What are the Cognitive Functions of the 16 Personalities? | Cognitive Functions Explained

This is an introduction to the Cognitive Functions, which are the inner workings of the 16 Myers-Briggs Personalities. After watching this video, you'll understand all the basics of cognitive functions, and know how to identify the cognitive functions of all 16 personality types.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:21 What are “Cognitive Functions”?
3:22 The 2 Attitudes
4:07 The 8 Cognitive Functions
6:43 Cognitive Functions and their Opposite
8:34 The 4 Axes
9:44 Why are Functions in Pairs?
10:38 The Dominant Function
11:32 How we got to 16 Personalities
13:05 The Auxiliary (2nd) Function
14:51 How to know what a type’s Dominant function is
16:47 Examples of figuring out a type’s functions
22:17 What is a Cognitive Function Stack?
23:10 The Tertiary (3rd) function
24:00 The Inferior (4th) function
25:04 Why the Inferior is such a problem
26:39 Challenge!

Want more 16 Personalities? Check out these playlists:

The 16 Personalities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator are INFJ, INTJ, INFP, ISFP, INTP, ISTP, ISFJ, ISTJ, ENFP, ENTP, ESTP, ESFP, ENTJ, ESTJ, ENFJ, ESFJ

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#16Personalities #16Types #MBTI #MyersBriggs #INFJ #INFP #INTJ #INTP #ENTP #ENFP

[lost]

I used to be a fan, but after hearing this masterpiece, I'm a whole air conditioner

[cosmo]

Once you get into cognitive functions and somewhat understand it, you can’t get out of mbti, seriously, it’s so interesting even though it’s repetitive.

[Cherrycreamsoda]

I almost forgot that Frank is in fact an incredibly smart guy and not just a comedian who writes skits. He's a great teacher.

Edit: I've seen a lot of replies saying that comedians are smart. That is definitely true. What I meant is an intellectual; there are many types of intelligence. Have a lovely day :D

[hestiathena]

Some more help for newbies; Here is the core question each function asks (IMHO):

Se - What is happening right now in this situation?
Si - What happened before in similar situations and does it apply here?

Ne - What new ideas can I derive from the data?
Ni - How can I link all the data together into a unified system of ideas?

Te - What makes logical sense for the group in terms of efficiency and getting things done?
Ti - What makes logical sense in my own mind regardless of others' opinions?

Fe - What do others in my group value and how do I find harmony with them?
Fi - What do I value personally and how do I act with authenticity?

Also, anyone who wants to go further down the rabbit hole might want to look into shadow functions, which is basically the mirror opposite of your function stack and can emerge during periods of high stress. (For example, an INFJ's shadow stack is Ne-Fi-Te-Si.)

[cometcat]

Honestly I couldnt be happier that Frank decided to talk about cognitive functions since his channel is a lot of peoples intro to MBTI this is the absolute best way to spread the info and clear misconceptions! Loved it!

[cameron]

i think dear Kristin made a shorts video that went like this

How we want people to talk about mbti: *talks about cognitive functions and talks about it properly*

How people talk about mbti: “I’m an ENTJ and you’re an ENTP, so I’m the more organized version of you!”

It was so realistic it was frightening 😂

[saby]

Determining your mbti based on cognitive functions is wayy better than the I/E N/S F/T P/J stuff. I'm able to understand people's mbti so much faster by using those functions. It really great

[fromant]

About the stack:
The first letter tells you if your dominant function is Extroverted (e) or Introverted (i)
The fourth letter tells you what's your Extroverted function, either Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)
For example, INFJ:
The first function is introverted, and the extroverted function is Feeling (because of the J), so it has Fe somewhere
So its stack must be
Ni (first is introverted, can't be Fe)
Fe (Preferred judging function)
Ti (Opposite from Fe)
Se (Opposite from Ni)
You can really type yourself accurately with this info.
For example, I'm an INFJ, and even I'm not sure if I prefer Ni or Fe for my dominant function, I'm sure my inferior function is Se because I struggle so much with the sensible world, but not that much with making rational decisions (Ti)
Anyway, the rest of the stacks:
INTJ: Ni Te Fi Se
ENFJ: Fe Ni Se Ti
ENTJ: Te Ni Se Fi
INFP: Fi Ne Si Te
ENFP: Ne Fi Te Si
INTP: Ti Ne Si Fe
ENTP: Ne Ti Fe Si
ISFJ: Si Fe Ti Ne
ISTJ: Si Te Fi Ne
ESFJ: Fe Si Ne Ti
ESTJ: Te Si Ne Fi
ISFP: Fi Se Ni Te
ISTP: Ti Se Ni Fe
ESFP: Se Fi Te Ni
ESTP: Se Ti Fe Ni

[CamzCritiques]

the F vs T functions are the judging functions. you make decisions with them. your F vs T are always the opposite of each other.

Fi - personal values (priortizing your own likes, taste, morals, hobbies, etc. "following your heart")
Te - tribe reasoning (prioritizing other people's advice that's backed up with their logic, facts, data. trusting the consensus. wants people to work together effectively)

Ti - personal reasoning (prioritizing what makes sense to you with your own findings, skeptical of outside reasoning and often asking questions)
Fe - tribe values (prioritizing what other people like and value. trusts common ethics. seeks harmony)



N vs S are percieving functions. they're about how you process your surroundings which you then go on to use to make decisions. N and S also gotta be opposites.

Ne - gathering the abstract (consuming ideas, patterns, and possibilities in a scattered frenzied way. and it spits out these things chaotically)
Si - organizing the concrete (taking the time to break down information and past experiences in a linear fashion. uses familiarity to try to control the environment)

Se - gathering the concrete (consuming facts and surroundings, truly going with the sensory flow living in the moment. in a frenzied chaotic way as well)
Ni - organizing the abstract (taking the time to process the patterns and zeroe in on few ideas to reach a point in a linear way. breaks down concepts. uses predictability to try to take control)



regarding the xxxP and xxxJ stuff. an easier way to memorize function stacks based off of those letters is this:
P types prefer introverted judging (Fi/Ti) and extroverted percieving (Ne/Se)

J types prefer extroverted judging (Fe/Te) and introverted percieving (Ni/Si)

Ni/Si are about control and Ne/Se are about chaos, that's the typical J vs P. although this mostly applies to IxxJs vs ExxPs. IxxPs and ExxJs are way more chill when it comes to that balance

enough about letters. your inner and outer cognitive functions are your dominant and your inferior, and they're opposites. their imbalance is basically your life struggle. like doing Ne all the time without effort, but you hate Si-ing. yet the less you do your inferior function, the worse you as a person function and the more unhealthy you get

your middle functions are also opposite but work together a lot better. like using your reasoning (Ti) to make comfort people (Fe) is a common thing i see.

if your first function is introverted, your second needs to be extroverted. if you have Ne first you cant have Te second. it can only be 3rd.

[yellow_jacket]

How to sum up the cognitive functions:

Ni - unconscious information process, one definite answer
Ne - one single piece of information, multiple answers
Fe - value of other people
Fi - value of yourself
Te - External logical efficiency
Ti - Internal logical stratosphere
Se - External Environment
Si - Internal Environment

[esfjazzy]

Just a disclaimer, your 3rd (tertiary) function isn't always "not preferred". Some people are jumpers/in loops, meaning they run with their 1st and 3rd function, rather than their 1st and 2nd. For example, an ESFP could be SeTe rather than SeFi

[Sarah-ssmb]

THIS IS THE MOSY IMPORTANT FJ VIDEO YOU’LL WATCH IMO. honestly in my head the four letters are more of an abbreviation at this point and the cognitive functions are the actual substance of the types. once you understand functions it’s like a whole other world opens up in mbti

[dipsydoodle]

I usually have no idea what he's talking bout half the time. He's just entertaining to watch, so I'll keep watching.

[Sophie-cmun]

19:51 you just have to remember this: for IXXJ and EXXP types the dominant function is a perceiving one, for IXXP and EXXJ ones it’s a judging function.

[cosmo]

I don’t think he will act as a particular ‘doctor/professor/scientiest’ today just because he is only going to explain the cognitive functions.

He worked so hard on this video though.

[Carol_]

Frank, thank you so much for this. I know several people have commented about wanting this video, and I am so glad you did it. IMO, it’s one of the most important MBTI videos you’ve made.

TBH, it’s still confusing to me. I even slowed down the video to listen more carefully. For some reason, it’s like you’re speaking “math” to me.☺️ Once that happens, I have to fight to concentrate. The same thing happened while reading some sections of “Gifts Differing”. I find myself re-reading the same paragraph repeatedly without it sinking in. However, your adding a white board to your video has helped tremendously. I now plan on getting a poster board and creating a diagram of all of this with a legend so I can quickly look at it when I get confused.

I hesitate to mention this, because I feel stupid, but another thing that trips me up is the use of the words “value” and “responsibility”. For instance, someone will say, “This is your most dominate function; the one you feel responsible for…”. Responsible as in I feel responsible for developing or nurturing it? as in I use it automatically? as in I feel responsible to be the one in a group to use this function? I need a synonym if anyone can help me better understand how these words are used in this context.☺️

Again, thank you for taking the time to record this video.

[anastrong]

Frank as a fellow INFJ I applaud you for being able to spout out so much info and barely get distracted 😂😉 great video 👍🏻

[dearkristin]

This was a super important video to make and you nailed it! Awesome job, Frank!

[maciejk]

Thank you, you never know too much about the functions. I remember my frustration when I first got to MBTI community and no one could explain them to me. Now I know a lot but I am still expanding my understanding.

[zapsyou]

I'm already aware of how this all works but I still watched it because Frank just manages to make it entertaining no matter what lol