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In this article:
- The Sakinorva MBTI test is a new personality test that’s gained popularity in typology circles for its in-depth analysis of people’s cognitive functions.
- Cognitive functions are lenses through which we look at the world around us and process information. These functions stand in contrast to the trait-based typing used by 16Personalities wherein personality types are assigned using a letter dichotomy (i.e Introversion I vs Extroversion E).
- Function-based typing allows for a more stable way of assessing your personality type since it’s designed to give you an idea of areas should develop in without getting confused because your personality type doesn’t change in this model.
If someone asks you what your personality type is, they’re like talking about the MBTI. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a test that tries to sort people out into one of sixteen personality types that are identified using a four-letter sequence. Think INTJ, ENTP, ISFP, and ESFJ. These types supposedly say something about how your strengths and weaknesses as well as your personal preferences.
Because testing companies that advertise the MBTI personality model tend to present it as a career development and behavior prediction tool, the test has become quite popular in corporate settings where every IT guy is some type of INTX, every manager is an EXTJ, and Becky from HR is an IXFX who totally is an empath, you guys.
Aside from being used as an even more problematic alternative to the already problematic I.Q. test, another glaring flaw of the MBTI is how your type tends to change drastically if you score one or two letters differently from the last time you took the test.
I’m not going into all of the issues with personality typing and its pros and cons here because honestly, that’s a whole other article’s worth of content (and maybe more) but I will talk about the Sakinorva MBTI test and how you can find your right type, I’m sorry, your closest to right type so you can get some use out of typology as a tool for personal development.
An Overview of the Sakinorva MBTI Test and How It Relates to Carl Jung’s Psychological Types
The most common interpretation of MBTI types is that there are sixteen personalities with letters that tell you whether someone prefers Introversion versus Extroversion, Sensing versus Intuition, and Judging versus Perceiving. The combination of preferences you get is your type in the official MBTI test and the typology community’s much-hated 16Personalities test.
Why much hated? Because to many people who are deep into this hobby, the 16Personalities test is inaccurate because of how it easily changes your type and how far-removed it is from the original theories of Carl Jung, the guy who the Myers-Briggs mom and daughter duo based their types on.
Spoiler alert: Many modern ideas within the community regarding type are more Jungian-inspired than they are Jungian themselves. A lot of the information you’re going to get online is a weird mix of Socionics, Jung’s original writings from Psychological Types, and lastly, the Grant-Brownsword model.
The Sakinorva MBTI test operates mostly on the Grant-Brownsword model which has become one of the most popular interpretations of type online. In the Grant-Brownsword model, types are based on Jung’s cognitive functions wherein the first 4 functions you prefer are the ones that make up your type.
As the Sakinorva MBTI test explains it: “The Grant-Brownsword algorithm calculates a score for all sixteen possible types by adding up weighted totals for the dominant, auxiliary, and—very weakly—tertiary functions, then subtracting weighted inferior function totals in the final add-up. It would look something like this: a(dominant)+b(auxiliary)+c(tertiary)-d(inferior) = type_score.”
But that makes it really hard to make sense of because if you take a test and end up having perceiving functions at the top of your results back to back, that raises the question of which one is actually your type (more on this later).
Sakinorva MBTI Test gets around this by incorporating the axis-based model where functions come in pairs which the page explains like this:
“The axis-based algorithm will assume that there are no inferior functions in your stack, and that functions on opposite ends create axes that you would either prefer or not prefer, so in other words, your scores for Ne/Si are compared to Ni/Se, and the same thing goes for Se/Ni and Ni/Se. The algorithm then tries to figure out which one of those four “valued” functions you prefer should be dominant, and voila! You get your type.”
Cognitive What?
The Sakinorva MBTI test uses cognitive functions and their axis pairs to help you find your type. That means Extraverted Thinking (TE) together with Introverted Feeling (FI) and Extraverted Feeling (FE) together with Introverted Thinking (TI). Together, the Te-Fi and Fe-Ti axes make up your rational judging functions. These functions assign value to your perceptions and describe the ways you interact with the world around you.
On the other hand, you have the irrational perceiving functions which describe the ways you see the world, what information you pay attention to, and how you process that information. These function axes are Si-Ne and Ni-Se meaning Introverted Sensing (SI) together with Extraverted Intuition (NE) and Introverted Intuition (NI) together with Extraverted Sensing (SE).
Is this an oversimplification? Definitely, but you try explaining all that in one go to an audience base that likely just wants to take the test, figure it out, and get it over with.
Should I Take the Sakinorva MBTI Test?
I’m personally a fan of the usefulness of the Grant-Brownsword model as a tool for personal development. Since your type doesn’t change once you find the right fit for you, it turns it from a tool for categorization into a dynamic way of thinking about personality and identity while still giving you a framework to use in the process. This also helps minimize some of the weird circlejerks that people have about their personality types (like XNTXs being automatically smarter and XSXX types being boring and narrow-minded).
Honestly, if you’re looking for a fun conversation starter, an activity to do with your friends the next time you have another small house party, or a framework for jumpstarting your personal development, this might be the tool you’re looking for.
As usual, no therapeutic, scientific, or whatever-ific claims are being made here.
Taking the Sakinorva MBTI Test
The Sakinorva MBTI test has 96 questions that you can answer on a 5-point scale based on how much you agree or disagree with the statements given in each question. Far right for yes, far left for no.
Once you’re finished, you can scroll down to the bottom where the test asks for your consent to use the data for analysis. This is likely to do with identifying which Enneagram and MBTI types occur together the most along with what gender these combinations tend to be.
If you don’t know what those are, you can just leave them blank and hit submit results and it should take you to a results page where you see a breakdown of your types.
Understanding Your Sakinorva MBTI Test Results
You should see a table like this after submitting your results. Since I’m an INTJ, the dominant lead function is Introverted Intuition (Ni) followed by Extraverted Thinking (Te), Introverted Feeling (Fi), and Extraverted Sensing (Se). Fi scores higher than Te by a small margin here, but because there’s no Ni dominant type that has an introverted judging auxiliary, and I’ve been making a conscious effort to value tertiary Fi more, the result is INTJ.
That’s where the Sakinorva MBTI test gets a little harder to interpret.
Most of the time, the test gives you a more or less consistent four letter type and an easily identifiable set of cognitive preferences. If that isn’t the case, you may have to parse your own results.
The highest-scored cognitive function should be your dominant function. This is your primary mode of thinking and the basis of the first letter of the four-letter type sequence. After that, you need to look for your auxiliary function.
If your dominant function was introverted, the auxiliary function should be extraverted and vice versa. Similarly, if your dominant was a perceiving functions, the auxiliary function should be a judging function. Find which function on the chart fits those two criteria and is rated highest among all of the others that could be contenders.
Once you have your dominant and auxiliary, it’s just a matter of finding out what functions are paired with them and what stack the sum total of the four functions you have would be. This is easy enough because aside from coming in pairs, the position of your first two functions will tell you where the other two should be.
- If you lead with an introverted perceiving function (Ni/Si) its axis pair will be an extroverted perceiving function in the inferior position. That’s INTJ (Ni–Te-Fi–Se), INFJ (Ni–Fe-Ti–Se), ISFJ (Si–Fe-Ti–Ne), and ISTJ (Si–Te-Fi–Ne).
- If you lead with an extraverted perceiving function (Ne/Se), its axis pair will be an introverted perceiving function in the inferior position. That’s ENTP (Ne–Ti-Fe–Si), ESTP (Se–Ti-Fe–Ni), ENFP (Ne-Fi-Te–Si), and ESFP (Se–Fi-Te–Ni).
- If you lead with an introverted judging function (Ti/Fi), its axis pair will be an extraverted judging function in the inferior position. That’s INTP (Ti–Ne-Si-Fe), INFP (Fi–Ne-Si–Te), ISTP (Ti-Se-Ni-Fe), and ISFP (Fi–Se-Ni–Te).
- If you lead with an extraverted judging function (Te/Fe), its axis pair will be an introverted judging function in the inferior position. That’s ENTJ (Te–Ni-Se–Fi), ESTJ (Te–Si-Ne-Fi), ENFJ (Fe–Ni-Se–Ti), and, ESFJ (Fe–Si-Ne–Ti).
And if you haven’t noticed, your auxiliary cognitive function is followed by its axis pair in the tertiary position so if you take a closer look at the functions italicized above, you’ll find that they’re Ni-Se, Se-Ni, Te-Fi, Fi-Te, Fe-Ti, Ti-Fe, Ne-Si, and Si-Ne.
Understanding Your MBTI Type
So, you’ve figured out which type you are and you want to know what that means for you. A good place to start is by understanding in what ways your weakness with using the tertiary and inferior shows in your day-to-day life and what previous self-detrimental behavior you’ve had in the past is related to that weakness.
For example, IXFPs may find that they struggle a lot with following through on their Fi-driven plans because inferior Te makes it hard for them to execute those plans. Conversely, EXTJs may struggle to name what they really want out of life and their personal values since those fall under the domain of their inferior Fi.
And that’s basically it. Hopefully, you find it a useful tool for your own jour-
Wait, you don’t know what your cognitive functions mean? You can head on over to Chris G’s channel, AsuraPsych, where he goes into the functions and even talks about the flaws of 16Personalities as well as the basics of other personality models. And before my fellow XXTJs question his credentials, yes he primarily takes the OG Jungian perspective and has an academic background in psychology, making him a fairly safe bet for learning more about type from.
