INFP and ISFP: Te Inferior (Extroverted Thinking)

The fourth function in your cognitive stack is known as the Inferior function. This function tends to be an area where we store our insecurities, but it is also an opportunity for growth and a vacation from ourselves. In this episode, we talk about how Extroverted Thinking (Te) presents in the fourth position (For the INFP and the ISFP). We also cover topics like projections, insecurities, and blind spots. These patterns of mental processes can manifest in a variety of ways that can hinder our ability to be our best selves and impact our relationships.

Resources for INFP:

Resources for ISFP:

Contact us at:

We're also on Discord - come talk to us with user ID: typecastheroes 2186​ (Note: This is not a discord server )

Sources (among others):

Beebe, J. (2016). Energies and patterns in psychological type: The reservoir of consciousness. New York, NY: Routledge.
Berens, L. V. (2000). Dynamics of personality type: Understanding and applying Jung's cognitive processes. Huntington Beach, Calif, CA: Telos Pub.
Franz, M. V.; Hillman, J. (1971). Lectures on Jung's typology. New York, NY: Spring Publications.
Hunziker, M. (2016). Depth Typology: C.G. Jung, Isabel Myers, John Beebe and the Guide Map to Becoming Who We Are. n.p.: Write Way Publishing Company, LLC.
Jung, C. G. (1971). Psychological Types. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Sharp, D. (1998). Jungian psychology unplugged: My life as an elephant. Ontario, Canada: Inner City Books.

[attheranch]

As an isfp I have always been unusually flexible. Change makes me feel alive!!

[sheandg]

Yes, When I do the Te thing I feel like such a grownup, even though I am! I pat myself on the back, and think why don’t I do this more often! - ISFP

[AdamGentry]

Interesting that Te 4th can become attached to "routines" as way of achieving greater efficiency (since Si is also known for a preference for routines, and Si and Te don't have a formal relationship with each other, so the two could appear side by side or far apart, leading to a greater or lesser double emphasis on routines).

[TristanDmarco]

I'm forced to use Te "heavily" at work, for 10 years. I've noticed that I've become 2 different people. In my personal life, I am an INFP, but when I am at work, my functions flip because I jump my stack and go straight to my inferior Te, and I begin to function as an ESTJ. This caused me a lot of confusion when I began to learn about MBTI and took the test, because I would answer the questions based on how I acted at work. It didn't help that some of my work habits rubbed off on my home and personal life. I'm now 43 and I've become a more balanced INFP, thankfully. I can sometimes come off as a thinker, but I know that I am definitely a feeler because of how personal matters become to me.

[airr]

(INFP) I’m a little disappointed in this INFP series. I think the INFP spouse is skewing the objectivity. There is way too much focus in this video on Te being logical and Fi being illogical. All functioning human beings are logical. A person can’t survive a day without using logic. Fi is not the absence of logic it is the connection with one’s feelings and values. Feelings are not in a dichotomy with logic. They are not opposites. In fact it’s frequently logical to account for one’s feelings when making a decision. Te is about self discipline, structure, and rule following. Te does not make one more logical anymore than Fi makes one illogical.

[jpmoosic]

Just here to confirm that an INFP can trick themselves into thinking they’re actually an INTP. What helped me get around this was looking at the inferior slot of the INTP, Fe, wasn’t relatable in the slightest where as Te definitely was and that inferior Te definitely shouldn’t be relatable if one was an INTP (for eg why would a thinking HERO be defensive/insecure around their intellect?!). Also if you spend time around INTPs you’ll know they don’t give a damn what people think of them UNLESS people think they are mean/insensitive. As an INFP that doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is when people think I’m incompetent/unintelligent.

The hoarding facts/monomania I can see where the inclination toward that comes from. I was definitely like this in my younger years. But that definitely has developed for me and I think this is because of the following cycle:

Hoard the limited facts

Make statements of the limited facts to others

Others tell you you’re wrong / make better arguments

Embarrassment gets printed to Si

Next time dealing with facts, the Si burn causes Ne kicks in and tells you to look at other possibilities

You learn to become skeptical of one source

You now have a makeshift check system (motivated by fear of embarrassment)

As an example of this, a friend posted on FB about the amount of workers dying whilst working on stadiums for the World Cup in quatar and I was making a reply quoting some policy which comes up immediately on google saying that Quatar has no health and safety policy. I was mid way through replying when my Ne kicked in and told me to look at other sources. And alas, Quatar has been introducing policies, gradually. Therefore some of the information on google is misleading/out of date and the reality is a lot more complex

My message to all INFPs out there struggling with Te is be patient and only engage in it when you need or want to move something forward. When you engage in it for ponderous/abstract reasons, this is where the effort drops and consequently, the output

[melbeth]

The concept of Te makes way more sense to me than the concept of Ti even as a Te inferior. When people say the phrase subjective logic to describe Ti I end up scrunching up my face like that meme of Steve from the office lol. To me, logic "goes out" and is objective, but it makes way more sense to my brain to then say we all have subjective feelings and experiences within that that determine what our reality is like. Having personal, subjective feelings, ethics, values, ect connected to an objective truth makes more sense to my brain.

I actually do fact check things actually but I'm also in my 40s as well so that probably correlates with it developing more in midlife. I also can hold onto a few main facts though that I feel are the most important within that research and often feel like others are just playing ring around the rosie collecting endless data when to me, the answer is often staring them in the face but they may not want to face it. I think data collection and fact checking are essential to weigh the facts, but an endless amount of it can feel like the person is not accepting the reality and still looking for an alternative. Sometimes the truth really is staring you in the face and you don't wanna see it too.

I am terrible with time efficiency. I lose a ridiculous amount of time and never really know where it goes. My main goal right now is more time efficiency. I like a schedule but one where the parameters are clearly defined, yet within that, I am given a lot of creative freedom. Example, I've had two jobs where I had to call in every morning just to see if I was working that day. It drove me nuts never knowing what I was doing from day to day so I quit. Had another job for 4 years where it was clearly defined that I worked 5 days a week anytime after 5 pm but had to finish before 8 am the next morning. I knew I had steady work, but was in total control of when I worked within that. It was gold and I thrived within that.

[joiamed]

These videos are very comprehensive.
I have to get super pissed off to use my Te. I'm INFP.
Te is like a bolt of lightning to me. I mean 1.21 gigawatts.

[AdamGentry]

I wonder if "obsessive mono mania" is limited to Te in the 4th role, or if it is a pitfall of Te (and I wonder if the other extroverted functions have a similar tendency in their own way to sometimes overly "mono" something).
Or, since (in theory), it's my understanding that roles 5-8 are (in some ways) weaker than role 4, maybe anyone with Te in roles 5-8 could also experience a form of "obsessive mono mania?"
My reason for wondering is I feel like I see different versions and levels of this behavior in quite a few people, but it feels "different" in ways that make me wonder if more than 2 of the 16 types have it (could be wrong, just thinking out loud).
I welcome the thoughts of others (particularly our lovely hosts) on this.

[AdamGentry]

Is there a name for this concept of "a person thinking their 4th function is their first, thinking their 1st function is their fourth, and thus incorrectly believing 'I've already mastered my fourth (when they've actually mastered their 1st)?" It seems like the kind of thing that would have a name (and I feel like I've met some people who have done this).

Also, this seems like something that could easily happen to any of the 16 personality types, or are there some types that are more prone to it than others (for example, does having Fi in your upper 3 or specifically in #1 increase the likelihood)?
Or perhaps it's more common with some functions in the 4th role (or 1st) than others?

It's a very interesting concept, and one I'd love to hear more about.

[georgecataloni]

Your sister is typing monkeys?! Do they have intuition? I have wondered this for awhile.

[circe_inkwell]

“It doesn’t even occur to him to fact check his facts”

I’m always surprised when I hear anecdotes like this, because as an ISFP (and yes I did listen to the disclaimer) it doesn’t feel true to my own experience or those of the ISFPs I know. I was on the debate team in high school, I went to law school, I took jurisprudence for fun. Critical Thinking was my favorite paper. I don’t think you would get very far in those areas if you were selective about which facts you wanted to employ in your arguments.

I’m not being critical of your content, just simply saying that generally it’s very hard to reconcile so much of the information about ISFPs with the ISFPs I know and I’m curious if there is a reason for that.

[ashutoshsingh]

Jessy is changing hair color like one changes clothes daily 😉

[julianlapidus]

Can you do a video on the cognitive functions that Western culture values as a list? For example: most valued to least valued