by Ray Moody, Mina Barimany, and Mark Majors
(Read the first article and the second article in this series)
(Watch the YouTube video of the conference session)
How much energy does each of the eight mental processes get?
Jung observed that we use all eight. He found that the Dominant gets the most, the Auxiliary was second, and the Inferior got the least. That leaves five processes somewhere in between. Jung found them indistinguishable. His terms were “undeveloped” and “undifferentiated.” He lumped them together with the Inferior and called these six “inferior functions.” [1]
When we ask people what percentage of their mental energy goes to their Dominant and what percentage goes to their Inferior, the answers are always a lot of fun. The Dominant always gets two digits; the Inferior always gets one digit. The largest split we’ve ever heard was 95 percent for the Dominant, 5 percent for the Inferior. What about the other six processes in between? We need to take them into account too.
Christine Rigden gave us some guidance for setting up this tickler, so we are delighted to thank her for her contribution.
With MajorsPTI, we can now measure how much action each processes gets. The most interesting thing for us is that many people are not average. As Jung pointed out, each of us is absolutely unique. Our genes set us on our life-long path; our environment guides our choices and develops our skills in adjusting to it. Sometimes we can get our environment to adapt to us. Most of the time we have to adapt to it. Our personal life history makes each of us unique. No one ever has had, nor ever will anyone ever have, the same life experiences as you or I.
You can remember when we didn’t have cell phones. Now look at us, and at our kids. Most 17-year-olds have no idea what to do with a desk-top phone. What’s next for them and for us? How well will you and I be able to adapt? You and I are going to find out.
What’s next here is to guess how much you use each of your mental processes, all eight. According to statistical theory, when we are guessing, the best guess is the mean. We’ll be less wrong guessing the mean. So, 100% / 8 = 12.5 each.
Lay out in one horizontal line the eight roles:
Dom Aux AuxC InfC DomC Ter TerC Inf
This layout is the actual order, from most used (left) to least used (right) for some types but not for all. Individuals vary a great deal more.
Write 12.5 under each abbreviation.
You can also write under each number the abbreviation for your process for each role: Se, Si, Ne, Ni, Te, Ti, Fe, Fi. The Complements are in the opposite attitude. For example, if your Auxiliary is Ne, the Auxiliary Complement is Ni, and vice versa.
What is your guess for the percent of energy that each process gets? Jung provides some guidance. He said the Dominant gets the most energy, the Auxiliary gets second most, and the inferior gets the least. Myers put the Tertiary between the Auxiliary and the Inferior.
Attitude is included, so it’s important. Which way does the Tertiary go? Is its attitude the same as the Dominant or opposite the Dominant? Myers said it was opposite. According to our data, Myers was correct for 10 out of 16 types. Those who say the Tertiary is in the same attitude as the Dominant are wrong for 14 out of 16 types. Four types give equal energy to their Tertiary and their Tertiary Complement.
Our empirical evidence shows that, although Jung and Myers left out the four Complements, they were nearly perfect with the four Dynamic processes.
Above each role, write the percentage, whole number, no decimal, of energy it gets, your best guess, more than 12 or less than 12. You can also use 12.
How we distribute our psychic energy varies with type. It also varies with the individual, it varies with the individual’s environments, and it varies over time.
If you get to play with the numbers, what adjustments would you make for each process over time? If you add energy here, you have to take energy away from somewhere. Which process(es), do you think, needs (or gets) less? Which process(es) get more?
You now have a picture, your best guess, about how you distribute your psychic energy. Bring it to the conference. We’ll show you what the average is for all 16 types.
Living things are good at collecting information about their surroundings and at putting that information to use through the ways they interact with their environments so they can survive and replicate themselves.
Our type system is way ahead of us. Like our heart rate, breathing rate, digestive system, and immune response system, our psychological type system has been making adjustments automatically, minute by minute, second by second, all our lives, in the amount of energy we deliver to each system in response to our ever-changing internal and external environments, without ever bothering us with conscious details or decision-making questions. These five systems collects and processes information vital for our personal survival in our family and in our extended social and cultural environments.
The architecture, their functions, and their actions are awesome.
Thank you, Chris.
(Read the first article and the second article in this series)
[1] Jung, Psychological Types, paras. 101, 103, 108-2, 109, 111, 112, 115, 130-2, 149, 150, 156, 159-2, 163-2, 164-3, 167-2, 171-2, 310, 453, 502, 575-2, 588-2, 589-2, 602, 608, 613, 634, 637, 664, 731, 763-2, 764-6, 825, 867, 879, 955-2, 956-2, 986.
About the authors
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Ray Moody -
Dr Mark S. Majors -
Mina Barimany
- Ray Moody (INTJ) works with Mark Majors and collaborates with a variety of colleagues including Mina Barimany in organizing type and culture research. This ongoing research on the measurement of Jung’s eight mental processes has been presented at various APTi conferences. Lifetime Achievement Award from APTi, 2017.
- Mark Majors (ENFP) Dr Mark S. Majors is a counselling psychologist with extensive psychometric credentials. He is the author and developer of the MajorsPTI and Majors PT-Elements. He has developed and presents leadership training seminars that train leaders to serve others by using personality and individual differences to facilitate optimum performance.
- Mina Barimany (INTJ) is a psychotherapist, counselor educator, and researcher from Washington, DC. Originally trained as a family therapist, she completed a doctorate in counselor education from George Washington University, where she is the Assistant Training Director of the counseling center and researches the development and application of Psychological Type theory.