Archetypes of the Functions

[gotbeef]

Hierarchy of Mental Functions. Each of the 16 personality types has a characteristic pattern in the alignment of the four mental functions. This pattern is referred to as a "hierarchy" because they typically differ in the degree of influence on the personality and the degree they are consciously experienced. As indicated above, the most important or influential function is termed the "Dominant" function (#1) and the second most important is termed the "Auxiliary" (#2). The third in the hierarchy is called the "Tertiary" (#3) and is the polar opposite of whatever function is the Auxiliary. The 4th in order Jung termed the "Inferior" function (#4). It is the mental process with the least conscious awareness and typically the least developed of the four functions. It is the polar opposite of whatever is the Dominant.



So if INtuition is Dominant, its opposite - Sensing - is the Inferior or 4th. If Feeling is Dominant, then its opposite - Thinking - is Inferior or 4th.



The rationale for the opposite relationship of the Dominant and the Inferior (fourth function) has to do with energy and the natural polarity of the mental functions. For example, a person with dominant Intuition will direct his/her primary energy to this function - which happens to be in the exact opposite direction of Sensing. It is like trying to go North and South at the same time. It is much easier to couple that dominant with either the Auxiliary or Tertiary because these are not polar opposites to the main direction. They are like East and West on the compass. So navigating NW or NE is a natural direction of movement -- but North-South is not.



You may be uncomfortable with using Jung's term for the 4th function: "Inferior." Bear in mind Jung was writing in the 1920's and his works had to be translated from German to English. Caution against jumping to conclusions on this Dominant-Inferior pairing. To wit, although a person's dominant function might be Feeling and therefore their inferior function is Thinking, do not presume that their "thinking" is inferior, i.e. defective!! There is often a built-in growth dynamic to consciously develop whatever is opposite one's dominant mental function.

Attitude is Also Important. Here's another Jungian term that carries a somewhat different meaning in the English speaking world. We don't mean your world view or the rosyness of your outlook. It isn't like "Lose the attitude, Dude!"

[m a r r o k]

Awesome explanation of the archetypes of the functions on the part of PersonalityPathways! Already printing the thread out!

[Haight]

You owe me five bucks!

[LostInNerSpace]

Great post.

Originally Posted by gotbeef

Attitude is Also Important. Here's another Jungian term that carries a somewhat different meaning in the English speaking world. We don't mean your world view or the rosyness of your outlook. It isn't like "Lose the attitude, Dude!"

So Jung talked about the duality of attitudes. One such duality being conscious and unconscious. Why would that not include the rosiness of a person's outlook? Where do attitudes originate? Are they consciously or unconsciously motivated? It's not too difficult to alter attitude temporarily in any given situation, but that's not the same as permenently altering attitude.

[the.blanket.on.top]

The main (but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the following:

• Consciousness and the unconscious. The "presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis."

• Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to Jung's theory of types that he labeled them the "attitude-types."

• Rational and irrational attitudes. "I conceive reason as an attitude." The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling psychological functions, each with its attitude. The irrational attitude subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its attitude. "There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive attitude."

• Individual and social attitudes. Many of the latter are "isms."

The MBTI write-ups limit the use of "attitude" to the extraversion-introversion (EI) and judging-perceiving (JP) indexes.

The JP index is sometimes referred to as an orientation to the outer world and sometimes JP is classified as an "attitude." In Jungian terminology the term attitude is restricted to EI. In MBTI terminology attitude can include EI and also JP.

The above MBTI Manual statement, "is restricted to EI," is directly contradicted by Jung's statement above that there is "a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive attitude" and by his other uses of the term "attitude". Regardless of whether the MBTI simplification (or oversimplification) of Jung can be attributed to Myers, Gifts Differing refers only to the "EI preference", consistently avoiding the label "attitude." Regarding the JP index, in Gifts Differing Myers does use the terms "the perceptive attitude and the judging attitude." The JP index corresponds to the irrational and rational attitudes Jung describes, except that the MBTI focuses on the preferred orientation in the outer world in order to identify the function hierarchy. To be consistent with Jung, it can be noted that a rational extraverted preference is accompanied by an irrational introverted preference.