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CarlJung&PsychologicalTypes|MBTITypeToday

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CarlJung&PsychologicalTypes

CarlJung
18751961

TheCoreIdea
TheessenceofJungstheoryofpsychologicaltypesissimplewhenourmindsareactiveandweareawake,we
arealternatingbetweentakingininformationandmakingdecisionsinourinternalandexternalworlds.Jung
identifiedeightdifferentpatternsforhowwecarryoutthesementalactivitiescommonlyreferredtoasthe
functionattitudes,functionsinattitudeortheeightmentalprocesses.Hecreatedthesepatternsthrough
combininghisoppositepairsofattitudesandfunctions.Jungdescribedtheseeightdifferentpatternsinhisbook
entitledPsychologicalTypesthroughcharacterizationsofpeoplewhohabituallypreferonepatternoveranother
hiseighttypes.Jungseighttypesaretherootsofthewellknown16MBTItypes.

TheAttitudesandFunctions
TheAttitudesExtraversionandIntroversion
ThefirstpairofoppositesthatJungidentifiedwasthetwooppositewaysinwhichweadaptto,ororient
ourselvesto,theworld.
TheseareJungsattitudesofExtraversionandIntroversion:
ExtraversionOurenergymovestowardtheouterworldofpeople,placesandthingstheworldoutside
ofus
IntroversionOurenergymovestowardtheinnerworldofthoughtsandideastheworldinsideofus
Jungbelievedthatourorientationtotheworldwasafoundationalaspectofourpersonality.Ourpreferred
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energyattitudeissuchanelementalpartofonespersonalitythatthetwowaysofbeingbecomeobvious,even
tothelayman,whenpointedout.Wealternatebetweenthesetwoenergyattitudeseveryday,backandforth,as
needsariseandourenvironmentdictates.Yet,Jungbelievedthatweareathome,orfeelmostcomfortable,in
oneoftheseworldsovertheother.

TheFunctionsPerceivingandJudging

JungobservedthatonespreferenceforExtraversionorIntroversioncouldnotalone
accountforthemanybehavioraldifferencesheobservedbetweenpeople.
Forthisreason,heidentifiedtwooppositementalfunctionsthatweusetotakeininformationorPerceivethe
PerceivingfunctionsofSensingandIntuition:
SensingPerceptionTheprocessofcollectingconcretedatathroughusingourfivesenses
iNtuitivePerception(iNtuition)Theprocessbywhichwemakeconnectionsandinfermeaningsbeyond
sensorydata
Jungalsocoinedtwooppositementalfunctionsthatweusetoevaluateinformationormakedecisionswaysto
Judge,ortheJudgingfunctionsofThinkingandFeeling:
ThinkingJudgmentTheprocessweuseforevaluatinginformationbyapplyingobjectiveandlogical
criteria
FeelingJudgmentTheprocessweuseforevaluatinginformationbyconsideringwhatisimportanttome
andyou
Asisthecasewiththeenergyattitudes,Jungdeterminedthatwehaveaninnatepredispositiontohabituallyuse
orpreferoneofthefourfunctionsovertheothers.

TheEightMentalFunctionsinAttitude

JungobservedthattheattitudesofExtraversionandIntroversionwerealwaysusedin
conjunctionwitheitheraPerceivingfunctionoraJudgingfunction.
Thefourfunctions(Sensing,Intuition,Thinking,andFeeling)withthetwoattitudes(Extraversionand
Introversion)combinetocreatetheeightmentalFunctionsinAttitudeattitude,whichJungcalledhiseight
types.TheseeightmentalfunctionsintheirparticularattitudeformthecoreofJungstheoryofpsychological
typesthesearetheeightfunctionsthatwecallupontoadapttotheworld.
WecanunderstandthementalfunctioninattitudesthatweusethemostthroughknowingourownType
Dynamicsorourtypecodehierarchy.
EachPerceivingandJudgingfunctionhasaqualitativelydifferentflavorwhenusedintheouterandinner
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worlds:
FunctionAttitude Definition
Extraverted
Outwardandactivefocusontheobjectiveworldandongatheringfactualdataand
Sensing
sensoryexperiences.
Introverted
Inwardandreflectivefocusonsubjectivesensoryexperiencesandonthestoringof
Sensing
factualhistoricaldata.
Extraverted
Outwardandactivefocusonthenew,thepossibilitiesandmeanings/patternsinthe
Intuition
objectiveworld.
Introverted
Inwardandreflectivefocusonthesubjectiveworldofsymbols,meanings,insight
Intuition
andpatternsthatcomeupfromtheunconscious.
Extraverted
Outwardandactivefocusonapplyinglogicalordertotheobjectiveworldthrough
Thinking
buildingstructure,organizationandmakingdecisions.
Introverted
Inwardandreflectivefocusonthesubjectiveworldofreasonthatseeks
Thinking
understandingthroughfindingthelogicalprinciplesbehindphenomena.
Extraverted
Outwardandactivefocusonbringingordertotheobjectiveworldthroughbuilding
Feeling
andseekingharmonywithothersandalignmentwithopenlyexpressedvalues.
Inwardandreflectivefocusonthesubjectiveworldofdeeplyfeltvaluesthatseeks
Introverted
harmonythroughalignmentofpersonalbehaviorwiththosevaluesandevaluationof
Feeling
phenomenainlightofthosevalues.
ThomasJ.Golatz.UsedwithpermissionoftheCenterforApplicationsofPsychologicalType,
www.capt.org.
InJungianterms,wedefineourtypebyourdominantfunction,whichisourmostpreferredmentalfunction.For
example,ifweliketouseExtravertedSensingmorethananyoftheothersevenmentalfunctions,Extraverted
SensingisourdominantfunctionandweareanExtravertedSensingType.
Jungstatedthatwecanexperienceenergydepletionandfatiguewhenweuseourothermentalfunctionsfortoo
long.Jungwentsofarastosaythatitcouldbepsychologicallydetrimentaltoourwellbeingwhenour
environmentdoesnotsupportusintheuseofourdominantfunctionhecalledthisfalsificationoftype.

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