# Type(s) most likely to have a well-developed tertiary function



## aj1023 (Aug 21, 2012)

Are there some types that are more likely to have developed their tertiary function than others?

I'm thinking ESFP is among the most likely to have done so, since Te is valued so greatly in most Western societies, which their dominant Se picks up on and strives to adapt to. I also tend to have a hard time telling if some ESFPs are actually ENTJs (especially males) because of their outspoken, confrontational demeanors that I assume come from their tertiary Te. Many unhealthy/bitter female ESFPs tend to come across as ENTJs to me as well.

Of course, ENFPs can have a well-developed Te too, but their preference of Ne over Se naturally makes them place less importance on developing it (from what I've witnessed).

I'd say INFJs seem more likely to develop their tertiary than other types as well, as they are often very intellectual which in turn gives them more exposure to Ti ways of thinking.

I'd also give honorable mentions to those with tertiary sensing, another function highly valued in many societies. Most ENxJs I've met have developed Se to some noticeable degree, whether it be a competitive nature, high social awareness, etc. Same goes for INxPs; one INFP I know seems to have higher Si than Ne at times.


Curious if this is all in my imagination. I've added a poll too.


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## Bardo (Dec 4, 2012)

aj1023 said:


> I'd also give honorable mentions to those with tertiary sensing, another function highly valued in many societies. Most ENxJs I've met have developed Se to some noticeable degree, whether it be a competitive nature, high social awareness, etc. Same goes for INxPs; one INFP I know seems to have higher Si than Ne at times.


I know an INTP who seems to have more Si than Ne. I don't really know what to say to him whereas I can talk to another INTP friend of mine for continuous hours. He has no interest in the usual N things.

I think my Ti is pretty good, my Fe is definitely there but I had no proper control of it for a long time. I think the last few years have really boosted my Fe closer to what it should be. 
I've always been ultra fair, polite and tried to be super moral but I was a type 5 robot for a long time. I can still be blunt and very detached. I've noticed ISFJ men with much better Fe than me.
Without Fe I wouldn't be able to figure out people, I am very psychological, so it has always been there. I used to be very social anxiety as well, that I think is down to a strong but uncontrolled Fe. 

Dario Nardi said he's seen people in their 20's show extended use of the 3rd function on the EEG machine, you start to develop your smaller functions more and more as you age. I can definitely see it in older ESTJs, they make quite a lot of crazy jokes and come up with funny mental imagery.


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## Ellis Bell (Mar 16, 2012)

Yeah, I think this is probably more of a developmental thing rather than one type is more likely than another to have their tertiary function more developed (perhaps developed is a bad word. Maybe people become more aware of this perspective as they get older, as it is always "there," just not as consciously strong). But you have an interesting theory. I do think that personal development is often colored by our life experiences, job requirements, and sometimes even societal expectations (my inferior Fe, for example really gets pounded hard. In fact, I think I'm even hyper-aware of how this perspective manifests in me, because I'm so aware of how I "should" act in certain situations that come more naturally to other women). It's more that there are certain types of people within society, not necessarily MBTI types, who end up becoming more aware of their tertiary perspective as they get older.


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## cudibloop (Oct 11, 2012)

ExxPs and INFJs usually. I can sense lots of Te and Fe in ExFPs and ExTPs respectively; ExTPs love bromancing while ExFPs can be very "hmph." with their noses up in the air.

INFJs look like thinkers 80% of the time.


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## thinking_one (Jun 26, 2013)

INFjs for sure. School has a huge role in developing Ti, I think. Have to be able to explain your Ni reasoning for so many things.


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## Distort (Aug 31, 2012)

Male aux-F's and Female aux-T's.


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## rabbitofkaz (Sep 19, 2012)

Anyone with a family whose types don't match their own. As the only S in an N family, I'd better develop my tertiary, or I'm pretty boring. (and the reverse situation would probably be true as well)


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## Quernus (Dec 8, 2011)

I'm not officially voting, because I don't know, but I do want to say I know a couple of ENFJs who seem to have pretty well-developed Se. Could be because they're both Sevens (enneagram) but I have heard that the Fe-Se loop is really a thing. I wonder why. Maybe because a lot of people don't understand or respond well to Ni. And for an Fe-dom, it might be hard to put Ni out there and be met with blank looks or lack of connection, so they switch over to Se?


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## deftonePassenger (Jun 18, 2012)

This was a shot in the dark for me. But from my experience, ISTP's have been pretty receptive toward the theoretical that I've thrown at them, so ISTP. Also, I've caught myself effectively using Si a lot lately.


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## KateMarie999 (Dec 20, 2011)

My best friend is an INFJ with scarily developed Ti. I've noticed that ENTPs tend to come off as having strong Fe at times but then I found, at least in one case, that the ENTP in question was using feelings to manipulate. ENFPs are another type I notice tend to have a strong tertiary function. Every ENFP I've met can spot logical inconsistencies a mile away and get almost aggressive about fixing them. One of my ENFP friends tends to be the voice of logic and, when she has to, snaps people back to reality. I've done this as well and I am happy that my Te is developing this well. I think the sensing versions of these types tend to have strong tertiary functions as well. My ISFJ mom comes off as an ISTJ most of the time, though I suspect that's just weak Fe rather than strong Ti. I've also met ESxJs with ridiculously strong Ne. So it depends on the individual. I voted INFJ because that's the type I notice this most with.


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## ponyjoyride (May 7, 2010)

Couldn't this be just any type of person who is mature enough?


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## Shadow2 (May 31, 2011)

INFP because they have a strong sense of nostalgia (Si), and always want comfort so they stay in their dreamworld for as long as they were children, and like that familiar security (Si). I know some don't like trying new extreme things. They have great memory of the things that they value and always have that happy spark when they remember something in the past (Si) (though it's usually if they find the present depressing).

Also since Si has to do with internal senses, I remember I was always discomforted because of it. Whether it was an uncomfortable sitting position, or trying to get into a good sleeping position. Being scared of danger and avoiding physical activities was another thing with me, but that might not tie in with Si.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

l notice ISTPs tend toward the theoretical at higher rates than the other S types, and sooner.

Maybe it's the Ti activating the curiousity. So l would also say ISTP's Ni. INFJ 2nd


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## Bardo (Dec 4, 2012)

cudibloop said:


> ExTPs love bromancing.



Loool


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## Nordom (Oct 12, 2011)

I think it is more age and experience than anything else that is type-related.

Of course experience helps develop Si . . .

Wait, I HAVE tertiary Si. So, not me.


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## DJeter (May 24, 2011)

Distort said:


> Male aux-F's and Female aux-T's.


Spot on. F/T is the most notable distinction vis-a-vis the sexes and causes a lot of tension for IFJ and EFP males and ITJ and ETP females.

Fuck sex stereotypes, yo.


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## JungyesMBTIno (Jul 22, 2011)

Can't measure that or predict that. That's on the individual. The tertiary function might actually be the opposite one of that conceived by MBTI (so, for an INTJ, it would be Fe, if one assumes "tertiary" status is only meant to indicate an influential area of the personality with a "child" complex or complexes in general, according to Beebe and possible in Jung). Fi might actually be quite normal or maybe irrelevant in, say, an "INTJ" - I don't really know. Perhaps it's a compensation for complexes, I don't really know. Function orientations really were not very important to Jung unless you lead with a certain function. MBTI made them important (I don't agree with that perspective with regards to accuracy - it might work with identification, but it probably doesn't really mean anything), but originally accepted the idea that an INFJ might have tertiary Te or whathaveyou.


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## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

INFPs who have this vague sense that they are very INFJ-ish, yet they see clearly that they use Fi base and Te inferior could potentially be *ISFPs with a very well developed and in use Ni* imo.

You pretty much know you have Ni when a movie like Jacob's Ladder makes incredible sense to you at the end and suddenly all the pieces fall into place (because you saw it around the middle of the movie and in your confusion foretold the truth), you can rush back to events at the beginning of it and recognize the symbols / completely rewrite or recreate the entire movie in your head from a different perspective to understand fully what the director was doing / what really was happening as if scene by scene you are connecting the dots, *from chaos to making sense, from many broken pieces to one truth.*

That is Ni at work, even if tertiary, I got one hell of a high out of watching Jaco's Ladder 1990 and I thought I was a strange INFP-INFJ mix for more then a year, yet I don't have a Fe preference or Ti preference.


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## JungyesMBTIno (Jul 22, 2011)

If I were to hazard a guess, perhaps tert. thinking types tend to develop that side better than those who downplay feeling, just because thinking is supported in society (as well as sensation). There's no way to really prove this though, it comes down to personal factors too much, like upbringing, etc. Jung would probably say there are some inexplicable qualities of the person's personality that either support this or not.


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## nonnaci (Sep 25, 2011)

Depends on collective pressures and one's adaptation or rejection against it. In the US, k-12 education math/sci caters to extraverted thinking (facts, procedures). Advanced degrees along the "math purity spectrum" favor any form of intuition and introverted thinking (abstraction away from experience, depth). Later social institutions such as marriage and family push for the development of feeling relations. Sensing (comfort, impulse to experience) is a culturally valued. By looking at the strength of these various pressures and different age groups that they apply to, I'd rank tertiary *Se/Si/Fe/Te* most valued and *Fi/Ne/Ni/Ti* least valued if one is adapted to these pressures, and switched if rejected when seen on the defensive.


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