The Auxiliary Function of Every Myers-Briggs®

Personality Type
psychologyjunkie.com/2020/10/13/the-auxiliary-function-of-every-myers-briggs-personality-type

The Auxiliary Function of Every Personality Type

ENFPs and ESFPs – Introverted Feeling (Fi)

If you’re an ENFP or an ESFP, the auxiliary function (Introverted Feeling) helps center you
on what is congruent with your values. This means you ask questions of yourself like:

“What is my gut telling me about this?”

“Is this right or wrong?”

“Am I being true to myself?”

“Is this person authentic?”

“Am I being authentic?”

“What really matters to me as an individual?”

Through Introverted Feeling, you stop yourself from being pulled in many different
directions by the outside world. When you were younger, you probably didn’t have a good
handle on Introverted Feeling. You might have left dozens of projects half-finished and you
might have been more fixated on what was happening around you than what was happening
in your heart. As you reached your teens, this function became more powerful. As an adult,
this function is something you should rely on to inform every decision you make. Before
chasing a new opportunity, you should analyze whether it lines up with your values, whether
it matters in the long run, and whether you’re honoring your values and integrity. When you
do this, you’re showing mature use of Introverted Feeling.

These quotes by Anne Frank (an ENFP) capture the perspective of auxiliary Introverted
Feeling:

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the
world.”

“People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn’t stop you from having your own
opinion.”

“Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.”

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ENTPs and ESTPs – Introverted Thinking (Ti)
If you’re an ENTP or an ESTP, the auxiliary function (Introverted Thinking) helps to ground
your decisions in logic, precision, and accurate perspectives. This means you ask questions of
yourself like:

“Is this really true?”

“Does this line up with the other principles at play here?”

“What are the leverage points in this situation/idea?”

“What do I really know about this?”

“Are there any inconsistencies here?”

“What category does this information belong in?”

Through Introverted Thinking, you stop yourself from becoming stuck in exploration mode
without getting anything done. ENTPs are so fixated on exploring ideas and generating
alternatives that they can become incapable of finishing what they start. ESTPs are so fixated
on new experiences and activities that they can perpetually be chasing excitement to the
detriment of their long-term goals. This is especially true in early life. As ETPs grow and
mature they become more advanced with their use of Introverted Thinking. They allow
themselves to pause, analyze, and weigh the logic of a decision before moving full-steam
ahead forward. They finish more of their projects because they weigh the logic of switching
gears before starting something else.

These quotes by John F Kennedy (ESTP) capture what auxiliary Introverted Thinking can
look like:

“Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but
the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

ENFJs and ENTJs – Introverted Intuition (Ni)

If you’re an ENFJ or an ENTJ, the auxiliary function (Introverted Intuition) helps you notice
underlying meanings, hidden patterns, and long-term implications. This means you ask
yourself questions like:

“How will this play out in the long-run?”

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“What else is going on here?”

“What am I not seeing?”

“Is there a deeper meaning to this?”

“What are my long-term goals and visions?”

“What are my hunches or instincts about this?”

“What’s the big picture?”

Through Introverted Intuition, you stop yourself from deciding on things too hastily.
Younger ENxJs can become too quick to jump to conclusions or too hasty to make decisions
or judgments. As you enter your teens, this function becomes more powerful and continues
to develop and mature throughout your lifetime. Auxiliary Introverted Intuition helps you to
see the deeper meaning behind everything in life. When you’re tapped into Intuition, you ask
yourself if there are any perspectives you’re missing. You look at the long-term implications
of your decision. You slow yourself down, quiet the world around you, and look inward to see
if any insights reveal themselves.

These quotes by Carl Sagan (ENTJ) capture the Introverted Intuitive perspective well:

“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by
the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some
other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how
fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so
that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him
live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.”

ESFJs and ESTJs – Auxiliary Introverted Sensation (Si)

If you’re an ESFJ or an ESTJ, your auxiliary function helps you to balance your decisions
with facts, details, and personal experience. When you’re in touch with this side of your
personality type, you ask yourself questions like:

“What’s the history of this situation?”

“What lines up with my experiences?”

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“What can my past experiences teach me about this?”

“What proven facts can I rely on?”

“What are the details? Am I missing something?”

“What will provide stability and consistency?”

“Is this familiar?”

Through Introverted Sensation, you stop yourself from jumping to conclusions or being too
hasty. The sensing side of your personality grounds you in your experiences, provides data
from your past, and helps you to be consistent and measured. When you were a child, you
probably had weakened capability here. You might have been too quick to form opinions or
judgments. But as you reach your teens and beyond, this function continues to mature and
develop. Your sensation side helps you to assess how your body is responding to situations,
how familiar or secure something is, and whether there are any little details that might
change how you see something. When you reflect on the past, analyze the history of a
situation, or tune into your body you are using your auxiliary function.

These quotes by Michelle Obama (ESTJ) capture the auxiliary Introverted Sensing
perspective:

“Everyone on earth…was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some
tolerance.”

“It’s a sensation I’ve come to love as I’ve traveled more, the way a new place signals itself
instantly and without pretense. The air has a different weight from what you’re used to; it
carries smells you can’t quite identify, a faint whiff of wood smoke or diesel fuel, maybe, or the
sweetness of something blooming in the trees. The same sun comes up, but looking slightly
different from what you know.”

“It’s like, remember who you always were, where you came from, who your parents were, how
they raised you. Because that authentic self is going to follow you all through life, so make sure
that it’s solid so it’s something that you can hold on and be proud of for the rest of your life.”

INFJs and ISFJs – Auxiliary Extraverted Feeling (Fe)

If you’re an INFJ or an ISFJ, your auxiliary function helps you balance your perceptions with
the needs and values of the world around you. When you’re in touch with this side of your
personality type, you ask yourself questions like:

“How will this decision impact people?”

“What’s the polite/appropriate thing to do in this environment?”

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“What are my values?”

“How are people feeling and how can I improve the morale?”

“Are there any unmet needs in this vicinity?”

“I feel my emotions bubbling up. Can I express them safely?”

Through Extraverted Feeling, you stop yourself from becoming so wrapped up in your inner
subjective reflections that you lose touch with reality. Fe helps you to balance your
perceptions with real-world data (body language, emotions, needs, values, customs, societal
expectations). When you were a child, you probably had less capability in this area. You
might have had lots of moments when you were lost in thought and missed noticing the
feelings of the people around you. But as you entered your teen years and beyond, this
function developed and continues to develop even now. Your Feeling side helps you to stay
balanced, grounded, in touch with people, and in touch with your own ethics and values.
Extraverted Feeling also gives you the desire to express your emotions outwardly in order to
understand them.

These quotes by Leo Tolstoy (INFJ) demonstrate auxiliary Extraverted Feeling well:

“A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is
easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one
hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor — such is my
idea of happiness.”

“Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual
kindness.”

“The striving of men’s souls towards unity, and the submissive behavior to one another that
results therefrom, represents the highest … law of life.”

INTJs and ISTJs – Auxiliary Extraverted Thinking (Te)

If you’re an INTJ or an ISTJ, your auxiliary function helps you to balance your perspectives
and reflections with action and decisiveness. When you’re in touch with this side of your
personality type, you ask yourself questions like:

“How can I make this more efficient?”

“What is slowing us down?”

“What is the cause and effect of this action?”

“What are the pros and cons?”

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“What’s the most logical perspective?”

“Am I being objective?”

Through Extraverted Thinking, you stop yourself from becoming overly wrapped up in a
subjective headspace. Thinking keeps you grounded in logic and action so that your visions
and goals can be achieved. In early life, you probably struggled to use this function as well as
you do now. It usually becomes more mature in the teen years and continues to mature
afterwards. In childhood you might have become so wrapped up in thoughts and reflections
that you were slower to take action. Extraverted Thinking helps you to take action, organize
your world for efficiency, and segment tasks in a logical way. When you’re in touch with your
Thinking side you’re usually more productive, results-focused, and vocal about what needs to
be done.

These quotes help to reveal the auxiliary Extraverted Thinking perspective:

“There are many talented people who haven’t fulfilled their dreams because they over thought
it, or they were too cautious and were unwilling to make the leap of faith.” – James Cameron
(INTJ)

“If you’re good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think. Whereas
being slow is going to be expensive for sure.” – Jeff Bezos (ISTJ)

“You should focus relentlessly on something you’re good at doing, but before that you must
think about whether it will be valuable in the future.” – Peter Thiel (ISTJ)

INFPs and INTPs – Auxiliary Extraverted Intuition (Ne)

If you’re an INFP or an INTP, your auxiliary function helps to balance your judgments with
open-minded exploration and accumulation of new ideas and possibilities. When you’re in
touch with this side of your personality type, you ask yourself questions like:

“Is there another way of looking at this?”

“What other possibilities are there?”

“Is there a connection I’m not seeing?”

“What new ideas does this generate in my mind?”

“What could I do with this?”

“Is there a new way to approach this?”

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Through Extraverted intuition, you stop yourself from getting married to a judgment or
principle prematurely. Ne helps you explore alternatives, generate new ideas, and see
abstract connections. In early life, Ne is usually fairly immature, but as you reached your teen
years and beyond this function matured and developed. In childhood, you might have formed
opinions too quickly or had too narrow of a focus. As this function develops you become more
balanced, open-minded, and creative. You’re more willing to take risks on new ventures and
more willing to entertain a theory or idea that opposes your own ideas.

These quotes by Albert Einstein (INTP) help to capture the strength of auxiliary Extraverted
Intuition:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited: Imagination encircles

the world.”

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”

ISFPs and ISTPS – Auxiliary Extraverted Sensation (Se)

If you’re an ISFP or an ISTP, your auxiliary function helps you to balance your judgments
and opinions with real-world data and experience. When you’re in touch with this side of
your personality type, you ask yourself questions like:

“What are the facts?”

“What is observable and objective?”

“What experience can be had here?”

“What resources are at my disposal?”

“How can I take action with what I have right now?”

“What is happening in my surroundings?”

“What’s relevant now?”

Extraverted Sensation is a perceiving process that focuses on absorbing data from the world
as it exists in the moment. Because of this, you are detail-oriented and attentive. Unlike many
types, you have a gift at reacting quickly to sudden changes and incoming information. You
try to be realistic, aware, action-oriented, and practical. You like immersing yourself in the
natural world around you and getting your hands on things and using them. You might have
a creative streak, finding ways to craft or build things in new ways. In early life, you had

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wavering proficiency with your Sensing side. Your judgments were probably more quickly
formed or subjective. However, in adolescence and beyond this function matures and
develops, adding more weight, practicality, and balance to your judgments.

These quotes help to give us a glimpse of auxiliary Extraverted Sensation:

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one
definite move daily toward your goal.” – Bruce Lee, ISTP

“If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going
to help you.” – Bruce Lee, ISTP

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” –
Thich Nhat Hanh, ISFP

“Around us, life bursts with miracles–a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a
flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each
human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms;
ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as
the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are
tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they
are always there.” – Thich Nhat Hanh, ISFP

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