Personality Divisions
Personality functions do not all occupy the same part of the personality. Within this framework, they are organised into four larger divisions: Conscious, Unconscious, Subconscious and Superego.
A division describes a broader state of the personality. Functions remain Ni, Ne, Si, Se, Fi, Fe, Ti or Te, but the way they are reached and expressed changes depending on the division in which they are operating.
Moving between divisions does not change what a function is. The same function colours and introverted/extraverted styling are used throughout the site.
What you use most directly
The most familiar and readily available expression of the personality.
What operates less directly
Patterns and reactions that can influence behaviour without feeling as natural or immediately accessible.
What develops through balance
A complementary expression that can become increasingly available through experience and development.
What feels most distant
The deepest opposing configuration, often appearing most strongly when ordinary approaches are no longer working.
Ego (Conscious)
The Conscious division is the personality's most directly accessible configuration. Its functions tend to feel familiar and form the mental processes a person most readily identifies as their normal way of thinking, deciding and responding.
Your most familiar configuration
The Conscious division contains the functions that are most naturally relied upon in normal life. They influence the approaches a person reaches for first when understanding information, making decisions, interacting with people and responding to problems.
People are often strongly identified with the abilities and preferences expressed through this division.
When there is no reason to change approach, the Conscious division tends to provide the most natural starting point.
Unconscious
The Unconscious division contains processes that are less naturally identified with but can still influence reactions, judgements and behaviour. They may become especially noticeable when the normal Conscious approach is challenged.
The personality outside its default approach
Unconscious processes can shape instinctive reactions and recurring patterns even when a person is not deliberately trying to use them. Becoming more familiar with this division can make previously confusing reactions easier to recognise and understand.
This division can reveal information or concerns that the Conscious personality does not naturally prioritise.
Its influence may become clearer when ordinary strategies are challenged, criticised or unable to resolve a situation.
Subconscious
The Subconscious division represents a complementary side of the personality. Its processes may not begin as the person's preferred approach, but they can become more accessible as less-developed functions gain confidence and experience.
A complementary way of operating
Rather than simply repeating the person's strongest habits, the Subconscious division provides another route through the personality. Development here can make behaviour more flexible by allowing functions that once felt vulnerable or secondary to participate more confidently.
Functions that once required significant effort can become more natural through repeated use and experience.
This division can provide qualities that are less emphasised by the normal Conscious configuration.
Superego
The Superego is the division furthest from the personality's ordinary Conscious configuration. Because its organisation differs so strongly from the person's normal preferences, it can feel unfamiliar, oppositional or extreme when it appears.
The furthest contrast
The Superego sits furthest from the person's everyday mode of operation. Because of that distance, its functions may be poorly understood or rejected until circumstances force the personality to confront them. Becoming aware of this division can make extreme reactions easier to recognise rather than experiencing them as completely inexplicable.
Its priorities can appear fundamentally opposed to those of the person's usual Conscious personality.
Understanding this division does not require replacing the normal personality; it provides awareness of another possible response.
Functions, classes and divisions
These three parts describe different levels of the same system. A function describes the kind of information being processed. A class describes the function's role within its stack. A division describes the broader personality configuration in which those functions and classes are operating.