Carl Jung's Examples Of Ni Types

Here is what Jung directly says about Introverted Intuition in Psychological Types and a bit of commentary thereafter:

"The introverted intuitive type, like the extraverted intuitive, has an uncanny capacity for smelling out the future, the notyet-manifest possibilities of a situation. But the intuition is directed within, hence they are primarily found among seers and prophets, poets, artists; among primitive peoples they are the shamans who convey the messages of the gods to the tribe. On a more mundane level, persons of this type tend to be mystical day-dreamers. They do not communicate well, are frequently misunderstood, lack good judgment about both themselves and others, and never accomplish anything. They move from image to image, writes Jung, "chasing after every possibility in the teeming womb of the unconscious," without establishing any personal connection.108 This type is especially liable to neglect ordinary physical needs. They often have little awareness of their own bodily existence or its effect on others. It often appears (especially to the extravert) that reality does not exist for them—they are simply lost in fruitless fantasies. Jung counters this by describing the value of this type to the collective community: The perception of the images of the unconscious, produced in such inexhaustible abundance by the creative energy of life, is of course fruitless from the standpoint of immediate utility. But since these images represent possible views of the world which may give life a new potential, this function, which to the outside world is the strangest of all, is as indispensable to the total psychic economy as is the corresponding human type to the psychic life of a people. Had this type not existed, there would have been no prophets in Israel.109 Introverted intuitives are characteristically vague about details in the "real" world. They easily get lost in strange cities; they misplace possessions, forget appointments, seldom turn up on time, arrive at airports at the very last minute. Their working environment is usually chaotic; they can't find the right papers, the tools they need, clean clothes. There is seldom anything orderly or tidy about them. They tend to muddle through life, dependent on the tolerance and good will of sensation-oriented friends."

Some but not all Ni dominant types are the ones to tell you they channel or talk to spirits, feel spirit guides, get gut feelings about events but not based on any moral reasoning or logical reasoning as the above poster, stated. We are not psychics but we appear that way and it may feel that way to the INFJ/INTJ. Seers are clairvoyants but Jung put this into better perspective as he was a concrete analyst.

The possibilities the Ni dominant sees are ones of a possible future such as forecasting events. Jung even suggest one who predicted the weather was using introverted intuition. That's the difference between Ne and Ni. Ni predicts/forecasts the future while Ne makes the future happen through seizing new opportunities that arise in the actual reality/situation and transforming people and things to create new and whole things. It's like Simon Cowell putting together one direction, he used Ne potential for that. But Ni is more like forecasting something to come instead of making it come or happen.

Here is the definition of a Seer just in case someone isn't familiar with the term:

  1. 1.
    a person who is supposed to be able, through supernatural insight, to see what the future holds.
    synonyms: soothsayer, oracle, prophet(ess), augur, prognosticator, diviner, visionary, fortune teller, crystal gazer, clairvoyant, psychic, medium;
    literarysibyl
    "the woeful predictions of an ancient seer"
  2. 2.
    archaic
    a person who sees something specified.
    "a seer of the future"
^ If Jung is where Myers and others got their descriptions of the functions from, why is it so different from his descriptions? I prefer to go by Jung because he is the one these folks claim to have gotten their descriptions from..When I didn't know Jung, I thought I was an INFP because I was an outwardly emotional, astrologer who thinks she has spirit guides and etc. I was messy and ran late, didn't notice surroundings well enough, (inferior Se) and etc.. Then I read Jung and realized I was actually an INFJ..It's not the labels that matter but in order to help yourself develop you gotta know what functions you value and the inferior ones so they will no longer unconsciously hold you hostage.
 
Dear Lord, and all this time I thought it was my adhd! I see now that by this description it all fits... because I always read that INFJ's are never late and I was telling another member worried she was not a real INFJ because she was sometimes untidy and late that we all have diff ennetypes and upbringings and traumas and things like perhaps ADHD can also effect that side of an INFJ. But that we also are so perfectionist that we get stuck worrying we won't do it perfectly and we freeze at the end of novel or giant project we have indeed been honing for months or years... terrified to pull that final trigger for fear of it not being absolutely perfect. Then I found memes about INFJ's being forgetful... one of Dumbeldore, in fact which also echoes the message you are teaching here. Us introverted intuitive types are weird.. good weird imo. But we do forget the practical. I am often mocked for this. My parents used to say things like: "You'll be late for your own funeral", and "You'd lose your head if it were not attached"... ;)
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This is one reason I do not find MBTI tasteful, especially the tests... Many people dislike this stereotype of INFJs because they don't relate and also think think it means we are saying we have magic powers but it is simply how the Ni function appears to observers who don't value it. While we do tend towards impracticality, Jung did state it would behoove us to try to develop our inferior functions, (Fe, Ti, and Se) so that we will become more balanced as people. As I understand that is the goal for typology..
 
This is one reason I do not find MBTI tasteful, especially the tests... Many people dislike this stereotype of INFJs because they don't relate and also think think it means we are saying we have magic powers but it is simply how the Ni function appears to observers who don't value it. While we do tend towards impracticality, Jung did state it would behoove us to try to develop our inferior functions, (Fe, Ti, and Se) so that we will become more balanced as people. As I understand that is the goal for typology..

@Skarekrow shared an article fairly recently detailing the development of functions as we age (using INFJs as its example) that I thought was pretty nifty:

I thought this article was quite good.
It’s along those lines of thinking.

INFJ
Individuation

We cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life's morning;
for what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and what in the morning was true, will at evening, have become a lie.


-Carl Jung

***​

It's important to acknowledge that type is not a "static" model.
It is a developmental model.

An INFJ at age 15 will look dramatically different from an INFJ aged 50.

One reason for this is due to what Jung named "individuation." (Others prefer the simple term "growth.")

What this simply means is that we go through different stages throughout our entire lives, indicating that we are naturally developing one function progressively after another.

It's all about a process of maturity.
As we cultivate each of the functions, we unconsciously seek out "tasks" that will help us to engage and exercise the developing function.

It is important to note that not everybody develops according to the pattern or according to a precise timetable -- the stages of development suggested below are an idealized perspective of what development would look like in a "classic" candidate.

The dominant function for an INFJ would be introverted iNtuition.
It normally develops from birth until about the age of 12.

Think about your own life during this time period.
What behaviors do you remember that might prove this to be true?

It may be helpful to make some notes.
I remember very little about this period of my life.

I know this is when I read a lot -- especially fairytales and mythology.
I didn't care about playing outdoors or making friends.

I was always in my head or in my room, which drove my mother crazy.
My favorite place in the world was the public library, and we have several family stories about that.


Here is how Harold Grant describes INFJs at this stage:

1st period - 6 to 12 years (Introverted Intuiting)

By innate preference you were drawn in childhood to develop your imagination and creativity.
Perhaps you created an imaginary playmate, or several, with whom you secretly lived while your parents wondered about your dreamy silence.

Only a favorite friend or two, or a wise and gentle parent, was permitted to share your world of make-believe.
Teachers frequently had to remind you that you were not paying attention.

It is hard for you to remember the details of this period, especially as details did not engage your interest.
But you do recall the general atmosphere, whether of happiness, sadness, pain, or pleasure.

The auxiliary function, extraverted Feeling, usually starts to develop around age 12 and continues until about age 20.

Think about your own life again.
Did you or are you now manifesting behavior that might bear out this development?

Again, you may wish to write some notes.
This was when I discovered Feminism and became more vocally opinionated.

I became interested in socially-sanctioned achievements -- such as getting high test scores, making the Honor Roll, and winning membership in National Honor Society.

I started sewing because I cared about my outward appearance, and became highly involved in extra-curricular activities, especially acting.
I was always a very expressive actress, unafraid to display emotion and "let it all hang out." (My mother says she thinks I enjoyed experiencing what it was like to BE other people.)

I had some boyfriends and began to notice how "out-of-step" I was with my peers.
I held down up to three jobs at a time and tried to give my mother money to pitch in for living expenses.


Here is Grant's description of INFJs at this stage:

2nd period - 12 to 20 years (Extraverted Feeling)

While continuing to perceive in a predominantly intuitive way, you now become aware of a desire to give expression to your life of feeling.
Sensitivity to your own feelings and compassion for others became characteristic of you, and because you were led to manifest these qualities others came to know you predominantly through them.

You perhaps surprised yourself by becoming more outgoing, in contrast to your previous shyness.
You became more aware of ways in which you could help others, especially the poor, the suffering, the underdog, and you may have joined groups committed to the service of others.

You may have found it difficult to find time for yourself in the process of obliging others.

The tertiary function, introverted Thinking, typically develops when one is between ages 20 and 35.

Does this hold true for you?
What are you now or have you experienced in the past that verifies this to be true?

This was the stage when I left a relationship that felt like it was stifling me instead of empowering me, and I went about it very badly.
I began navigating the freeways of Los Angeles by myself in my own car.

I became a computer consultant and took on the trappings of a "professional businesswoman," feeling comfortably presentable in a variety of settings.
I became a director of a computer user group, and helped that group flourish.

I got deeply interested in database designing and taught myself several software programs and integrated them.
I learned money management techniques and bought a condo.


Here is Harold Grant's description of INFJs at this stage:

3rd period - 20 to 35 years (Introverted Thinking)

At twenty you experienced a tendency to become more independent, more your own person, and became critical of your previous habits of submission to the wishes of others.

Because this development was taking place in an introverted way, you were not fully able to explain to others your new determination to become more autonomous; hence others may have been offended or baffled by the change in you.

At the beginning of this period you probably felt you were handling the transition badly, but your conviction that it was right helped you to persevere and grow.

The solution to your occasional ineptness was, you believed, in going forward toward assertiveness, not back to your earlier submissiveness.

The INFJ's fourth function is extraverted Sensing.
Since it is opposite the dominant function, people sometimes make dramatic shifts in their personality -- what is sometimes labeled a "mid-life crisis" -- during this phase of development.

They may become radically different persons from how they were in the past, although this will not necessarily be so if has been able to embrace change along the way and have individuated previously in a healthy fashion.

The fourth function usually develops sometime after age 35.

If this timetable currently describes you, what behaviors are you now or have you previously exhibited that bear out that you are developing your fourth function?

I'm in this stage of life now, so I have a hard time saying -- but I daresay getting married at Stonehenge may have been an expression of my extraverted Sensing!

I'm also beginning to take more pleasure in delicious foods, enjoy developing websites, and being a clotheshorse.
Ebay has become a dangerous place.

I enjoy interior decoration, architecture styles, and art museums.
Sightseeing has become one of my favorite activities.

I enjoy taking cruises with my husband, and we are quite the pair when we go out swing dancing.
In a funny way, I feel as if I'm just "waking up" to what life is...


Here is Grant's description of INFJs at this stage:

4th period - 35 to 50 years (Extraverted Sensing)

At this point you begin to experience a call to develop your least acknowledged gift, your sensing.
Now you began to notice the details of life around you, which previously, in your basic preference for exploring the possible, had not engaged your interest.

As if for the first time you took pleasure in the exercise of some or all of your senses.
You probably became keenly interested in such things as doing things with your hands, playing a musical instrument, taking up a craft, or collecting and classifying objects; and you engaged in this type of activity with a precision which contrasted strongly with your previous vagueness about the life of the senses.

Now in fact you became somewhat impatient with inexactitude, daydreaming, and disorder in yourself and in others.
Your preference now was for engaging in the newly found life of the senses in company with others, not in solitude.

You liked to have someone with you as you attended concerts or visited museums; and your companions were struck with your attentiveness to the fine details of artistic creation.

The timing of these stages varies with the individual.
Some develop their dominant and auxiliary functions clearly and reliably by their early twenties; others may find it a much slower process.

Some will reach the traditional midlife period and find that they have not, for various reasons, developed one or both of their preferred functions.

For most people, midlife transition takes place between 35 and 50 years of age.
However, some are plunged into premature midlife reassessment by a divorce, job loss, serious illness, or the death of a relative or friend.

Some people don't seem to go through a midlife transition, but rather experience a burst of growth toward the end of life.

Once all four of the main functions have developed (or "individuated"), it's anybody's guess what happens next.
Some people believe we proceed back through the pattern "backwards," while others say we start over at the top but in the opposite attitude and work from there.

Whichever way it works, the consensus appears to be that, if we live long enough, we will eventually develop all eight of the processes and become fully individuated.

Now when people first learn Jung's theory, they get the idea that it would be ideal to develop all eight preferences with equal facility to achieve "perfect balance.”

Some people brag about re-taking the MBTI over and over in order to achieve a perfect "XXXX" score, as if it represents a wonderful accomplishment. According to Jung, however, development does not work this way.

If a person tries to develop both ways of perceiving equally, for example, then neither Sensing nor iNtuition will receive the focus of energy and attention necessary to become fully reliable and trustworthy.

Likewise, Thinking and Feeling are opposite ways of making decisions; developing a reliable decision-making function requires directing most of one's energy to one side of this dichotomy and therefore taking it away from the other.

The four functions tend to pull in opposite directions: Sensing, to the reality of the present; iNtuition, to the possibility of the future; Thinking, to decisions based on objective logic; and Feeling, to decisions based on subjective values.

People who do not establish the leadership of one of each pair of functions are inconsistent in their behavior, pulled first in one direction and then another. They are unpredictable to others and to themselves and remain what Jung termed a primitive personality.

Because Jung's theory is one of opposites, directing attention and energy to all of the functions equally ensures that the leadership of one will not be developed and the resulting perceptions and judgments will be inconsistent and unreliable.

The goal of type development, then, is not equal development and use of all the functions, but rather the ability to use each mental process with some facility when it is appropriate.

The developing individual thus gains the ability to call on the less-preferred functions to accomplish the purposes of the dominant function, bringing more balance to the tasks of life.

Good type development includes:
  • Trust and excellence in the use of the dominant function to provide purpose and consistency
  • A well-developed auxiliary function to provide balance and support
  • An ability to use the tertiary and inferior functions when appropriate


* * *

From Image to Likeness: A Jungian Path in the Gospel Journey by W. Harold Grant, Thomas E. Clarke, Mary M. Thompson

* * *​
 
I agree and disagree with age playing in important role. For example, someone who believes such things as having spirit guides, being able to foresee future events and etc -- These things have nothing to do with age but really one's own opinion of what is to be accepted into beliefs or truth or not. (Which none of us can even prove we have.. not even Se doms.)

On the other hand, I do agree that type is developmental and not static.... and an INFJ child who believes she is talking to an invisible unicorn will probably lose that type of imagination as she gets older. Also, one can be an INFJ and stumble across Jung and begin to denounce all of the Ni insights, visions and perceptions altogether because they would find Jung to be sensible.. and recognize their own perception as nonsense. This would lead to this person developing their Se..
 
This is one reason I do not find MBTI tasteful, especially the tests... Many people dislike this stereotype of INFJs because they don't relate and also think think it means we are saying we have magic powers but it is simply how the Ni function appears to observers who don't value it. While we do tend towards impracticality, Jung did state it would behoove us to try to develop our inferior functions, (Fe, Ti, and Se) so that we will become more balanced as people. As I understand that is the goal for typology..
Jung himself, as you know, was an INFJ. :) He understood us well...

But I must say in regards to what you mentioned above about us all not falling on the same scale of an MBTI "type" that I fully agree. I myself had an ENTJ mother and she used being hyper clean and organized, to control the things she could not control. Aka, utilizing her external world in an attempt to order and structure out of control aspects of her internal world. I find that due to seeing this behavior in motion, I also tend to do this and thus my Te is pretty high for an INFJ. It can throw some people off. My Ni is usually between 90 and 100 percent and my Fe 85 ish. But I'm also a 4w5 sx so I am passionate, vocal, and firey. I search for intensity in all forms. All of these aspects can make me seem quite extroverted to some, but that's ok, because as you said, not all MBTI types (INFJ) or even introverted intuitive types are all the same cookie cutter shape. We all are shaped by so much more than our MBTI types, but these things do not make us any less the type we know we are just because we are all different than the next.
 
It's not the labels that matter but in order to help yourself develop you gotta know what functions you value and the inferior ones so they will no longer unconsciously hold you hostage.

Yup
 
This is one reason I do not find MBTI tasteful, especially the tests... Many people dislike this stereotype of INFJs because they don't relate and also think think it means we are saying we have magic powers but it is simply how the Ni function appears to observers who don't value it. While we do tend towards impracticality, Jung did state it would behoove us to try to develop our inferior functions, (Fe, Ti, and Se) so that we will become more balanced as people. As I understand that is the goal for typology..

Hello demon lion, I am a space coyote. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.
 
@Lilithx,

thank you for the article. It was valuable to me because while familiar with astrology I am still working out the proper way to map out and categorize the MBTI functions. However from my memories of Jung's works and reading various MBTI personality interpretations what you are describing sounds true to me.

Regarding astrology, I was getting ready to call it a bridge between two domains (or the point of intersection of such) and then noticed you already did in your article. Having had similar experiences from people (initially) with being an active practitioner I started wondering about it and taking notes of what sorts of arguments were used against it and what they might mean.

Now it is interesting that within astrology itself there is already a planet which is considered to be a bridge-builder and this planet's standing in astrology is rather like astrology's standing within society - it is the outsider which doesn't "fit in". But on the other hand, quantum mechanics has a similar concept of understanding reality with its wave function collapse phenomenon and this variation is starting to find some acceptance in society even if it is thought of as theoretical at present.

So back to the idea of bridging, it seems any model which emphasizes the inherent duality (things are what they are, with both "good" and "bad" qualities rather than one or the other) of existence is likely to prove unpopular with the general population except when, by chance, its predictions turn out to be correct. At least my observations so far are leading me to think this way of interpreting reality is rather challenging to stomach for people. An example which comes to mind is from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy has to walk through what at first appears to be an abyss even though it turns out to be a visual trick as there really is solid ground underneath for him to step on.

There is one other reason I can think of which would make astrology unpopular - it turns the whole cause-and-effect model upside down while simultaneously removing ego-consciousness as the center of one's existence and identity (the sun is just one of 10+ planets in the chart) with the implication that one is not really in control of their own destiny.

@Ginny,

(reading and saw your post as well) - it might be that you possess both rational discrimination and intuition and one is performing checks on whatever you are studying while the other is absorbing it freely. If this happens you will end up with both effects, where it seems something is odd and nonsensical on one hand but makes sense to you intuitive faculties on the other.

(now to read the rest of the thread)
 
Hello all. I'm suprised people are still reading this thread since I wrote it in 2018. I'm only back here because someone posted this on Reddit and it came to my email. (awkwardly/coincidentally.)

It seems as though I posted the article and never returned. I apologize for that.

I don't really like discussing Typology anymore because I feel it can get a bit catty and sometimes the vibes are just ....not pleasant in my opinion...especially when it seems as though I've manage to upset someone over it. To me, it isn't worth it.

With that said, I am here now and will finish what I started.

When I wrote this article, I was less knowledgeable about certain things but I did learn much more about Ni and even the other functions.

I picked up Marie Louise Von Franz's book about the inferior function and read some of J.H. Van der Hoop's book, Conscious Orientation, as well as another book that isn't crossing the mind right now.

Apparently, in my original post, I didn't make it clear that Ni was someone's outlook on life and that, that compartment of it is steady there. Sometimes, I don't include things because I assume they're a given. I wanted to highlight portions I thought MBTI were ignoring.

Anyways, in case you want to know why I think MLVF is relevant - it's because she was Jung's close friend and Jung trusted her with his work. They even held typing classes together. So, instead of reading Myers or anyone else, I felt it was reasonable to read her, next.

In her book, she states that Ni doms are usually artists, mystics and seers. She also went onto say that we are frequently interested in the fields of parapsychology because of our dominant function.

-- So it turns out that even though I hadn't read Von Franz yet that I was on the right track with my post.
She also gave names of Ni doms: Swedonborg, Jacob Bohme.

Another one of Jung's students, J.H. Van der Hoop, also wrote a book called Conscious Orientation. It goes into depth about the types -- healthy and unhealthy. He even got into the auxiliary functions. You can find his profile on Ni+Te and Ni+Fe online.

(You can also read his entire book via pdf for free.)

In his book, Van der Hoop reiterates what Von Franz and Jung said. Ni dominants sometimes express themselves in very spiritual and mystical ways. When I first introduced my ideas to the MBTi community, I was made fun of, shunned and "gossiped about" as if it were some kind of club.

However, it seems to me that among Jung and his associates the one thing that stays consistent is the mystical / spiritual aspect of certain Ni manifestations.

I advise grabbing those books because they are extremely informative about all of the types, as a whole, as well as mentally unwell versions of those types.

The one thing Swedonborg, Jacob Bohme, and Rasputin had in common was they were all said to be mystics. (Mystics = People who think they have a direct communication with God or spirit beings.)

Von Franz said parapsychology and shamans, Jung said Shamans, Seers and Mystics, and Van der Hoop said the same. I relate to that because I am also a mystic and it's been this way since I was a child.

This doesn't mean I'm actually talking to spirits ,am an "empath" or anything else I label myself as. It is what I am convicted of in what I call my "spirit" (which in psychological language would mean my Ni). However, I can objectively acknowledge that it cannot be proven.

Jung & Co use psychological language when discussing functions but there is a huge difference in the psychological definitions and their actual manifestations in individuals.

I do believe Ni can be taken up other ways. If you are a true INFJ, it doesn't mean I think you MUST believe in the okie doke. I don't think every INFJ will dig astrology. I am also not saying Ni = spirituality nor parapsychology.

hat I am saying is that this is often what direction we take, according to Jung & Friends...and there is a difference between actually taking parapsychological stuff seriously and "getting into the occult just because" which anyone can do.

I don't really like to debate over this stuff because it's heavy. I mean, really typology touches on our deepest insecurities since it forces us to deal with ourselves and I became painfully aware of that in search of my own type as well as dealing with others who are touchy about being certain types.

I have mistyped myself as anything under the Sun, even a sensor. My goal with typology was to get to know myself and others...and just to know how certain people's minds work in general so I'll know what and what not to do.. but I have shortcomings.

With that said, I apologize for rambling, too. I guess I wanna make sure I am understood ..Apparently that is a trait of FJs due to lower/inferior Ti. Anyways off I go. Back into my batcave!!
 
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