Personality style isn’t just about how you prefer to dress, it’s about understanding the deeper patterns that drive your energy and authentic self-expression. Most people think Myers-Briggs is just four random letters, but when you understand the cognitive functions, you unlock the secret to sustained energy and take the first step toward a style that truly reflects who you are.
Your Personal Flow State
Have you ever heard of flow state research? Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi conducted a fascinating experiment where he identified what got people into their natural flow state, then asked them to avoid those activities for just two weeks. The results were so dramatic he had to stop the experiment after only two days—people were becoming anxious, distressed, and some were even having minor accidents.
This research reveals something crucial: when we can’t access our natural flow state, we don’t just feel a little tired or unmotivated. We actually start to experience symptoms similar to depression and anxiety. Your dominant cognitive function is your personal flow state, and when life prevents you from using it regularly, the impact on your mental health and energy is profound.
Myers-Briggs: Beyond Four Random Letters
Most people know Myers-Briggs as four letter, like ENFJ or ISTP, but that’s just the top layer. Those four letters are actually a code that reveals which cognitive functions you use and in what order.
Think of it like a sandwich. The meat is in the middle: N/S and F/T. Intuition and sensing, feeling and thinking are the cognitive functions, but here’s what alot of people don’t realize: each of these four letters has two different versions. There’s an extraverted version used to interface with the outer world, and an introverted version used for processing in your inner world.
The bread is E/I and J/P. These letters tell us which order the intuition and sensing, feeling and thinking go in, and whether they’re being used in the inner world or the outer world. The division between inner and outer is like your skin—it determines where each function operates.
Here is a brief definition of each of the functions.
The Perceiving Functions: How You Learn and Take in Information
Perceiving functions are how we take in information. This process is very open and exploratory.
Introverted Intuition: Learning through pattern recognition in contemplation and taking other perspectives
Extraverted Intuition: Learning by pattern recognition in real-time through exploration
Introverted Sensing: Learning through sensory experience in rumination, post-processing memory
Extraverted Sensing: Learning by sensory experience in real-time, being in the moment through sensation
If one of these is your dominant function, you sustain energy by learning. Why not focus some of that energy by learning about yourself and what to wear that feels like you?
The Judging Functions: How You Make Decisions and Evaluate Information
Judging functions are how we evaluate information and make decisions.
Extraverted Thinking: Measures by effectiveness—”Does this help me get things done?”
Introverted Thinking:Measures by accuracy—”Does this make logical sense for me?”
Extraverted Feeling: Measures by social harmony—”Does this create connection and fit the context?”
Introverted Feeling: Measures by authenticity—”Does this reflect who I am and how I’m feeling?”
If one of these is your dominant function, you need opportunities to make decisions. Your wardrobe is perfect for that!
Personality Style to the Rescue
When my kids were growing up, I experienced firsthand what happens when you can’t access your dominant function. I was on a really low budget and living in a pretty conservative social environment. As someone whose dominant function is Extraverted Feeling, this was devastating in ways I couldn’t articulate at the time.
The social environment lacked opportunities for the kind of group conversations that energize me. And the low budget meant I just looked like everyone else—I couldn’t dress in ways that invited connection or expressed my personality. I was pretty depressed, and of course, I didn’t know about Myers-Briggs and cognitive functions then, so I couldn’t articulate why.
Eventually that season passed, but it took a while before I was able to achieve a good rhythm of activities that have me using my Extraverted Feeling most days. And the way I dress definitely serves me in that now: I dress in color, very approachably, and often wear something slightly out of the ordinary that gives me the opportunity to tell a little story when someone comments on it.
Personality Style for Your Dominant Function
Once you understand your dominant function, you can make style choices that support rather than hinder your natural energy patterns.
If you don’t know your dominant function, you can learn that through conversational personality profiling. Book a session with me here.
For Perceiving Functions (Time Orientation):
Introverted Intuition is future-focused, so should look fashion-forward
Extraverted Intuition is atemporal, so can mix disparate elements easily
Introverted Sensing is fantastic in timeless and/or vintage piecesÂ
Extraverted Sensing is in the moment and should move fast when they see a new style that looks fun
For Judging Functions (Decision Criteria):
Extraverted Thinking measures by effectiveness—”Does this help me get things done?”
Introverted Thinking measures by accuracy—”Does this make logical sense for me?”
Extraverted Feeling measures by social harmony—”Does this create connection and fit the context?”
Introverted Feeling measures by authenticity—”Does this reflect who I am and how I’m feeling?”
When you understand that your dominant cognitive function is your flow state, you can work on setting up your life to support you. You stop trying to force yourself into energy patterns that don’t work for you, and you start making choices—including style choices—that support your natural rhythms.
Knowing your dominant cognitive function is the most effective way to better energy and authentic personality style. It’s not about following rules or copying someone else’s approach. It’s about understanding the deeper patterns that make you who you are.
Personality Style Project
Here’s something simple you can do this week to integrate these principles into your wardrobe: Notice which style choices intimidate you, then ask yourself why. As one of my community members shared recently, “Some of the most rewarding things in life involve intimidation. That intimidation comes from caring deeply, mixed in with the fear that your caring will be in vain.”
So this week, write about this: What fashion choices intimidate you? What are you afraid might happen if you wore that? How might your dominant function be calling you toward personality style that feels scary but also exciting? Remember, when you understand your cognitive function patterns, you can trust that the intimidation might actually be pointing you toward your most authentic style choices.
For another angle on how to dress for your dominant function, check out the free downloadable Guide to Design Psychology.
If you’re ready to discover your specific cognitive function pattern and how it applies to your personal style, I invite you to explore Personality Profiling, which includes your Personality Style Blueprint booklet, or if you already know your type, you can buy the booklet and get started today.