16 Types Part 4: How your mind wiring impacts you (The Car Model)
Be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 before diving into this article.
Now that you understand what the four letters of your personality type code really mean and you’ve met the cognitive functions that lie underneath, let’s look at the relationship between the four cognitive functions found in a personality type. Each of these four cognitive functions plays a specific role based on where it’s located in a person’s “cognitive function stack.”
The Car Model offers a visual representation of the arrangement of your first four cognitive functions. It also provides a metaphor to help you understand the roles each function plays in your mind wiring. Although people in other parts of the world drive on the left, the Car Model is based on driving a car on the right side of the road. Even if you drive on the left side, this model will still help you understand more about your cognitive functions.
Let’s pretend that your mind is a four-passenger car with two adults in the front seats and two kids—a 10-year-old and a 3-year-old—in the backseat. Each of your cognitive functions occupies one of these seats.
The passengers in the Car Model are:
Driver - represents the Dominant function in the front left of the car
Co-Pilot - represents the Auxiliary function in the front right passenger’s seat
10-Year-Old - represents the Tertiary function in the back right seat of the car and behind the Co-Pilot
3-Year-Old - represents the Inferior function in the back left seat of the car and behind the Driver
Let’s look at each position in a little more detail.
THE DOMINANT (DRIVER) FUNCTION
Your Dominant (Driver) is the cognitive function that is always on and rarely turns off. When using this function, you’re in a state of flow. Your Driver is mature and has a wide-ranging ability for what it's designed to do, especially when compared to others who use the same function in other positions in the Car Model.
For example, the ENTJ type has the same functions as the ISFP type, but in the opposite order. The ENTJ type uses Te, Ni, Se, and Fi. The ISFP type uses Fi, Se, Ni, and Te.
Both types use Te (Extraverted Thinking), but each type will have vary different abilities when it comes to the use of their Te. The ENTJ’s use of Te will be more multifaceted than the ISFP’s use of Te. The same is true for the ENTJ’s use of Fi (more limited) compared to the ISFP’s use of Fi (more multifaceted).
The Driver, or Dominant Function, is your most comfortable place to be because it’s natural and familiar. You use this function so often and so naturally that it may be difficult at first to really see when you’re using it. When you always swim in the same water, the water fades into the background.
THE AUXILIARY (CO-PILOT) FUNCTION
A cognitive function in the Auxiliary (Co-Pilot) position provides a natural complement to the Driver because it’s oriented to the opposite world (introverted if you’re an extravert) as the Driver. It also provides a way to take in information or learn if your Driver is a decision-making function, or it provides a way to make decisions if your Driver is a learning function.
In this INTJ example, you can see that it’s Driver, or Dominant Function, is an introverted perceiving function—Introverted Intuition (Ni). That means that it’s Co-Pilot, or Auxiliary Function, will be an extraverted judging function. In the case of the INTJ, the Auxiliary Function is Extraverted Thinking (Te).
You often feel like you need permission to use the cognitive function in the Co-Pilot position, although it's fully capable of doing what it's designed to do. It’s not as natural as your Driver (Dominant) Function because it’s oriented to the world that’s less comfortable to you. However, as the other “adult” in the car, you can trust this function to get the job done (whatever this function's "job" is).
THE TERTIARY (10-YEAR-OLD) FUNCTION
When it comes to your Tertiary (10-Year-Old) cognitive function, you'll generally feel excited to use this function because it's oriented in the same direction as your Driver function (introverted or extraverted), so it doesn't need as much permission to show its face.
However, you’ll tend to overvalue your abilities with this function, and you may choose to rely on this function instead of your Co-Pilot—which is oriented toward the world that is less natural for you (inner or outer). You might also get defensive around your abilities with this function, or you might feel excited to "show off" what you can do.
For example, in the ESFP type, you can see that the Driver/Dominant Function and 10-Year-Old/Tertiary Function are both Extraverted. This means that it’s often easier and more comfortable for an ESFP to rely on their Extraverted Thinking (Te) function to make decisions rather than slowing down and getting into their introverted space of Introverted Feeling (Fi). The “Growth” label for the Auxiliary Function illustrates that the function located in this position offers a growth opportunity for all types.
THE INFERIOR (3-YEAR-OLD)
You’ll have the smallest range of abilities with the cognitive function found in the Inferior (3-Year-Old) position. You may actually be good at one or two aspects of what this function is designed to do, but it will be very “spiky” in the way that it comes out. In other words, this function can show up really strongly at times or not at all. Whereas the Driver is multifaceted in the way it’s used, the Inferior is very one-sided and can be like an "all or nothing" approach.
It can be easy to dismiss what this function provides, but you might also have some aspirations related to wanting to be good at what this function can do. In general, you're going to have greater difficulty seeing this function's impact in your life just like the Driver. This function may pop up from time to time in unexpected ways which may leave you (or others) thinking, "Who was that?!?"
For example, in the ENFJ type, the logic-based information provided by the 3-Year-Old or Inferior Function of Introverted Thinking (Ti) can easily be overlooked or ignored since it’s in the blind spot behind the Driver. However, there will be times when the ENFJ is uncharacteristically cold, critical, and focused purely on logic instead of their relationships.
What are the cognitive functions for my personality type?
Once you accurately identify your 16 Types personality by downloading the free self-typing guide or applying for the 16 Types Level 1 package, you’ll be able to identify your first four cognitive functions.
Click on the Cognitive Functions by Type chart to enlarge the image to identify the functions related to your four-letter personality type.
Let’s Look at one more example
If you imagine that the image below is a car that drives on the right side of the road, and you read the functions in clockwise order from the upper left, you’ll see:
The Dominant function, or Driver, is Introverted Thinking (Ti).
The Auxiliary, or Co-Pilot, is Extraverted Sensing (Se).
The Tertiary, or 10-year-old, is Introverted Intuition (Ni).
The Inferior, or 3-year-old, is Extraverted Feeling (Fe).
As mentioned in the Article 3, all personality types have a version of Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, and Intuition. In this example, you can see this is true for the ISTP type.
Conscious and Unconscious Functions
When driving a car on the right side of the road, you know that you can easily turn your head to the right to see the other front-seat passenger (your Co-Pilot). You can also turn your head to see the passenger in the back right side of the car (your 10-Year-Old). You're going to be more aware of the operation of these two functions in your life which also means that you'll use them more consciously.
The two passengers that are hard to see are yourself (the Driver) and the passenger behind the Driver (your 3-Year-Old). This means that these two functions operate more unconsciously, and you may not be aware of their impact.
BONUS Section - A few things to notice
This is a bonus section for those who enjoy identifying patterns in systems. If that’s not you, feel free to skip to the next section.
A few interesting patterns to observe within your own cognitive functions include:
If you tend to spend more energy on inner world activities (in other words, you’re an Introvert), your Dominant/Driver function will be introverted. If you tend to spend more energy on outer-world activities (you’re an Extravert), your Dominant/Driver function will be extraverted.
If you have an overall preference for learning from Intuition (N), your intuitive function will be in the front seat of your type’s Car Model (as the Dominant/Driver or Auxiliary/Co-Pilot). If you have an overall preference for learning from Sensory (S) information, your sensing function will be in the front seat of the Car Model for your personality type.
If you have a J at the end of your type code, you’ll have a preference for an extraverted judging function in the “front seat.” In other words, your Dominant or Auxiliary function will be either Extraverted Thinking (Te) or Extraverted Feeling (Fe).
If you have a P at the end of your type code, you’ll have a preference for an introverted judging function in the “front seat.” In other words, your Dominant or Auxiliary function will be either Introverted Thinking (Ti) or Introverted Feeling (Fi).
Are you ready to create a life focused on what matters most by identifying your 16 Types (Myers-Briggs®) personality type?
This series of articles about the 16 Types personality system is intended to give you a high-level understanding of how personality types in this system work. If you want to accurately identify your 16 Types personality and your cognitive functions so that you can better understand yourself and create a life filled with daily purposeful and intentional actions that align with who you are, let’s work together!
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