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I have mentioned it for weeks, but the time has finally arrived! Let us discuss cognitive stacks and answer the question I planted in your mind: "What is a cognitive stack?"
A Little History
When Myers & Briggs first designed their type indicator assessment, they based it on the work of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. In his book Psychological Types, Jung lays out his argument for the main functions of consciousness. It was also in this work that Jung laid out the basis for different personality types. Myers & Briggs found great insight and usefulness in Jung's Psychological Types. However, typical of intellectual writing of the early 1900s, Jung's work is challenging to read and understand. The goal of Myers and Briggs was to take the writings of Jung and make them easier to understand and apply to the general population. I have another post about Myers & Briggs system (shortened to MBTI) you can check out here!
While Jung's main functions of consciousness remain helpful and pertinent to this day, the "General Descriptions of the Types" has taken most of the attention in the works of David Keirsey, Myers & Briggs, Truity, and the most popular current free version, 16Personalities.com. The prevalence of personality types over cognitive functions is not surprising. Cognitive functions and cognitive stacks (which the 16 personality types derive from) are somewhat complex while discussing common attributes of personality types is easy to grasp and straightforward.
Why Understand the Cognitive Functions? Why Not Keep to the 16 Types?
The depth you would like to go depends on how much you want to know about typology. In my experience, some people consistently type a certain way, such as an ISFJ, but do not resonate with many descriptions of their type. However, this dissonance often goes away when we introduce cognitive functions. In previous writings, I explained that MBTI is how our mind perceives and makes decisions in the world. The cognitive functions are a better way of explaining this concept than stereotypes of personality types. It is necessary to understand that cognitive functions are the building blocks of personality types. Exploring cognitive functions will allow you to gain a deeper insight into your thought processes, decision-making patterns, and how you interact with the world. Recognizing your cognitive functions can help your understanding and aid in personal development, improve communication and relationships, and guide career choices.
The Four MBTI Letters Versus the Cognitive Functions
The four letters Myers & Briggs developed (such as INFP versus ESTJ) are a shorthand for cognitive functions. However, confusion arises with the first and last letters (the extroversion-introversion and perceiving-judging letters). Often, we over-stereotype these letters to say, "I'm a complete extrovert. I can't get organized - I don't have a 'J' in my type. But I'm sometimes impulsive - does that mean I have a P in my type? I'm an introvert, but I like people - what does that mean?" This area is where the four letters start to break down. These outer letters are how to interpret the inner two letters. We will discuss more of this below!
The Cognitive Functions
As discussed above, typology (used in this sense to define work based on Jung and Myers & Briggs) revolves around the main functions of consciousness. Jung divided these functions into two perceiving functions (Sensing and Intuition) and two judging, or decision-making, functions (Thinking and Feeling). We modify these four functions by the two main attitude types, extroversion and introversion. This system gives us eight total cognitive functions:
Note that each of the eight functions has an abbreviation, given above in parentheses. These abbreviations are common in typology writings, while videos often use their full names.
Before we go any further, we need to define extroversion and introversion. In our everyday vernacular, extroversion means loud, outgoing, and charismatic, while introversion means quiet, shy, and introspective. However, when talking about Jungian typology and cognitive functions, we use a more nuanced definition. When we discuss cognitive functions, introversion and extroversion are where we place our focus and energy. So, by this understanding, introversion is a focusing inward of energy toward the self (How do I feel? What do I think? What am I experiencing? What is my path forward?) while extroversion is a focusing of energy towards others (How are others feeling? What does the group think? What are others experiencing? What is our collective path forward?). We are all a mix of introverted and extroverted tendencies based on our cognitive stack - essentially, we are all ambiverts to different levels. Okay, with that cleared up, lets continue on!
There are several writings and definitions for each of these functions. However, based on my readings and experiences, I have created descriptions of each cognitive function. It is not necessary to read all of these descriptions now. It will be helpful to return to these after learning more about your cognitive stack. I based my descriptions on those provided by MasterClass. I have added or removed information where I found it appropriate.
Introverted Sensing (Si): Introverted sensors rely on past experiences to understand present circumstances. Sensory input—sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound—plays a crucial role in memory recall and instinct. Personalities with a Si function tend to think inwardly and in patterns based on past experiences and traditions.
Extraverted Sensing (Se): Personality types with a Se function take in as much sensory information as possible. They tend to be very observant of the world around them. This function allows people to be present, live in the moment, and act without a great deal of worry about the past or future.
Introverted Intuition (Ni): People with Ni as a dominant function tend to focus inwardly and think through the world to understand it. They tend to think ten steps ahead and often have a novel understanding of the world that appears to come out of nowhere. They might find it challenging to articulate the reasons for decisions, but they arrive at them through logic and consideration.
Extraverted Intuition (Ne): Individuals with Ne as a dominant or auxiliary cognitive function more readily notice patterns in the events and people around them. They can also articulate these patterns and ideas to others. They can see several possibilities, are rapid-fire brainstormers, and can solve challenging questions on the fly in the moment. If you want to solve an escape room, bring someone with Ne with you.
Introverted Thinking (Ti): Introverted thinkers are analytical, making decisions based on data, categories, and theories inside their minds. Personalities with a Ti cognitive function tend to be quiet ponderers with a belief system based on personal experiences, previous insights, and discoveries. They internalize events around them.
Extraverted Thinking (Te): Extraverted thinkers make decisions about the world using observable facts over emotions and feelings. When they act, they do so with confidence. They focus on efficiency, creating systems, applying logic, and analyzing for effectiveness or where something is missing or could be improved.
Introverted Feeling (Fi): Introverted feelers are empathetic and feel others’ joy and pain with acuity. They rely on personal values and feelings to guide their decisions and actions. Personalities with Fi as a dominant or auxiliary function tend to make decisions based on what feels suitable for themselves, the group, and the current moment.
Extraverted Feeling (Fe): Cultural norms and societal mores dictate extraverted feelers’ belief systems. Personalities with a Fe function use their beliefs to brainstorm and often exhibit great sensitivity and care for others. They tend towards thinking more globally and culturally (such as in workplaces or areas of society) than personally.
The Cognitive Stack
A cognitive stack is a combination of cognitive functions. Every personality type has a unique stack. While a stack consists of all eight functions (yes, every person uses all eight in some form), we primarily only concern ourselves with the first four. Of these four, the first two account for about 90% of how you perceive and make decisions in the world. There are a number of names for each of the positions in your cognitive stack. Here is how I conceive of them.
Dominant Function: Also called your hero function, this is the function that you rely on the most. If you look at your life, at a time when you made the most progress, or you did something significant, where you had to work hard at it, but you succeeded, it was your hero function doing the heavy lifting and saving the day for you.
Auxiliary Function: Also known as the supportive function, this second function is what you tap into to support your dominant function. For example, as an ENTJ, I lead with my Extroverted Thinking. However, my ability to make confident and logical decisions is supported by my auxiliary function, Introverted Intuition - my ability to see how decisions will play out. The auxiliary (supportive) function is also the function we use to try and help others.
Tertiary Function: Your third function develops somewhat late in your life. Often, if you need to use this function in your teens or twenties, you will meet challenges as you figure out how to use it. You will not be able to count on this function as much as your first two, and it is often best to use this in a recreational or carefree manner. In my life, my third function is Extroverted Sensing, and this shows up as learning a new physical skill and entertaining others. For example, I practiced a lot of trumpet in my teens and twenties, but I always felt I was far behind other musicians who seemed to grasp it quickly. It was not until my thirties that I felt my abilities on the instrument were adequate to the goals I wanted to accomplish. The same goes for my slightly performative nature.
Inferior Function: The weakest of the four functions, your inferior function develops latest in life. However, we often find growth or breakthroughs if we dig into our fourth function, even if it is uncomfortable. My inferior function is Introverted Feeling, which is often related to understanding our personal feelings and emotions. When I use this function, I struggle a great deal (how do others just...understand how they are feeling?!?!). When dealing with a challenge that pulls us into our fourth function it is time to reach out to someone for whom this is a strength and ask for help.
Inferior Function and My Theory of RPGs: This part is just for fun. RPGs (role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons) attract different people for different reasons. I believe playing tabletop RPGs allows us to tap into our inferior function in a lighthearted and fun way. For example, after years of observation, I have found that people with Te as an inferior function often thrive in leading groups and making decisions in RPGs. Or those with Fi as an inferior function (like me) are great at creating deep characters full of emotional complexity. You can often see "introverts" taking control and being extroverted, while "extroverts" are unsure what to do and sometimes freeze. Just a fun little sidetrack.
Fifth Function and Beyond: From here, cognitive stack theory gets crazy and even harder to understand. Unless you are into cognitive function theory, I suggest sticking to the first four.
How a Cognitive Stack is Laid Out and How to Find Your Cognitive Stack from Your Four-Letter MBTI
Before we go any further, THIS SECTION IS NOT NECESSARY! This discussion gets deep in the weeds of cognitive stack theory and is not necessary to understand your cognitive stack. This section presents the rules of the cognitive stack and how to determine your stack from your four-letter MBTI type. YOU CAN SKIP THIS AND YOU WILL BE OKAY!
Okay, that said, I will not write out how this works. Why? Because it is so complicated to explain in writing. Instead, I am going to include this video from YouTuber Frank James. He does an excellent job of explaining how to find your dominant function and the rest of your cognitive stack.
I will start the video with the pertinent portion. It is about ten minutes of the thirty-minute video. I encourage you to watch the entire video, though. Frank James explains everything so clearly!
The Cognitive Stacks of the 16 Personality Types
All right, here we go. I have given you everything you need to know to get started on your personality type except the cognitive stacks of the 16 types. Here they are!
I have specifically listed the types this way because I want you to see how even one letter change makes a significant difference. Looking at the first two types on the list, ENTJ and ENTP, we see how only changing the last letter makes it so that these two "similar" types have almost nothing in common in their cognitive stacks! But, jumping down and comparing ENTJ and INTJ, they have the same cognitive functions in a slightly different order. If we compare the ENTJ and the ESTJ, we see they are the same except for their middle two functions. It is interesting to see where types that appear different are similar and vice versa.
A Quick Note on Functions and Relationships
I want to share a quick word of caution when comparing cognitive stacks with your friends and family. There is an entire world of cognitive stacks and function compatibility. It is fun and helpful, but do not let this determine who you should be friends with or marry. For example, two ENTJs may seem like they will get along but end up butting heads. Or the opposite - deep and meaningful friendships are often made with people who appear to have nothing in common with each other (my current closest friends are INTPs and ISFJs, and we share no primary functions in common). People are complex, cool, and interesting. Use cognitive function theory as a way of opening new connections rather than a tool to separate yourself from others.
BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT!
I have a whole lot more on cognitive stacks, personality, and how we can put all of this into practice in designing our lives. Check out more recommended blog posts at the bottom of this blog post!
Concluding Thoughts
I love cognitive functions. They are an eye-opening way of understanding ourselves and others. They are also a cornerstone of my coaching approach that goes beyond our typology stereotypes and instead looks at how we exist in the world.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post! I have wanted to write it since the beginning of my business. Is there something more you want to know? Reach out to me, and let's have a conversation!
With love,
Tom Chapman, TruePath Discovery Coaching