The Jungian Function Stack
The interpretations on how types are composed...
(This is one of my old articles on personality typology! It is highly specific and catered to those who already have knowledge on the topic. My page is not dedicated solely to these concepts anymore.)
When considering the eight different cognitive functions in a type, there are multiple interpretations that detail their “correct” order. This concerns the introverted or extraverted attitudes of the dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior cognitive functions. As always, it is fair to have individual interpretations, but there is debate upon the distinct “correct” answer when attempting to talk about the function stack in Jungian types.
Writers like Myers-Briggs and Grant all had their own theories that amalgamated into the popularized MBTI system today. While those hardcore into typology no longer use these interpretations of Jung’s system, it was still crucial in the beginning of the community’s understanding of typology. Over time, people have—of course—preferred to stick to Jung’s original source, but his writing opens up for a lot of questioning on what his system actually meant.
Myers-Briggs’ theory is often the first system people are introduced to. It presents the eight cognitive functions in the form of the EIEI/IEIE stack, with each type only having four functions. Introverted and extraverted attitudes switch in the auxiliary functions, supporting the dominant and inferior.
Much of the typology community believes now that this EIEI/IEIE interpretation comes from an error Myers-Briggs made when interpreting a specific section in Psychological Types.
For all the types appearing in practice, the principle holds good that besides the conscious main function there is also a relatively unconscious, auxiliary function which is in every respect different from the nature of the main function. From these combinations well-known pictures arise, the practical intellect for instance paired with sensation, the speculative intellect breaking through with intuition, the artistic intuition which selects. and presents its images by means of feeling judgment, the philosophical intuition which, in league with a vigorous intellect, translates its vision into the sphere of comprehensible thought, and so forth. Psychological Types (Carl Jung)
Here, Jung is referring to the dichotomies of thinking and feeling and sensation and intuition. The previous paragraph made references only to the auxiliary function’s rational or irrational dichotomy, and not its introverted or extraverted component.
Experience shows that the secondary function is always one whose nature is different from, though not antagonistic to, the leading function: thus, for example, thinking, as primary function, can readily pair with intuition as auxiliary, or indeed equally well with sensation, but, as already observed, never with feeling. Psychological Types (Carl Jung)
In other words, a dominant judging function must be followed by an auxiliary perceiving function. Therefore, Myers-Briggs likely interpreted this passage as referring to the introverted and extraverted dichotomy, thus creating the EIEI/IEIE stack in Gifts Differing. She then went on to emphasize the importance of dichotomies until the letter typing of MBTI known today was created.
Note: judging and perceiving are not necessarily Jungian terms, and instead the words used are rational and irrational. This concept is very important in Jungian typology, and the two sides have distinct personality differences. This dichotomy is also crucial in socionics, as Augusta also emphasized upon its use with the terms schizothyme (rational attitude) and cyclothyme (irrational attitude).
Another interpretation similar to Myers-Briggs’ that also uses the EIEI/IEIE stack is Grant’s, but Grant emphasized the individual cognitive functions on their axes (Te-Fi, Fe-Ti, Ne-Si, Se-Ni) more than Myers-Briggs. This is where the popularized typology systems came from, including the dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior functions. Functions, while described in a cognitive sense, lost much of their inherent meaning to analytical psychology due to the absence of the unconscious in presenting this idea. This is the biggest problem with the interpretations of Jung’s theory: where the unconscious mind is erased from the idea of the functions, the essence of Jung’s ideas are erased. The first indication of function axes inherently implies the different types of consciousness:
A grouping of the unconscious functions also takes place in accordance with the relationship of the conscious functions. Thus, for instance, an unconscious intuitive feeling attitude may correspond with a conscious practical intellect, whereby the function of feeling suffers a relatively stronger inhibition than intuition. Psychological Types (Carl Jung)
In modern understanding, however, this fact is relatively unknown to those who have not really read Psychological Types due to the influence of Grant’s function model.
Another example of Grant’s impact is in the form of the tertiary function which, in Jung’s writing, does not necessarily exist. Instead, there are two auxiliary functions meant to support the dominant function and the inferior function: the one supporting the inferior function (what is known as the tertiary function) being relatively more unconscious than the other auxiliary function. However, while this is a concept present throughout Jung’s writing especially in CW9, it is clearer that Jung cared more about the division of the dominant and inferior in personality given the general concept of the ego in human personality and the shadow. It is clear that the dominant and inferior functions have both different attitudes and are separate in terms of rationality and irrationality.
This is further illustrated with the concept of the transcendental function Jung proposed, where a third function would bridge the two sides of the mind—the conscious and the unconscious—together as people progressed in the individuation process, either voluntarily or involuntarily (done through archetypes that influence the mind in the collective unconscious). Here, it is more important that the dominant function and the inferior function exist as polar opposites to represent the two sides of the mind. As all of Jung’s works dealt with this kind of grappling with the unconscious, the existence of the transcendental function communicates that the individual functions that Jung referred to in Psychological Types were not necessarily as important as the idea of opposition: opposing each other in the rational/irrational dichotomy as well as the introverted/extraverted attitudes.
When the mediatory product is preserved in this way, it fashions a raw product which is for construction, not for dissolution, and which becomes a common object for both thesis and antithesis; thus it becomes a new content that governs the whole attitude, putting an end to the division, and forcing the energy of the opposites into a common channel. The suspension of life is, therewith, abolished, and the individual life can compass a greater range with new energy and new goals. Psychological Types (Carl Jung)
Therefore, the variations in the psychology of the different interpretations provides a stark contrast from where they originated.
As for the “correct” function stack, the previous explanation reveals that it must be at least EI or IE (notating only the dominant and inferior). It also removes the possibility of the EIEI/IEIE stack due to the lack of evidence to support the switching of introverted/extraverted dichotomies. What is left is the popular EEII/IIEE stack, but there is more to it than simply that option.
Another concept Jung wrote about is function differentiation, where a function develops a significant attitude in one direction: the function “differentiates” and assumes a certain attitude in the individual’s mind. This idea, however, points to the possibility of functions taking on the same attitude as the dominant function, in which case would imply the existence of EIII/IEEE and EEEI/IIIE. These examples show differentiation while preserving the idea of the unconscious with the inferior function.
But—that’s it. Function stacks are still precisely up to interpretation, just like the rest of typology. In terms of understanding Jung and Augusta, it is most important to see the difference between the rational and irrational attitudes to determine types.
As for my opinion, I tend to use both the stacks when typing out Jungian types (IN(F) can be either NiFi or NiFe), but I understand the concepts of cognitive functions more as the opposition between the dominant and inferior placements, and thus the two major dichotomies of rational/irrational and introverted/extraverted.
Frustratingly, there is never really a good answer that pleases everyone, and thus it is often better to just follow the general opinion when trying to interact in typology communities; yet, it is still important to remember that these concepts are always based on interpretation rather than pure fact. Of course, all the while, reading the books for the concept is always crucial, especially given the amount of information that can be extracted later. Psychological Types is much more dense than simply its descriptions of the attitudes, and it opens up a lot more interesting concepts such as symbols, signs, and the transcendental function.