Overthinking: A Ti Thing?

I think. I think all the time. I must be a Ti user… right? Perhaps you’re reading this and you think the idea sounds ridiculous. I mean, we all think, right? I’ve actually seen people who hyper focus in on how much they think, truly believing that it means they are a high Ti user. In fact, overthinking has become somewhat of a stereotype for Ti. However, that is not how that works. Ti is a type of thinking. It does not have the market on thinking as a whole.

One thing to keep in mind is that a true high Ti user shouldn’t consider their “thinking” to be a weakness, at least not in the Ti sense. It will be their natural strength. To use the term “overthinking” in reference to oneself implies that it is a weakness, because it’s happening in excess. While I’m not saying a high Ti user can never use this term, I’m just saying as a general rule, they shouldn’t view their thinking function as a weakness, and they shouldn’t be hyper focused in on how much they think. They should just be… thinking (in the Ti way, of course). While someone on the outside may look at a Ti dominant and view them as over thinkers, this does not mean that the Ti dominant will view themselves that way.

In reality, overthinking is the bane of many people. I’ve seen so many different personality types complain about their tendency to overthink. I’m not sure what got my brain on this topic, but I’m going to ramble a bit on what overthinking is actually connected to in typology.

Overthinking is tied to one’s introverted function

Our introverted function is how we are processing internally, whether it be sensing, intuition, thinking, or feeling. We each have two introverted functions, and they both process whatever it is that they deal with. Introverted sensors are surfing through their mental filing cabinets looking for information or placing information. Introverted feelers are analyzing their internal values. Etc. Someone who is overthinking has clamped down on that introverted function or functions, and is running it non-stop. People in the grip of an introverted function or in an introverted loop get stuck in a hyper-introspective state. They then proceed to extremely overthink whatever their introverted functions deal with.

Introverts are prone to overthinking

Therefore, if overthinking is tied to one’s introverted function, introverts are the most likely to overthink. Quite simply, this is due to the fact that their first and foremost preferred function is looking inward. An extravert’s first instinct is typically to interact with the world in whatever way their dominant function does, but an introverts first instinct is introspection. Of course, this isn’t to say that extraverts never overthink. They have introverted functions too, and an extravert in the grip will be crutching on an introverted function.

The identity dominants especially are most prone to overthinking themselves (whether that be in a Ti or Fi way). Beyond that, I’ve also seen a million INFJ and INFP related memes about overthinking, and frequently, those are related to stress.

People overthink their stressors

On this blog, our goal is always to take a practical approach to typology, which is why I cringe a bit when I see people using “I think constantly” as evidence of being a thinker. Practically speaking, typology aside, overthinking is usually something people do when they’re stressed. For instance, speaking purely practically, people overthink major life decisions. People, especially the socially anxious (notice that I didn’t say introverts), tend to overthink people, their relationships, and their last social interaction. Of course, there’s also generally things people did in the past, something they regret, or caused them embarrassment…It’s all extremely common. As an inferior Fe user, I overthink stupid Fe related things, because they cause me stress. If you go read my Inferior Fe article, you’ll see more of what I mean. Those with Ne, when stressed, tend to run all the possible scenarios or out comes of whatever situation that they’re dealing with. Etcetera.

Ne users tend to overthink

I don’t necessarily mean this in the stress way either. Ne users, or NPs, tend to naturally run scenarios and possibilities in their mind. As a result, they tend to “overthink” because they struggle to narrow down those possibilities to what is immediately actionable. Sometimes this could be a stress reaction, but other times it’ll be a completely natural and healthy process for them. Obviously, a developed Ne user will learn to narrow down and choose a path forward, but it’s not unhealthy for them to be juggling a mountain of possibilities. Due to this tendency, Ne users sometimes view themselves as overthinkers. So, remember how I said earlier that Ti users won’t view what they do as overthinking? Well, there’s kind of an exception to that. An NTP might view what they do as overthinking, depending on the context. An STP is less likely to see themselves in that way.

In conclusion…

Overthinking can provide clues as what cognitive function someone is using. There are some generic things that a lot of people are prone to overthinking, but then there are also some more specific things that certain personality types are more prone to. If you’re focused in on your tendency to overthink, try to figure out exactly what you’re overthinking, and if that is connected to a specific cognitive function. I may try to put together an article at some point about what each type tends to overthink, but for now, the above is just my general thoughts on the matter.