The Shadow Functions & What You Can Learn From Them

The Shadow Functions are a tool for understanding the unconscious mind, and they can be used to help you understand your personality. Shadow functions are not new, but they were only recently given their own place in Jungian psychology.

There is still a lot of mystery surrounding these functions- which ones exist, how many there are, what they do- but this article will explore some ideas that may give you an idea of where to start with Shadow Functions when it comes to understanding yourself or others better!

The 8 Jungian Cognitive Functions: a Quick Recap

Let's do a very quick recap of the 8 cognitive functions:

Sensing: This function perceives the world based on how it looks, feels, smells. It remembers things by what they look like or sound like.

iNtuition: The intuition is a function that perceives the world with wonder and possibilities. Intuitions are attracted to all sorts of abstractions - symbols, patterns in time, connections between events. They remember things through associating them with other thoughts or memories; their memory resembles a web rather than a linear list for this reason!

Thinking: The thinking cognitive function uses logic as its primary tool to understand and process information. Thinking individuals tend to be more precise in language use because they have an innate need for clarity when communicating ideas internally and externally.

Feeling: the Feeling function uses feelings as its primary tool to understand and process information. This function relies on the ability of individuals to empathize with others in order for them to make decisions that are best not just for themselves but also their environment and those around them.

The Sensing and Intuition functions are information-accessing processes (Perception), and Thinking & Feeling are Organizing-Evaluating processes (Judging).

Each of these 4 functions can be used in both an introverted and an extraverted way. (eg.: Se, Si. Ne, Ni.

There's more about the 8 cognitive functions and processes here.

What are Primary Functions?

Primary cognitive functions are the ones that nearly anyone who has an interest in MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), personality psychology, typology, or Jungian depth psychology is most familiar with.

There are four primary functions, and depending on which one is the dominant function, the auxiliary function, the tertiary function, or the inferior function, you get one of the 16 known personality types.

What are Shadow Functions?

The shadow functions are the ego's "shadow" or unrecognized parts of itself. The ego, according to Carl Jung, is the part of your personality that you are most conscious about and identify with. It can be said that it is also the ego-syntonic aspect of a person’s ego.

The shadow functions are concerned more with unconscious processes such as feelings and intuitions rather than logical decisions based on facts like those dealt by our other cognitive functions (eg.: Thinking & Feeling).

Aspects of these deeper aspects of one's psyche may not even be known in order for them to come out into consciousness which means they may remain hidden from what we consciously think about ourselves therefore making an individual unaware when they might need to do some introspective work.

Position of the Four Shadow Functions

Just like with the primary functions, the position of each shadow function matters a great deal to how a particular personality type generally appears in the world, observes it, and processes it.

The First Shadow Function - The Nemesis:

The opposing role is like the snarky, would-be usurper to your hero. It shadows your dominant function and calls out doubts about it in an effort to oppose you or take over for itself.

The shadow may cause you to doubt yourself or have a passive aggressive remark that opposes what’s happening with the main goal of taking down who they perceive as their enemy - which can be either someone else OR themselves!

Jung explained that people's experience of the function is often suppressed, and when other people use it in a more positive light we can misunderstand them as being passive-aggressive, or having hidden motives. This is largely because our own experience with this function is negative.

The Second Shadow Function - The Critic:

The critical parent function is dark and negative. This shadow is the opposite of a nurturing, supportive second parental figure (auxiliary function) that helps us develop.

Whereas the Parent might be by your side to help you through tough times, the critical parent will call out weakness or failure on anything we do- whether it’s related to ourselves as ego or others when projected outwardly onto them.

The Third Shadow Function - The Trickster:

The Trickster is the eternal child's shadow. Where "the innocent, vulnerable and playful" Child can be seen as kind-hearted, imaginative or mischievous in their approach to life; The trickster is more cunning by nature.

He has a knack for being able to shapeshift into any form he pleases so that his actions may not always come across as malicious but are still calculated with an ulterior motive behind them which could create conflict between other people or within one’s self.

Although the Trickster sounds very negative, it is actually an important catalyst for growth.

The Fourth Shadow Function - The Demon:

The demon is something that we don't understand.

It's the part of us that gets in our way, but it also has a lot to teach us. The demon feels like someone else and can be upsetting when they take over your life momentarily or permanently.

We may have trouble relating to other people who use this function as well because most of their experiences are very different from ours with the demons influencing them constantly at work and home without any reprieve for relief during leisure time or restful sleep hours either!

Heavily influenced by "the Demon" (our inferior functions), we often project its influence onto others whom possess similar qualities such as being clumsy while walking through an open field on a moonless night where all you see ahead is more open field.

Figuring out the Shadow Function Stack

This is rather easy once you know someone's primary function stack.

Being an INFJ myself, I'll use my type as an example going forward:

Four Primary Cognitive Functions (INFJ):

• Hero: Ni (Introverted Intuition)
• Parent: Fe (Extraverted Feeling)
• Child: Ti (Introverted Thinking)
• Inferior: Se (Extraverted Sensing)

Someone's shadow functions can be found by using the same cognitive functions, in the same order, but by changing its expression.

Four Shadow Cognitive Functions (INFJ):

• Nemesis: Ne (Extraverted Intuition)
• Critic: Fi (Introverted Feeling)
• Trickster: Te (Extraverted Thinking)
• Demon: Si (Introverted Sensing)

This means that the shadow type of an INFJ is an ENFP.

According to The 4 Sides of the Mind theory, an INFJ's subconscious is an ESTP, and its superego an ISTJ.

(Confused about the archetypes, like 'Hero', 'Critical Parent', 'Demon' and such? This article on the 8 Function Model goes deeper into it.)

Are the Shadow Functions Good or Bad?

Your shadow functions can be either destructive or a catalyst for growth.

They provide stability and help prevent ego inflation from threats to your integrity by providing tools when we're stressed-out, acting strangely, and experiencing strange behaviors.

Your shadow functions also step in during times of extreme stress that you've become too inflated with narcissism to notice some flaws within yourself--they give us reality checks so our egos don't get out of hand!

I hope you've now got a better understanding of what shadow functions are and how they differ from the four primary functions.

Will you be able to now decipher your own shadow functions? And what are they?

Feel free to share your shadow functions down below if you feel comfortable enough.

Additional Resources

What Are Jungian Cognitive Functions and How Do They Work? (a YouTube video by CS Joseph)

Frequently Asked Questions

INFJ Shadow Functions

An INFJ's first shadow function is Extraverted Intuition (Ne). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Feeling (Fi). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Thinking (Te). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Sensing (Si).

INFP Shadow Functions

An INFP's first shadow function is Extraverted Feeling (Fe). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Intuition (Ni). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extroverted Sensing (Se). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Thinking (Ti).

INTJ Shadow Functions

An INTJ 's first shadow function is Extraverted Intuition (Ne). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Thinking (Ti). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Feeling (Fe). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Sensing (Si).

INTP Shadow Functions

An INTP's first shadow function is Extraverted Thinking (Te). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Intuition (Ni). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Sensing (Se). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Feeling (Fi).

ISFJ Shadow Functions

An ISFJ's first shadow function is Extraverted Sensing (Se). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Feeling (Fi). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Thinking (Ti). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Intuition (Ni).

ISFP Shadow Functions

An ISFP's first shadow function is Extraverted Feeling (Fe). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Sensing (Ni). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Intuition (Ne). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Thinking (Ti).

ISTJ Shadow Functions

An ISTJ's first shadow function is Extraverted Sensing (Se). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Thinking (Ti). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Feeling (Fe). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Intuition (Ni).

ISTP Shadow Functions

An ISTP's first shadow function is Extraverted Thinking (Te). Their second shadow function (critic) is Introverted Sensing (Si). Their third shadow function (trickster) is Extraverted Intuition (Ne). Their fourth shadow function (demon) is Introverted Feeling (Fi).