Understanding John Beebe's 8 Function

Model: A Comprehensive Guide

The John Beebe 8 Function Model has been around for years, but many
people still don't understand it.

This article will explain the eight function model developed by Jungian
analyst John Beebe in detail. Beebe is an ENTP, and a past president of the
C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco.

The first step is to know about all eight functions of consciousness and how
they work together to create meaning and understanding on both an
individual and collective level.

Understanding each function will help you better understand yourself, as well
as those around you!

Table Of Contents

Function Stacks
I've gone over the primary functions (dominant function, auxiliary function,
tertiary function, and inferior function) before, as well as covered the
shadow functions, but here's a quick recap:
Primary Functions

Primary cognitive functions are the ones that nearly anyone who has an
interest in MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), personality psychology,
typology, or Jungian depth psychology is most familiar with.

There are four primary functions, and depending on which one is the
dominant function, the auxiliary function, the tertiary function, or the
inferior function, you get one of the 16 known personality types.

In our function stack, these are the first four functions.

Shadow Functions

A shadow function is concerned with unconscious processes such as feelings

and intuitions rather than logical decisions based on facts like those dealt by
our other cognitive functions (eg.: Thinking & Feeling).

Aspects of these deeper aspects of one's psyche may not even be known in
order for them to come out into consciousness which means they may
remain hidden from what we consciously think about ourselves therefore
making an individual unaware when they might need to do some
introspective work.

In our function stack, these are the last four functions.

Beyond The 4 Letters of Personality Type
This is something that those most familiar with the MBTI (Myers Briggs
Type Indicator) usually aren't aware of.

This is because the 16personalities test, for example, is inherently flawed.

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Going deeper into the Depth Psychology and Typology function model, it
becomes clear that what drives our psyche, ego (conscious self), and shadow
(unconscious self) is dependent on the hierarchy of the 8 cognitive functions.

An INFJ has introverted intuition (Ni) as their dominant function (hero), but
so does an INTJ.

Whereas an INFJ has introverted thinking (Ti) as their tertiary function

(eternal child), but an INTJ has that same Ti function as their critical parent.

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The position of these 8 cognitive functions in our function stack greatly
impacts how we observe the world, assess the world, operate in it, and our
mental processes.

Beebe's Eight Function Model

Because I am an INFJ (based on the position of my Jungian functions), I'll
use my own function stack as the example going forward.

My full function stack is:

!"Introverted Intuition (Ni)

!"Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
!"Introverted Thinking (Ti)
!"Extraverted Sensing (Se)
!"Extraverted Intuition (Ne)
!"Introverted Feeling (Fi)
!"Extraverted Thinking (Te)
!"Introverted Sensing (Si)

John Beebe's eight function model assigns 'characters', or archetypes to all of

these, resulting in eight archetypes.

All of these characters have their own needs and behaviors and, depending
on their position, are used either in development of self & identity, or when
interacting with others.

Thinking of these archetypes as characters in a story will also help in

understanding each of their roles.

The Archetypes
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My full function stack, with the John Beebe 8 Function Model

Primary functions: (ego / conscious)

1. Hero: Introverted Intuition (Ni)

2. Parent: Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
3. Eternal child: Introverted Thinking (Ti)
4. Inferior: Extraverted Sensing (Se)
Shadow functions: (shadow / unconscious)

1. Opposing personality: Extraverted Intuition (Ne)

2. Witch/Senex (or Critical Parent) : Introverted Feeling (Fi)
3. Trickster: Extraverted Thinking (Te)
4. Demon: Introverted Sensing (Si)

Shadow Types

Keen observers of my shadow function stack can spot that this is also the
Primary function stack of the ENFP.

In turn, an ENFP's shadow function stack is the INFJs' primary function

stack.

In other words, this also means that an extroverted INFJ doesn't simply turn
ENFJ.

I hope that this article has helped you come to a deeper understanding of the
John Beebe's eight function model, and how it impacts your personality (and
others).

Additional Resources
Evolving the Eight Function Model by John Beebe (5-page PDF)

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