The 16 Personalities Theory: An Introduction

There a million personality tests out there. Some are humorous, and some are based on a well-thought out system. We here at PracticalTyping prefer the 16 Types personality theory, which is mistakenly known as MBTI. This article is going to serve as an introduction to the 16 Types personality theory and hopefully point you to the best resources on this site to start you on your journey to discover your type.

What is the 16 Personalities Theory?

Let’s cover some basic groundwork before delving into the types.

1. MBTI, or Myers Briggs Type Indicator, is a term trademarked by Myers Briggs, and is not the 16 Types theory in and of itself. MBTI is just one of the most popular renditions of it. The original work was created by Carl Jung. He published a book called “Psychological Types” in which he proposed the 8 cognitive types with the addition of an auxiliary function (which essentially comprises the 16 types). MBTI’s primary contribution was to redefine the order of each type’s function stack, assign generalized dichotomies (I/E, N/S, T/F, P/J), and create an official assessment for the purpose of identifying one’s type. We at PracticalTyping are not fans of the dichotomies.

2. The term “personality types” is kind of a misnomer. The 16 types theory has less to do with your personality, and is more about peering into the way that you think. It helps you understand what you think, why you think it, where it comes from, and what’s spurring your mind set, which is why labels like the cognitive functions ultimately make more sense. It focuses more on the idea that the functions are the building blocks of the way you think, which we can admit does play a role in the personality you produce, but it’s only a piece of it. There are ISTJs with good personalities, and ISTJs with bad personalities, so clearly the ISTJ component is not what is dictating the personality as a whole. A better way to describe the 16 types would be to call them cognitive mentalities, or the 16 mentalities.

What is the 16 Personalities/Mentalities Theory Useful For?

Understanding the 16 Mentalities can aid you in understanding yourself, understanding others, communicating with others, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, and etc. You know those annoying little quirks that some people have that you can’t stand? Like the tendency to over explain everything or tie in so much irrelevant information that it makes your head spin? Sometimes it can be easier to be lenient toward others if you can understand WHY they’re doing what they’re doing, and that it is as natural for them as your tendencies are for you.

What is the 16 Personalities/Mentalities Theory NOT Useful For?

The 16 Mentalities are as a whole not useful for determining your career, calling, or soul mate. We’re sorry, but to rely on this theory for those things will ultimately lead to disappointment. It’s also one of the big reasons why this theory is laughed off by many people: it’s being misused. People are capable of learning and strengthening skills above and beyond what one might typically associate with one of the 16 types. Normal, rational people who are not obsessed with personality theory understand this instinctively. After all, you can walk into a workplace and encounter a vast array of personalities who were drawn to that particular field for a variety of reasons. In addition, there are all sorts of different kinds of couples. Ultimately, things like background, beliefs, and interests are going to far more important in choosing a life partner than personality type.

ENOUGH BACKSTORY: What are the 16 Personalities/Mentalities?

Ok, ok, let’s do this. As explained, there are 16 personality types, or mentalities. See the table below.

So, what do the letters mean? They’re the 16 types organized into 4 letter shorthand codes via the dichotomies. (Those things we mentioned not liking earlier.) We have to teach them to you for you to understand all of the jargon out there though. See the next table.

Your 4 letter type will be made up of one letter from each section, based on your default preference.

Example: An ISTP has a preference for Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.

NOTE: The dichotomies are poorly named. Someone who doesn’t have a preference for “thinking” is still fully capable of being intelligent, just like how a sensor is still fully capable of using intuition. Bear with us. We didn’t make the labels.

The 16 Personality Types and their Cognitive Functions

Now, let’s focus on the cognitive functions, which are far more accurate than the dichotomies rendition of the 16 Types theory. Each type is a combination of 4 cognitive functions which are laid out in a distinct order. There are 8 cognitive functions in total. We’ve written a long article explaining why the functions in each type are laid in the specific order that they are, so if you want to understand that better read this: Guide To Understanding the Function Stack. Otherwise, for now, especially if this is all new to you, just accept the below table as a useful reference and finish reading this article.

If this is the first time you’ve come across the cognitive functions, that table probably looks like a foreign language. Allow us to provide the key.

Example: An ISTP uses (in order of preference) Introverted Thinking, Extraverted Sensing, Introverted Intuition, and Extraverted Feeling.

Note that a Ti user always has Fe in their stack and NEVER has Te or Fi, while the reverse is true for the Fi/Te users. This same piece of information is also applicable to the Se users who will always have Ni, but never have Ne or Si. (Of course, that is reverse applicable to the Si/Ne users as well.) As a result, the functions are known to have 4 axis, also called function pairs: Ne/Si, Se/Ni, Fi/Te, and Ti/Fe. Since a person only has four functions, they will fit into only two of those axis: one being an F/T and the other being an S/N.

How Do I Determine My Personality Type?

Ultimately, the answer to this question is that you have to determine which cognitive functions you use. There a couple of ways to do this, but the best starting approach is to try to determine your top 2 functions. Why the top 2? Because you’ll relate to them the most. Your first, or dominant, function is the one you use most naturally and subconsciously. It’ll be your greatest strength. Your second, or auxiliary, function will supplement your dominant. It’ll also come very natural to you. However, depending on your age and maturity, your third (tertiary) or fourth (inferior) functions may be underdeveloped and considerably weaker than your top two. When reading up on general descriptions of the cognitive functions, you’ll relate to less and less of the information in regards to your tertiary and inferior functions, unless the description you’re reading is catered to functions in that lower position.

Resources at PracticalTyping

We’re a young blog, but there are still a lot of articles on this site. It may seem a bit daunting to have to scour through it all to figure out your type, especially our more technical and detailed stuff. BUT! You may not have to… unless you end up being one of the more complicated cases. We’re going to list a few articles below that provide decent overviews that should help you begin narrowing down your type.

Brief Overviews of All 8 Functions:

The below articles will provide a general idea of each cognitive function without delving too deeply and overcomplicating. Good for gaining a basic understanding. Figure out which two you relate to the most, and you’ll be well on your way to determining dominant and auxiliary.

Spotting the Cognitive Functions in Real Life
Theme of Each Cognitive Function

Overview of the Perceiving Functions:

The below article is useful for understanding how each perceiving axis functions (Ne/Si vs Ni/Se), so you can determine which one you fall within.

Am I an Intuitive or a Sensor?

Individual Function Descriptions:

These pages provide deeper and more technical descriptions of the functions.

Introverted Perceiving Functions (Ni/Si)
Extraverted Perceiving Functions (Ne/Se)
Introverted Judging Functions (Ti/Fi)
Extraverted Judging Functions (Fe/Te)

Figured out your top two, but don’t know which is dominant and which is auxiliary?

The Inferior Functions: An Overview
Typing 101: Introversion vs. Extraversion