Functional Breakdown

Where do I even begin? A few years ago this craze hit and we were all scrambling to find out our personality types. It was like the grand sorting of the new era. Most of us know what letters we have, but few of us know what any of it actually means. A fairly accurate description is nice. A why behind the letters is better. I’ve been researching a few years now and I never could figure it all out. It was like…quantum physics, to me. I found useful bits of information everywhere I went. Yet, I never could seem to piece it all together in my meat mush of knowledge. How do they know so much about a persons personality by four little letters? How does that tell you what functions make up that personality? How do they all relate to each other? I had to know. I always have to know the why followed by the how. I’m here to say that lightning struck this meat mush of mine and I proudly present: The Functional Breakdown. These infographics detail the functions, what they mean, and their relationship to each other. All. In. One. Place.

Enjoy! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out. If I don’t have the answers I will find them!

So, if you’re reading this I’m sure you know the different personality types by now. Each comes with their own title and their own characteristics and their own functions. Most people take their letters and descriptions at face value; and that’s okay! As an INFJ, I wanted to use this to understand myself a little better. I do a lot of spiritual and emotional work but sometimes it’s more beneficial to have good ole science and logic for some help. So I set out trying to determine my functions based on my letters. It was like informational overload. Even when I found out what my functions were, I didn’t understand how they were derived from my four letters or how they worked together. Below you’ll see the letters (preferences) and the functions.

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Now, I do want to add a note in here. Our letters define our preferences. This means that we are ALL capable of each of these characteristics/functions. Having your MBTI personality only shows you what your natural preference is. Where we feel most secure and alive.

So, like I said, I had all of this information and couldn’t figure out how it all worked together. Being an INFJ my functions are: Ni, Fe, Se, Ti. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I wanted to break it down further and figure out why these were my functions and how they related to each other. They’re literally two sets of opposites.

When I first started my research I found a lot of things about the NiFe (INFJ) personality, but I still didn’t understand how this information was derived. While all of it was good, I still wanted to understand the dynamics and what that translated to for me personally. At first I thought that it was just my first two letters mashed together, but then where did the Fe come from? And what were the other two about? I figured that being as severe an introvert as I am, it really didn’t make sense to have extroverted functions. So, I dug my heels in and figured out the equation. To do this I actually had to work a bit backwards as shown below.

We are each two halves of a whole. There is what we show the world, and what we keep to ourselves.

With a P as your last letter; life is all about taking in information. It isn’t about processing that information, or coming to a conclusion, or creating something from it. As you interact with the world you’re simply absorbing all you can from it.

With a J as your last letter; life is all about structure. Using information you have gives you the ability to come up with plans, to create order in the chaos. As you interact with the world you’re absorbing only what you need to achieve your goals.

Knowing which of these preferences we have allows us to determine our extroverted function; or rather how we interact with the world.

Once you’ve determined your extroverted function it’s fairly simple to follow the equation and figure out the others. If your second letter is your extroverted function (P types), your third is your introverted. If your third letter is your extroverted function (J types), your second is your introverted.

For INFJ this means that the extroverted function is Feeling. This is why my function stack has Fe in it. So, I use information from my past experiences and the world in my head to create a sense of harmony among others. Make sense? I hope so because that’s literally my life passion; helping others by sharing my knowledge.

Knowing your introverted function tells you how you work inside. This is how you process and create your thoughts patterns. For INFJ the introverted function is Ni; meaning I use my previous experiences to process things. This is why so many of us often find it difficult to let the past go or to try new things unless we have a specific purpose. I digress, though.

To recap: NiFe means I use ideas from within to outwardly produce harmony in others.

The next step is to determine your dominant function. This is where you feel most at home, most confident, most safe.

By looking at your first letter, or preference, you can figure this out fairly easily.

If your first letter is I – your introverted function is your dominant.

If your first letter is E – your extroverted function is your dominant.

From there, you know that your other function listed in your letters is your auxiliary function, which we’ll discuss more in a minute.

Now it started making a little more sense to me. My introverted (I) preference meant that I’m most comfortable in my own head, using my intuition. In turn, I take all that information stored in my head and try to create balance in the world. If you know me at all, you know this is pretty spot on. I couldn’t believe how long it had taken me to figure this out, but I knew I had to. Which leads us to the last step: stacking your functions. We each have four main function types.

We have our main and dominant function already figured out. So, now, all that’s left is to find the other two. Quite simply put; if we know our strengths we must also know our weaknesses. That is the key to determining the last two functions.

Dominant: This is your auto-pilot. Auxiliary: This is your GPS. Tertiary: This is your back-seat driver. Inferior: This is you driving under the influence.

All of these functions play together to create who you are. We can accept them and learn from them to create better balance in our lives, and to be better people. Once I realized the relationship between my letters (preferences) and functions – it all became a lot clearer. Knowing the dynamics allows us to work on our weaknesses and grow into healthier, well rounded, individuals.

For INFJ the dominant function is Ni, which means the inferior function is Se. This makes sense in the fact that seeking external stimulation doesn’t come naturally to the introverted intuitive. It can be overwhelming and downright terrifying; therefore it is a weakness. I see this most, for me, when I’m doubting myself internally and begin to seek external validation. It’s a recipe for co-dependency and a whole host of other issues but that’s a post for another day. In the same sense, the auxiliary function for INFJ is Fe. This puts it’s opposite as Ti, meaning we struggle with internal rationality and efficiency. The truth in this statement for me is wholly encompassing. It also explains my OCD (yes, diagnosed) and why it goes into overdrive when I’m struggling internally. This isn’t to say every INFJ has the same issues I do, merely giving an example of real life application. If I’m struggling with my back-seat driver (Ti) my GPS (Fe) goes into overdrive.

So, now we know what we know. I hope this helps you and if you’d like more information on what the different functions mean in their different roles I would urge you to check out www.personalityjunkie.com! If you have personal questions about your personality type and how these dynamics affect you feel free to reach out and I’ll do my best to offer support. ❤