carl jung's psychological types

Given that Carl Jung's psychological theory so fundamentally underpins most of the popular and highly regarded personality systems today it makes sense to explain a little about it here.

Carl Gustav Jung was born 26 July 1875 in Kesswil Switzerland and was the only son of a Swiss Reformed Church Evangelical Minister. According to Maggie Hyde who wrote the excellent Introduction to Jung (Icon Books 1992), he was a strange melancholic child who played his own imaginary games, alone, for the first nine years of his life. Eight of Jung's uncles were in the clergy, as was his maternal grandfather, who held weekly conversations with his deceased wife, while his second wife and Carl's mother sat and listened to it all. A recipe for Jung's own extraordinary personality if ever there was one. The boy Jung was raised on diet of Swiss Protestantism and pagan spirituality and seemingly his only outlets were his father's books and sitting on a big rock. Poor kid... His weird family clearly had a lot to with Jung's troubled young life and his psychotic break-down in mid-life, and his ongoing obsession with trying to make sense of it all.

It is amazing that from such disturbed beginnings such a brilliant mind could emerge.

Jung's work and influence extend way beyond understanding personality - he is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers ever to have theorised about life and how people relate to it. For the purposes of this explanation however, we must concentrate on just the relevant parts of his work - Jung's Psychological Types - or we'll be here for ever.

Carl Jung was among many great personality theorists who drew inspiration and guidance from the ancient Greek Four Temperaments model and its various interpretations over the centuries. Carl Jung's key book in this regard, which extended and explained his theories about personality type, was Psychological Types, published in 1921. His theory of Psychological Types was part of a wider set of ideas relating to psychic energy, in which he developed important concepts for clinical psychological therapy and psycho-analysis (psychiatric diagnosis and therapy).

It's helpful to note that Jung approached personality and 'psychological types' (also referred to as Jung's psychological archetypes) from a perspective of clinical psychoanalysis. He was a main collaborator of Sigmund Freud - also a seminal thinker in the field of psycho-analysis, psychology and human behaviour. Jung and Freud were scientists, scholars, deeply serious and passionate academics. They were concerned to discover and develop and extend knowledge about the human mind and how it works. They were also great friends until they disagreed and fell out, which is a further example of the complexity of the subject: even among collaborators there is plenty of room for disagreement.

In psychoanalysis, it is important for the analyst to understand the structure or nature or direction of the 'psychic energy' within the other person. More simply we might say this is 'where the person is coming from', or 'how they are thinking'. Logically if the analyst can interpret what's going on, then he/she is better able to suggest how matters might be improved. As with any analytical discipline, if we have some sort of interpretive framework or model, then we can far more easily identify features and characteristics. Jung's work was often focused on developing analytical models - beyond simply being a psycho-analyst.

Modern psychometrics has benefited directly from the analytical models that Jung developed for psycho-analysis, and while this section is essentially concerned with explaining the model for the purpose of understanding personality types, if you can extract some deeper therapeutic knowledge and self-awareness from the theories and ideas which underpin the models, then I would encourage you to so so. There is enormous value in deepening understanding of ourselves as people, and Jung's ideas help many people to achieve this.

Jung accordingly developed his concepts of 'psychological types' in order to improve this understanding.

The fact that Carl Jung's 'psychological types' structure continue to provide the basis of many of the leading psychometrics systems and instruments in use today, including Myers Briggs® and Keirsey, is testimony to the enduring relevance and value of Jung's work.

jung's ideas about the conscious and the unconscious

First it's important to understand that Jung asserted that a person's psychological make-up is always working on two levels: the conscious and the unconscious. According to Jung, and widely held today, a person's 'psyche' (a person's 'whole being') is represented by their conscious and unconscious parts. Moreover, a person's conscious and unconscious states are in a way 'self-balancing', that is to say - and this is significant - if a person's conscious side (or 'attitude') becomes dominant or extreme, then the unconscious will surface or manifest in some way to rectify the balance. This might be in dreams or internal images, or via more physical externally visible illness or emotional disturbance. Jung also asserted that at times in people the unconscious can surface and 'project' (be directed at) the outside world, particularly other people. This acknowledgement of the power of the unconscious features strongly in the thinking of Freud and notably in the underpinning theory of Transactional Analysis (it's a big section - take time to look at it separately).

jung's psychological 'general attitude types' - introverted and extraverted

Jung divided psychic energy into two basic 'general attitude types': Introverted and Extraverted.

These are effectively two 'type' behaviours that combine with others explained later to create Jung's psychological types. Moreover Jung's Introvert and Extravert 'general attitude types' feature strongly as two opposite characteristics within very many modern personality systems, including Myers Briggs® and Keirsey.

The 1923 translation of Jung's 1921 book Psychological Types uses the words Introverted and Extraverted to describe these types, which in German would have been Introvertiert and Extravertiert. Some interpretations of Jung's ideas use the alternative words Introvert and Introversion, and Extravert and Extraversion to describe Jung's types. The word Extravert was devised by Jung, which is how it appears in German. He formed it from the Latin words 'extra' meaning outside, and 'vertere' meaning to turn. The words extrovert, extroverted and extroversion are English adaptations which appeared soon after Jung popularised the word in German. Both 'extra' and 'extro' versions are acceptable English. Jung formed the word Introvert from the Latin 'intro' meaning inward and 'vertere' to turn.

The word 'attitude' in this sense means a deeper more settled mode of behaviour than the common day-to-day use of the word.

In his 1921 book Psychological Types, Jung described the introverted and extraverted general attitude types as being:

".... distinguished by the direction of general interest or libido movement..... differentiated by their particular attitude to the object.."

and

"....The introvert's attitude to the object is an abstracting one.... he is always facing the problem of how libido can be withdrawn from the object...... The extravert, on the contrary, maintains a positive relation to the object. To such an extent does he affirm its importance that his subjective attitude is continually being orientated by, and related to the object...."

(The 1923 translation by H Godwyn Baynes is understandably a little awkward for modern times. 'Abstracting' in this context means 'drawing way', from its Latin root meaning. 'Libido' in this context probably means 'desire', although the word seems first to have appeared in earlier translations of Freud, who used it in a more sexual sense.)

Both attitudes - extraversion and introversion - are present in every person, in different degrees. No-one is pure extravert or pure introvert, and more recent studies (notably Eysenck) indicate that a big majority of people are actually a reasonably well-balanced mixture of the two types, albeit with a preference for one or the other. Not black and white - instead shades of grey.

Jung's 'general attitudes' of Introverted and Extraverted are clearly quite different.

It is no wonder then that strongly orientated extraverts and introverts see things in quite different ways, which can cause conflict and misunderstanding. Two people may look at the same situation and yet see different things. They see things - as we all tend to - in terms of themselves and their own own mind-sets.

It is almost incredible to think that these words - extravert and introvert - that we take so much for granted today to describe people and their personality and behaviour, were not used at all until Jung developed his ideas.

Without wishing to add further complication Jung said that extraversion and introversion are not mutually exclusive and will be self-balancing or compensating through the conscious and unconscious. A strongly outward consciously extravert person will according to Jungian theory possess a compensatory strong inward unconscious introvert side. And vice versa. Jung linked this compensatory effect for example to repression of natural tendencies and the resulting unhappiness or hysteria or illness.

We are each born with a natural balance. If our natural balance is upset due to repression or conditioning then our minds will in some way seek to restore the balance, which Jung saw as the power of the unconscious surfacing as 'the return of the repressed'.

jung's psychological types - the 'four functional types'

In addition to the two attitudes of extraversion and introversion, Jung also developed a framework of 'four functional types'.

Jung described these four 'Functional Types' as being those from which the "...most differentiated function plays the principal role in an individual's adaptation or orientation to life..." (from Psychological Types, 1921) By 'most differentiated' Jung meant 'superior' or dominant.

Jung's Four Functions contain significant echoes of the Four Temperaments and of the many related four-part patterns or sets ('quaternities') that relate to the Four Temperaments, dating back to ancient Greece and arguably earlier, although Jung's ideas are more a lot sophisticated and complex than the Four Temperaments model.

Like many theorists before him who had attempted to define personality Jung opted for a four-part structure, which he used alongside his Introverted-Extraverted attitudes:

Jung's Four Functions of the psyche are:

• thinking and
• feeling

which he said are the functions that enable us to decide and judge, (Jung called these 'Rational') and

• sensation and
• intuition

which Jung said are the functions that enable us to gather information and perceive (Jung called these 'Irrational').

Significantly Jung also asserted that each of us needs to be able to both perceive and to judge (gather information and decide) in order to survive and to carry on normal functioning behaviour.

And he also said that in doing this each of us prefers or favours one of the functions from each of the pairings.

Jung's Four Functions are described below. These very brief definitions and keywords are based respectively on descriptions by Hyde, Fordham and Benziger, all experts and writers on Jungian theory. The final column explains the pairings according to Jung's 'Rational' and 'Irrational' criteria, which nowadays correspond to the Myers Briggs® functions of 'Judging' and 'Perceiving' as featured in Myers Briggs'® theories. The colours are to help the presentation and are not part of Jung's theory:

jung's four functional types - definitions

Katherine Benziger, a leading modern thinker in the field of personality, is not alone in suggesting Jung's Sensation function equates to Galen's Phelgmatic temperament, and that Jung's Intuition function equates to Galen's Choleric temperament. Relationships between Jung's two other functions (Thinking and Feeling) and the other two of the Four Temperaments (Melancholic and Sanguine) are more complex and are not a direct match, although common elements do exist between these Jungian functions and Galen temperaments. You might find Benziger's model helpful for understanding more about each of the four functional types and the characteristics each represents. Benziger's four quadrants of the brain equate directly to Jung's four functional types.

Jung said that Thinking and Feeling are 'Rational' because both of these functions evaluate experience. In Jung's theory the Thinking and Feeling functions are 'Rational' because they reason and decide and judge.

Jung said that Intuition and Sensation are 'Irrational' since they are concerned with perception and do not evaluate. According to Jung the Intuition and Sensation functions are 'Irrational' because they simply gather information and perceive the nature of something - they do not reason or decide or judge.

The Rational and Irrational descriptions that Jung attached to the four functions might not appear particularly significant at first, especially given that Jung's use of the words is rather different to the modern meanings. However consider the modern words that describe Jung's meaning of Rational and Irrational, respectively Judging ('rational' Thinking and Feeling) and Perceiving ('irrational' Sensation and Intuition) and you can begin to see how Myers Briggs® arrived at their Judging and Perceiving dimension, which they developed from Jung's ideas, largely as a way of determining the dominance or priority of auxiliary functions within the Jungian model. (This will hopefully make more sense when you know something of the Myers Briggs® model.)

Here's another perspective - some short descriptions of each of Jung's Four Functional Types:

jung's four functional types - descriptions

At this point you might like to pause and go make a cup of tea and some toast. Have a rest. Don't try to absorb and understand all this in one sitting if it's new to you.

Jung accordingly arranged his four functional types as two pairs of opposites, thinking or feeling (the rational 'judging' pairing), and sensation or intuition (the irrational 'perceiving' pairing), which are often shown as four points (like North South East West) on a compass.

Jung said that each person has a main natural conscious orientation towards one of the four functions (their 'superior' or most 'differentiated' function), in which case the opposite function (the 'inferior' or unconscious function) would be represented and compensated within the person's unconscious.

Of the other two functions, either one could be next dominant, depending on the person, and generally would 'serve' as an auxiliary function in support of the person's 'superior' function. (Again just to complicate matters Jung said that in some cases both of these functions could serve as auxiliary functions, but generally the interpretation is that one auxiliary function would be more prevalent than the other. The point here is that the auxiliary functions are not as polarised - into conscious-unconscious - as the superior and inferior functions, which are more strongly polarised into conscious-unconscious.)

So, a personality would generally be represented by a conscious dominant function from each opposite pair: one of these dominant functions being dominant overall ('superior') and the other dominant function being the supporting ('auxiliary') function.

In the example above, the superior function is Thinking. The opposite Feeling function would largely or entirely be a compensatory unconscious element within the whole person. Depending on the person either the Sensation or Intuition function would be the prevalent auxiliary function, causing its opposite partner to reside to an appropriate extent in the unconscious, so again balancing the whole person.

Jung's important principle of personality being represented by one type from two opposing types (or a series of single types from pairs of opposites) is featured strongly in the models developed by Keirsey and Myers Briggs®, amongst others.

In his Psychological Types book and theory Jung presented his (major eight) 'psychological types' as simple combinations of Introverted or Extraverted together with one 'superior' function, eg, 'Introverted-Thinking' (IT). It is however perfectly appropriate and proper (as Jung explained) to extrapolate or extend the number of Jung types to include auxiliaries, eg, 'Introverted-Thinking-Sensation' (ITS - commonly shown as IT[S]) in which case 'S' is the auxiliary. So, while Jung's work originally presented eight main psychological types (each represented by a two-letter abbreviation), subsequent interpretations commonly add the auxiliary function (resulting in a three-letter abbreviation). In fact to assist this extension Myers Briggs® later introduced the Judging-Perceiving dimension, which acted mainly as a means of identifying which two of the four functions are dominant and auxiliary within the Jung framework for any particular personality (of which more later below).

Here are the four conscious orientations (aside from extraversion and introversion which are added to the model later). In these examples the prevalent auxiliary function is not indicated. It could be either of the right or left functions, depending on the person.

thinking is superior function

feeling is superior function

intuition is superior function

sensation is superior function

jung's eight psychological types

This all leads us to Jung's eight major 'Psychological Types', which as already explained Jung constructed by adding one or other of the introversion or extraversion 'general attitude types' to each of the possible four superior functions described above.

Logically this produces eight main psychological types. The eight psychological types do not include 'auxiliary' functions and as such do not represent full personalities in themselves. The 'type characteristics' below are generally applicable keywords - they are not absolutes or exclusive. Interpretations can vary a lot - it impossible to summarise a personality type that encompasses millions of variations within it in just a few words, although hopefully the matrix helps to convey some sense of the collective and comparative types within the model. Fuller descriptions are available on specialised resources, for instance at Dr Robert Winer's excellent website www.gesher.org. Some commentators and resources suggest 'job examples' for the different types, and some also suggest examples of famous people falling into each type, although stereotypical 'typing' guesswork of this sort can be misleading if taken at all seriously. Remember again that these eight main types are not the 'whole person' - people comprise a least one other functional preference, plus unconscious balancing functions, all to varying degrees, all of which which produce personality types that are much more complex than the basic eight main types shown here.