the problem is as you said - that you didn't care about your students. That isn't derived from your personality type. Who says INTPs don't care about other people?