As I will explain later, it is particularly vital for people who prefer Introversion to get acquainted with the auxiliary function in general and theirs in particular, but I hope that Extraverted types will also take the time to learn about the auxiliary. After all, chances are very good that besides having their own auxiliary preference to become familiar with, they know, teach, work or live with and perhaps even love people who are Introverted types. They are probably eager to understand them, and one of the keys to understanding the Introverted types who come into our lives is understanding what the auxiliary function is and how it is manifested differently in Introverted and Extraverted types.
What is the auxiliary function and what makes it awesome?
My dictionary contains several interesting definitions of the word auxiliary. Two that stand out to me are "giving support; serving as an aid.", and "a person or thing that gives aid; helper." The auxiliary function is awesome because it does exactly that and helps us by providing something none of us can live without - balance. Without the balance that our personalities get from the auxiliary function, we would all live wholly in our own preferred world to which we are led by our dominant function. Extraverted types would be unable to access the inner world of ideas and concepts, while Introverted types would be unable to function in the outer world of people and things.
The auxiliary function allows us to operate successfully and even enjoyably in our non - preferred world because if our dominant preference is extraverted, the auxiliary will be introverted, and the opposite is also true. However, even though the auxiliary function when added to the dominant will allow us to function comfortably in both our inner and outer worlds, and we will use it when needed, we will return to the comfort of the dominant function when we need to rest and be rejuvenated. The auxiliary function is a helper, not a leader.
But this is not the only wonderful gift provided by the auxiliary function! It gives us not only balance between Introversion and Extraversion, but also between perception and judgment. Without this balance we would spend all our time gathering information (perception) and never making decisions (judgment), or we would try to make all our decisions without sufficient data. Such calamitous approaches to life are thankfully avoided because if our dominant function is a perceiving function, Sensing or Intuition, our auxiliary is a judging function, Thinking or Feeling. Once again the reverse is also true. For those who are unsure which letter in your type code is the dominant and which the auxiliary, this can easily be determined as I explained in my last post.
Earlier I mentioned that it's crucial for Introverted types to learn about the auxiliary function and theirs in particular. The reason is that since one's dominant, best function operates in his or her preferred world, it therefore is active in the inner world for those who prefer Introversion. Thus it is the auxiliary preference which operates in an Introverted type's outer world and is seen by others. So unfortunately there is a danger that those who prefer Introversion will be misunderstood and/or underestimated due to the fact that the world sees only their second - best function.
So far I have said little about the tertiary function. A brief introduction seems in order to put the finishing touches on our family portrait of the four functions.
The tertiary function, like the inferior function, develops once we reach midlife. It is the opposite of the auxiliary, so if the auxiliary function is Sensing, the tertiary is Intuition and vice versa. If the auxiliary is Thinking, the tertiary is Feeling and vice versa. There is some controversy as to whether the auxiliary and tertiary preferences are the same or opposite in what is called attitude, in other words whether they are both extraverted or introverted or not.
Either way, I am amazed when I think about how perfectly balanced the healthy human personality is between perception and judgment, Introversion and Extraversion, and how it is equipped with everything it needs to function in both our inner and outer worlds. Perhaps in addition to the model of the family in the car as mentioned above, we could compare the four functions to a family portrait painted by a master artist. In my opinion not only the auxiliary function, but also the dominant, tertiary and inferior, are functions to be truly thankful for.