- What stresses out the 16 personalities
and perhaps more importantly, what do each
of the 16 personalities act like when they get stressed out?
Now you might have heard from the typology nerds
about something called the types being in the grip.
According to the theory, when a type gets
really stressed out, they end up going
into the grip of their inferior cognitive function.
If you want an in-depth discussion of the inferior function
and just the cognitive functions in general,
check out this video right here called
"What are cognitive functions?"
This theory of being in the grip,
it basically says that each of the personality types
acts a certain way when they get stressed,
which is usually counter to their normal way of acting.
And haven't we all felt that way
where we're getting stressed out
and we just become someone who we not normally are?
Are you in the grip?
Before we get into that, beverages, do you drink them?
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Pick up one for yourself.
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Okay. So here's a little example for us.
I think it's best to just jump right in
and show you a particular type as an example.
Here's an INFJ's cognitive function.
So up here, we have introverted intuition
which is the dominant function of an INFJ.
So that's why there's a big star around it.
That's the star of the show for this personality type.
This is the thing that this type is in autopilot
in all the time.
It is the best tool for INFJs to use.
They have discovered, "Hey, introverted intuition
gets me pretty far.
And hey, extroverted feeling also helps a lot."
Most types are just rolling
with their top two functions all the time.
And that's fine.
Most of the time, especially in situations
that are not so stressful, it's just like,
"Yeah, I'm getting by with these two.
And you know, when it's not so stressful
occasionally I can do these other ones down here as well."
Your third function for an INFJ that's introverted thinking,
but then this one down here, that's the inferior function.
You will note it is the opposite of the dominant function.
So you gotta have balance here, right?
And so if you are overcompensating
you are putting things over the top
into your dominant function.
You are relying on this all the time.
This one, the inferior function, gets ignored.
It gets neglected.
The INFJ in this example does not want to use
extroverted sensing, and tries to get by as much
as possible without it.
When things get stressful, and when the stakes get higher,
because I think as we get stressed,
we perceive that the stakes are higher.
And by the stakes are higher, I do not mean
a rib eye is 10 feet in the air.
What I mean is that we perceive that the outcome
is extremely important.
We have a desired outcome
and it's really important that we get it.
And if we don't, the negative consequence is also very bad.
So as a basic example, writing an essay.
High stakes situations, if you fail, it's not good.
You don't wanna deal with those consequences.
So as the stakes get higher, you rely more and more
on the dominant and second functions,
especially the dominant one though.
And so for an INFJ when the stakes get higher,
they are like, "How can I just keep over planning?
How can I just keep relying on the patterns and concepts
that I know already, so that I don't have to address
the extroverted sensing, which is life happening in reality,
in real time, all the new data, the facts coming at me?
What is just happening around me right now?
I wanna avoid all of that chaos.
And I can't afford having to do extroverted sensing
in this high stake, stressful situation.
So I need to do introverted intuition, my hero,
my star player on the team.
I'm giving him the ball so that he can go
and score a touchdown."
So ridiculous, but that's basically what it is, right?
If you were a coach in a football game,
I know so many of you watching are sports fans.
If you're the coach
you're gonna give the ball to your best player.
Every personality type does the same thing.
But here's the problem, and here's where
grip theory starts to go a bit off the rails.
And this is where I disagree.
Grip theory says that as the stress mounts,
eventually you burn out this cognitive function,
your dominant one.
And because everything has to come to equilibrium
at some point, and you've been suppressing this one so much.
Eventually this one just comes outta nowhere and takes over.
And this, my friends is what we call being in the grip.
The inferior function comes out fricking nowhere
and it just grabs you.
And so then you end up using this function
in a very childlike way, in a very immature way,
in a way that is usually laced with anger and frustration.
It's just not like you normally are.
The first part is right.
The first part obvious,
because we're always relying on the dominant function
especially in a stressful situation.
So it's interesting, you'll see types kind of harden
in their dominant function
as the stressful situation continues and gets worse.
So an ENTJ or ESTJ under a lot of stress,
they're going to double down on extroverted thinking.
So they're gonna start bossing everyone around,
and be like, "We gotta get stuff done now, you donkey."
ESFJs and ENFJs when they're under stress will be like,
"Okay, we gotta make sure everyone's happy."
Like they will move away from the actual problem
and be like, "Are you happy?
Let me take care of you.
Let me figure out something you need
and I'll do that for you."
ESTPs and ESFPs, when they're over relying
on their dominant function in stress,
they will over focus on irrelevant details
and be like, "Well, this is catastrophic."
They can't, they can't zoom out to see the context
of what's actually going on.
Similarly with ENTPs and ENFPs, they will just start
dreaming up all the different possible
terrible outcomes that could happen
due to like one little thing.
If they get a bruise on their arm, they'll be like,
"I am dying."
ISTJs and ISFJs under stress get very, very rigid.
And they're like, "If this isn't the way
that I have done things forever,
I'm not doing it in a different way.
If this isn't the facts that I know already
if I can't look back and see that we have done it
this way before, I am not deviating from that.
Even if the situation is different
and calls for some kind of new idea."
INFJs and INTJs under stress will be doing something similar
where they're just like really looking hard to figure out
what is going on here under the surface.
They'll have this situation.
The house is on fire.
And they're like, "Where have I seen this before?
What is the pattern here?"
When, instead of just like calling the fire department
and of course, this is a ridiculous example,
but it's like, they're just trying to figure out,
"Oh man, why?
Why did this happen?"
Hmm.
INTPs and ISTPs, they will,
under stress, start to criticize people and just be like,
"You're an idiot.
What you think is wrong.
What I think is right, we're going with that."
INFPs and ISFPs will be like,
"I reject all of your ideas and whatever that you think
is gonna be the right way to do this.
And I'm just gonna go with my gut instinct
and what I like, what I think is good."
But the theory says that a step farther than that
is the grip.
I said, the greer, no, the grip.
Let me zoom in for this.
This is very important.
Stress does not put you in the grip
of your inferior function.
I don't think that that is correct.
Grip theory saying stress leads you to over use
your dominant function is reasonable.
I mean, it seems obvious, but then that
that would lead you to user inferior function,
I get why they say that.
Their argument basically is that,
"Hey man, you've, you've done this so much.
You've done the dominant function so much
that the other function, the inferior function
has to come out.
It can't be ignored any longer."
In a sense, this is true, but this doesn't mean
that the stress causes that.
So then you're like, "Well, Frank, well what
(Frank laughs)
if this is the case, and grip theory is incorrect,
then why do people act unlike themselves?
Why do they sometimes act like their opposite type
in a really immature form when they are stressed out?"
So let's look at an INTP as an example
to take us through stress and the 16 personalities,
and what is actually going on with the inferior function.
So they're going through life, the INTPs riding high
on introverted thinking and extroverted intuition.
That's how they're doing their whole life.
They're navigating it with those two for the most part.
The problem is that over time they are continually ignoring
and letting the extroverted feeling build up.
And this is interesting because this is where
the grip stuff, the grip theory actually gets
I think, a few of the types wrong, specifically the IPs,
because they will say, "When an INTP is in the grip
they will just become very emotional
and they'll be distrustful of communities.
And they'll feel like everyone hates them,"
which is true to a degree.
But the thing is, there's really a lot more to it.
While they are doing their day to day life
just doing these things and ignoring the Fe,
it is building up and everyone around knows this,
especially with an IP, it has to do with everyone else.
Everyone is like, "Dude, you don't care how we feel.
(Frank laughs)
You're doing your own Ti thing.
And you're ignoring the Fe.
And we don't like that."
And it builds up over time without the INTP realizing it.
And this kind of creates stressful situations.
Situations that did not need to be stressful,
and are overly amplified because the INTP has been ignoring
the extroverted feeling for so long.
So in a sense, yes, the grip theory is right that,
if you ignore the inferior function long enough,
it has to come out in a way,
but it is not provoked by stress.
It's kind of the other way around where
ignoring the inferior function makes it come out
and that causes the stress.
Suddenly, you gotta deal with it.
That in and of itself is very stressful.
You've let the bad feelings with other people build up.
You've ignored the sensory world for long enough.
And now you gotta figure out how you're gonna
work in the sensory world.
Life requires all four functions.
So eventually you're gonna have to do
your inferior function.
All the INFJs watching, you're gonna have to do
extroverted sensing at some point.
You're not gonna be able to get around it forever.
You're gonna be forced into a situation where
you are using it and you hate it and you feel embarrassed,
and you feel frustrated.
And you're like, "There's no way out of this.
This is the worst thing ever.
And I am so stressed out."
They will suddenly become way different
than they normally are as they work through
the inferior function which they have ignored so long
that they now must face it.
I don't think that it is some kind of like psychic thing
where it's like, "Oh, well, this is just naturally bubbling,
bubbling up to the surface."
It really, a lot of times has to do
with the situations that we create in our lives.
Like the actual sensory situations.
I think one of the exceptions though,
and one of the ones that the grip theory explains best
is the EJs, especially of the ESTJ and the ENTJ,
because they have inferior introverted feeling.
And so if you are suppressing your own emotions, yes.
Eventually those just bubble up
and explode and it doesn't look good.
Which of the 16 personalities is most emotional?
I bet you're wondering.
Well, check out that video right here.
And until next time, stay cool and attractive.
(groovy music)