The Identity Functions: Inferior Ti and Fi

I’m piggy-backing this article off of my previous identity functions article, which you can find here: The Identity Functions: Fi and Ti. While I never actually intended to write a second part to that article, Ryan and I had an intriguing realization recently that I felt instantly compelled to write down.

Let me take a moment to get you up to speed. As I discussed in that earlier article, the identity function are actually Fi and Ti. People don’t typically associate Ti with identity. However, in reality, the function that you use for introspection is what allows you to check in with self, ergo determines your view of self and identity. Here is a brief summary of my major points:

1. Both Ti and Fi users are known for being individualistic, just in different ways.
2. Both of the Ti and Fi users struggle to type themselves due to excess self-analysis
3. Fe users struggle with being used by others and taken advantage of when that Ti function is underdeveloped, because they don’t understand their own limitations and when to say no.
4. The Ti/Fe users fail to understand their own emotions because their introspection/identity function focuses on internal logical consistency rather than self-image and emotions.

Now, on to the new revelations.

Identity Functions in the Dominant Position

As mentioned, both dominant Ti and dominant Fi lead to over-analysis. The people can never seem to settle on their type oftentimes turns about to be either Ti dominants or Fi dominants. I’m not saying that this is always the case, but it frequently seems to be. I see the Fi dominants not knowing whether or not they have Ne or Se. I see the Fi dominants rationalizing how they might be Ti dominants. And in the reverse, I see Ti dominants rationalization they might be Fi dominants. They, of course,  get equally confused about their auxiliary and tertiary functions. Not to bash the Ti dominants or anything (I am one of you, after all),  but Ti dominants excel at fitting themselves into type descriptions that shouldn’t fit. But, that is the flaw of subjective logical. Left to itself things that shouldn’t make sense eventually might.

Logically, one would think that having a dominant identity function would make you incredibly secure and aware of yourself (within the facets that your function allows anyway). However, that seems to not typically be the case. They ultimately spend too much time thinking about themselves because that dominant function is their primary drive. They give it too much attention, making it a source of pride. The Fi dominants are known for getting offended when suggested that they are something that they are not, which is a form of insecurity. Whereas, the Ti dominants half the time don’t even known what they think or won’t state certainties because they spend too much time trying to ensure perfect logical consistency. The last thing a Ti dominant wants is to stake their pride on something that may turn out to be incorrect or illogical. Obviously, I’m just proving a point here, and not intending to bash certain personalities.

Identity Functions in the Auxiliary and Tertiary Positions

I’m only going to talk about these two positions generally… in brief, because our realizations centered around the identity functions in the inferior positions.

Strangely enough, Fi and Ti in the auxiliary and tertiary positions seem to bring about the most security in self. It’s just enough to be aware, yet not so overthought or under thought to be highly problematic. Sure, there can be downsides. I’m not saying otherwise. However, it seems to me that the auxiliary and tertiary Fi users seems to give the appearance of being the most secure. They’re the ones that can usually just say ‘no’, regardless of what anyone thinks of them. They’re the ones who won’t always feel the need to contradict external opinions about themselves. They know basically who they are and what their values are, and will simply disassociate from situations that do not line up, rather than stress or get up in arms. The auxiliary and tertiary Ti users are similar. The tertiary Ti users just go along with things so as not to create a fuss, but push things too far and they will eventually remove themselves from the situation.  The auxiliary Ti users know what they think and aren’t afraid to share it or argue with others concerning it. They’ll even readily take a up a side or position that is not their own (playing devil’s advocate) to either learn or prove a point. Being associated with that alternate opinion doesn’t bother them because they’re not that wrapped up in their identity or how others perceive them. They know what they do or do not think and that’s all that matters.

Identity Functions in the Inferior Position

Now for what Ryan and I actually found interesting. Inferior Ti and inferior Fi seem highly misunderstood. People make general statements about it and put out description, but oftentimes people don’t really seem to understand inferior Ti and inferior Fi well. I wonder if, perhaps, this is because the Te and Fe dominants don’t understand it well themselves either. After all, their struggle is going to lie with understanding self, right?

I’m going to give brief attention to each inferior identity function.

Inferior Fi:

Ryan and I were analyzing a historical figure the other day. He turned out to be an ENTJ, and he said very interesting things in regards to his Fi. Firstly, he inadvertently bashed Fi, stating that ego and pride prevented true exploration and creativity. He associated the fear of failure with the fear of tarnishing one’s self-image.  He recognized the human need for a positive self-image, but regarded it with a certain degree of contempt.

Check out these quotes from a document discussing him:

“fear of the collapse of one’s stable and reassuring vision is what paral-yses creativity and prevents profound observation; it is a purely negative and absolutely destructive phenomenon, and its absence – a kind of confidence or self-assurance – is the necessary precondition, and seemingly the only one, for true creative work”

“For him, however, the fear of observation and discovery forms a vicious circle with the power of vanity which, building an admirable self-image, represses the fear but simul-taneously intensifies it, as the possibility of discovering something unpleasantly different from the reassuring self-image becomes increasingly dangerous.”

“the role of the ego is to avoid any appearance of failure in the eyes of the individual himself, and the fear of failure is above all the fear of tarnishing the self-image, and thereby losing control over the perception of the self.”

Do you see how he appears to have this desire to smother out his Fi, and his sense of self? In fact, he appears to fear his Fi. He fears to build up an image that may, due to external forces or discoveries, be shattered later. I also read quotes directly from him that expressed a fascination with the inner child, and desire to return to that level of innocence,  where one no longer has to be “afraid to be wrong, to look silly, to not be serious, and to act differently from everyone else. ” Do you see that kind of love-hate relationship with Fi? That secret desire towards it yet simultaneous attempt to smother it out?

Ryan also watched this YouTube video in which an ENTJ stated that every experience added to who he was. Note that while Fi dominants put a lot of time and effort in defining themselves, Te dominants allow external factors to define and add to their identity.

Ultimately, while Te dominants give the impression of being very secure in themselves, their inferior function can cause them to be secretly sensitive to attacks on their identity and being perceived in certain ways (which will be dependent on their value system). Due to have their identity function in the inferior position, not only are they hyper aware of this struggle, they feel that tug-of-war battle between their sense of self and their goal. Depending on how out of balance the two get, EXTJs risk losing themselves in service to their goal.

Inferior Ti:

Similarly to the the EXTJs, the EXFJs will also experience an internal war with themselves. Fe makes them sensitive the external environment. It gives them a desire to fit in and not be seen as different. However, their inferior Ti gives them a desire for their own individuality, and an awareness of all the areas in which their internal self is inconsistent with the external expectations. They’ll feel that desire to conform to the needs or desires of the group, which isn’t the same thing as they always will. This tug-of-war battle between their dominant Fe and inferior Ti will just be something that they feel intensely, something that will draw their attention.

Inferior Ti users may also look to external factors to learn self-awareness, kind of like the the EXTJs allowing experiences to add to their identity. I recently conversed with an EXFJ who stated that every experience made him more self-aware.

I know we have a lot of Anime fans following this blog, so I’ll use an example from Naruto. (I wish I had a good historical example, but that previously mentioned ENTJ was my first analysis of a historical figure.)

Do you remember Kabuto? Kabuto has little sense of self. He defines himself around his master, Orochimaru. Once his master is dead, he’s lost, and has to find a new basis for his identity. He then latches onto this idea that if he added to himself physically, he could discover who he truly is.

Here’s a quote, if you’re interested:

“And so I decided that I would try to be like you… I’m going to use what I absorbed of Orochimaru to become a better, stronger Kabuto Yakushi… I will find a new identity, and you’ve given me a clue as to how. That’s why I’m so grateful to you, Naruto.”

Ultimately, the EXFJs desire to express individuality yet simultaneously desire to conform… while fearing that their own individuality will be swallowed up through yielding to the group. An extremely unhealthy EXFJ may get out of touch with themselves in this manner, resulting in those stereotypes that you can read about online, in regards to how Fe dominants can be fake. Of course, I’m saying conform, and that has negative connotations. The “positive” scenario is that an EXFJ may, in service to the group, deny self over and over again, essentially losing themselves for the sake of the group.

In conclusion…

I hope you found this interesting. If I ever run across a good quote of from an inferior Ti user demonstrating the tug of war battle, I will come back and update this article. If you know of one, feel free to let me know!

External Links:

• https://al3x.svbtle.com/alexander-grothendieck
• https://webusers.imj-prg.fr/~leila.schneps/grothendieckcircle/Mathematics/chap1.pdf