I have read a lot on how most psychologists reject the Myers Briggs Type Indicator for its lack of scientific backing, but I have yet to find much information on the acceptance of Carl Jung's theories, specifically his idea of cognitive functions. I'm nowhere near an expert in psychology, so I could be totally off base, but in my subjective experience, Jung's ideas of cognitive functions seem to have much more explanatory power than the MBTI E/I, N/S, T/F, J/P dichotomies, and framing the theory in those terms seems to cause much less inaccuracies in typing people differently over time -- one of the reasons I've heard most psychologists reject the MBTI.Do Jung's theories have more backing than the MBTI, or are they essentially on the same scientific footing? I get that trait-based models like HEXANO may be better in actually predicting behaviour, but what interests me about Jung's idea of cognitive functions is that they better explain motivation and modes of thoughts, which I find very personally compelling. My only fear is that explaining motivations and modes of thought would be more difficult to scientifically pose as opposed to trait-based models of personality. I would also be interested to know if Jung's theories do not have a solid scientific foundation, if there are similar cognitive function based theories that are more accepted in the psychological community. 
Is there a reasonable scientific backing for Carl Jung's type theories?
cognitive psychology;personality;cognitive modeling;jung
It appears that there is little scientific backing for Jung's theories. As these theories were first suggested at the start of the 20th century they have had a considerable amount of time to receive scientific support. If they were accepted by scientists it therefore seems like they would have been widely used and cited by scholars in the interim period. However, if I do a search (in titles, abstracts and keywords) for related content on SCOPUS I get only 12 references (the details of which I have pasted below for you to consider). The low level of search results (and the fact that few of these appear relevant) provides strong evidence that there is little scientific support for Jung's work. In terms of alternative theories to consider, if I were you I would have a look at the big five also known as OCEAN as there is a lot more support for this personality theory. For examples of some influential and interesting articles, please see the OCEAN references section below.References from the SCOPUS literature search:Search term:TITLE-ABS-KEY ( jung  cognitive functions )Novak M.    Ideal types of law from the perspective of psychological typology [Idealni tipi prava v lu?i psiholoke tipologije] 2013    Revus   Lo J.-J., Chan Y.-C.    Design of adaptive web interfaces with respect to student cognitive styles  2011    Advances in Intelligent and Soft ComputingSemetsky I. Jung and Tarot: A Theory-practice Nexus in Education and Counselling    2012    Jung and Educational TheoryConnolly A.M.   Cognitive aesthetics of alchemical imagery  2013    Journal of Analytical PsychologyNaghavi H.R., Nyberg L. Integrative action in the fronto-parietal network: A cure for a scattered mind  2007    Behavioral and Brain SciencesSebastian A., Jung P., Krause-Utz A., Lieb K., Schmahl C., Tscher O.   Frontal dysfunctions of impulse control - A systematic review in borderline personality disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder   2014    Frontiers in Human NeuroscienceSegall J.M., Allen E.A., Jung R.E., Erhardt E.B., Arja S.K., Kiehl K., Calhoun V.D. Correspondence between structure and function in the human brain at rest    2012    Frontiers in NeuroinformaticsVieira A.G., Sperb T.M. Symbolic play and the narrative organization of the child's life experience [O brincar simblico e a organizao narrativa da experincia de vida na criana]   2007    Psicologia: Reflexao e CriticaPark H.-J., Lee S.Y., Shim H.S., Kim J.S., Kim K.S., Shim I.    Chronic treatment with squid phosphatidylserine activates glucose uptake and ameliorates TMT-induced cognitive deficit in rats via activation of cholinergic systems    2012    Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine   Seo Y., Burns K., Fennell C., Kim J.-H., Gunstad J., Glickman E., McDaniel J.   The Influence of Exercise on Cognitive Performance in Normobaric Hypoxia    2015    High Altitude Medicine and Biology  Kwon H.G., Choi B.Y., Kim S.H., Chang C.H., Jung Y.J., Lee H.D., Jang S.H.  Injury of the cingulum in patients with putaminal hemorrhage: A diffusion tensor tractography study 2014    Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Lee J.H., Kim S.E., Park C.-H., Yoo J.H., Lee H.W.  Gray and White Matter Volumes and Cognitive Dysfunction in Drug-Nave Newly Diagnosed Pediatric Epilepsy    2015    BioMed Research International   OCEAN sample referencesRoberts, Brent W., Kate E. Walton, and Wolfgang Viechtbauer. Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological bulletin 132.1 (2006): 1.Hayes, Natalie, and Stephen Joseph. Big 5 correlates of three measures of subjective well-being. Personality and Individual differences 34.4 (2003): 723-727.Kotov, Roman, et al. Linking big personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: a meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin 136.5 (2010): 768.