The Antagonist Relationship

Whereas the complementary relationship is composed of two tightly bonded pairs that obviously need each other to function, the antagonist relationship is more like a pair of frenemies: They can’t stay away from each other, but there’s often an uneasy sense of competition at the same time. The antagonist relationship is composed of mostly different but competing function-attitudes.

• One is introverted, the other is extraverted
• Both are either Deciding or Perceiving functions
• If one is Feeling, the other is Thinking. If one is Sensing, the other is Intuition

Antagonistic Relationships
E. Feeling: “How can I create social harmony?”	vs.	I. Thinking: “How do things really work?”
E. Thinking: “How can I get tasks done?”	vs.	I. Feeling: “How can I maintain personal authenticity?”
E. Sensing: “What is happening now?”	vs.	I. Intuition: “What is the deeper meaning?”
E. Intuition: “What are the possibilities?”	vs.	I. Sensing: “What is the precedent?”

The tricky thing about antagonistic relationships is that since they compete with each other for the same role (deciding or perceiving), we can’t usually hold both functions of an antagonistic pair in our consciousness at once. It’s one or the other. It's as if the two are on an axis where, if one comes up, the other must come down.

The 1st and 4th function-attitudes of any personality are an antagonistic pair. This means if we want to use our 4th function-attitude, which is antagonistic to our 1st and most conscious function-attitude, we need to reason or perceive in a way that is truly outside of our comfort zone. Such a condition is often experienced as destabilizing. It’s normal to feel a bit touchy and insecure when using the 4th function-attitude.

The 4th function-attitude is a good assistant but a lousy leader.  We’ve found that dealing with the 4th function-attitude successfully means working with it in a way that is copacetic with, and delegated by, our 1st function-attitude. Once it’s clear who’s in charge, the antagonism can disappear. But if the 1st function-attitude can’t delegate or loses a grip on the situation, the 4th may stage a mutiny, which is never pretty!

The 2nd and 3rd function-attitudes of any personality are also an antagonistic pair. This means the dynamics of the first four cognitive function-attitudes are anything but linear. It's not a smooth 1,2,3,4 progression, but rather a preferred grouping of 1 and 2, and then antagonistic grouping of 3 and 4.

With that said, John Beebe has written that the 4th function-attitude is the key to our integrity. Although it may appear at first to be antagonistic, once the role of the 4th is integrated through 1st, the frenemy is transformed into an ally.

Primary & inferior relationships by type

Type	Ist (Primary)	4th (Inferior)
ENFJ	Extraverted Feeling	Introverted Thinking
ESFJ	Extraverted Feeling	Introverted Thinking
ENTJ	Extraverted Thinking	Introverted Feeling
ESTJ	Extraverted Thinking	Introverted Feeling
INFJ	Introverted Intuition	Extraverted Sensing
INTJ	Introverted Intuition	Extraverted Sensing
ISFJ	Introverted Sensing	Extraverted Intuition
ISTJ	Introverted Sensing	Extraverted Intuition
ENFP	Extraverted Intuition	Introverted Intuition
ENTP	Extraverted intuition	Introverted Intuition
ESFP	Extraverted Sensing	Introverted Intuition
ESTP	Extraverted Sensing	Introverted Intuition
INFP	Introverted feeling	Extraverted thinking
ISFP	Introverted feeling	Extraverted thinking
INTP	Introverted thinking	Extraverted feeling
ISTP	Introverted thinking	Extraverted feeling