Author's note: I've been studying MBTI for a while now, since it's been a special interest of mine now for over 2 years, however, I am not a psychologist. I've mostly used information from Career Planner and The Career Project, as well as my personal experiences trying to type myself and my family.
If you would like to take some MBTI tests which use cognitive fucntions, I recommend the Sakirnova test.
In this article, I will be explaining how cognitive functions work. Cognitive functions are the basis of MBTI, so I recommend for you to study them if you want to know more about MBTI. Many people type based on letters, however, this can mean that they are mistyped, since MBTI is actually a lot more complicated than that.
The Cognitive Functions are central to MBTI. They were developed by the psychologist Carl Jung. Later, Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, expanded on his theories to create the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Ok, so as much as I hate all that 'typing by letter' nonsense, I am going to have to begin by explaining what the letters stand for. But, please, please, don't type yourself using the letters! This can lead to mistypes, and although it didn't in my case (I've always typed myself as an INTJ), it can in many other cases, such as with my INFJ sister who typed herself as an INFP because she 'wasn't that organised'. And the two types have a completely different function stack!
So, the MBTI acronyms are made up of 4 letters, which are as follows:
'I' for introvert, or 'E' for extravert
'N' for intuitive, or 'S' for sensor
'T' for thinker, or 'F' for feeler
'J' for judger, or 'P' for perceiver
Alright, onto the functions! There are 8 cognitive functions in each person's cognitive function stack. 4 of the functions will be in your primary function stack, and the other 4 will be your 'shadow functions' (the shadow functions are unconscious, and for the most part out of your control, and are usually only used when you are stressed). Out of your main functions, it is likely that 2 will be particularly strong, whereas the other two may be less strong (but can be developed with practice and as we age).
Each personality type has a different function stack, so working out which functions you use the most and which you use the least will help you to figure out your MBTI type. The cognitive functions add much more depth to what most people think MBTI is, so I strongly recommend researching them, as they actually explain how different people take in and process information, and reach judgements, and how this varies between the various MBTI types.
Out of the 8 cognitive functions, 4 are 'judging' functions (responsible for helping us make decisions) and 4 are 'perceiving' functions (responsible for taking in information from the external environment). The differences in how we all perceive and judge accounts for the basic differences in personality. To a large extent, differences in perceiving and judging is why we are all so different.
As well as all being either 'judging' or 'perceiving', the cognitive functions are all either 'introverted' functions or 'extraverted' functions. Introversion and extraversion are simply 'attitudes' which affect the functions.
So, with that in mind, the 8 functions are as follows:
Perceiving functions:
- Introverted Intuition (Ni)
- Extraverted Intuition (Ne)
- Introverted Sensing (Si)
- Extraverted Sensing (Se)
Judging functions:
- Introverted Thinking (Ti)
- Extraverted Thinking (Te)
- Introverted Feeling (Fi)
- Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
Click on any of the links above to read a description of the functions. I recommend that you read all the descriptions before moving on to the next part.
Alright, now onto how function stacks work.