A Primer to Jungian Cognitive Functions and John Beebe's 8-Function Model
"For all the types met with in practice, the rule holds good that besides the conscious, primary function (Ego) there is a relatively unconscious, auxiliary function (Shadow) which is in every respect different from the nature of the primary function."
—Carl Jung, Psychological Types (1943)
Carl Jung believed we all use our minds in four archetypal ways to understand the world: seeing facts, imagining ideas, analyzing logically, or feeling emotions. He called these “cognitive functions,” which come in two forms, extraverted (e: outward-focused) or introverted (i: inward-focused). Each function is a mental process falling into perceiving (Sensing or Intuition) or judging (Thinking or Feeling) categories:
Sensing (S): Experiencing concrete sensory data.
Intuition (N): Seeing possibilities and patterns.
Thinking (T): Analyzing information logically.
Feeling (F): Weighing and processing emotions.
John Beebe’s expanded model argues we use all eight functions in a fixed stack of archetypal roles from most preferred to least-used. The top four, the “Ego” functions (Hero, Parent, Child, Inferior), reflect our strengths and conscious talents. The bottom four, the “Shadow” functions (Opposing, Critic, Trickster, Daemon), are unconscious habits surfacing under stress.
Beebe’s model assigns these functions to eight archetypal roles:
Later analysts, including Isabel Myers (MBTI), David Keirsey and Linda Berens, built on Jung’s model, defining 16 personality types with four-letter type codes (e.g., ESTJ, INTP). Each type uniquely maps these eight roles, giving each function a corresponding “attitude” (role) and revealing a dynamic interplay between conscious and unconscious functions. For an ENTJ, Te might be Hero, Ni Parent, Si Trickster, and Fe Daemon.
"We're all aware that we slip from role to role in our lives. We go to work and slip into the role that fits our job description; we come home and move into a parental role with our kids and another role with our partner; and into other roles in our various civic functions, social activities, and relationships. So we can relate to the idea of playing multiple roles. And to the extent that we carry unconscious associations into them, they are all archetypal. That is to say that if we were completely conscious at any given moment, we would not be playing a role at all. We would be supremely present, acting from our core true selves, seeing them with unadulterated clarity and empathy, and relating to them with complete authenticity. But the reality is that everything we do is tinged and clouded by our sense of the archetypal roles in play. So we can think of lesser senses of "I" that constellate and tend to "use" these other functions, at certain times. Thus, we develop an inferiority complex around the inferior function, a superiority complex around the superior function, a 'best auxiliary' complex (the caretaker) around the auxiliary function, and an 'eternal child' complex around the tertiary function."
—John Beebe