This is a test module.

Type Dynamics

Definition: the dynamic organization of mental energy that is greater than the sum of the four preferences.

Overview

At the core of Type Dynamics is the belief that each type has one of the mental processes that is dominant and favored, and a second mental process that is auxiliary, a helper to the dominant.

Let’s break this down and look at it in more detail.

Essentially, all conscious mental activity is either:

  • Perception Activity – taking in data and becoming aware of it
  • Judgment Activity – making decisions about the data that has come into our awareness

We all have an activity, perceiving or judging, that is dominant and typically the most developed of our mental processes.

Each of us uses our dominant process in the world that we prefer.

The result is that everything is balanced:

  • Between perception (S or N) and judgement (T or F)
  • Between attention to the outer world (E) and the inner world (I)

The way we will describe this refinement of our preferences is to say which “world” we use each mental function, for example: introverted Sensing (Si) or extraverted Sensing (Se). We call each of these a function-attitude.

How they manifest in our personality and work together is what we will explore here.

Look at the tables below to see what your dominant and auxiliary function-attitudes are, given your Type.

Introverts

ISTJISFJINFJINTJ
DominantSiSiNiNi
AuxiliaryTeFeFeTe
ISTPINTPISFPINFP
DominantTiTiFiFi
AuxiliarySeNeSeNe

Extraverts

ESTJENTJESFJENFJ
DominantTeTeFeFe
AuxiliarySiNiSiNi
ESTPESFPENFPENTP
DominantSeSeNeNe
AuxiliaryTiFiFiTi

Each Function-Attitude Explained

The important thing to realize is that you lead with your dominant function in your prefered world. That means that others may or may not see the process you most rely on.

It is also important to realize which process you favor – the process of gathering information or the process of making decisions.

Type Dynamics helps us understand how all of our preferences work together with all of our non-preferences as we go through our day.

Take some time to truly understand how your dominant and auxiliary pair works for you.

Many have taken the time to describe each of the 8 function-attitudes so I will not do it here and instead simply link you to a good resource.

CarrerPlanner.com goes into more detail about Type Dynamics theory on their Cognitive Functions Explained In Simple Terms page and then explains each function-attitude in more detail. I have listed the individual links below.

The Perceiving Functions

The 4 ways to take in information are:

The Judging Functions

There are the 4 basic ways we make decisions. These are your judging functions:

At Home This Week…

  1. Look at page 5 of both of your MBTI results – it describes your results using the framework of Type Dynamics.
    • Copy this Google Doc and put your Types into the Table.
    • Notice how you are similar.
    • Notice how you are different.
    • How have you experienced frustrations in the past that are explained by your dominant-auxiliary pair preferences?
    • Discuss and agree on one thing each of you will do to improve, as a couple, in this area?
  2. What is one thing you did well together, as a couple, in the last week?
    • Taking turns, tell your partner how your own dominant-auxiliary pair preferences helped in this situation.
  3. Tell your partner something that they did in the past week that you really appreciated.  Explain why you appreciated it.
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