There are many ways to describe the eight Jungian functions, but one of my favorites ways is John Beebe’s three word “semantic fields.” He describes these in his book Energies and Patterns in Psychological Type.
They are triangles — one main word with two wing words — but Beebe doesn’t include graphics of these as triangles and I couldn’t find any online. So I made triangle graphics for them, as pictured below.
Beebe says:
I found immediately that when I provided at least three words, listeners could begin to grasp what each of the mental processes was about, and could start to recognize it in themselves and others.
[…]
The system of keywords and wing words has helped me to understand type better, especially in regard to functions of consciousness that are normally in shadow for me and thus have been difficult for me to empathize with.
