mbti stuff

1 - strong Fi’s sense of right and wrong and black and white perspectives can look like 1, but you need to probe deeper to determine if there is an unreasonable standard of perfection driving it and/or if they bear down on their anger and ‘correct’ people as militantly as a 1 would. ( “let me speak to your manager”). Fi is subjective, 1 is “I know the RIGHT WAY to do EVERYTHING. I am god.”

2 - is strongly and accurately correlated with Fe because they are similar in that they read the emotions of the room, adapt themselves to what is needed, and put others’ needs ahead of their own when considering what to do. The difference between a Fe-2 and a Fi-2 is the Fi-2 still has a sense of internal alienation and separateness from the other person and is often employing Te methods to get things done (along the lines of suggesting ‘fixes’ rather than comforting with a degree of skill).

3 - looks like high Fe/Te in terms of being ambitious, hardworking, extroverted, desiring to get things done, and seeking affirmation, praise, and envy from others. But can turn up anywhere, with the Fi/Te 3s not knowing how to ‘polish’ or conceal their ambitions as much as a high Fe would. Look at the quality of what they produce and how efficient it is, rather than their boastfulness, to determine how realistic they are about their own stacking. (You can have a high-achieving character like P.T. Barnum who really is as good at selling things as he says he is and at making money, or you can have a Mr. Dorrit whose only arrogant source of pride is being “the king of” the prison.)

4 - usually is Fi-dom, but a high Fi is not necessarily 4. 4 is a sense of over-building or crafting of an identity that is deliberately different from you, to the point where sometimes they leave nothing remaining on which to build off of, because they constantly reject everything normal. A sense of “I want to be me, I want to be authentic” is not 4. Everyone does that. Being emotional is not 4. 4 is a specific crafting of separateness and brokenness that isn’t like you.

5 - goes strongly with Ti/Fe in terms of remaining hidden, separate from the world, withdrawn, secretive, and not sharing of self or resources or money or anything else. It is not a sense of “I love to read and learn.” It is not “Eh, I don’t like people much.” It is not “I have a stack of books in my desk.” It is withholding and hording and miserliness.

6 - looks like Si-dom due to confusion with inferior Ne, but can be any type + cautiousness and self-doubt and consulting of others / authorities. Is not nearly as meticulous or self-protecting as the sp6-leaning descriptions make it out to be. CP6 often confuses itself with 8, but is not as calm or as rational in problem solving (it doesn’t know how much ‘force’ to apply to a situation, so it uses too much).

7 - Ne. Ne, Ne, Ne. There are so many Ne descriptions infused with 7, and so many 7-infused Ne descriptions, that the two have become inseparable, and yet only the Ne-dom 7s will fully identify with the 7 through the skewed descriptions. The 7 is the fun-loving avoiding type who cannot handle hard things, who does not want to deal with their problems, who would rather catch a train or a bus or a boat out of here, than stay in a boring job. Most often seen in Se/Ne-doms, but can turn up anywhere.

8 - looks like Te-dom in the sense that it can be ruthless, pragmatic, and forceful, but the key is watching where their motivations lie and whether they pick the right fights or not. Te-doms know consequences, cause and effect, and where to apply pressure to accomplish tasks. Non-Te-dom 8s will shoot their own nose off to spite their face, create enemies unnecessarily, and fight the wrong battles. But all of them detest weakness–in themselves or anyone else.

Tert functions pull at you to develop something more to cope with the world.

Ni - I think I know what’s going on here.

Ne - I need more ideas. I need to experience more things.

Si - I need to remember not to stray too far from what is known.

Se - I need to engage with the outer world more.

Te - I need to be rational about this and make a logical decision.

Ti - I need greater understanding about this, so it makes sense to me.

Fe - I need to figure out how to connect to others to get what I want.

Blog is growing fast and we appreciate all of you! There’s three points I want to bring up in this post, regarding typing yourself, others, or fictional characters, and independent research/tests.

When you’re typing anyone, you need to look at the full picture. You need to look at their behaviors, obviously. But also stressors, mental illness, Enneagram type, test scores (i’ll get into that below) and any other potential outside factor, whether a stressful situation or whatever. And Enneagram can REALLY impact people’s behaviors. I’m an ESFP self-preservation 9w8. 9s passion is laziness, and I act that out through physically comfortable/familiar routines and stuff like that. In fact for this reason I used to mistype as ISFJ. Anyway, one of the main things about typing yourself especially is being honest with yourself. About all your flaws and everything stated above. Trust yourself. But don’t give into expectations or what you think may be “cooler”. I used to find myself too sensitive and mistype myself as a Thinker because of my own insecurities. But as I became more secure in myself and my typing, I realized that I wasn’t trying to be anyone anymore. I was being how i naturally am. If you focus so much on acting like the stereotype of your type (for example, acting like a dick just because you’re a TJ) you should think about if it’s actually correct and, of course, stop being a dick.

Now, tests. Tests are subject to a lot of negative criticism. But not all of them are that bad. Especially the official test. I’ve taken that one a few times, and E vs I varies depending on the period of my life but everything else is solid. If you take a test, get a result, and it feels right, like you’re being your true self, don’t overthink it. Believe it or not, not everything has to include functions. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise or try to tell you your type. You know yourself best. Another thing about tests; pay attention to the scale/preference scores. For example, I always score extremely high on S and P. Without fail. If it’s like this for you, I would look into it. Tests can tell you a lot about yourself.

Lastly, research. We highly highly highly highly and highly encourage doing your own research. What I mean is YOUR OWN. Buy books, increase your understanding. But don’t take everyone else’s word for it. People on tumblr, twitter, and youtube *literally* make shit up. So be cautious. Our information is adapted by books. We’re not making this stuff up. But we still encourage reading. I personally only use three books:

Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers and Peter Myers

Personality Type: An Owner’s Manual by Lenore Thompson

Was that Really Me? by Naomi Quenk

But be careful. Certain books I don’t trust. Personality Hacker, Dario Nardi’s, and A.J. Drenth’s books and a few others I think. It’s not because I dislike them, but because a lot of the information is very generalized, not taking into account specific circumstances or how the functions look different when in a different position.

If any of you need any help, our ask box and messages are always open, and we’ll help however we can.

Happy typing!

[Note: Sometimes I refer to the cognitive functions with other words, like “frames” or “modes”.]

The functions are real, but they are not what most people think.

1. WORK IS NOT A FUNCTION.

This is pretty obvious, but I’ve seen a few things out there that seem to indicate that some people think otherwise. All the types do lots of things that could be called “work”. The problem is that the common definition of that word depends on what the system/society considers “valuable”, and that’s another thing entirely. Homework for this point: read this post.

2. ATTENTION IS NOT A FUNCTION.

Some people say that some types get easily distracted, that they have a short attention span, etc. It’s funny because they don’t seem to agree on which ones exactly: the Ss or the Ns. Haha. Either way, that’s totally wrong. It’s pretty clear that anyone can be focused or absent-minded, it all depends on what you consider “the important thing”: Ss are probably more attentive to details, Ns tend to find it easier to follow abstract topics, etc. And you also have other circumstantial factors, for example: who are we with, what’s our relationship with them, what are they doing, etc. Homework for this point: imagine different types being oblivious to different things, and focused on others.

3. MEMORY IS NOT A FUNCTION.

You’ve probably heard that Si is about memory, and/or that SJs remember a lot of things. Well, that’s totally mistaken, and a sure sign of ignorance about the functions. Memory has nothing to do with any particular frame. It depends on the nature (proper/ghost) and the position of the functions (conscious/unconscious), not on one of them. The ghost functions are extremely volatile: you could say memory doesn’t work well with them at all. With the proper ones (the ones we talk about the most, the ones we actually have), the more conscious a frame is, the better your memory about it, especially in the sense of availability, clarity, specifity, etc. You remember the unconscious ones, too, but that’s precisely the thing: they might be forgotten memories. So any type can be forgetful or the opposite, but what they remember and forget is not in the same category of things. Homework for this point: imagine, for example, an ISTJ with very bad memory, and an ENFP that remembers a lot, and try to picture in what sense their memories are different.

4. EMOTION IS NOT A FUNCTION.

You’ve probably read somewhere that Fi and/or Fe are about emotions, that Fs are more emotional than Ts, etc. That’s one of the worst misconceptions about the types, and a sure sign of ignorance about typology. Emotions have nothing to do with the functions. Jung said it himself: “Feeling according to this definition is not an emotion (which, as the word conveys, is involuntary). Feeling as I mean it is (like thinking) a rational (i.e. ordering) function.” In fact, if this has anything to do with the types, it’s clearly with the E/I dichotomy: as you can see here, two of the facets of that dimension are “Expressive (E) - Contained (I)” and “Enthusiastic (E) - Quiet (I)”. That’s essentially the “being emotional” thing. So, part of the task here is to imagine a lot of versions of each type (happy, sad, angry, emotional, cold, etc), and understand it for what it is: a rather superficial thing. For something deeper, we can look at temperament, for example.

5. IMAGINATION IS NOT A FUNCTION.

The MBTI facet “Realistic (S) - Imaginative (N)” is not so much about that capacity but the value we put on things vs ideas. For example: S types usually try to improve and repair things using [the] things [themselves], they work with the physical world, actually doing something, while N types tend to look beyond the immediate for solutions, and that’s why their proposals are usually considered more inventive, fanciful or whimsical than useful or practical. This doesn’t even mean that all Ss are realistic and all Ns are imaginative (for some of them this could be a facet that doesn’t match with their letter), it’s just the general case.

Imagination is, in Jung’s own words, “the reproductive, or creative, activity of the mind generally, though not a special faculty, since it may come into play in all the basic forms of psychic activity, whether thinking, feeling, sensation, or intuition”. So imagination manifests itself in different ways, and we are conscious of its diverse forms in the same degree that we are conscious of our thinking, feeling, sensation or intuition. Apart from that, the intensity and reliability of that imagination varies from one person to another. One way to understand this could be: T types are more or less imaginative about things that work, systems and concepts, Fs’ imagination gets them more or less infatuated with people, ideals and things, S types get more or less moved by sensory experiences, and Ns have a higher or lower ability to invent/infer connections.

6. WILLPOWER IS NOT A FUNCTION.

Both extraverts and introverts, both feelers and thinkers, both sensors and intuitives, and both judgers and perceivers can be “strong[er]” or “weak[er]” in this sense. They can be all more or less enduring and persevering (for or against, doing or not doing, etc), it’s just that the things they are determined about are very different. So, for example, the “weakest” IJs are probably much steadier than the “strongest” EPs when it comes to maintaining introverted judgments, and the “strongest” STs are probably much less resolute than the “weakest” NFs when it comes to the implications of values.

7. INTROVERSION IS NOT SUBJECTIVITY. EXTRAVERSION IS NOT OBJECTIVITY.

Some people seem to think that introversion means “personal opinions”, “made up things” or something like that. They think it means “arbitrary” or even “unreal”. Well, those people have no idea what they are talking about.

This is what Jung said about the introverted attitude: “I consider that point of view which inclines, with Weininger, to describe this attitude as philautic, or with other writers, as autoerotic, egocentric, subjective, or egoistic, to be both misleading in principle and definitely depreciatory. It corresponds with the normal bias of the extraverted attitude against the nature of the introvert.” And also: “The subjective factor is something that is just as much a fact as the extent of the sea and the radius of the earth. Thus far, also, the subjective factor claims the whole value of a world-determining power which can never, under any circumstances, be excluded from our calculations. It is the other world-law, and the man who is based upon it has a foundation just as secure, permanent, and valid, as the man who relies upon the object”.

Now let’s remember what he said about extraversion: “In the extraverted attitude the inferior functions always reveal a highly subjective determination with pronounced egocentricity and personal bias”. That is: the unconscious of extraverted people brings subjectivity into their work, making it actually not that objective. The things they work with are objective (observable, tangible), but there is no human[-derived] work that doesn’t go through a subject at some point (usually at both the start and end points), because that’s what we are: subjects.

“Only a sick mind could forget that cognition must have a subject”. There is no reality without a subject, the subject is reality. You can’t analyze anything from any supposed “perfectly objective external standpoint”, because the analysis is always made by a subject. And if you start talking about machines and how “neutral” they are you are being twice as subjective: the machine is made by subjects, and the output of the machine is also interpreted by subjects. You can’t escape the subject. You just can’t. In fact, the subject is everything. And the most “neutral” and “objective” you can get will always be from some internal standpoint. You just have to accept that. There’s nobody out there. This is only you.

Both “objectivity” and “subjectivity” (or truth and lies) include extraverted and introverted “components” or “points”. Just as the frames imply each other in pairs (Te-Fi, Ti-Fe, Se-Ni, Si-Ne), so the workings of the mind, and everything we do, contain both extraverted and introverted “elements”, and there is no way to separate them. The ultimate principles behind the frames can be understood as “independent” (that’s what we try to do every time we talk about Te, or about Se, etc), but in reality they are always, at the very least, paired with their corresponding opposites. So, the very existence of the extraverted factor implies the introverted one, and vice versa. You can’t have one without the other. So the truth and the lies must all be distinguished and found in that “dual” reality. You can’t look [or pretend/fool yourself thinking that you look] only to one “side”, in search of the truth. You are always on both sides at the same time.

8. THE REAL FUNCTIONS ARE NOT THE ONES FROM THE FAMOUS “STACK” (OR SOCIONICS).

I have already explained this in earlier posts. In order to begin with a solid foundation for a true understanding of the functions, the first thing you need to do is forget everything you might have heard or learned about the “function stack”, Socionics, or any other model that says the dominant and the auxiliary have different directions, or that assigns a perceiving dominant to J types and/or a judging dominant to P types, because that’s simply wrong. From now on, every time you see someone talking about “Ne”, “Fi”, “extraverted sensing”, “introverted thinking” or whatever, you need to know where that person got that term from: if it was from the function stack, Socionics, etc, it’s not reliable.

9. THE FUNCTIONS ARE NOT TOOLS.

You’ve probably read a lot of expressions like “Te-user”, “Ni-user”, “using Ti”, “use your Ne”, etc. Well, all that comes from people who don’t really [want to] get what the functions actually are. The functions are not objects for you to employ. They are not even apart from you. They are not “selectable” or “applicable”, like tools are. You can’t catch a person in the precise moment [s]he’s “using Fi”, or whatever. The functions are always working. They are not different “alternatives” for you to choose from, and you definitely don’t “use” them.

Sometimes behind this misleading comparison lies the idea of developing some kind of “skill” with the functions, the idea of “using them better”, but only if you follow someone’s “advice”, of course. Here we have again a way of taking advantage of your supposed “weaknesses”, and sell you some kind of “training”. Not helpful at all.

10. THE FUNCTIONS ARE NOT PREFERENCES.

The letters of someone’s MBTI are not preferences. The functions are not preferences. The order of the functions is not a preference. The word preference implies choice, and you can’t choose anything about your type. Anything. Your type is not determined by the things you “find more interesting”. This whole distorted understanding is, together with the function stack disaster, among the worst of Myers’ deeds: saying and spreading the idea that you can choose what you are.

No, Liz, sorry. Again. Your type, and everything that constitutes it, is not being decided every time you take a moment and put your hand on your chin, considering your “options”. “Hmmm… What psychological dimension can I use here? Do I go with feeling or with thinking…? Do I introvert them now, or maybe later?“ Hahaha. No. Stop it. That’s completely wrong. And you know it, Liz. I think you know it but you are, let’s say… a bit stubborn, and you want to make people feel bad for what they are, hoping that your approach will make them “behave”. That’s why you lie to them saying that they choose what they are. They don’t, Liz. They don’t.

The only choice you have here is what you do with the knowledge of this reality, the reality of everyone having a definite type, forever: do you actually care? Do you try to identify which type you are? Why? What are you going to do after that? Do you want to know other people’s types? Why? Do you want to admire the flowers, or do you want to cut them and put them in pots?

11. THE FUNCTIONS ARE NOT PIECES.

The idea of pieces implies the concepts of isolated parts and building, but the mind is not a construction set. You can’t build anything with the functions, because you can’t separate or rearrange them. That would be like changing your type consciously, and that’s fantasy-land. Or should I say science-fiction-land, because what’s usually behind this misconception is the absurd (and harmful) “futuristic” view that looks at human beings as if we were some kind of machine. Sorry, but that’s just pathetic.

All those who just can’t stop making comparisons and “analogies” about how our perceptions, thoughts and feelings are just a question of “processing information” are completely untrustworthy and useless as sources of real insight about the mind, because they just can’t see it like it is.

The brain is not a computer, no matter how many times you hear that. And it’s both amazingly ignorant and incredibly insulting to advertise and promote our self-understanding from such a limited and short-sighted perspective. There’s no “hardware” or “software” because you can’t separate body and mind. We are not pieces of equipment. We are not data processors. We are not mere carriers and transmitters of ones and zeros, we are not [re]programmable, and we are not machines. You can’t replicate us.

12. THE FUNCTIONS ARE NOT INGREDIENTS.

A lot of people seem to “understand” the “functions” as if they were drugs or some kind of ingredients or chemical elements in our blood: they use expressions like “high Fe”, “low Ti”, “strong Te”, “weak Ne”, etc. Well, that’s all nonsense, and a sure sign that those people don’t know what they are talking about. The frames are not “high” or “low”. They are not different quantities, they don’t “pile up” and they don’t “add up”.

The concept of ingredient implies the idea of some kind of recipe. And a “model”, of course. Again. Just like in the previous points, there’s always in the background of these descriptions the implication that we can do something to change the composition, like getting a Fe-injection in the morning, or some Ti-pills with every meal. “Man, I was really low on Te yesterday, but I just thought about bulldozers for a minute and a half, and my Te was high again”. Now guess who is the merciful soul that’s going to tell sell you how to change those levels…

Anyway. This misinterpretation is too linear and crude. On top of other things, it’s unaware of the conscious-unconscious division and of the way each auxiliary is conditioned by each dominant, so it doesn’t refer to the real functions. It’s more like a superficial analysis of a person’s internal dialogue, or its composition, with the assumption that you need to take into account a predetermined set of concepts or ideas in order to make the “optimal decision”, or something like that.

13. THE FUNCTIONS ARE NOT HAPPENINGS.

Some people go looking for the functions as if they were paparazzi: “How can I recognize Ne?”, and “Quick! Take a picture of that Ti!”. Haha. Yes, that’s a bit silly. The functions don’t “happen”. The functions are not like a laugh, a cough, a cold or a sneeze. They are not ocurrences. This is a very extraverted point of view, that only seems to notice what’s tangible/measurable, and then makes lots of external → internal assumptions. Well, the functions are not out there, sorry.

In fact, the “functions” are not functions, at all. They are internal frames. Reality is the function. *record scratch* Whoa. What? Yes. I repeat: *clears throat* *microphone feedback*

14. REALITY IS THE FUNCTION. THE “FUNCTIONS” ARE THE COORDINATE AXES.

Reality (both internal and external) is, in the mathematical analogy, the true “function”, and what’s called “the functions” is actually the psychological coordinate axes that receive and interpret that big and complex and messy and strange and moving function (that’s why I call them frames). You have 2 main axes/frames: one of perception and one of judgment. Half of each axis is conscious, and the other half is unconscious. They get what’s there, anywhere, and arrange or extract some kind of information/sense from it. For you.

The way Jung described the functions was with the phrase “X tells you this about things”, “Y tells you that about the same things”, etc. So both you and the things are already there, and the functions go in between, and they give you some kind of information about the world. So, in reality, if you think about it, all the functions are perceiving functions: they bring/show you something.

ESFP: Look, I get it, you leave people in the dust because you know how crazy and all over the place your life can be and you’re also crazy scared to let somebody in just to have it end up with you accidentally leaving them and both of you getting hurt, but emotional intimacy and real depth in friendships are 100% worth it in the end and it’s the struggle and fight of a lifetime to keep them in your life, but it’s also the greatest gift and you can’t keep denying yourself that intimacy and friendship. 

ISFP: I know you have a lot of great desires and wonderful dreams and they might seem too far off and too crazy and too beautiful to come true, but you have them for a reason, and you gotta stop paralyzing yourself with fear and take that first step and throw yourself into the unknown, and that’s the scariest part, I know, but we both know you’re braver than you look, and that your passion can make it happen. 

ENFP: I know that the moment you hit an obstacle or two when you first start working towards that far off dream, it’s scary and it makes you want to crumble and run away to a new thing like you think you always do, but don’t! You’re miles more tenacious and capable than you give yourself credit for and you’ve got to discipline yourself and trust that your talents and optimism can and will propel you through whatever is keeping you from your goals. 

INFP: I know it’s hard to feel understood and it’s easy to let yourself become bitter by the ways of the world or whatever’s happening, but closing yourself off to others isn’t going to save you the pain. You have a natural capacity to understand others that’s hard for the other types to grasp and when you stop yourself from using that talent, or use it for selfish reasons, you’re doing yourself a massive injustice. 

ESTP: Listen, I totally get that the world is full of fun and interesting things and you want to experience them all, but you’ve got to remember that for a lot of the people that come along with you, they’re there to experience YOU as much as they’re there for the thing itself. Don’t let yourself forget that half the fun of anything is who you’re doing it with. 

ISTP: I know you generally don’t mean to yell or be rude when your irritated and that it’s really just a passing thing and you don’t generally care all that much, but just apologize to people after you’ve calmed down! Explain it to them and that you don’t mean it! Admit to yourself that you care enough about them to try to make amends, even when you’re just being a little crotchety; it means a lot to the feelers lol. 

ENTP: You’re a genuinely fun person to be around and you usually rack up a reputation for that, but just because you’re funny and witty and damn smart doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings and problems that need to be externalized, and trust me, the right people will be more than willing to talk about what’s really happening in your life one minute and go back to elaborate jokes the next without a problem. Don’t stunt your emotional growth for the sake of brevity. 

INTP: It’s okay to not know what to do in an emotional situation. Like, it’s genuinely okay. If somebody’s opening up to you, half the time your presence and you listening is 95% of what they need in that moment. Don’t avoid the situations just because it causes writer’s block emotionally. Emotional availability comes with experience. You’ll learn. Just, be your goofy self and the rest will come with time. 

ENFJ: You’ve got to realize that although holding yourself to such a high standard is noble and praiseworthy, that it sometimes eclipses your ability to be a good friend when that was the goal in the first place. You’re human and can’t do everything for your friends that you’d want to be able to do when they need help, and profusely apologizing and beating yourself up for it just shifts the focus off of helping your friend and turns it to you. Accept your humanity, and just do what you can. They appreciate the help, I promise. 

INFJ: I know you have a tendency to feel misunderstood and want people to show you that they love you and care about you, but you don’t get to say you’re fine AND disappear on people. Either say you’re not okay and pull back, or say you’re okay and stick around long enough for somebody to see through the BS. In my experience, y'all have a habit of making things a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that doesn’t do you any good! Be forward, be honest, and just be vulnerable; they care more than you convince yourself they do. 

ESFJ: I need to be straight with y'all. Learn how to talk about something other than your 4-5 current fixations. In my experience, N’s have a crazy hard time being close with you because you keep bringing the topic back to one of your current Favorite Things™, whether it be the semester abroad you just got back from or the first date that’s scheduled for two weeks from now. Expand your area of interest and you’ll find people will be much more authentic with you. 

ISFJ: You have this really amazing ability to notice the small things about people and that helps you show them you care about them in these really great and meaningful ways, but you can’t let yourself overthink the small things you notice about people. One of my good ISFJ friends started poking around trying to see if alcoholism ran in my family after noticing I’d been drinking wine a lot recently. You might have an intention to help, but overthinking/overanalyzing like that and trying to involve yourself in helping can hurt your friendships. 

ESTJ: Your presence is powerful and intense and that’s great at times, but you’ve got to let out your goofy fun side more, and hoe we’ve all seen it before, you’re a damn riot after a beer or two. People, in general, care more about fun than having every plan go right during the night/event. Be willing to be fun more, you’re so good at it. 

ISTJ: I know you get frustrated with yourself because you want to do new things and get out there and be a fun person, but the thing is, you’re so much better at being a responsible, caring person. Befriend the chaotic, crazy, lovable rascals and let them bring the fun to you (or more often than not, drag you kicking and screaming to where the fun is). 

ENTJ: Look, I’m an INTJ, so I know how hard this is to swallow, but showing you care about a person sometimes isn’t so much giving them solutions to their problems or trying to correct an issue; a lot of the other types literally just want you to listen and hear them out. And you gotta do that sometimes, babe. And shut your damn mouth while they’re telling you everything, okay? Just. Let them finish. 

Below is a simplified overview of the Enneagram types and their wings, useful for introducing people to the theory objectively – I tried my best to keep all descriptions unbiased and to-the-point. They should be okay to print, too, depending on the formatting. Translations into other languages are available in the notes. With that out of the way, the rest is below the cut!

hi funky, thanks for your reply to the “hey here’s how I found it” ask! I’m the same infp anon here. so I’ve been trawling the blog for a while as to my enneagram fixes and I’m sure of the 6w5 part and partially sure of the 1 fix, but how do I determine my last heart fix (it could be anything and confirm the 1 fix (make sure it’s not 9)? thanks so much for all your resources so far, but maybe if you could please tell me how the fixes in this order relate to the 6 core and how to figure them out. (not asking for one size forcefits all answer ofc) (oh, and sorry for the long and rambling message the other time. :P)

What helped me was a variety of things, but it mostly came down to thinking about how I handled various things in my life as relates to the different centers of the Enneagram. You need to look for proof in your life of those centers.

Centers are as follows – head fixes deal with fear (how do you cope, what do you do?); image fixes deal with how you relate to other people (what do you want from them?); gut fixes are what you do with anger and what angers you.

It’s sometimes helpful to compare with others you know, but also to think about what people observe of you and have said about you in the past. What about you fits the stereotype for your type, or does not fit the stereotype?

IMAGE CENTERS:

I felt a pull toward 4, but after reading Enneagramer’s 4 and thinking about it, and my own interactions with 4s who are exactly like that, I realized I am not a 4, because my problems never defeat me. I never wear them as a badge of honor, and I am never so devastated by them that I can’t keep producing until I have dealt with those feelings. My 4 friend told me, “When you speak about the bad things that have happened to you, you downplay them / make no big deal out of them. I know they must have hurt you terribly at the time, but you have healed the wound and moved on in a way I can’t.”

My image fix was the toughest to figure out – turns out that is because it was 3; they become what they need to be, and focus on finishing things, because they are “goal-oriented.”

A couple of things helped me realize this – the comment a friend made once that I do nothing by half, it’s “as if you are getting paid to do your hobbies, because you have to be the best at them, and you work hard to ensure you ARE the best.” I also thought about the fact that people in real life are shocked that I identify as a 6. Why would that be? Because the confident persona I put on in front of them all doesn’t lend itself to projecting anxiety. 6 is blending into 3’s self-confidence and making me project confidence, even if I do not have it.

Then too, I am incredibly aware of what “others may think.” I am always thinking about presentation, about how this will be perceived, about what people may say. Once, when a girl attacked me on the internet, I backed off and thought, “She is going to make a fool of herself. I meanwhile will look like the powerful, sensible, reasonable, and in-control one, since I refuse to react in public.”

I am quite good at blending into an unnatural environment despite being a Fi. (I find it impossible to write anything I disagree with, but I find ways around it, so people think I am “one of them” without me lying about it.) I do not relate to any of the soc-first 3 chapters or profiles I read, because they are all too arrogant and care about social climbing techniques, which I don’t give a fig about – what I DO relate to is the tendency to put my self-worth into my writing; I am what I “produce.” What I “create.” If one of my beta readers finds a mistake, I am mortified. Because even my beta is supposed to think it’s 99% amazing! ;) And it’s damn near impossible for me to take two days off, or even an afternoon off, unless I’ve worked myself into exhaustion, without feeling like I am being a slacker. I NEED A PROJECT AT ALL TIMES. I have literally not gone for more than a week without working on a novel for over 17 years. Because in doing nothing, in producing nothing, I am nothing.

(I decided I am a 631 for obvious reasons; co-mod said my sp3 is so strong I could be a core 3, but I’ve always known I’m a 6. :P)

Comparison to people in my life with the other image fixes:

2s: care way less than I do about presentation, about looking the best, about having their stuff perfect, because to them, what they create is not reflective of their worth as a human being. They will extend themselves more to help people, and feel good about it, while I will do it out of duty and then gripe about it later.

4s: dwell in their negative feelings way more often and almost never want to solve their problem (which is problematic for me, since I’m here to fix you ;). What most shocked me once was when a 4 said they can’t create unless they are “in the mood.” I just kind of stared at them, like “What’s the mood got to do with it? You show up and write!” I believe diligence and daily working at it gets things done, which is how the 3 operates: it’s not about whether I “feel” like it today, I’m doing it!

Think about it. Which do you do? Which can you prove you do? Which have people commented on, that you do? If it’s 2, I expect you to have a list of times you selflessly helped others. With 3, I expect to see a list of accomplishments and things to show for your hard work. With 4, I expect to see an emphasis on being “in the mood” and needing it to have your own personal stamp on it for it to be good.

GUT CENTERS:

The evidence for my 1 fix is right in front of you. I lecture people all the livelong day about finding out their type and its weaknesses and blind spots SO YOU CAN ALL BECOME BETTER PEOPLE, AND GET ALONG BETTER. That is the 1. I see how you could improve yourselves, how the world can be a better place, with the 1’s idealistic zeal, because right now, IT IS IMPERFECT. This is why 1’s write de-cluttering books, and teach you how to get your finances in shape, and tell you to stop wasting your money, and teach the Enneagram, so you can all fix yourselves! Proof? I have been called judgmental more times than I can count. I’m not proud of it, sometimes I’m ashamed of it and wish I could be less hard on people, but sometimes what someone else is doing is WRONG and HURTING OTHER PEOPLE.

In comparison to the other fixes:

9s: are far less judgmental and want to get along way more. The only reason I don’t tell people off more often is my 6 is afraid of the fall-out and hates fights. That does not change the fact that my 1 wants to, and will on occasion, assert itself and point out what is wrong / inaccurate / imperfect / immoral / bad about whatever you just did. 9s are also less focused and more easily distracted than my 1 fix. I am tapping my foot impatiently and irritated with the 9 who is “always late” while they are happily going about their comfy morning routine.

8s: are far more inclined to blow up and not apologize for their anger or feel bad about it, unless someone they cared about got upset. 1s tend to sit on their anger, repress it, and try not to show it, because that represents a loss of control, and GOOD PEOPLE (what a 1 wants to be) only get angry over righteous causes. 8s do not care whether leaving a pop can in a parking lot and running over it for fun on their way out is littering or not. 8s do not think about the right / wrong about encouraging someone to lie on a warranty claim, since “it only expired 48 hours ago!” A 1 would never even ask; warranty’s expired. Too bad, but that’s the rules. Breaking the rules makes you “bad.”

Head types:

Not that you need to figure out your head type, but I’m forever being told that I need to “trust myself more,” “trust my gut more,” “go with my first hunch,” and “stop letting other people pollute my clear-headed thinking,” the bane of a 6 who is reliant on and swayed by others unless she’s careful (or in a stubborn mood that day; the plus side is, I’ll never become so arrogant that I won’t consider an opposing argument). The minute I read that 6s feel like they missed out when God was handing out an internal guidance system made me go “YES.” Why is it other people can just know what to do? And move forward confident, even arrogant, that they can do it? Can I get some of that, please?

In comparison to the other head types I know:

5s: are way more secretive, private, paranoid, and unrealistic in some ways, also far more argumentative and certain of being right. They are much less emotional and far more removed from their own feelings. They are more able to be objective, but also more rigid in their refusal to change their mind, because you are wrong and they are right.

7s: are far more flighty, irresponsible, and not inclined to see things through. 6’s show up and put in the long hours; 7s get bored after a week and skip on down the road. They are also more optimistic, funnier, and a ball to be around, but that comes with a dose of “I don’t want to talk about anything negative” and a lot of refusal to look at the bad side of life or admit to their mistakes.

Does that help? I hope so.

Also TAKE YOUR TIME. This is about internal reflection and is not a race.

Major Themes of the Three Triads:

The Instinctive Triad: 8, 9 and 1 are concerned with maintaining resistance to reality (creating boundaries for the self that are based on physical tensions). These types tend to have problems with aggression and repression. Underneath their ego defenses, they carry a great deal of rage.

Ego Defense Directions: 8 directs energy outward against the environment. 1 directs energy inward against their internal impulses. 9 directs energy against both inward and outward “threats.”

The Feeling Triad: 2, 3, and 4 are concerned with self-image (attachment to the false or assumed self of personality). They believe that the stories about themselves and their assumed qualities are their actual identity. Underneath their ego defenses, they carry a great deal of shame.

Ego Defense Directions: 2 pretends self-image outwardly to others. 4 presents self-imagine inwardly to themselves. 3 presents self-image to self and others.

The Thinking Triad: 5, 6 and 7 are concerned with anxiety (they experience a lack of support and guidance). They engage in behaviors that they believe will enhance their safety and security. Underneath their ego defenses, they carry a great deal of fear.

Ego Defense Directions: 5 flees inward due to fear of aspects of the outer world. 7s flee outward due to fear of aspects of the outer world. 6 flees inward to avoid external threats and outward to avoid internal fears.

The Hornevian Groups

Indicate the social style of each type and how they get their primary needs met (as indicated to the Triadic Center). The assertive types (3, 7, 8) insist or demand that they get what they want. Their approach is active and direct as they go after what they believe they need. The compliant types (1, 2, 6) all attempt to earn something by placating their super ego to get what they want. They do their best to be “good” to get their needs met. The withdrawn group (4, 5, 9) all withdraw to get what they want. They disengage from others to deal with their needs.

The Harmonic Group

This tells us what attitude the type adopts if it fails to meet its dominant need. It’s how we cope with conflict and difficulty; how we respond when we do not get what we want.

The Positive Outlook Group: 2, 7, 9. They adopt a positive attitude, re-framing disappointment in a positive way. They emphasize the uplifting aspects of life and look at the bright side. They have trouble facing the dark side of themselves; they do not want to look at anything painful or negative in themselves.

The Competency Group: 1, 3, 5. Deal with difficulty by putting aside their personal feelings and striving for objectivity, effectiveness, and competency. They problem solve logically and expect others to do the same. They often have power struggles with the systems and rules around them, since they don’t know how much they want to obey them or rebel.

The Reactive Group: 4, 6, 8. They react emotionally to conflicts and problems and have difficulties knowing how much to trust other people. (“I need you to know how I feel about this.”) When problems arise, they seek emotional responses from others that match their own concern. (“This is really bothering me, it should bother you too!”) They have strong likes and dislikes, and must deal with their feelings before calming down to handle the issue. They struggle to balance their need for independence with a need for others’ support. They are either looking for advice and direction or engaging in rebellion.

Main Themes of the Positive Outlook group:

2: Emphasizes positive self-image (”I am a caring, loving person.”) They focus on their good intentions. Avoids seeing: their own neediness, disappointment, and anger. Problems with needs: overemphasis on the needs of others; neglect of their own needs.

7: Emphasizes positive experiences, enjoyment, activity, excitement, and fun. Avoids seeing: their pain and emptiness; their role in creating suffering for self and others. Problems with needs: overemphasis on their own needs. They easily feel burdened by the needs of others.

9: Emphasizes the positive qualities of others and of their environment. They idealize their world. Avoids seeing: problems with their loved ones or their environment as well as their own lack of development. Problems with needs: feeling overwhelmed by their own needs and the needs of others. They do not want to deal with others.

At a glance: deny that they have any problems.

2: “You have a problem. I am here to help you.”

7: “There may be a problem, but I’m fine.”

9: “What problem? I don’t think there is a problem.”

Main themes of the Competency Group:

1: Emphasizes being correct, organized, and sensible. They focus on standards, improving themselves, and knowing the rules. Manages feelings: by repression and denial. Feelings are channeled into activity, getting things done perfectly. Feelings are also held as a physical rigidity in the body. Relation to systems: 1s want to work with the system. They try to be a “good boy or girl” and are irritated with people who disregard the rules.

3: Emphasizes being efficient, capable, and outstanding. They focus on goals, being pragmatic, and knowing how to present self. Manages feelings: by repression and keeping attention on tasks, staying active. Achievement offsets painful feelings. They look to others for feeling cues. Relation to systems: 3s want to work with the system but also like being outside of it–bending rules and finding shortcuts.

5: Emphasizes being the expert and having deep information. They focus on the process, objective facts, and maintaining clarity and detachment. Manages feelings: by splitting off and abstracting feelings, they stay preoccupied and cerebral as if their feelings were happening to somebody else. Relation to systems: 5s reject the system and want to work on their own, outside of it. They have little patience with rules or procedures.

At a glance: cut off feelings and solve problems logically.

1: “I’m sure we can solve this like sensible, mature adults.”

3: “There’s an efficient solution to this–we just need to get to work.”

5: “There are a number of hidden issues here; let me think about this.”

Main Themes of the Reactive Group:

4: Seeks a rescuer, someone to understand them and support their life and dreams. They want to be seen. Fears: abandonment–no one will care for them; they will not have enough support to find and become themselves. Deals with others by keeping others interested by limiting access, playing hard to get, and holding on to supporters.

6: Seeks both independence and support. They want someone to rely on but they also need to be “the strong one.” Fears: being abandoned and without support, but also becoming too dependent on others. Deals with others by being committed and reliable while trying to maintain their independence; they are engaging but also defensive.

8: Seeks independence and self-reliance. They want to need others as little as possible, to be their own person. Fears: being controlled or dominated by others. Thus, they fear intimacy and becoming vulnerable by trusting or caring too much. Deals with others by keeping up their guard, not letting others get too close, and toughening themselves against hurt and their need for others.

At a glance: react strongly and need a response from others.

4: “I really feel hurt, and I need to express myself.”

6: “I really feel pressured, and I’ve got to let off some steam.”

8: “I’m angry about this and you’re going to hear about it.”

How each type manipulates others:

1: By correcting them, insisting others share their standards.

2: By finding out others’ needs and desires, thus creating dependencies.

3: By charming others, and by adopting whatever image will “work.”

4: By being temperamental, and by making others “walk on eggshells.”

5: By staying preoccupied, and by detaching emotionally from others.

6: By complaining, and by testing others’ commitments to them.

7: By distracting others, and by insisting others meet their demands.

8: By dominating others, and by demanding others do as they say.

9: By “checking out” and by passive-aggressively resisting others.

The dynamics between the Dominant and Inferior have been simplified. Also, this is about comfort level, not ability.

Si: I trust the past and resent the multiple tangents of the future.

Ni: I trust the future and resent the concreteness of the moment.

Si-Ne is likely to believe a person must relate the future to their own experience. It is limited by the information that it recalls. The weakness is the assumption that there exist too many factors and possibilities. It doesn’t feel suited for novel thinking. There is a comfort in what already been established. In contrast, Ne-Si feels poorly suited for the status quo.  

Ni-Se is likely to believe a person must relate the present to the future. It is limited by idealism. The weakness is the assumption that the outside world is unreliable. It feels ill suited for immediacy. There is a comfort in what is to come and what will always be rather than what is here or has been. In contrast, Se-Ni doesn’t feel suited for longevity.

Si-Ne is “real world” know-how. Ni-Se is theoretical know-how. Si needs experience. Ni needs information. Sometimes experience is drawn from outside information. Sometimes information is drawn from experience.

Si thinks as though true worldliness comes from living. Ni thinks as though true worldliness comes from contemplation.

Si needs to control the alternatives. Ni needs to control what is.

Si cares about how information relates to their experience (or vise-versa). Ni cares about how their experience relates to their perception of the universe (or vise-versa).

Look. I get it. It takes a lot of time to really get into MBTI and Enneagram and sometimes you just want to ask a person things and get an answer and be done. Then they respond and are like “um that’s not a real thing.” So here’s a way to understand what is a real thing. This is not in depth at all. You have to put the work in to really get things. I can’t beam them into your head.. But it’s a start.

Also this post is long but I tried to make things as simple as possible. The tone is going to be a little “See Spot Run” as a result which as xkcd says, is not actually a bad thing.

An Enneagram post will follow shortly.

MBTI - Cognitive Functions: 16 types, made up of combinations of four functions. People will talk about shadow functions. It’s fun to think about when you know what you’re doing. You do not know what you’re doing (yet) so just ignore them.

The function categories are: sensing (perceiving concrete things), intuition (perceiving abstract things), thinking (making judgments based on logic) and feeling (making judgments based on morality). They can be extroverted (focused on the outside world) or introverted (focused on the inner world). The functions all have 2 letters in them. The first stands for the category (first letter of the category except for intuition which is N instead), the second is i for introverted or e for extroverted. Also lots of people spell extroverted as extraverted. That is in fact probably the correct way to do it but it looks weird to me and so I’m just going to do my thing.

Sometimes people spell intuition like this: iNtuition. This makes the fact that ‘N’ is used more apparent, or you can just know how to spell the word intuition and that we use the letter N and not make it look like the world’s worst  Apple product.

You have one of each category of function! Two perceiving and two judging. One of your perceiving functions is extroverted and one is introverted, and the same goes for judging. So Se and Ni always go together, as do Si and Ne (the perceiving functions). The judging function pairs are Te and Fi, and Fe and Ti.

Really oversimplified descriptions:

Se: Objectively perceives the outside concrete world and their experiences in it. This usually translates to being very aware and adaptable to their surroundings, regardless of how things are behaving.

Si: subjectively perceives the outside concrete world and their experiences in it. This usually translates to them trusting past experiences they have had and expecting things to behave as they previously have.

Ne: objectively perceives concepts. This usually translates to getting lots of inspiration and ideas from everywhere and making unrelated connections about how things may behave.

Ni: subjectively perceives concepts. This usually translates to having a very specific and personal vision of how they believe things will behave.

Fe: Uses outside systems of morality to make judgments. This usually translates to prioritizing overall benefit to groups of people rather than specific individuals.

Fi: Uses inner systems of morality to make judgments. This usually translates to prioritizing individuality and authenticity over group harmony.

Te: Uses outside systems of logic to make judgments. This usually translates to prioritizing efficiency and hard evidence to get something done over having every possible piece of evidence or the most elegant solution.

Ti: uses inner systems of logic to make judgments. This usually translates to prioritizing internal logical consistency and having all the possible information and the most elegant solution over getting something done quickly and in a way easily communicated to others.

MBTI - your function stack:

Your first function is your strongest function. This is the dominant function. It’s your default way of doing things. It can be any one of those 8 functions I introduced. People will say “I’m a <function name>-dom” to indicate that.

Your fourth function is your inferior function. It’s what you’re worst at. This is the function that’s normally paired with your dominant function (so if you’re an Se dom, your inferior function is Ni).

Your second function is also pretty strong. It’s your auxiliary function. If your dominant function is extroverted, your auxiliary one will be introverted (and vice versa), and if your dominant function is a judging function your auxiliary one will be a perceiving function (and vice versa).

Your third function is called your tertiary function and it will be the function that’s paired with your aux function.

MBTI - your type: 

Look at your dominant function. If it’s extroverted, you are an extrovert (this doesn’t mean the traditional ‘energized by people’ thing it does outside of MBTI. MBTI doesn’t have a concept of ambiversion. Also everyone is to some extent ambiverted in that introverts don’t burst into flames when they have to talk to people and extroverts don’t die when they haven’t been around a person for 5 seconds, so chill). If it’s introverted, you’re an introvert (ditto). The first letter of your type is E or I, respectively.

Look at the first letter in your dominant function. If it’s a perceiving function (S or N) then that’s the second letter in your type, and the first letter of your aux function is the third letter in your type. If it’s a judging function (F or T) then that’s the third letter in your type, and the first letter of your aux function is the second letter in your type.

Now: if one of your top two functions (dom and aux) is Fe or Te (an extroverted judging function), you are a judger and the last letter in your type is J. If one of your top two functions is Ne or Se (an extroverted perceiving function), then you are a perceiver and the last letter in your type is P.

An example

Let’s say you think your dominant function is Se. Then your inferior function has to be Ni. You then look at the descriptions for the introverted judging functions (Ti and Fi) and think that your auxiliary function is Fi, which means your tertiary must be Te. Your functions in order are Se-Fi-Te-Ni.

To figure your type’s name out: your first function is extroverted, so you’re an EXXX.

Your first function is a perceiving function and the letter is S - ESXX

Your second function’s letter is F - ESFX

You have Se in your top two functions, so your type is ESFP.

MBTI - groupings

A guy named Keirsey split up the types into groups that he thought behaved similarly and named them:

XXSP - The Artisans

XXSJ - The Guardians or The Sentinels

XNTX - The Rationals

XNFX - The Idealists

A lot of people aren’t big fans of this split both because the names aren’t particularly useful and because the system is inconsistent in terms of functions, but you will see these terms sometimes.

MBTI - loops and grips

A loop is when you use your dominant and tertiary function without checking in on your secondary function.

This is not necessarily bad if you’re using it for a brief period of time. For example, let’s say you’re an INTJ and your friend is crying and doesn’t really want to talk about it. Your Te is most likely going to try to focus on solutions - how to make this stop, how to make them feel better. But this is an emotional/people-oriented situation, so using your Ni to predict what’s wrong and your Fi to act in a way that is in line with your values re: friendship might be more successful.

On the other hand it can be bad if you do this for an extended period of time. As you notice, the two functions are both in the same direction (introverted or extroverted) so introverts aren’t relying on any external direction or systems, and extroverts aren’t relying on any internal direction or systems. As a result, introverts can become irrational and out of touch with reality without some external input, and extroverts can become dominating and reckless.

Grips are when you unhealthily skip all your functions and go straight to your inferior function. These are almost always bad, and are not the same as using your inferior function in a healthy way.

The basic grip behaviors by inferior function are:

Se grip (Ni doms): engaging in purely physical and sometimes reckless behaviors to the point of loss of control. Can be anything - exercise, eating, drinking, drugs, sex, risky behaviors of all kinds.

Si grip (Ne doms): obsessiveness, hypochondria, hypercritical, haunted by the past, fixating on a single possibility instead of exploring many.

Ne grip (Si doms): (this is my inferior function so I’m a little more familiar with it). Either anxiety about the future, seeing catastrophe no matter what you do, or alternately wanting to throw away all your routines and habits and run away instead of getting rid of only what doesn’t work.

Ni grip (Se doms): Paranoia, obsession over the future, seeing or looking for signs/omens rather than the real world, withdrawing.

Fe grip (Ti doms): Emotional volatility, needing external validation from others or alternately feeling rejected and alienated from others.

Fi grip (Te doms): Hypersensitivity, self-pity, withdrawal, ‘me against the world’ mentality.

Te grip (Fi doms): harshness, micromanaging, abandoning values and doing anything to achieve your ends or alternately feeling incompetent.

Ti grip (Fe doms): overanalyzing, withdrawing from personal relationships in particular, or alternately becoming highly critical of people to whom you are close.

Basically: introverts tend to act/lash out as their inferior functions are extroverted, and extroverts tend to withdraw as their inferior functions are introverted, and the most clear sign is that they aren’t using their dom (or other) function.

MBTI - but I feel like I use all the functions!

You may have noticed that you can only have one extroverted perceiving function, one extroverted judging function, one introverted perceiving function, and one introverted judging function.

If you feel like you use functions that cannot both be in your top four (your stack), pick the one that you seem to use more and follow the rules. Will it necessarily be right? No. That’s why you have to learn more. Ultimately you still have to put in some effort ,but at least this way you’ll have a type that makes sense and exists, and if you find it doesn’t fit well, you can look into similar types that might fit better.

Why do you feel like you use multiple functions that can’t be in your stack? Usually it’s either because you don’t understand the functions yet (this isn’t your fault. They’re not easy to understand and they’re hard to describe well), and because you don’t pick up one function, use it, and then put it away. You’re constantly using them together, and that’s good because most situations require that you intake (perceive) information and then do something with it (judge). So trying to consider them in isolation can be hard.

Also: you don’t use your first function first in every single situation, because that wouldn’t work out well for you. So if you’re sometimes very outgoing and sometimes very withdrawn, and sometimes you make choices based on morality and sometimes on logic (etc, etc) you still have one MBTI type. People change how they behave depending on the situation. You still only have one MBTI type. 

Finally, your functions are how you process information, but consider the big picture and your motivation. If you brainstormed once and it went well, or if you helped a group of friends get along once, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an Ne or Fe user respectively. Think about how you generally and repeatedly behave. We all do some things that could be ‘typed’ one way or another, so consider why you do things and what your repeated behaviors and motivations are, not one-offs.

You don’t have more than one type. If you think you have more than one type, you don’t.

A brief note on socionics:

Socionics is an interpretation and expansion on the Jungian theory that also produced MBTI. It’s highly detailed but a bit more focused on behavior than cognition. The functions are have the same names and are similar but not exactly the same. I’m less knowledgeable about it than MBTI but since it looks a lot like MBTI, here’s what will help you notice if something’s a socionics post so that you can do your own research.

Socionics types are written a little differently. They only look at the dominant function. If it’s a perceiving one, you’re a perceiver (and they write that as a lowercase). If it’s a judging one, you’re a judger (also in lower case).

What this means practically is that if a type is an MBTI extrovert, the same functional stack (REMEMBER THAT MBTI FUNCTIONS AND SOCIONICS FUNCTIONS DON’T MATCH UP PERFECTLY) will result in a type that’s the same, except the last letter is lower case (ESFP -> ESFp).

If a type is an MBTI introvert, the last letter switches and becomes lowercase (INFJ->INFp).

Socionics goes into more depth about the four functions below your main stack, so if you’re interested in shadow functions, check it out. In socionics, your 5th and 6th functions (flip your dom and aux functions introversion/extroversion axis to get these) are actually pretty good, and you are terrible at the introverted/extroverted version of your tertiary function. This is sometimes called PoLR.

This is just a thought. I just saw Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent typed as ESFP because of how she was portrayed when she was young and everything, so THAT warm and outgoing personality is her true self and not the resentful one we see in her mature years??

I have always typed Maleficent as INTJ so, thinking about the example of Anakin Skywalker who was such an ESFP who turned into an INTJ villian…………………. COULD ESFP people come across as INTJ VILLIANS?????????

This could be very cool as a fictional concept AND that will make us ESFP the best villians because while canon INTJ are your average villian tm, ESFP>INTJ usually have such a tragic past or big revenge issues which could be very cool to develop as backstory

Starting to say something but giving up because your mouth can’t keep up with your brain

Being that one kid in class everyone asks for help for project inspiration

Getting so excited with one concept taught in class you don’t pay attention to the rest of the lecture because you started having so many ideas about that one concept

Stuttering, not because you were shy, but because you tried to say the same thing 3 different ways

Getting REAAAL tired of people not talking about cool X is and only gossiping about mindless issues

Slowing down and reconsidering your new idea and realizing you have no way of accomplishing it

yet

Losing all of your friends in conversations because you’re dropping concepts and ideas so fast

You either talk in nonstop flow of amazing wit and eloquence, or you’re just making warbled grunt noises

like 90% of people won’t get your references

Driving and walking can be hazardous because it’s too easy to get lost in thought and not watching where youre going

ur just a nerd

generally

U always wanna adventure but… adventures can be found on wikipedia, while cuddled on ur couch with ur cat. Its way too easy to be an introvert

Dominant Ne (ENXP): So, what you are REALLY saying, even though you’re disguising it behind bullshit, is this. Do you want to know what writing desks and ravens have in common? Are you sure that this is the right decision? Because I have five other possible interpretations, and it would be a shame not to consider them all. I simply know how this works, and what you are really up to. Let’s talk about ideas! I want to tell you mine and hear yours! I know this idea doesn’t seem related to our discussion, but I think it ties in. I can sum up our concept in a metaphor. I can think of five different things at once! I can pick up your facial expressions and accent without even thinking about it. Let me tell you a story…

Auxiliary Ne (INXP): Your life has so much potential! I can see many different possibilities for your future! Let me share them with you! There is more than one way to look at this situation. It would be a shame not to talk about them all. That’s a great idea, but what about this? Or this? Or that? Let’s discuss and consider them all. I have an analogy that fits this situation, but you’ll have to hang in there to the end, because at first it will sound random. I promise, it isn’t! Let me paint the big picture for you! Let’s try this, it’s new and it’s crazy but it might work! Yes, I thought you might make that decision / that this would happen. Excuse me, I need to write a story…

Tertiary Ne (ESXJ): Oh, that new idea is interesting! I’d like to talk about it with you! But I need to be somewhere in twenty minutes, so let’s keep it on track as much as we can. It feels like you are not tied to reality with this idea; can we pull it back to something tangible? I think I have several ideas as to what really happened back there. This discovery may help me discover my greater purpose in life. I suspected this was going to happen…

Dominant Se (ESXP): Experiences are the stuff of life. I want to go snowboarding! Skydiving! Drive a racecar! Give me an adrenaline rush, and I’m fabulous. Okay, what’s up? I saw your eye twitch. That means you’re upset, but about what? Oh, I can leap in there and do this, no problem! See? It’s easy! You need a part time lion tamer? I’m sure I can learn it in no time. Okay, so here are the sixteen awesome things we can do in this theme park. Which one first? Look, you do that, I can hold this, and keep track of the kids, and check my Blackberry, and call Gary back all at the same time. You know, someone could make a lot of money if they—oh, what the heck, I’ll just do it. While you were standing there gaping, I saved the kid from the bus. I want to try that out; I think my body can take it, and it’ll be fun to find out. I’m going to say this, and see what people do…

Auxiliary Se (ISXP): I could be doing one of six things right now, and I’m bored just standing here, so let’s go out and do something! I want to go bike riding again this weekend; there’s this gorgeous place in the mountains that you have to see to believe, but it’s a six mile ride so pack your gear. Uh oh, she’s mad. I saw her facial expression change for a second, and that’s never a good sign. I want to try out lots of things, and test my body to see what it can do. I can learn to do this quickly, and then I want to help you learn it. Come with me! Don’t just stand there, we can do this! Right now, I’m chilling in the backyard with a glass of tea and watching the light move through the trees, but later I want to go rock climbing. I can’t wait! It’s going to be awesome! I can trust what I have experienced first-hand.

Tertiary Se (ENXJ): I like expensive stuff and I always make room for it in my life. I’m taking you to the best restaurant tonight; yes, it’s expensive, but the food is to die for. I don’t like that painting; it’s hideous. It may take me a moment, but I’ll get the hang of things quickly and you’ll never know I haven’t been doing this for years. I never trip over anything, because I know where everything is. Let’s do something fun this weekend, something physical. I want to feel the burn in my legs! I don’t mind taking risks, because it’s fun to get an adrenaline rush. I’m not going to lose this game; if I play, I play to win. It takes hard work to look this good.