# mbti test and cognitive functions



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

This may be stupid question but I still ask roud:

Lets say I got these results from simple mbti test : 

E/I: ?
S: 90%
F: 70%
P: 30%

So my type is ESFP (Se>Fi>Te>Ni) or ISFP (Fi>Se>Ni>Te). Can I argue from there that my type is ESFP, because test gave me stronger S than F? This wasn't cognitive function-test so I'm not sure... and I don't know that much about mbti theory but maybe you do :wink: just trying to figure this way am I E or I..


----------



## Kito (Jan 6, 2012)

It's more to do with the strength of the E or the I, really. You just have to think about what you find more interesting - are you more likely to engage in your rich inner world, or are you more interested in the excitement of the outer world?

It'd probably be worth your while to read about Fi and Se. It's often said that your dominant function is used so often that it's hard to tell when you're actually using it, because it's practically always in use.


----------



## firedell (Aug 5, 2009)

Those tests hold so many baisis I wouldn't even attempt to figure out anything from them.


----------



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

Kito said:


> It's more to do with the strength of the E or the I, really. You just have to think about what you find more interesting - are you more likely to engage in your rich inner world, or are you more interested in the excitement of the outer world?
> 
> It'd probably be worth your while to read about Fi and Se. It's often said that your dominant function is used so often that it's hard to tell when you're actually using it, because it's practically always in use.


Actually I have red about Fi and Se from maybe 5 different site but I'm still not sure :crazy: cognitive function test doesn't help because I can guess what function (for example Se or Fi) is behind question and its hard to answer objectively... and inner or outer world... hmm it depends where I have been more lately. If I have busy day at school/work I want to be alone and if I'm alone a day or couple then I need some excitement.. I'm difficult to type but thanks for help roud:


----------



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

firedell said:


> Those tests hold so many baisis I wouldn't even attempt to figure out anything from them.


Yep, I don't know if first letter is E or I because shyness makes me act like I... and its hard to answer I/E questions in test.


----------



## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

happygoluckyFIN said:


> This may be stupid question but I still ask roud:
> 
> Lets say I got these results from simple mbti test :
> 
> ...


Well the 30% P is a little strange. I'm not sure how that works, I'm guessing 50% isn't the cut off for J/P on that test which is weird. So I'm not sure what to make of those results.

Either way in order to be a F-dom (ISFP) you would expect that Feeling would be your highest score followed by Sensation. In your case Sensation is clearly your highest score, which should make you a Sensation type (at least according to that test) meaning either ESFP or ISFJ.


----------



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

LiquidLight said:


> Well the 30% P is a little strange. I'm not sure how that works, I'm guessing 50% isn't the cut off for J/P on that test which is weird. So I'm not sure what to make of those results.


Cut off in this case is 0% and both J and P scales are from 0%-100%. So 30 % P means I'm P-type roud: test was more just for fun but I got similar results from other mbti tests.


----------



## Eric B (Jun 18, 2010)

It's not measuring Sensing against Feeling; it's measuring Sensing over iNtuition, and Feeling over Thinking. All that means is that based on the test questions, you were able to identify with S over N; stronger than F over T. This could indicate S dominance, but there are many other reasons this could happen. Fi, especially as dominant, is often hard to notice, because it's so ingrained. I think it was said somewhere that we may notice our auxiliaries more than our dominants. The dominant is bound up in the ego, while the auxiliary is what we often go to the world with, to offer support.

The way it's set up; if you scored higher on Introversion and Perceiving, then the perception function is extraverted, and the judging function is both introverted and dominant. It doesn't matter how dichotomy percentages compare to each other. (Unless you're doing "subtypes", which are homegrown additions from these forums. So you would be an "SFPI", assuming I was the weakest or most in-question preference).


----------



## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

And of course it is worth pointing out that unless you are taking the actual MBTI Instrument, a Singer-Loomis Test, or a Wheelright-Gray test, any result you get from an online test might as well just be throwing a dart at a wall and picking a type. If you want to get an MBTI score you should take the actual instrument, otherwise you are just getting someone's opinion essentially.


----------



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

> It'd probably be worth your while to read about Fi and Se. It's often said that your dominant function is used so often that it's hard to tell when you're actually using it, because it's practically always in use.





Eric B said:


> It's not measuring Sensing against Feeling; it's measuring Sensing over iNtuition, and Feeling over Thinking. All that means is that based on the test questions, you were able to identify with S over N; stronger than F over T. This could indicate S dominance, but there are many other reasons this could happen. Fi, especially as dominant, is often hard to notice, because it's so ingrained. I think it was said somewhere that we may notice our auxiliaries more than our dominants. The dominant is bound up in the ego, while the auxiliary is what we often go to the world with, to offer support.


Thanks for a tip, I try to find more information about Fi vs Te and Se vs Ni. It really was hard to compare Se and Fi to see which I use more :crazy: so is auxiliar function used more consciously?


----------



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

LiquidLight said:


> And of course it is worth pointing out that unless you are taking the actual MBTI Instrument, a Singer-Loomis Test, or a Wheelright-Gray test, any result you get from an online test might as well just be throwing a dart at a wall and picking a type. If you want to get an MBTI score you should take the actual instrument, otherwise you are just getting someone's opinion essentially.


Are cognitive function- descriptions (for example in sticky- threads) more reliable? I have read about E/I, S/N... etc differences and xSFP seems to be my type, only wondering about I/E..

EDIT: reason why I don't take real test is that those cost something and I want to figure my type for free *if it's possible*


----------



## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

Well that's just the thing you can't really look at it like "am I I or E?", which is what Eric B and others have been saying. Because the difference between ISFP and ESFP is Se vs Fi not I vs E. ESFPs are Extraverted Sensation types meaning their primary orientation is to the physical world around them and ISFPs are Introverted Feeling types meaning their primary orientation is to the world of their own inner judgments about things. The I/E score at its best only gives us a hint that, for instance, if you are more outgoing then perhaps you might be extraverted, but this is not a given. People can be behaviorally all over the spectrum for a number of different reasons but still be I or E.

So what you want to figure out is Se or Fi. Without getting too crazy into theory I would maybe check out @_simulatedworld_'s type descriptions over at Personality Nation which are pretty good. The reality is no test is going to be able to tell you what you don't already know (since the tests are self-report test, what you put in is what you get out). So it really falls to you to do the work to try and figure out yourself. The test at best will only get you in the ballpark. 

One of the easiest ways is to try to identify your inferior function -- your weakness, the part of yourself you know you aren't good at, the thing you hate when other people use, the thing that makes you seem foolish sometimes. For ESFPs that is Intuition. They typically have intuitions about things that are all over the map, often jumping to conclusions about things "you don't like me because I'm a girl," that may or may not be true, or conspiracy theorizing or being overly superstitious. Sensation types basically live in the present moment, so the idea of there being more than meets the eye (which is what Intuition tells us) is discomforting for them. It's too mystical and weird and creepy (this is also why ENFP and ESFP are in reality very far apart because ENFP lives for their intuition where ESFP represses it). ESxPs and ISxJs, both being dominant Sensation types have this predilection for bad intuitions, but with ISxJs its pointed at the outer world, so you get a lot of worrying, negative possibilities ("what if this happens, what if that happens,"), always predicting the worst possible outcome, etc. But ESPs are more similar to ISJs than they are to IFPs. 

ISFPs have issues around Thinking. They may not recognize it, but deep down they may feel that other people are always smarter than them, that they haven't achieved enough, that they just can't figure things out, that they'd rather let other people do the more intellectual work...often there is a real downplay of intellectual things (but deep down a sort of yearning to be smart like that too). It's not that ISFPs are not smart, its just that Thinking as a conscious perspective doesn't come easily for them. They'd rather evaluate things based on how they feel about them, than to think conceptually about something. So you can see when you break it down the difference between ESFP and ISFP are much, much more dramatic than simple I vs E.


----------



## happygoluckyFIN (Jun 12, 2011)

LiquidLight said:


> One of the easiest ways is to try to identify your inferior function -- your weakness, the part of yourself you know you aren't good at, the thing you hate when other people use, the thing that makes you seem foolish sometimes. For ESFPs that is Intuition. They typically have intuitions about things that are all over the map, often jumping to conclusions about things "you don't like me because I'm a girl," that may or may not be true, or conspiracy theorizing or being overly superstitious. Sensation types basically live in the present moment, so the idea of there being more than meets the eye (which is what Intuition tells us) is discomforting for them. It's too mystical and weird and creepy (this is also why ENFP and ESFP are in reality very far apart because ENFP lives for their intuition where ESFP represses it). ESxPs and ISxJs, both being dominant Sensation types have this predilection for bad intuitions, but with ISxJs its pointed at the outer world, so you get a lot of worrying, negative possibilities ("what if this happens, what if that happens,"), always predicting the worst possible outcome, etc. But ESPs are more similar to ISJs than they are to IFPs.
> 
> ISFPs have issues around Thinking. They may not recognize it, but deep down they may feel that other people are always smarter than them, that they haven't achieved enough, that they just can't figure things out, that they'd rather let other people do the more intellectual work...often there is a real downplay of intellectual things (but deep down a sort of yearning to be smart like that too). It's not that ISFPs are not smart, its just that Thinking as a conscious perspective doesn't come easily for them. They'd rather evaluate things based on how they feel about them, than to think conceptually about something. So you can see when you break it down the difference between ESFP and ISFP are much, much more dramatic than simple I vs E.


This was very useful :happy:. Seems like my type is ESFP after all, this weak intuition sounds more familiar than weak thinking- function. Thank you very much for help!:happy:


----------

