A quick introduction to Jungian typology

Intro of the intro

MBTI is based on Jung's theory about psychological types. However, most of the mainstream MBTI websites provide a fragment of the theory (in particular, the Myers-Briggs one)and they don't consider the usage of cognitive functions. The MBTI theory that typically catches people's attention is the one based on the 4 dichotomy letters, E/I, S/N, T/F, P/J. This theory can seem superficially accurate and useful for any kind of personal introspection, however it's far from what Carl Jung theorized and should be abandoned as soon as sources indicate cognitive functions as the way to 'type' someone.

So mainstream MBTI isn't accurate because it's unofficial?

No. It's inaccurate because it's a completely different theory that oversimplifies any aspect of Jung's theory and creates unnecessary stereotypes that deviate from what Jung originally wanted to research. To give an example, in the mainstream MBTI theory the first letter (E or I) indicates a social preference. Specifically, it defines whether you're an extrovert or an introvert. While this may seem deeper than it is, non-Jungian MBTI sources use this as a primary indicator. That's right, your personal preference in social situations. The fact that you recharge while you're alone or when you're with others. In the Jungian theory, having an extraverted first function means a totally different thing (more on the functions page). The shallow meaning that mainstream MBTI gives to each part of its dichotomy is often incompatible with what the Jung theory suggests. The last letter, for example, categorizes people based on the fact that they're mentally messy (P) or not (J). This makes the MBTI questions appear a lot more appropriate for real life and it isn't a surprise that many companies make their potential employees take a (Myers-Briggs) MBTI test. Without giving too much details here, let's also say that S/N and F/T are not meant to 'fight each other' in the original theory as they do in the mainstream one. The functions' position is not fixed and their position in each type's stack adds strength to them or decreases it.

Why didn't I discover functions immediately?

Underrated question, easy answer in my opinion. Probably because of how much the Myers-Briggs theory is easy to find online. And people don't bother discovering functions too much, unless someone points out that you should follow Jung's idea. That being said, Myers-Briggs is a great way to get introduced to typology, and even though it's too simplified and it's not the correct way to use this system, it's a great introduction to its basic concepts.