ESTP’s ARE NOT REBELS / REVOLUTIONARIES!

This is a very common misconception I've seen amongst a lot of Myers-Briggs typists and shows a lack of understanding of cognitive functions and how their psyche is structured.

The dominant function is a person's source of energy and sense of identity as it is highest ranked in the psyche's hierarchy.

Dominant Se does not make one a genuine rebel, conversely dominant Ni very often does.

Dominant Se and auxiliary Ti results in ESTP enjoying a rich sensory experience of the present in the external world and wanting to calibrate this to their subjective logical perfection.

Having dominant Se means there are literally infinite opportunities to be energised by the outer world, which often results in them being very high energy, alert, magnetic types that have a zest for life.

Rebels/revolutionaries typically do not share those qualities, in fact quite the opposite - they are often deeply dissatisfied/frustrated/angry with the way things currently are (hello dominant Ni which holds a worldview of how things should be and could be better* than they currently are and Te/Fe that wants to implement in externally through either social or systemic dynamics – large majority of rebels and revolutionaries are INFJ and INTJ), which drives them to rebel and instigate change.

ESTP have Ni in a inferior position – so it is their most draining cognitive process to use (highest energy cost) and polar from their dominant Se and sense of identity.

*better is a subjective term i.e. Adolph Hitler's dominant Ni's idea of a better world, is very different to say Tyler Durden's, Gandhi's or Jamie Oliver's etc.

Personality Typing Others

Typing others can be very useful in not only in helping better understand the person, but also developing a greater understanding of personality type as a whole.

Most people attempt to type others through their words, actions, hobbies and strereotypes. Such methods are covered in books such as Paul Tieger’s The Art Of SpeedReading. However, personality types can develop and manifest in different ways which can cause some people to be hard to type (particularly those who have well developed use of their tertiary and inferior cognitive functions) and these methods can be inaccurate particularly when mainly relying on stereotypes (i.e. all I’s are quiet and inarticulate loners, all E’s are loud party-goers, all N’s are intelligent geniuses, all S’s are dumb beer swillers, all T’s are mean and cold, all F’s are warm and friendly, all P’s are lazy and unmotivated, all J’s are hard working and organised etc.) and hobbies (i.e. Inferior Function Fetish).

However, their is a very interesting typing method mentioned by Adymus from INTP forums at the link below based on body language, behaviour and visual appearances in real time - this is definitely a typing method I’m interested in pursuing further and observing it’s effectiveness.

Guide To Typing In Real Time - INTP Forum

Inferior Function Fetish

Whilst hobbies can be helpful in determining someone’s personality type and often reflect a person’s dominant and auxiliary cognitive function combination, some hobbies they may in fact reflect the very opposite - a person’s inferior function AKA as aspirational function.

It might sound unusual a person doing an activity that is high energy cost to them (as using our inferior cognitive function is), but the feeling of heroism by conquering and defeating your weakness can be enough motivation to pursue such activities.

Here are some examples of inferior function fetishes you may see in the different personality types:

Ni dominants (INTJ and INFJ) may develop Se fetishes to conquer their weakness such as car racing, sports and dancing.

Ne dominants (ENTP and ENFP) may develop Si fetishes such as maintenance work, collecting hobbies, history and gardening

Se dominants (ESTP and ESFP) may have Ni fetishes such as dreaming, philosophy and spirituality.

Si dominants (ISTJ and ISFJ) may develop Ne fetishes like improvisational comedy.

Ti dominants (ISTP and INTP) may develop Fe fetishes to conquer their weakness like acting, fashion, hosting parties, public speaking, psychology and volunteer work/community service.

Te dominants (ENTJ and ESTJ) may develop Fi fetishes such as personal expression through music, design, poetry, arts and crafts

Fe dominants (ESFJ and ENFJ) may develop Ti fetishes such as strategy games, engineering, construction and mechanics

Fi dominants (INFP and ISFP) may develop Te fetish such as structural organisation, debating, business and politics

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions 

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) is an external “dynamics” judgment function that makes objective decisions based on the social dynamics of the external world.

Who uses it?

As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – ESFJ, ENFJ
As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ISFJ, INFJ
As a tertiary function – ESTP, ENTP
As an inferior function (most drained by) – ISTP, INTP

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Caring
• Social Awareness
• Charisma
• Diplomatic
• Communal

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions

Extroverted Thinking (Te) - Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Extroverted Thinking (Te) is an external “dynamics” judgment function that makes objective decisions based on the systematic dynamics of the external world.

Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – ESTJ, ENTJ
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ISTJ, INTJ
• As a tertiary function – ENFP, ESFP
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – INFP, ISFP

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Systematic
• Efficient
• Competitive
• Forceful
• Authoritative

 For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions

Introverted Feeling (Fi) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Introverted Feeling (Fi) is an internal “compass” judgment function that makes subjective decisions based on personal feelings, morals and values.

Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – INFP, ISFP
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ENFP, ESFP
• As a tertiary function – ISTJ, INTJ
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – ESTJ, ENTJ

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Poignant
• Empathetic
• Idealistic
• Virtuousness
• Conviction
• Devotion

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions  

Introverted Thinking (Ti) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Introverted Thinking (Ti) is an internal “compass” judgment function that allows us to make decisions based upon internal, subjective logical deductions.

Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – ISTP, INTP
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ESTP, ENTP
• As a tertiary function – INFJ, ISFJ
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – ESFJ, ENFJ

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Precision
• Clarity
• Dispassionate
• Analytic
• Diagnostic
• Calibration

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions 

Extroverted Intuition (Ne) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Extroverted intuition is an external “stimulus” perception function that gives us information based on the present environment via patterns and impressions, that gives us information in terms of ideas, interpretations and possibilities we can use to make decisions.

Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – ENTP, ENFP
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – INTP, INFP
• As a tertiary function – ESTJ, ESFJ
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – ISTJ, ISFJ

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Creative Thinking
• Brainstorming
• Pattern Surfing
• Enthusiastic about possibilities
• Improvisation

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions

Introverted Intuition (Ni) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Introverted intuition is an internal “worldview” perception function that gives us information based on future conceptual visions processed via patterns and impressions, that we can use to make decisions.


Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – INTJ, INFJ
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ENTJ, ENFJ
• As a tertiary function – ISTP, ISFP
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – ESTP, ESFP

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Imagination
• Visionary
• Global
• Insightful
• Speculation
• Detachment
• Independence

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions  

Extroverted Sensing (Se) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Extroverted Sensing (Se) is an external “stimulus” perception function that gives us information based on the present physical environment using the 5 basic senses that we can use to make decisions.

Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – ESTP, ESFP
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ISTP, ISFP
• As a tertiary function – ENTJ, ENFJ
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – INTJ, INFJ

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Present orientation
• Sensual Experience
• Alertness
• Kinetic Energy
• Passion for life

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions 

Introverted Sensing (Si) – Cognitive Functions

What Is It?

Introverted Sensing (Si) is an internal “worldview” perception function that gives us information based on past experience using the 5 basic senses that we can use to make decisions.

Who uses it?

• As a dominant function (most stimulated by) – ISFJ, ISTJ
• As a auxiliary function (supporting the dominant function) – ESTJ, ESFJ
• As a tertiary function – INFP, INTP
• As an inferior function (most drained by) – ENFP, ENTP

What are it's characteristics and themes?

• Grounded
• Consistency
• Stability
• Practicality
• Specificity
• Maintenance
• Memory

For more about the cognitive functions and how to further develop their use check out Functions of Type: Activities for Developing the Eight Jungian Functions