The Evolution of Typology

From Jung to Myers to Beebe

Source: Carol Shumate, Projection and Personality Development via the Eight-Function Model, Routledge, 2021.

Jung’s Four Modes of Consciousness

Jung identified four modes of consciousness, which he called mental functions, that he compared to the four cardinal points of the compass —thinking, T, feeling, F, intuition, N, and sensation, S– each of which has an introverted and an extraverted form, Te-Ti, Fe-Fi, Ne-Ni, Se-Si. As a compass can have an infinite number of degrees, the psyche could comprise an infinite number of functions.

The critical element of a compass is its polarity; one can go north or one can go south, but not both directions at once, and the same is true of the functions. One can prefer intuition (N) or one can prefer sensation (S) but not both; we use them both but we can’t use them both concurrently.

Myers-Briggs Model Identifies the Ego Functions

The Beebe Model

The Beebe Model identifies the shadow functions, showing how each of the ego functions is shadowed by its opposite-attitude function, as in the INFP example below. Source: Beebe, J. (2017).  Energies and Patterns in Psychological Type: The Reservoir of Consciousness, Routledge.