Si · Introverted sensing
Read this function theme, its four original prompts, reverse key, examples, nearby distinctions and limits.
Three direct ratings and one reverse rating (6 − response), excluding unscored. At least three numeric ratings for a one-decimal mean; no ranking or stack.
A personal reference for present impressions
- Si is the inwardly oriented sensing term in this framework. These prompts focus on comparing a present concrete impression with personally remembered experience: what something felt like, which detail seems familiar, or which part of a routine has felt dependable. This is not a test of memory capacity, recall accuracy, loyalty to tradition or resistance to change.
- An inward reference is personal rather than automatically correct or universal. Two people can remember the same activity differently, and each memory can leave things out. A greater mean describes endorsement of consulting that reference, not evidence that your memory preserves more facts than someone else’s. All other function topics remain available alongside it.
Four prompts, one descriptive mean
- The first three prompts contribute the selected number from 1 to 5. The fourth is reverse keyed: its contribution is 6 minus the selected number, so 1 becomes 5, 2 becomes 4 and 3 stays 3. An unscored answer contributes nothing and is excluded from the denominator. All 32 prompts need a response before any personal summaries appear.
- For responses 4, 3, 5 and 2, the keyed contributions are 4, 3, 5 and 4: sum 16, count 4, mean 4.0. For 4, unscored, 5 and 2, the sum is 13, count 3 and mean 4.3. With fewer than three numeric ratings, no mean is calculated. The minimum and one-decimal rounding are website conventions, not reliability or certainty thresholds.
A familiar recipe changes
- Imagine a fictional person, Bo, making a familiar meal. The texture seems different, and Bo compares it with a remembered version before checking the ingredients and cooking time. The Si theme is the comparison with personal experience. Whether the memory is accurate or the meal is safe requires facts outside this self-report, so neither is inferred from the score.
- Bo might keep a part of the method that has worked and change a different part. Consulting past experience does not imply refusing novelty. Conversely, repeating a routine because no other option is available does not prove a preference for remembered references. Interpret the responses together with the actual choices that were possible.
Personal comparison and direct observation
- The Se prompts emphasize attending to the current scene; Si emphasizes the present impression in relation to a remembered one. You may inspect a material now and compare its feel with one used before. These are two aspects of one activity, so both means can be similar without creating a contradiction or a mixed personality type.
- Ni concerns developing an underlying interpretation from patterns, rather than recalling a particular concrete experience. “This feels like the last material I used” is a remembered comparison; “these changes suggest a new direction” is a broader interpretation. In practice they can interact. The test does not use these distinctions to rank experience against insight.
Keep the reference and its limits together
- Nearer 5 means more keyed endorsement of using personal concrete references in this bank. Nearer 1 means less endorsement of these examples, not poor memory or lack of experience. Someone who has recently entered a new setting may have few comparable experiences. Choosing no suitable opportunity is different from saying that the approach does not describe you.
- A stable mean across two attempts would show similar answers to these prompts, not demonstrated reliability or a permanent trait. A changed mean could reflect a different routine or a new comparison point. No age, culture or occupational norm is supplied, and the score cannot tell you which environment you should live or work in.
Compare one recollection with a record
- Choose a low-stakes activity and note the detail you remember, the detail you observe now and anything you are unsure about. If a harmless record is available, compare it without treating disagreement as failure. This can make a remembered reference explicit. It does not measure or improve a psychological function in any verified way.
- Keep other people’s recollections separate from your own, especially when discussing a shared event. A preference for a familiar method does not entitle anyone to override present evidence or another person’s needs. You can also stop after reading; collecting more examples or maintaining a diary is entirely optional.
What this edition can and cannot conclude
- These original items and the English and Chinese versions have not established psychometric validity, reliability, population norms or measurement equivalence. The framework source explains terminology; it did not supply, approve or validate this bank. Means summarize keyed endorsement of different sets of statements. They are not calibrated against one another and do not establish a dominant, auxiliary or inferior function.
- No overall score, ordered function stack, four-letter type, diagnosis or decision about work or relationships is produced. Exact display ties remain ties; small gaps have no validated interpretation. All eight complete guides are available regardless of your ratings. Public guides contain no personal answers, and optional sharing includes only the test title and entry link.