The Cognitive Functions In Each Position: Ni and Se

The cognitive functions, Ni and Se, manifest differently depending on which position they hold within the function stack. In this post, I want to go over the Se-Ni / Ni-Se cognitive function pairs. I will go over each of the combinations, and how the different positions change their role and effect on each personality type. Delving into the function pairs and figuring out how they affect each type was something that helped me out a lot when first getting into the cognitive functions. So, hopefully someone will find this overview helpful. If you’re interested in reading up on how the other cognitive functions manifest in each position (other than just Ni and Se), check out the other articles I’ve written: The Cognitive Functions In Each Position: Ne and Si, The Cognitive Functions In Each Position: Ti and Fe, and The Cognitive Functions In Each Position: Te and Fi.

Cognitive Functions In Each Position: Se over Ni

Se-X-X-Ni: ESFPs and ESTPs

Having Se as a lead function typically gives the user the urge to interact with the present current world around them. They are prone to boredom if they are forced to spend long periods of time theorizing or planning with no foreseeable way to act on the plans being made. These types are particularly drawn to act of doing and will have a desire to interact with whatever they are faced with in order to learn about it. When problem solving, Se dominants’ first instinct will be to play with the different options available to them in order to see what each thing does in order to form some kind of solution. These types will want to see how things physically change and will use that feedback to in order to inform their next move. While it’s not always extremely prominent, these types tend toward the mindset of living in the moment.

Se dominants also tend toward having a high tolerance for stimulation. This can lead them to repeating the same actions in order to get the same sensation again; past experiences to them can tend to lose their punch in hindsight. These types are more prone to looking back on a negative experience and not remembering how bad it hurt, or how terrible it was, brushing the experience off as not that bad. When Ni is underdeveloped, this can lead them to repeat similar bad experiences because they failed to retain a strong enough impression of the negative event. They will be prone to looking at the fact that they made it through the experience fine the first time and then framing it as why shouldn’t I do it again? Although, Se dominants can grow numb to the same, familiar experiences, and will typically seek to experience a wide variety of things.

Inferior Ni when unhealthy will show up as ignoring the future in favor of experiencing the present. They will have little concern for future consequences, especially if it is getting in the way of experiencing what they want to do now. They tend to not worry about planning for their future until later in their life, and it usually hits them as a sudden anxiety-inducing realization of being unprepared for what lies ahead. When the Ni is more developed, it will lead Se dominants to have a loose idea of the direction they want to go, but will still prefer to leave things open to change. This allows for their naturally tendency to adapt and alter the course as needed rather than keeping rigidly adherent to a set goal.

X-Se-Ni-X: ISFPs and ISTPs

Like the Se dominants, these types will desire to experience the world through their senses. However, the range and scope of this desire will be narrowed by the dominant function. This will cause them to focus their interests into the areas that the dominant function wants information on rather than just being open to the entire scope of potential at their finger tips. These types will be more hesitant to act than their Se dominant counterparts, but will grow impatient if the planning phase drags out for too long. They will ultimately find that they can only think about something for so long before they feel the need to just act and see what happens. They have enough confidence in their Se to know that they will be reasonably equipped to adapt as the situation changes if they feel they have a good enough understanding of the situation at the start.

They will have a much more balanced relationship with their Ni function, which will allow them to seamlessly look at information through their two different perspectives, naturally giving their introverted judging function two different views to weigh against. Consequently, these types will be more hesitant and may have a more accurate sense what will happen, but will ultimately tend to distrust these hunches. Like the Se dominant, they will still prefer to act upon what they can see in the immediate, provided they have judged it to make sense. Since Se is in service to dominant, they will be less likely to just try things for the sake of trying them, possibly making them seem disinterested when they inevitably go into processing mode. This is because their priority is to make sense of incoming data rather than interacting with it.

Ni will show up for them as mentioned before, as hunches or impressions of what has happened before and consequently what may happen based upon that. However, seeing Ni’s position in the stack, these types do not prioritize creating these impressions as much as high introverted perceivers so the impression will be more hazy and will lead them to not trust them very much. These types are likely to want a skeleton of a plan, and a general idea of what direction they want to head. However, like the Se dominant, they will want to leave some things open-ended and have the ability to adjust as things change.

Cognitive Functions In Each Position: Ni over Se

Ni-X-X-Se: INTJs and INFJs

Ni as a dominant function will lead the user to prioritize observing and taking in information, ultimately leading them to create an impression based off of this information. When making these observations, they won’t use details directly, rather they will try to look past the details themselves to see what the pattern structure is that the details are fitting into. This is one reason why Ni users tend to not remember a bunch of specific details, but rather the patterns that emerge as a result of the presented information. They want to be able to recognize certain markers to help them derive the sequence of events that are about to unfold, based on their internal database of past impressions. Because of this, they will prefer to observe first before taking any kind of action. They will want to forecast how things will play out before making a decision or acting. Because their extraverted function is in service to their dominant Ni, having some kind of structured decision will be secondary to making observations for the sake of collecting information.

These types trust their impressions implicitly to guide them to the correct conclusions. They will grow frustrated when those around them probe for detailed explanations of why they think a certain outcome will result. This frustration is mostly centered around the way Ni prioritizes information. They are much less concerned with holding on to all the specific details that led them to the impression that they ultimately developed. As a result, they will store patterns or impressions that are more generalized due to stripping away specific details. However, while the patterns are more general, they are also more universally applicable due to being less specific. Basically, this will allow the patterns and impressions to fit more situations with a certain degree of accuracy. In addition, storing information in condensed patterns leads to being less bogged down when it comes to recognizing if/when a new situation matches up. However, if the impression is formed off of incorrect or incomplete sensory information, an Ni dominant’s conclusion may be drastically inaccurate, and they may fail to see this (or admit to it) due to devaluing concrete information.

Inferior Se is also playing into this type’s desire to look past the immediate details because the sensory in the present moment is being devalued. This also leads to their tendency to hesitate and not want to act immediately. Their lack of being present in the moment hinders their ability to react immediately and causes them to struggle with improvising. Things not going according to how they foresaw will very likely lead to them being disoriented and unsure of how to proceed. Inferior Se being exercised may lead these types to overindulge in some form of physical pleasure, like food, if not being properly regulated. In a more positive light, it will give these types a desire to travel or otherwise explore the sensory world around them. However, they will want to do so in a planned out and regulated manner as to not get overwhelmed.

X-Ni-Se-X: ENTJs and ENFJs

Similar to the Ni dominants, the Ni auxiliary will have a desire to observe and assess the various situation that they come up against. However, due to the Ni being in service to the extraverted judging function, they will be much more eager to act than the Ni dominant will. This is mostly due to the fact that Ni’s inclination to observe and form impressions will be limited to the things that the Extraverted Judging function finds important. In this way, those impressions are more limited in scope and focused on what the user is trying to act upon. This more limited scope leads to the user having less patterns stored away overall, and being generally less concerned with knowing how everything is going to play out. While these types will still very much want to have a plan or an idea of what they are going to do going into something, they are less concerned with having an airtight and clear conclusion. Naturally, spending less time in the observation phase will produce less nuanced patterns but faster response times. However, the lack of spending enough time in the planning phase, may lead to less than desirable results, a general failure to achieve their intended goal, or having wasted a bunch of time getting there.

Leading with an Extraverted Judging function will make one’s focus be primarily on interacting with the external world rather than observing it. Ni will be viewed more in the sense of a tool rather than a way of life. Additionally, the Ni perspective will be balanced with the Se perspective, leading to a more even split between the patterns they see and what is happening in the immediate moment. These types will be more willing to jump on a perceived opportunity without always checking against whether it is a fool proof move or whether it will definitely achieve the desired result. In some sense, these types can almost appear more geared toward action than even auxiliary Se users. However, this action is often times more based around a plan of action rather than truly improvising like the higher Se users tend to be able to do.

Tertiary Se in these types will lead them to be more comfortable with improvising and adjusting their plans than the inferior Se user will be. They may even get a thrill out of the fact that things are not going exactly according to plan. Having the ability to adapt their plans as needed will give them a sense of satisfaction when it succeeds. However, when improvising fails them, it usually leads to a great deal of frustration on the part of the tertiary Se user.

Conclusion:

So there you have it. Hopefully, this overview was somewhat helpful in giving you an idea of how Ni and Se in different positions change how the cognitive functions operate within the stack. Let me know in the comments down below!