JUNGIAN TYPOLOGY

TWO MAIN PERSONALITY TYPES

In „Psychological types“, Jung introduced ourselves with two main aspects of personality:
introversion and extroversion, so there are introverts and extroverts.

Introverts are prone to being alone, they get their energy from being alone. They usually prefer
calmer and quieter environments, and like to stick to themselves. They also prefer working alone
than working in a group, and also like having a decent friend circle. This doesn’t mean introverts
are inheritely shy, just that they energize from alone time (think of it as „intro“ = in, inside).

Extroverts gain their energy from being in large groups of people. They love being outside, and
are much more open. They prefer working in groups and love having a lot of friends; they don’t
have to be super close, the only thing that matters is that they are hanging out with people. This
doesn’t mean extroverts can’t bond with people on a more deeper level, or that they don’t value
their alone time, they just energize from being in groups (think of it as „extro“ = out, outside).
Obviously, it is a rare ocassion that every person is exactly an intro- or an extrovert, so the term
„ambivert“ is made, being the middle in these two spectrums.
Keep in mind, all of this is social intro- and extroversion, meaning it shows how we get our
energy, and how we socialize with people.

EIGHT PERSONALITY TYPES BASED ON ASPECTS

Apart from describing introversion and extroversion in „Psycholpgical types“, Jung devided our
consciousness in four aspects/functions: thinking, feeling, sensing and intuition. Thinking and
feeling are rational, because it’s how we make decisions, and process information. Sensing and
intuition are irrational functions in a sense of their perceptive and data gathering models (I’ll talk
about these a bit later).

THE FUNCTIONS/ASPECTS

„The function of thinking refers to the process of cognitive thought, sensation is perception by
means of the physical sense organs, feeling is the function of subjective judgment or valuation,
and intuition refers to perception by way of the unconscious... Briefly, the sensation function
establishes that something exists, thinking tells us what it is, feeling tells us what it's worth, and
through intuition we have a sense of what can be done with it (the possibilities).“ Daryl Sharp,
Personality types.
RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL FUNCTIONS
Ideally, the four functions contribute equally: thinking operates in cognition and judgement,
feeling tells us how something is important or unimportant, sensing convays the concrete reality
to us with our five senses, and intuition enables us to see hidden possibilities and the bigger
picture. Sadly, that is not the case, as we aren’t perfect beings. Everyone has a function that
they use the most, that being the superior/primary function, while the rest are inferior. Superior
function here doesn’t mean that it’s objectively the best, it just means we use it the most. Same
goes with the inferior one.
Back to the rationality of the functions. Thinking and feeling are rational functions, because they
are focused on the reflective, linear process that coalesces into a particular judgment, which is
why they are called the „judging“ functions. Sensing and intuition are irrational functions,
because each of them has a way of percieving the world around them (sensing through the
external, and intuition on the internal world), which is why they are called the
„percieving“ functions. This doesn’t mean irrational functions are unreasonable or illogical, as
Jung says:
„...it would be quite wrong to regard them as "unreasonable." It would be truer to say that they
are in the highest degree empirical. They base themselves exclusively on experience—so
exclusively that, as a rule, their judgment cannot keep pace with their experience.“

PRIMARY, AUXILIARY AND INFERIOR FUNCTIONS

As mentioned before, one function is always going to be used more than the rest, and it’s called
the „primary“ or the „superior“ function. We use this function automatically, and it comes
naturally to us. It’s the function we feel the most confident and comfortable using. The auxiliary
function is always going to be the opposite to the first one in terms of rationality, so if you are a
sensing dominant type, your aux can’t be intuition, because it’s irrational as well, and vice versa.
This of course applies to thinking and feeling. So, if you are a feeling dominant, your aux will be
either intuition or sensing.
This is what Jung says on the inferior function:
„...the reaction of the superior function comes out quickly and well adapted, while many people
have no idea where their inferior function really is. For instance, thinking types have no idea
whether they have feeling or what kind of feeling it is. They have to sit half an hour and meditate
as to whether they have feelings about something and, if so, what they are. If you ask a thinking
type what he feels, he generally either replies with a thought or gives a quick conventional
reaction; and if you then insist on knowing what he really feels, he does not know.“
Even though the nature of the inferior function is same as the primary one, it’s still surpressed
and quite unknown to the dominant function, as it’s mentioned in the quote above. Because
thinking dominant types are so focused on the logical ot the intellectual, they often forget, or
brush off their feeling factor. This doesn’t mean they are robots with no emotions, but rather that
they are confused and a bit detached from their emotional state. The same can be said for
intuitive dominants for example. Obviously they are well aware of their surroundings (they must,
since it’s a 3D reality we live in), and are percieving the world with their senses, but they
wouldn’t be stimulated or motivated by the objects/sensations in the real world; they don’t give
them much thought and validity, because they feel the most comfortable using intuition.

DESCRIPTION OF EACH FUNCTION

Thinking, according to Jung is „that psychological function which, in accordance with its own
laws, brings given presentations into conceptual connection.“
It uses concepts to connect given information, creating judgement as a result. It makes logical
functions, so either what makes the most sense (introverted thinking) or based on tangible facts
(extroverted thinking).

Feeling is „primarily a process that takes place between the ego and a given content, a process,
moreover, that imparts to the content a definite value in the sense of acceptance or rejection [...]
Hence feeling is also a kind of judging, differing, however, from an intellectual judgment, in that it
does not aim at establishing an intellectual connection but is solely concerned with the setting
up of a subjective criterion of acceptance or rejection.“
Feeling is different from an affect, because it produces no perceptible physical innervations, i.e.,
neither more nor less than an ordinary thinking process. Affect can cause us to act unreasonable
and we can’t think straight, while feeling is a rational function.

Sensing is described as „that psychological function which transmits a physical stimulus to

perception. [...] not only to the outer stimuli, but also to the inner, i.e. to changes in the internal
organs. Primarily, therefore, sensation is sense-perception, i.e. perception transmitted via the
sense organs and 'bodily senses' (kinaesthetic, vaso-motor sensation, etc.)“
Sensation is how we percieve the world with our five main senses, how we see a certain object
and what that object is (extroverted sensation), or what is means to us (introverted sensation).

Intuition is a function focused on the „hunches“ or visions, the patterns and ideas we see: „It is
that psychological function which transmits perceptions in an unconscious way. Everything,
whether outer or inner objects or their associations, can be the object of this perception.
Intuition has this peculiar quality: it is neither sensation, nor feeling, nor intellectual conclusion,
although it may appear in any of these forms.“

EXTROVERTED FUNCTIONS
When our conscious orientation is determed by the objective reality or the outside world, we are
cognitively extroverted, and use extroverted dominant functions (this is why i said that „extro“ =
outside).

Extroverted Thinking type (ET) is guided by objective evidence of the senses or by objective
(collective) ideas derived from tradition or learning. Its purpose is to abstract conceptual
relationships from objective experience, linking ideas together in a rational and logical manner.
Moreover, all conclusions drawn are always directed towards some objective product or practical
outcome. Thinking is never done for its own sake, but only as a private, subjective endeavor. An
extroverted thinking type bases all actions on the intellectual analysis of objective data. Such
people live by a general intellectual formula or a universal moral code, based on abstract notions
of truth or justice. They also expect other people to recognize and respect this formula. This
type suppresses the feeling function (eg, sentimental attachments, friendships, religious
devotion) and may also neglect personal interests such as one's own health or financial well-
being. If they are extreme or neurotic, they can become petty, bigoted, tyrannical or hostile
towards those who would threaten their formula. Extraverted thinking is conditioned by objective
data transmitted by sense perceptions. As a rational or judging function, thinking presupposes a
judgment. At their best, extraverted thinkers are excellent at establishing order, whether on
paper, in their everyday lives, or at a business meeting. With a good sense of facts, they bring
clarity into emotional situations. At worst, this type is a religious zealot, a political opportunist, a
con man (or woman), a strict pedagogue who brooks no dissent.

Extroverted Feeling type (EF) is based on accepted or traditional social values and opinions. It
involves a conforming, adaptive response to objective circumstances that strives for harmonious
relations with the world. Because much depends on external stimuli rather than actual subjective
preferences, such a feeling can sometimes seem cold, artificial, or imposed for effect. The
extroverted feeling type follows fashion and tries to harmonize personal feelings with general
social values. Thinking is always subordinated to feeling and is ignored or suppressed if
intellectual conclusions fail to confirm the convictions of the heart. When this type is extreme or
neurotic, feeling can become exuberant or extravagant and depends on momentary enthusiasms
that can quickly change with changing circumstances. Such a person may therefore appear
hysterical, erratic, moody or even suffer from multiple personality. Repressed thinking can also
erupt in infantile, negative, obsessive ways. This can lead to the attribution of fearful
characteristics to the very objects or people most loved and valued. Jung states: „Extraverted
feeling has detached itself as much as possible from the subjective factor and subordinated
itself entirely to the influence of the object. Even when it appears not to be qualified by a
concrete object, it is none the less still under the spell of traditional or generally accepted values
of some kind.“ For example, EF will say something is beautiful not because they genuinely think
that, but because it’s socially accepted. At its best, this type is very frienfly, charismatic, easy-
going, helping, and great at making friends and bringing harmony to the group. At its worst, like i
mentioned, it’s hysterical, extravagant, fake or unauthentic.

Extroverted Sensing type (ES) tends to the intensity of the experience derived from concrete
objects and physical activities. Consciousness is therefore directed towards the outside, ie. to
those objects and activities that can be expected to cause the strongest sensations. An
extroverted sensation type is a realist who seeks to experience as many concrete sensations as
possible (these sensations don’t even have to be pleasant, although it’s prefferable). If stable,
such individuals are sensualists or aesthetes who are attracted to the physical characteristics of
objects and people. They dress, eat and entertain well and can be very good company. They are
not reflective or introspective at all, they have no ideals other than sensual enjoyment. They
generally distrust internal psychological processes and prefer to account for such things in terms
of external events (eg, they may blame their moods on the weather). If extreme, they are often
grossly sensual and can take advantage of situations or others to increase their personal
pleasure. When neurotic, repressed intuition can be projected onto other people, so they can
become irrationally suspicious or jealous. Alternatively, they may develop a series of compulsive
superstitions. For ES types, the subjective factor is repressed as much as possible. Their
response to an object is being emerged or conditioned by it. They pay attention to detail and
facts, but they aren’t concerned with the abstract reality at all.

Extroverted Intuitive type (EN) tries to anticipate all the possibilities that are inherent in the
objective situation. Ordinary events are seen as providing a code or set of clues from which
underlying processes and hidden possibilities can be determined. However, when these
possibilities are realized, objects and events lose their meaning and importance. Therefore, there
is a constant need for new situations and experiences to provide fresh stimulus for the intuitive
process. Extraverted type of intuition is an excellent diagnostician and exploiter of situations.
Such people see exciting possibilities in every new endeavor and are excellent at spotting latent
abilities in other people. They are carried away by the enthusiasm of their vision and often inspire
others with the courage of their convictions. As such, they do well in occupations where these
qualities are at the fore - for example in starting new projects, in business, politics or the stock
market. However, they are easily bored and stifled by unchanging conditions. As a result, they
often waste their lives and talents jumping from one activity to another in search of new
opportunities, failing to stick with any project long enough to bring it to fruition. Moreover, in
their commitment to their own vision, they often show little regard for the needs, attitudes, or
beliefs of others. When neurotic, repressed sensation can cause this type to become
compulsively attached to people, objects or activities that evoke in them primitive sensations
such as pleasure, pain or fear. The result of this can be phobias, hypochondriacal beliefs and a
number of other compulsions. The main dilemma for extraverted intuitives is that the very
situations that seem to promise freedom or excitement quickly lead, once their possibilities have
been exhausted, to the feeling of being imprisoned. It is hard to stick to something for any length
of time. As soon as no further developments can be divined, they will leave and seek something
new.

INTROVERTED FUNCTIONS
When our conscious orientation is determed by our inner world, we are cognitively introverted,
and use introverted dominant functions (this is why i said that „intro“ = inside).

Introverted Thinking type (IT) is contemplative, and involves the inner play of ideas. It thinks
only for itself and is always directed towards subjective ideas and personal convictions, and not
towards the outside and practical outcomes. The main concern of such thinking is to elaborate
as fully as possible all the consequences and implications of the basic idea. As a consequence,
introverted thinking can be complex, turbulent and overly scrupulous. To the extent that it
withdraws from objective reality, it can become completely abstract, symbolic or mystical. The
introverted thinking type tends to be impractical and indifferent to objective concerns. These
individuals tend to avoid notice and can appear cold, arrogant and taciturn. Alternatively, the
function of repressed feeling can be expressed in displays of childish naivety. In general, people
of this type seem preoccupied with their own ideas, which they aim to think through as fully and
deeply as possible. If they are extreme or neurotic, they can become rigid, withdrawn, sullen or
rude. They can also confuse their subjectively understood truth with their own personality, so
that any criticism of their ideas is considered a personal attack. This can lead to bitterness or
violent counterattacks against their critics. Introverted thinking is oriented primarily by the
subjective factor. Whether the thinking process focuses on concrete or abstract objects, its
motivation comes from within. Introverted thinking depends on neither immediate experience nor
generally accepted, traditional ideas. It is no less (or more) logical than extraverted thinking, but
it is neither motivated by objective reality nor directed toward it. Because IT lacks focus to the
objective facts, it can easily be emerged with their fantasy world.

Introverted Feeling type (IF) is focused to an inner intensity that is not connected to any
external object. It devalues objective reality and rarely shows itself openly. When it surfaces, it
generally seems negative or indifferent. The focus of such a feeling is on internal processes and
latent, primordial images. In its extreme, it can develop into mystical ecstasy. The type of
introverted feeling is deep and inaccessible, although it can hide behind a childish mask. Such a
person aims to be inconspicuous, makes little effort to impress and is generally unresponsive to
the feelings of others. The external, superficial appearance is often neutral, cold and
contemptuous. From the inside, the feelings are deep, passionately intense and can follow secret
religious or poetic tendencies. The effect of all this on other people can be suffocating and
oppressive. When extreme or neurotic, this type can become domineering and vain. Negative
repressed thinking can also be projected so that these individuals can imagine that they know
what others are thinking. This can develop into paranoia and secret scheming rivalries. So while
Efs can appear superficial because they are way too swayed with the social norms, Ifs appear
superficial because of their cold demeanor. When at their worst, Jung wrote this about
introverted feeling: „"the mysterious power of intensive feeling turns into a banal and
overweening desire to dominate, into vanity and despotic bossiness.“

Introverted Sensing type (IS) is subjectively filtered. Perception is not based directly on the
object, but is only suggested by it. Instead, layers of subjective impressions are superimposed
on the image so that it becomes impossible to determine what will be perceived from knowledge
of the object alone. Perception is therefore crucially dependent on internal psychological
processes that will differ from one person to another. The most positive, introverted feeling type
is found in the creative artist. At its most extreme, it produces psychotic hallucinations and
complete alienation from reality. The introverted type of sensation reacts subjectively to events
in a way that is not related to objective criteria. This is often seen as an inappropriate and
undesirable overreaction. Since objects generally fail to directly penetrate the veil of subjective
impressions, this type can appear neutral or indifferent to objective reality. Alternatively, the
person may perceive the world as illusory or amusing. In extreme (psychotic) cases, this can lead
to an inability to distinguish illusion from reality. The subjective world of archaic images can then
completely dominate consciousness, so that the person lives in a private, mythological realm of
fantasy. Repressed intuition can also express itself in vaguely imagined threats or in fear of
sinister possibilities. Although accurate in recording physical reality, the sensation function tends
to be sluggish, slow-moving. To the extent that the other functions are unconscious, this type
easily gets stuck in a rut, bogged down in the routine of the present moment.

Introverted Intuitive type (IN) is directed towards the content of the unconscious. It tries to
penetrate inner events by relating them to universal psychological processes or to other
archetypal images. Accordingly, it generally has a mythic, symbolic or prophetic quality.
According to Jung, an introverted type of intuition can be either an artist, a psychic, or a maniac.
Such a person has a visionary ideal that reveals strange, mysterious things. These are enigmatic,
'unearthly' people who stand aloof from ordinary society. They have little interest in explaining or
rationalizing their personal vision, but are content just to proclaim it. Partly as a result, they are
often misunderstood. Although the artist's vision among this type generally remains on a purely
perceptual level, mystical dreamers or dorks can become caught up in their own. A person's life
then becomes symbolic, taking on the nature of a Great Work, a mission or a spiritual-moral
quest. If neurotic, repressed feelings can be expressed in primitive, instinctive ways and, like
their extraverted counterparts, introverted intuitives often suffer from hypochondria and
compulsions. Even though it can be stimulated by the external objects, it’s not concerned with
them, and it instead sees with what the external object has released within. It sees behind the
scenes, fastening on, and fascinated by, the inner images that have been brought to life. Jung
adds: „In this way introverted intuition perceives all the background processes of consciousness
with almost the same distinctness as extraverted sensation registers external objects.“ So if an
IN type, for example, was struck by dizziness, it wouldn’t focus on the physicality of it, but rather
the images that appeared in that state.