5 Similarities Between the EXTJs and IXTPs

Ti has managed to lay claim to a lot of things that are not exactly exclusive to Ti. It’s like the concept that beagles are dogs but not all dogs are beagles. Certain traits are typical of Ti, but not everyone with those traits has Ti. Just as there are some general traits associated with the dichotomies, there are some general traits associated with Thinking dominants (Te and Ti). In this article, I’ll cover in brief what Ryan and I have noticed. Obviously, I’m not saying throughout all of this that no other types can possess these qualities, but the thinking dominants definitely tend to.

Prerequisite:

The first thing to understand about this comparison is that both are Ti and Te are judging functions, which means that their primary drive is to make a “judgement” or a decision on something. They decide. Perceiving functions don’t make decisions. Judging functions do. Ergo, anyone with dominant Te or Ti has the primary drive to analyze and draw a conclusion about whatever information they perceive. Perceiving dominants gather. Judging dominants judge.

The Similarities:

1. Both thinking dominants are prone to questioning rules and authority

This could span anywhere from open skepticism to blatant rebellion. The thinking dominants, whether Ti or Te, will be prone to making a determination on the current hierarchy, structure, or authority figure. Ti will ask if the system makes sense, or if it’s needlessly getting in the way of the Ti user’s independence and desires. The Te dominant will ask if it’s operating efficiently, at top capacity. Ti users ultimately want the established system (or authority figure) to stay out of their way, versus the Te dominant will want the established system (or authority figure) to be competent. Both will be quick to judge by these standards, and let those judgements rule their actions. Ti dominants are more prone to attempting to dance around the authority/system, while Te dominants will be more prone to attempting to fix the authority/system, or using it to their advantage.

2. Both thinking dominants are prone to being skeptical of other people’s reasoning

This doesn’t mean that other types won’t be skeptical, but none of the thinking dominants will tend to readily accept what they hear. Remember, their goal is not to gather information, but to judge it. Everything they hear will need to be evaluated based on their personal standards. The Te dominants will overall be quick to express a verbal judgement, since they’re comparing the information against an objective gold standard. The Ti dominant may appear less “judgey” than the Te dominant, because their standard is subjective and internal. However, everything they hear will be compared against their internal system, and slotted into place or set aside as probably not valid. (Gotta throw the “probably” in there. :P) I can’t specifically speak concerning the Te dominants on this, but I have personally seen Ti dominants (myself included) frequently miss pieces of information because they were currently stuck judging/evaluating something they just heard a few minutes ago.

3. Both thinking dominants require things to make sense to them

This goes right along with the previous point… but I’m just calling it out because some people think that this is exclusive to Ti users…. It’s really not. Most people want things to make sense to them, especially the thinking dominants, since they need to make judgements on information.

4. Both thinking dominants struggle with delayed emotional reactions due to inferior feeling

In some ways, inferior Fi can actually be similar to inferior Fe. This is due to the feeling functions having some shared characteristics. So, if the feeling function is in the same slot in both types, there will be some clear parallels, like with the Thinking dominants in this article. In this particular case, inferior Fi and Fe can lead to extremely delayed emotional reactions. Inferior feelers are generally out of touch with their emotions, whether due to immaturity or suppression. They’ll have this tendency to not understand how they feel in the moment, or not feel anything at all in the moment.

5. Both thinking dominants struggle with interpersonal relationships due to inferior feeling

The feeling function is what allows us to connect with others. Many times this role is mistakenly attributed to extraversion, but it’s really the feeling function that gives us a drive to connect with others and form relationships. A bad feeling function can make this a significant struggle, because even if the thinker can meet people, they may struggle to connect with the other person, whether that means they’ll accidentally scare said person away or shy away from pursuing the connection in any deeper capacity due to feelings of emotional inadequacy. Bottom line: many inferior feelers express a struggle to connect with others. In my experience, females are more prone to express this struggle, typically citing that it’s hard to find other unemotional females.

In Summary…

Once again, I’m not saying that no other type will struggle with any of the above, but Ryan and I have specifically noted these parallels between the thinking dominants. I hope you found it helpful!