Myers-Briggs typologists often fail to give sufficient credence to the role of the inferior function in influencing a given personality type’s presentation and decision-making. In this post, I will discuss what I feel is the vastly important and often insidious role of the inferior function with regard to careers and relationships.
Setting the Stage: Individualism in Modern Life
Without denying the existence of predefined social roles and norms, we can attest to the fact that modern life, especially in the United States, is strongly geared toward the individual. Instead of one’s lot being determined by his or her family or society, the onus of decision-making falls on the individual. Most of us no longer believe in arranged marriages or predetermined work roles, since these are seen as an affront to individual freedom. For this reason, developing or acquiring an identity is in many ways a prerequisite to navigating modern life.
Take modern relationships, which are highly individualized. Before committing to a long-term relationship, it is assumed that we know the sort of relationship and partner we are seeking. Or, going back one step further, we must understand ourselves–our values, interests, and desires. Without this prerequisite self-knowledge, we would violate the implicit cultural dictate that everything be personalized and individualized. After all, if we do not care to know ourselves or to enumerate what we want in a relationship, then why not return to the era of arranged marriages?
If one chooses to embrace the myth and practice of individualism, as I have, then there is no getting around the need for self-knowledge. In order to feel that we have a place in a highly differentiated and specialized world, we must go through a process of identity-seeking. Without a clear sense of self and identity, we feel directionless and ambivalent, feeling ill-prepared to make critical decisions about things such as college majors, relationships, or careers. The same holds true at the societal level. If we are going to progress as a society of individuals, we will never reach our potential unless those individuals are functioning as consciously as possible and doing what they are best suited for. Living consciously not only requires an awareness and development of our dominant and auxiliary functions, but also our tertiary, and especially, our inferior function.
Psychological Development & the Inferior Function
The process of personality type development proceeds from the top of the function stack down. In other words, the dominant function is developed and differentiated first, followed by the auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior functions respectively.This means that even if one has a strong sense of identity, which is typically centered around the dominant and, to some degree the auxiliary function, he or she may have little awareness or understanding of the inferior. This allows the inferior to assert itself from far beneath the the radar of consciousness. Much of what we might call neurosis or irrational behavior can be viewed as stemming from the mischievous antics of the inferior function.
Career Decision-Making & the Inferior Function
One element of self-knowledge is having an accurate understanding of one’s personality type, as well as one’s personal strengths, values, and interests. Without this information, it can be extremely difficult to identify an appropriate vocational path. To circumvent what is often a long and arduous journey toward self-knowledge, the inferior function often provides us with an enticingly quick and easy way out.
Instead of advocating a career which capitalizes on the strengths, values, and interests of the top two functions, the inferior has its own agenda. Since its deplores being ignored and silenced, the inferior function encourages us to select careers that are in many ways contrary to what would be most conducive to our type. While choosing a career that regularly employs the inferior function may be acceptable later in life, after the inferior has been developed and differentiated, it is rarely a good idea upfront. When individuals allow their inferior function to have its way in their career decision-making, they will typically pay a severe price by way of failure or dissatisfaction. Once college graduates begin testing the waters of their chosen careers, it doesn’t take long for them to recognize detrimental errors in their career choice, errors which often stem from the mischief-making ways of the inferior.
For example, when dominant Thinkers enter the human services or helping professions, they often do both themselves and society a disfavor. The same could be said for dominant Feelers who become computer professionals, for Intuitives who take up “practical” work, or for Sensors who assume leadership roles in which a broader perspective is needed. Unfortunately, some career counselors have taken a fairly passive approach to counseling, supporting individuals who choose career paths that are clearly ill-suited for their personality type. While such support and encouragement may feel helpful to students in the short-term and give them the confidence to complete their degree programs, it does neither the student nor society at large a favor in the long-term.
Relationships & the Inferior Function
I have already written about the role of the inferior function in relationships. In effect, the same thing that happens with career decision-making frequently occurs in relationships. Many individuals, especially those in their twenties, have little clue about who they are or what they want in a romantic relationship. Yet, as is the case with careers, society encourages them to commit or even marry as soon as possible. This seems especially true in certain religious communities. Unfortunately, such expectations often create more problems than they solve, as those who marry before the age of 25 or far more likely to divorce than those who wait until later in life.
With such external pressures and expectations in place, we can be all too quick to settle for the first person we fall in love with. In many cases, our childhood sweethearts curiously embody the features of our own inferior function. Yes, opposites do attract, especially early in life when the inferior function is less conscious, more potent, and more naive and childlike.
Final Thoughts
If we are going to continue to espouse individualism in our society, we must either find a way to help individuals know themselves at an earlier age or change our expectations about when a person should make life-altering career or relational decisions. After all, the very well-being of an individualistic society rises and falls with the success and happiness of each individual. If matched with an ill-suited career or partner, individuals will never reach their full potential and society at large will continue to suffer the consequences. At the level of the individual, we must work to understand ourselves and our types. We must become aware of the mischievous ways of our inferior function and work to better understand and differentiate all four functions of our function stack.
Related Posts:
The Inferior Function: An Overlooked (But Potent) Personality Factor
INFJ, INFP, INTP, & INTJ Relationships, Compatibility, & the Inferior Function
Notes:
1. The inferior is arguably more powerful and influential than the tertiary function because it stands in opposition to the dominant function. Think of a rubberband with the dominant function on one end and the inferior on the other. In attempting to gain full strength and control, the dominant seeks to distinguish itself and pull away from the inferior. What often goes unrealized, however, is in doing so, the tension at the other end of the rubberband, the inferior function, is increasing to the same degree. Hence, the primary struggle of each personality type can be envisioned as a tug-of-war between the dominant and inferior functions, what Jung dubbed “Enantiodromia.”
2. As an alternative, one could suggest that the dominant and auxiliary functions develop together early in life, while the tertiary and inferior functions do so later in life. Even if generally true, the lead characters of our play are still the dominant and inferior functions, while the auxiliary and tertiary functions play only supporting roles.
