#extroverted intuition

Hello! Welcome back, or, well, I should be saying that to myself. I’ve been gone for a while, mostly due to family stress, end of the year school stress, and other personal factors. So what better way to jump back in than to talk about negative characteristics and stress? (Jazz hands i know you’re so excited)

Today we’re going to be talking about something that is related to cognitive functions (and therefore is still applicable to the “Why Are You So…” series), but that I haven’t talked about there. That is the concept of “shadow functions.” Someone a while back asked about shadow functions and I said I would make a post on it. This is that post. I cannot remember who that person was for the life of me, but if you are that person, here is that post.

Hopefully you enjoy :)

1. What are “Shadow Functions?”

I will not tell you to go back and read my other posts as that’s a pain in the ass and annoying. However, if you read the introduction to the “Why Are You So” series, you know that cognitive functions originated with Carl Jung. Carl Jung believed in what is called the “shadow self.” The “shadow self” is, in a nut-shell, a part of a person that they suppress. Because the “shadow self” is so suppressed, it ultimately only really shows itself when that person is unhealthy or under a lot of stress. Think of someone who stuffs their emotions away until they bubble over. Shadow functions are Jung’s way of applying that thinking to his cognitive function theory.

Every person uses all eight cognitive functions, however how people use them and experience them can differ. Contrary to popular belief, a person’s MBTI stack is not just four letters or four cognitive functions. People are not that simple, nor are people that clean. People are messy, egocentric, and emotional, even those who claim to not be. This is where shadow functions come into play.

The four most used functions are what we call our “conscious” functions. The four least used functions are what we call the “unconscious” functions or, as Jung put it, the “shadow.” When you put the eight functions together, you get an entire stack and ultimately an entire system of thought.

For example, ESTPs:

Conscious functions: Se-Ti-Fe-Ni

Shadow functions: Si-Te-Fi-Ne

ESTP whole stack: Se-Ti-Fe-Ni-Si-Te-Fi-Ne

Shadow functions are a part of everyone, just like how everyone has a negative character trait. Shadow functions are a part of us. Without our shadow functions we would not be a whole person and we would lack a defense system. Our shadow functions help defend us. They’re like that one messy family member at a family gathering that always manages to get drunk off their ass, but you know that they would throw down for their family if they had to. Think of the concept of yin and yang.

This is where the idea of “opposite types” comes in as well and why “golden pairings” are often a hit or a miss. Think of ISFPs and ESFJs. The only reason why certain types are a “golden pairing” is because, most of the time, they are each other’s shadow opposite. For example, as you can see above in our example, the shadow stack for the ESTP is the main stack for ISTJ and vice-versa. They are said to be a “golden pair.” Think of INTJs and ENTPs. It’s the same concept. The reason why these supposed “golden pairs” often don’t work is because the purpose of the shadow.

Shadow functions provide a defensiveness, but also show what that person is insecure about. They represent parts of ourselves that we don’t like, don’t acknowledge, and see as negative. For example, INTJs have Fe in their shadow stack, so they tend to secretly feel rejected by society. Because of this, INTJs might find themselves rejecting social norms or being judgmental of others out of fear or resentment. ENTPs use Fe as their third function and tend to seek out people for the sake of new ideas. If you put an unhealthy INTJ and an unhealthy ENTP together, that’s going to cause some issues.

***Edit remark #1: As I am editing this, I want to put emphasis on that the example I provided above with INTJ and ENTP is mostly to point out how unhealthy examples of those types might work in a situation. This is not to say that golden pairings are not “good,” or that they will never work. Rather I merely meant to explain how they can also have negative side effects or a negative ending.

In some ways, acknowledging a person’s shadow can be beneficial. To acknowledge one’s shadow is to acknowledge what one has to work on. However one must also acknowledge that when one begins to work on their shadow self, they’re tuning into what is “unhealthy,” leading into an entire shit-show. Shadow functions can give you a much needed reality check or they can break you down into the smallest fragment of a person that you can possibly be. Shadow functions, because of this, are not recommended to work on.

***Edit remark #2: People who have experienced trauma tend to score higher on their shadow functions/traits. For example, every time I take the sakinorva test I test as either INTJ/INFJ and ENTP as a second. It never fails. Going along with that, I am not a mental health professional. If you are someone who has experienced trauma I highly recommend you seek professional mental health guidance. To help stabilize the functions, however, it is said that you can try to reinforce your dominant functions through activities specific to that function.

5th Function: Opposite

Honestly, the name speaks for itself. The “opposite” function is opposite to the dominant function. It is essentially the voice in the back of your head that says “Listen, I know we said this, but what if this is actually the case and we’re completely wrong?” The role of this function is to argue against what the dominant function decides. You could probably think of it like the stereotypical ENTP of your subconscious (please don’t come for me I was joking).

All jokes aside, a good way to think of this function is like what a person worries about the most. It is the suspicious part of you that becomes defensive and stubborn when put under pressure. For example, someone who has Ni as their opposite function may look for underlying meanings and over-examine certain situations to find these underlying meanings. If they perceive an underlying meaning, they may begin to obsess over this meaning and reject all outside viewpoints.

Likewise, the opposite function is also the function that keeps a person from becoming too certain in their dominant function.

6th Function: Critical Parent/ Witch/ Senex

This function is the part of ourselves that judges absolutely everything, hence the name “critical parent.” Conversely, this is also the part of you that feels judged by others. Simply put, this is the part of you that you feel like you’re not good at, so you reject it and judge other people for how they present this function.

It is no surprise then, really, that this function can also be a bit assertive in its beliefs. This function is harsh in how it views us, and this is mostly because the critical function helps form our ego. It helps us recognize what we’re not good at and we perceive that in other people. On the contrary, because of how harsh this placement is, people tend to think that they’re worse at presenting this function than they actually are.

Think of Fi in an ISFJ or INFJ. Fi mostly shows up in these types when the ISFJ or INFJ have felt like have done something morally wrong against others. A good example of this is my grandma (ISFJ). She’s an animal lover and whenever she sees a dead animal on the side of the road she will beat herself up mentally because she “can’t save all of the animals.”

Now of course how this placement is presented depends on what type a person is and what function is in their critical spot. Of course, again, this goes for all placements.

7th Function: Trickster

This function mainly shows what a person ignores as a source of information. Yes, including “logical” people.

The best way I can explain this is to show how it presents. ENTJs and ENFJs have Si as their 7th function. Because of this, they tend to generalize their memories. For example, if you ask them to recall a time when they were upset, they might tell you how they act when they are upset most of the time but will not give you a specific memory or a specific event. This is, quite honestly, because they do not remember specifics.

The 7th function is called trickster because it acts as an illusion. It disregards a specific type of information corresponding to the function that is in this place. Almost as if the information happened to magically disappear. This can lead to obvious logical fallacies and potential misinformation.

Another good example of this is Fe in INTJs. INTJs typically prefer using obvious facts over appealing to others. Because of this, they may appear “blind” to how others feel or completely disregard the information as a whole. The trickster function can either cause a lapse in thinking, or simply cause someone to purposefully reject information.

8th Function: Demon

The last function is the part of you that you see as inherently bad. This is also because you do not fully understand it and it is something you probably will never understand. This function conflicts with your dominant function far too much for it be made useful. Because of this, your dominant function suppresses this function.

Think of this placement as a person who holds a blind faith. This person grew up under the belief that their religion is the right religion and all other religions are examples of a negative figure (from their religion) trying to distract them from their “true path.” The person ultimately does not learn about other religions. This person has closed their mind to other possible answers in regard to spirituality.

The “demon” placement acts similarly to this. The religion that the person belongs to can be attributed to the person’s dominant function. The negative figure can be attributed to the last function placement. For example, someone who has Si as their demon placement might feel as though random memories pop inside of their head. At the same time, they may feel as though they can’t remember anything, and so they ultimately reject the past as it cannot be made useful. Simply put, the purpose of the 8th function is to reject what you feel threatened by.

Alongside that, the 8th function also shows where a person may show negative characteristics. For example, an INFP (Fi-Ne-Si-Te-Fe-Ni-Se-Ti) may perform better when applying logic outwardly, but will have trouble when applying logic to themselves.

Summary…

Alongside the four main cognitive functions, each person has four “sub-conscious” cognitive functions used specifically for self-defense. They were defined by Jung as a way to incorporate the idea of the “shadow self” into his cognitive function theory. The four functions are defined as follows:

5. Opposite- to make you rethink/doubt/secure your train of thought.

6. Critical Parent- to judge and critique yourself and others harshly.

7. Trickster- Shows a lapse in judgment. Makes certain types of information disappear.

8. Demon- To reject what you do not like.

While these functions hold purpose, they should not be heavily relied upon. Higher use of these functions can show a character who has unprocessed stress/trauma.

In epistemological terms, Ne represents a form of divergent thinking whereas Ni represents a form of convergent thinking.

My favorite metaphor for explaining the difference between Introverted and Extroverted Intuition is: Extroverted Intuition looks at an atom and sees all the possibilities of the universe.

Introverted Intuition takes in the whole of the universe and breaks it down to the single atom.

In the general population, Intuition is much less represented than Sensing.

Sensors make up approximately three-quarters of the population, whereas Intuition-users represent about one-quarter.

Introverted Intuition (Ni) is by far the least represented of all the cognitive functions. INFJs and INTJs, who use Ni as their dominant function, make up just 3-5% of the population.

Extroverted Intuition (Ne) users are a bit more represented. ENFPs and ENTPs who use Ne as their dominant function make up about 9-12% of the population.

For quick reference, here’s a list of the MBTI types that use Intuition in either Dominant or Auxiliary position:

Introverted Intuition (Ni) as Dominant Function: INFJ, INTJ

Introverted Intuition (Ni) as Auxiliary Function: ENFJ, ENTJ

Extroverted Intuition (Ne) as Dominant Function: ENFP, ENTP

Great question! Thanks for reaching out :) I've been on an extended hiatus for a while, so I haven't been able to do more MBTI character illustrations for some time. That being said, I do have some cool ideas for ENFPs and their role in the Forest:

Currently, the concept I have in mind for ENFPs leverages the flexible and adaptive nature of their Extroverted Intuition [Ne], which in this universe, largely relates to the wind or "unseen world" of ideas. Though they also live in the Fi Forest, ENFPs are more strongly connected to the wind/unseen movement within the forest itself.

ENFPs mostly live high up in the treetop canopy, depending on which part of the forest they decide to call home. Their preference to live in the trees comes from their natural light-footedness and lower body density ["hollow bones"], allowing them to jump higher and farther than other types while also minimising fall damage, allowing them to recover more quickly from any potential high-impact collisions. This, combined with their need for freedom and flexibility, makes living high above in the canopy an ideal environment for ENFPs to thrive.

However, this lifestyle isn't without its drawbacks:

Introverted Sensing [Si] being their weakest function, most ENFPs absolutely HATE having to travel on foot/on the ground, preferring to follow the wind/ideas/spirits of the forest by quickly swinging and jumping through the treetops without having to deal with the "troublesome" underbrush of shrubs, grasses, roots, and overgrowth on the ground getting in their way.

Now here’s the fixed one:

Now allow the functions working together in a type.

What would be in an INTP's mind with TiSi, how do they get the foresight to get to the other side in one shot? Is FeNe like getting people to buy in?

Explanation on an MBTI loop. Not an expert. May change later.

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Loops in MBTI occurs when a type begins to cycle between their dominant and tertiary function, completely ignoring the auxiliary and inferior. This is mainly caused from stress and can be continous until finally broken.

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INTP Function stack: Ti - Ne - Si - Fe

When in a Ti - Si loop, INTP is stuck trying to find answers from previous experiences. They can get trapped in constant rumination about the past as they try to find the answer(s) to their issue(s). However, this does more harm than good as they will start to fixate on their past mistakes. Overanalyzing the things they could and should have done will paralyze them into fear and self doubt. Can be very indecisive. Their overthinking will stump their Aux Ne from functioning properly, which can cause INTP to get trapped with certain routines and structures (even if it is not benefitting them). Without the help of Ne, a looping INTP struggles to form new ideas and perspectives. It makes it difficult for INTP to be innovative.

To escape the loop, an INTP needs to learn to utilize their Ne properly again. They can try to put themselves in new opportunities that will get their Ne to function; new opportunities will hopefully get INTP to explore new ideas and concepts. Brainstorm possible solutions to get their gears going. Learn to be more accepting of their own mistakes and failures, be more self compassionate.

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don't be surprised that me someone who is obsessed with archetypes is posting about mbti...but please buckle up for the post because it's a handful, and i'll make the post as easy as possible to understand!

♇ if you just want to support here is my paypal!

♇ anyways, [i'll be using sentences that i've learned as well] the mbti is used to understand yourself, the relationships your in along with your personal growth; the mbti is about your cognition which means your intelligence, how you process and understand information.

♇ people need to understand that the typology cannot predict how someone is going to consciously behave, for example, someone sees an intj and the first thing they think is that "omg that person is definitely going to be so emo".

♇ however, the mbti does predict the subconscious micro-expression [which means someone's true emotion] and body language. keep in mind, anyone can change behaviour, so yes, mbti's can change depending on the personal growth of someone, someone's mbti might fully form when they're like a middle aged adult, in my opinion.

♇ the mbti typology believes that we understand information in two ways, which are functions called ⬎

the judging and perceiving functions.

♇ the perceiving function ⟶ understanding information that is experienced first handedly by the person, and putting the information together afterwards.

♇ the judging function ⟶ understanding information without having to experience it first handedly, and putting the information together afterwards or even the same time they come in contact with the information.

♇ everyone judges information by a logical and a rational mindset, along with value based and a honest criteria which is involved with the four modes of cognition [intelligence] everyone has.

↳ and those four modes are:

♇ sensing, intuition, thinking or feeling, which can either be introverted or extroverted. every type has four of the functions [sensing, intuition, thinking or feeling] in descending order, meaning from strongest to weakest. which also refers to how much someone uses four of the functions they have; and the plethora of the descending combinations gives rise to the 16 types.

♇ let's begin with the perceiving functions ⬎

which include SE, SI, NE AND NI.

SE ⟶ extroverted sensing.

SI ⟶ introverted sensing.

NE ⟶ extroverted intuition.

NI ⟶ introverted intuition.

♇ beginning with the sensory functions [SE AND SI].

⟶ with SE which is the extroverted sensing.

⟶ extroverted sensing [SE] react to events first handedly, [like their own experience], before they believe or understand in something.

⟶ they see things as it is and don't overthink the answer in front of them. for example, they're the type to look at a maths question and think that all "solutions/problem solving" can lead to the same answer.

⟶ people with extroverted sensing are action-oriented and need to experience things themselves in order to understand it, like i have mentioned before.

⟶ onto with SI which is introverted sensing.

⟶ introverted sensing [SI] react to events as patterns they have seen before, for example, if someone has already seen two individuals who belong to loud and violent houses react to situations in a defensive way, and the [SI] individual meets another person who has the same background as the other two people they have communicated before and notice that the new individual behaves the same way. they'll understand that people from abusive households are normally protective over themselves out of trauma.

⟶ [SI] individuals build personal associations to data, they'll look at something like "this solution is bad" and "this solution is good" because of the outcomes they have seen or heard before; which is different than a [SE] native, who would rather want to interact with the solution before they come up with an answer. [SI] people who are selective and consistent; they only want information that is useful for them.

⟶ they're people who go by previous examples, and are likely people who can identify patterns in large source of information, and dont need first hand experience to know when something is true.

♇ now with the intuition functions [NE AND NI]

⟶ starting with NE which is extroverted intuition.

⟶ extroverted intuition [NE] are people who see countless of possibilities with their intuition, every probability or likelihood they see they will take it into account. they're the "anything is possible" group.

⟶ [NE] individuals see possible connections, which causes their work to grow more bigger and bigger as they're expansive people, like [SE], [NE] natives have no specific preferences they'd like to work on, and find every idea useful. these natives tend to be very action-oriented as well.

⟶ they are people who need to first handedly go through situations for them to make the dots/connections; which could sometimes not give them the upper hand when they're trying to solve something compared to an [SI] who will already make the patterns due to events they have read or heard before.

⟶ now onto NI which is introverted intuition.

⟶ introverted intuition [NI] are people who could be perceived as people who arent as expressive to situations openly, but will feel a lot on the inside. they're the type of people to form a logical concept from information that is relevant or they think is relevant.

⟶ like [SI] the [NI] individuals only see information or patterns that makes sense to them and and they do care about other people's thoughts and additional information within their research.

⟶ they're specific and are likely to understand things easily while finding further links and connections. they're reflective about the information they gather, so when they do receive details, they'll see if it makes sense or not.

⟶ people can either have SE & NI or SI & NE; it can never be "i have SE & SI or i have NI & NI".

information about perceiving functions finished.

♇ moving onto judging functions.

which includes TE, TI, FE AND FI. ⬎

TE ⟶ extroverted thinking.

TI ⟶ introverted thinking.

FE ⟶ extroverted feeling.

FI ⟶ introverted feeling.

♇ beginning with the thinking functions [TE AND TI]

⟶ with TE which is extroverted thinking

⟶ they're people who most likely focus on their own judgement, they will decide what makes sense to them and what doesnt make sense to them; what is logical and what is not, which will normally be based on their own experiences with the issue. they're focused on the end product, so they'll likely do the same thing to see if the outcome changes.

⟶ they think of ideas that are effective, and are objective to the route they're taking, they're people who like information that can be proven to them. if they can't see it, they wont believe it. it's their basic understanding of logic.

⟶ [TE] individuals can be considered as quite annoying because they normally don't listen until they have to go through a specific situation all the time/or go through much life lessons to understand what to or not to do.

⟶ with TI which is introverted thinking

⟶ [TI] individuals like to make everything make sense to them, which could be time consuming because for example, they would like to learn something so simple, will learn it, but during the process they would want to know every step, even the irrelevant steps which makes it time consuming.

⟶ they can only go forward in life when they do understand something, they're people who are likely to be anxious when they dont know information they think is relevant to them, compared to [TE] natives who wouldnt mind learning the details when they're going through a route.

⟶ [TI] people are considered less impactive than [TE] folks as they're people who only want to learn the depth of a topic and not other possibilities that can surround the topic.

⟶ onto FE which is extroverted feeling

⟶ [FE] natives judge on what they see on the outside, for example they're the type of people to judge people based on their appearance or based on their first impressions compared to other functions. they wouldnt really be like "oh i just need to know the depth of this person" if someone presents themselves as rude, the [FE] person will always think of the other person as insolent, no redemption.

⟶ people who have [FE] are usually those who are mainly like "it can only either be these two options" nothing else. they're normally like that when they experience something physically first and if their mind thinks something is negative they will always perceive that thing is negative while deeming the opposite thing of that instrument positive.

⟶ they're people who are clear about their intentions so other people can understand what they are striving for. could sometimes lead to them failing since people will always know what they're up to.

⟶ onto FI which is introverted feeling

⟶ [FI] people judge the weight of something after they deeply understand the matter. and when they understand the deepness to an information they decide what part of the information is useful for them.

⟶ like the [TI] system, [FI] is very specific and particular about everything, like they cant just go on with life knowing 2+2 equals 4, they'll need to understand why 2+2 equals 4.

⟶ evidently, they're people who take the time to understand something which can sometimes take it longer for them to understand a subject compared to other people but when they finally understand it, they become very efficient to the subject and find ways to simplify it for other people so everyone else can learn.

⟶ people can either have TE & FI or TI & FE; it can never be "i have TE & TI or i have FI & FE".

⟶ information about the judging function finished.

⟶ TWO THINKING AXIS ⬎

♇ SE AND NI ⟶ see the issue and would like to explore different possibilities of it or live through it.

♇ SI AND NE ⟶ see the issue and would rather focus on that single issue before they apply it to other things.

TWO JUDGING AXIS

♇ TE AND FI ⟶ see the problem and would solve it with how other people might've solved it before, but would solve the problem with multiple tools they'll think that can work on the issue.

♇ TI AND FE ⟶ see the problem and would rather solve it with a tool that might've worked in other scenarios. wouldnt think to use other tools if they know the one they have right now is useful.

SO...WHAT MAKES AN MBTI...AN MBTI?

♇ the order of the functions i have mentioned: SE, SI, NE AND NI that belong to the thinking functions and TE, TI, FE AND FI that belong to the judging functions make the mbti!

♇ including what function is the strongest to what function is the weakest.

♇ the axis pairs will either be the first and fourth function or the second and third function.

⟶ SE AND NI being function pairs.

⟶ SI AND NE being function pairs.

⟶ TE AND FI being function pairs.

⟶ TI AND FE being function pairs.

♇ for example, let's use ISTP ⬎

⟶ I = introversion.

⟶ S = sensing.

⟶ T = thinking.

⟶ P = perceiving.

↳ the first two functions determine the middle letters of the MBTI TYPE CODE.

♇ the functions within the ISTP TYPE CODE

⟶ TI SE NI FE ⬎

♇ the TI AND SE within the ISTP function make up for the two missing middle letters in the type code: I _ _ P because they are the first two functions!

⟶ because TI is the _ _ T _ in ISTP because it is about introverted thinking.

⟶ and SE is the _ S _ _ in ISTP because it is about the extroverted sensing.

"but pluto what makes up for the first letter in the code?"

♇ good question! what makes up for the first letter in the code is the second letter in the strongest function and the strongest function for ISTP is TI and what is the second letter for TI? It's "I" which causes the function to now become from _ S T P to I S T P.

♇ if the TI was a TE it would commence the function to become E S T P.

"okay but what about the last letter in a type code?"

♇ you'll have to look back at the first extroverted function in the type code for your mbti, and for ISTP it is ⟶ TI SE NI FE. the first extroverted function in the type code is SE which means EXTROVERTED SENSING.

♇ SE belongs to the perceiving function which implies that the last letter for I S T _ will be I S T P.

♇ if the SE was replaced and FE was the first extroverted function for the type code, the type would have changed from I S T P to I S T J. because FE belongs to the judging function!

↳ lets use an extroverted mbti now.

⟶ E = extroversion.

⟶ N = intuition.

⟶ F = feeling.

⟶ J = judging.

♇ the functions within ENFJ TYPE CODE are ⬎

⟶ FE NI NE TI ⬎

♇ the FE AND NI within the ENFJ function make up for the two missing middle letters in the type code: E _ _ J because they are the first two functions!

⟶ because FE is the _ _ F _ in ENFJ because it is about extroverted feeling.

⟶ and NI is the _ N _ _ in ENFJ because it is about the introverted sensing.

"but pluto what makes up for the first letter in the code?"

♇ good question! what makes up for the first letter in the code is the second letter in the strongest function and the strongest function for ENFJ is FE and what is the second letter for FE? It's "E" which causes the function to now become from _ N F J to E N F J.

♇ if the FE was a FI it would commence the function to become I N F J.

"okay but what about the last letter in a type code?"

♇ you'll have to look back at the first extroverted function in the type code for your mbti, and for ENFJ it is ⟶ FE SI NE TI. the first extroverted function in the type code is FE which means EXTROVERTED FEELING.

♇ FE belongs to the judging function which implies that the last letter for E N F _ will be E N F J.

♇ if the FE was replaced and NE was the first extroverted function for the type code, the type could have changed from ENFJ to ENFP. because NE belongs to the perceiving function!

♇ i hope this helped you guys understand how the myers briggs typology works even more! this is just me opening up before i post about the mbtis!

♇ if you just want to support here is my paypal!

♇ masterlist

pluto