why the 3rd function is my favorite cognitive function in EVERYONE'S mbti type
A.k.a the child function. The purest function...
Work in progress
I’m a huge MBTI nerd.
If you are not in the mbti community, reading this title probably made your brain fall off its stem. I’m here to hold u gently like a newborn baby as i walk through this post. So don’t worry!
What is MBTI? It’s 4 letter combinations that make 16 personalities ← it’s actually code for the cognitive functions! More of that later. Each of the 4 placements can have 2 possibilities.
1st letter: E or I (Extroverted or Introverted)
2nd letter: N or S (Intuitive or Sensing)
3rd letter: F or T (Feeling or Thinking)
4th letter: P or J (Perceiving or Judging)
I am an ENFP type. That means in 16 personalities-speak, that I’m Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving. Here is the actual meat of the matter though: this actually reveals my cognitive functions stack!
Cognitive functions for ENFP (my type):
Ne (Extroverted Intuition)
Fi (Introverted Feeling)
Te (Extroverted Thinking)
Si (Introverted Sensing).
These cognitive functions are what we use to make sense of the 16 personalities! There are 8 cognitive functions in total:
Ne, Ni (extroverted, introverted Intuition)
Se, Si (extroverted, introverted Sensing)
Fe, Fi (extroverted, introverted Feeling)
Te, Ti (extroverted, introverted Thinking)
As you can see, there are two modes: extroverted and introverted, for each of the placements! So just because for instance eNFp and iNFj are intuitive feelers doesn’t mean they have the same use of Intuition and Feeling!
ENFPs use extroverted intuition, while INFJs use introverted intuition.
And in fact, ENFPs have introverted feeling while INFJs have extroverted feeling (perhaps that is why ENFPs are known as the most introverted extroverts, and INFJs known as the most extroverted introverts!)
Each MBTI type has a unique cognitive function stack.
I’ll go through each one and you can go hunt and find yours below:
As u see^ there is an order of strengths. For instance, ENFJ, has Fe>Ni>Se>Ti. Those are ENFJ’s cognitive functions in order.
Here is a cool graphic showing the meanings of those cognitive functions, in axis to their most opposing function.
The order of the cognitive functions
Each person has all 8 cognitive functions in their stack, but the uniqueness is in the order in which they are at! In fact for example, ISTJs and ENFPs have all the same functions in their first 4, but it’s just backwards! (ISTJ: Si, Te, Fi, Ne while ENFP: Ne, Fi, Te, Si).
Hero function, Parent function, Child function, aspirational function
Your strongest function is called the Hero function, or dominant function. That’s the one that is always on by default, and you don’t have to put in any effort.
The next function is your first cynical function, or the parent function, which makes you take more responsibility in whatever you decide.
Then comes the 3rd function, which is my favorite, known as the child function, or tertiary function.
Then is the inferior function, which is one we will develop later on in life. It is also one we tend to resort to when we are stressed.
Remember when I gave an example earlier for ENFJ? They have the cognitive functions in this order: Fe>Ni>Se>Ti . That third one is Se. That means extroverted sensing is ENFJ’s child function!
Child Function is the 3rd function in the cognitive stack
I remember CS joseph said that functions are most pure when in a child function
Talk more about this
I love seeing people use their child function, because it is so innocent and playful.