Opposite Letters
The construction of the MBTI 4-letter code implies that Sensing and iNtuiting are opposites, as are Thinking and Feeling. If you’ve read some of the other articles here, you’ll know that there’s more to personality type than just the single letters.
Here’s a rule of thumb — true opposites manifest where the letters are different on the same scale, but the attitudes are the same. So Extraverted Thinking (Te) and Extraverted Feeling (Fe) could be regarded as opposites, as could Introverted Thinking (Ti) and Introverted Feeling (Fi); Extraverted iNtuiting (Ne) and Extraverted Sensing (Se); Introverted iNtuiting (Ni) and Introverted Sensing (Si).
Now here’s an interesting corollary — if you take the letter pairs on the MBTI scale in opposite attitudes, you actually have a complementary pairing. So Te and Fi complement each other, as do Ni/Se, Ti/Fe, and Ne/Si. This phenomenon is called by various names, including “Spine of Integrity” (Beebe) and “Tandem Processes” (Berens).
What this means to INTJs is that our Dominant Ni is being “supported” by our so-called Inferior process, Se. I say “so-called” because Jung never intended the “Inferior” function to be regarded as any less important than any other — it was intended as a positional nomenclature — Ni is in the “superior” or most conscious position; Se is beneath it in a supportive role. An analogy is the way my feet are “inferior” to my head, but they play an important supportive role in providing movement. My head might decide it wants to go somewhere, but it’s my feet that make it happen.
It’s common for INTJs to envision future outcomes using their Ni, then enroll their Se to observe the current environment in order to decide how best to make that vision into reality. Or, we might observe something happening in the real world, then use Ni to ascribe some symbolic meaning to that observation.
In like fashion, INTJ’s Te develops plans, establishes milestones, makes logical decisions. In much of this planning and decision-making, Fi is called upon to help decide what’s important. It’s worth noting here that Fi is about making value judgments. Although it has an “F” for “Feeling,” it’s not about “feelings” (with an “s”) or “emotions.” In fact, decisions made using Fi can sometimes seem to be entirely devoid of emotional content.
In contrast to the above, the opposite letter with the same attitude is where the most unconscious, shadowy difficulties can be encountered. For INTJs, their Dominant Ni is opposed most strongly by the “demonic” aspect of Si; their Te put into a double-bind by the “trickster” nature of Fe; their Fi decisions can be challenged by the “critical parent” of Ti; and their Se blocked by an “oppositional” use of Ne.
What’s interesting to note is that the four unconscious processes for INTJs are, in fact, the four conscious, preferred processes in ENTP, INTP, ESFJ, and ISFJ types. So it could be said they might be the most difficult types for INTJs to be with.
May 27th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I met an ENTP last year … we are both “classic” representations of our MBTI … and it is an absolutely PERFECT match. I don’t find him difficult in the least.
May 27th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Sheryl, what do you believe to be your type preference? How sure are you of your type and the ENTP’s type?
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
My husband is an ENFP and I’m definitely an INTJ. We are very opposite and our 18 years together have been fraught with challenges. Overall, this has been a good thing. We inspire each other to improve in our own areas of weakness - often the other’s area of strength.
August 16th, 2009 at 10:20 am
My best fit is INTJ and my husband’s is INTP. Our life together has been interesting to say the least! Knowledge of our type preferences actually provided a sense of relief for me…… our defensiveness is likely an expression of our unconscious mental functions. If our fundamental appreciation and positive regard for each other is included in our life equation….each of us can help show the other the way through our unconscious mental functions.
August 20th, 2009 at 3:36 am
This is all hunky-dory logically but It doesn’t work in practice. I’m INTJ and based on the same logic the least difficult types to be with would be ESFP, ISFP, ENTJ and INTJ. Can you see yourself with the first 2? All the SFP types I have met are obsessed with self gratification through over indulgence, not to mention the showboating. The first 2 have all the qualities an INTJ lacks but it’s not to say you want them constantly thrown at you. I find my best matches to be ENFJ or INFJ although ENTJ and INTJ from above do work too. I figure that intuitives should be with intuitives, sensing with sensing, judging with judging and perceiving with perceiving. The other preferences can be mixed and matched as desired.
Now, relationships aside, would you find it difficult to be around Jung or Keirsey whom are widely believed to be INTP?
August 20th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Personality type is a dynamic model — Jung’s theory says that we are all on a path toward individuation, which includes developing proficiency with less-preferred cognitive processes. One way to accomplish that is to be in a relationship with someone whose preferred processes are our less-preferred.
Your experience with SFP types is not necessarily typical of that type, and I know some INTJs who are self-obsessed. I also need to suggest a course correction over your use of “judging” and “perceiving” — those terms really don’t apply to people — just to cognitive processes. As it happens, the dominant cognitive process for INTJs is Introverted iNtuiting, which happens to be a “perceiving” process!
As regards being around INTPs like Keirsey, yes, I sometimes have difficulty with them, but my knowledge of psychological type allows me to compensate and smooths the way, reducing miscommunication quite a lot.
As regards Jung, I believe he had INTJ preferences — see http://www.intj.org/articles/jungs-type-redux/