The key to understanding Myers Briggs is understanding the cognitive functions that drive these personalities. A lot of people take the 16 personalities dichtomy test and think that it gives accurate results, when in reality it doesn't. Cognitive functions, as we know them, were popularized by Carl Jung and describes the mental processes that are present regardless of common circumstance. Jung noted that there are four main psychological functions: thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. He further added onto this by theorizing that they either had an introverted function or an extraverted function, these are called attitudes.
To understand what introverted feeling entails, we first have to define what feeling means in Jungian terms. We musn't think of feeling in terms of emotions, but rather in values. Introverted feeling means values that come from within, and judges from a subjective factor. This function is thought to be very common in women, and the term "still waters run deep" has been used to describe these women. Jung considered this the most mysterious function and also the most hardest to describe. Fi judges the world from these inner values, and seeks to align their own behavior with these values. Places a high importance on authenticity and staying true to yourself. Also tends to focus on self-expression. Fi dominant types.
While introverted feeling makes value judgements from their own subjective world, extraverted feeling makes their judgements from the external world. Extraverted feelers primarly consider how their feelings affect the physical world around them. In my personal opinion, I find fe to be the hardest, not only to understand and to describe, but also to observe in the natural world. Fe is adept at understanding others in the present moment, and easily body language, social cues, and the overall mood of the atmosphere. They seek to find common ground with other people, and may even influence group values as to share their ethics with many people. A common misconception of these users is that they never deviate from the group and that they endlessly force people into conformity, this is only true within very emotionally immature and unhealthy people. Put link here-Fe dominant types.
Just like introverted feeling, introverted sensing operates from a place of subjectiveness, their own internal world. It compares the present situation and then compares it to their own past experiences. They are quick to notice inconsistencies in somebody's argument or in their current behavior vs their past behavior. They are also quick to notice patterns. Si users tend to enjoy reminiscing about the past and are said to recall exactly how they were feeling in a particular moment. Not only do they run their experiences through past memories, they also run current experiences through sensations such as pain and hunger. It has been said that high si users know their bodies more accurately than those with low si or no si at all. They work with long term memory, generally. Si dominant types.
Unlike introverted sensing, extraverted sensing works with short-term memory. These users prefer to focus on the here-and-now, and mostly focuses on the external and objective facts of a situation. As a result of this, se users have a quicker response time than si users do. This usually gives them quick reflexes, and they are more suited to fast-paced action work. It has been noted that these people can have an amazing sense of direction. Se is immersed in the physical world and doesn't really care about the past, or sometimes not even the future. Dominant se users have inferior ni, which is what fuels them to sometimes act without thinking. Extraverted sensing doesn't just concern itself with the five senses, it is also concerned with things like fashion and trends. Has been described as having an affinity for hedonism. "Not to conserve, but to consume" is something I read that I personally feel sums up the differences between the sensing functions. Put link here-Se dominant types.
Typical of the introverted functions, introverting thinking operates on the inside, focusing on their own subjective logical analysis. Ti has its own internal logical framework that helps them understand the world. Ti constantly revises this internal framework, adjusting it for different perspectives, added experience, accounting for holes in logic, and improving from experiences. It has been said that its goal is to "create a web of knowledge in which everything is interrelated." They have a desire for knowledge and a desire to know what the truth is, and it usually takes them a while to fully understand something. Every component of a concept is broken down in their minds for a more holistic understanding of a subject. Once they figure everything out, it clicks and they use this knowledge for seemingly unrelated topics. Ti users are often seen as lazy because of their tendency to cut corners while working, but this is because they've already developed a system in their mind that allows them to know what is necessary and what is not. At their worst, they can ignore objective reality and stick to whatever they want to think. Put link here-Ti dominant types.
Unlike introverted thinking, extraverted thinking is focused on the concrete data that is right in front of them. Te is impersonal and strives for rationality and order. It wants to bring structure to an unstructured world. Te dominants are said to view the world as the structures within it. This need for external structure vs the need for structure in the internal world is the main thing that drives the difference between the thinking functions. Te accepts what is recognized by an external source, usually a position of authority, and rejects anything that opposes it unless the opposition has solid evidence too. 'Appeal to authority' has been noted to be common with these users. Put link here-Te dominant types.
Introverted intution deals with symbolism, patterns, impressions, and personal meaning and then stores it away in what has been described as a mini computer in their minds. This mini computer runs silently into the background of their minds and gives them sudden realizations. Unlike Si users, Ni's memory is much more abstract and big-pictured. Ni users have been noted to have strong gut feelings about people, and they don't know how they know this..they just mysteriously know. This has been described as their past sensory details coming into play after they have been stewing in the mind. Ni has been correlated with mysticism and its users have been stereotyped as being psychics, fortune tellers, and messiahs. I wonder how many psychics have Ni high in their stack? Bottom line is, everything is in the subconsicious and comes out suddenly, much to the confusion of its users. Put link here-Ni dominant types.
If introverted intuition is in the background, extraverted intuition is more of a deliberate and in-the-moment process. Ne focuses on in the external world and expands that out into multiple ideas, randomly making connections with the most random things it can imagine. Ne users tend to enjoy brainstorming and thinking of as much possibilities as they can. While Ni's thought process naturally leads them to one single conclusion, Ne has to be forced to narrow down their thoughts. Ne is commonly correlated with trans-contextual thinking, which is the ability to create connections in the mind with things that aren't typically compared with one another. It enjoys theoretical thinking, but also gets bored with dealing with one thing for too long. Ni focuses in, while Ne focuses out. Put link here-Ne dominant types.