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Positivist and negativist
¶
Positivist
/
Negativist
is one of the 15
Reinin dichotomies
.
Positivist and negativist types
¶
Positivists are: ILE, ESE, LSI, IEI, SEE, LIE, EII and SLI.
Negativists are: SEI, LII, EIE, SLE, ILI, ESI, LSE and IEE.
Using
four-letter code
: Positivists are ENTx,
ESFx, ISTx, INFx; Negativists are ISFx, INTx, ENFx, ESTx.
Typical characteristics
¶
Positivists
¶
Inclination to optimize, polish, and improve already existing things,
systems, or processes.
Socially and intellectually more trusting and interested at first.
Becomes more critical and disinterested later.
Initially more complimenting than reprimanding.
Greater use of positive assertive statements, even in cases of
criticism.
Explains what things are (irrationals) or should be (rationals).
“This glass is half-full”, “We have already collected $438,000 for
that project”
Negativists
¶
Inclination to detect and resolve problems within things, systems, or
processes.
Socially and intellectually more mistrusting and disinterested at
first. Becomes more trusting and interested later.
Initially more reprimanding than complimenting.
Greater use of negating “not” statements.
Explains what things are not (irrationals) or should not be
(rationals).
“This glass is half-empty”, “We need $62,000 for that project”
Extended characteristics
¶
Description from
2003 Study of Reinin traits
¶
Positivists
¶
Positivists initially pay attention to what is present in a situation
(what exists, what is there) what can realistically occur, what can
be interpreted as an affirmative manifestation of surrounding world,
situations, possibilities, prospects.
Positivists are oriented at what any situation or contact with people
can potentially bring to them rather than what they could potentially
lose (for example, moving is viewed as an opportunity to gain new
acquaintances, friends, rather than primarily from point of view of
losing existing friends). For them an orientation to success is more
characteristic rather than avoidance of failure.
Positivists are better at assimilating affirmative experiences. They
are inclined to “convert” negative experiences into positive ones
(they try to find the “silver lining”).
They speak more of the positive and try to present negative moments
on a positive background (“Yes, this is a problem, but…”then
continue to paint a positive picture). Conversations about the
negative (when the other person accentuates deficiencies, absence,
impossibility) may be irritating to Positivists.
In speech of Positivists, one can detect mostly affirmative
constructions and intonations. If they are giving instructions to
someone else, they present them in positive manner: they talk about
what can be done or what should be done in different situations (for
example, “You can call him only at this-and-this time”) rather than
what cannot or should not be done.
Negativists
¶
Negativists pay attention to aspects of the situation that are
insufficient or lacking, which can be interpreted as seeing the
negative prospects of various situations and events.
Negativists orient at what they could potentially lose as a result of
a certain situation or contact with other people, rather than what
this situation or contact can bring to them (for example, moving for
negativists primarily means losing friends). Negativists focus on
avoiding failures (the “positive” development of a situation is the
fact that nothing negative has happened so far).
Negativists are better at assimilating negating, negative
experiences. They are inclined to outline negative sides of affairs.
Negativists are more inclined to speak about negative moments.
Positive aspects are presented on a negative background (“Well, this
is good, but…”then mentions what is lacking, what is not right).
Negativists are irritated by “excessively positive” attitudes (when
another person “forgets” to bring up or haven’t even considered the
negative aspects of something).
In speech of negativists there is frequent use of negating
expressions (negative pronouns, adverbs, “not” “cannot” “nobody”
“never”). For example: “Negative experiences are not always
necessary, I don’t need them” “There won’t be an occasion to do
anything” “I cannot say that this is not true” etc. If giving
instructions they first of all talk about the things to avoid, what
should not be done (For example “If you call them at such a time it
will be pointless”).
Notes
Previous research on this dichotomy was reduced to measuring
positive/negative in the “everyday” sense of the word. In our opinion,
these attitudes are a consequence of a deeper mechanism: one group
perceives and describes something by denoting associated properties
(Positivists) while the other group denotes properties that are not
associated with it. Positivists describe a subject, individual,
phenomenon, attempting to describe it through characteristics inherent
in the object, while Negativists focus on properties that do not pertain
to the object. The cursory impression of optimism/pessimism being the
distinguishing feature of this dichotomy occurs because of this. In
reality, both Positivists and Negativists possess these two attitudes
and talk equally of “good” and “bad” things. The difference is in the
form of presentationfor example, on the same topic of shortcomings: “I
cannot say that you have no shortcomings” (negativism) and “You have
several shortcomings” (positivism).
Hypotheses
The difference in assimilating experiences between Positivists and
Negativists arises because Positivists better remember events when they
did transpire, rather than events that did not occur, while Negativists
are better at remembering events that did not occur, that were absent or
lacking (for the Negativist, this absence constitutes an event in
itself, they remember this better and draw conclusions).
Examples
Positivists:
“At first I trust people, distrust needs to be
substantiated” “I always believe in a positive outcome. I will most
likely talk about positives. I don’t issue warnings of possible
failureswhy bring people down, may be everything will be ok” “It
irritates me when people talk only of character flaws and inadequacies
in others” “I try not to give instructions on avoidance or failure”
“When giving instructions I avoid giving orders like “Don’t do it! Don’t
go!” “Even negative experience can be positive” “I start off by trusting
people and then work from there.”
Negativists:
“My first reaction to everything is “no!” whatever it
might be” “I don’t speak of the positives” “One must take into account
all the negative aspects. It goes without saying that people are capable
of anything” “If the mood is too good - something is not right” “In my
instructions I always give people “negative” orientation points. I
foresee all the negative moments and try to make provisions for them”
“People in general are good, but it’s better to keep your distance from
them” “When I was authoring a textbook, I constructed my proofs “by
method of contradiction”” “Most often I bring bad news” “When asked
“How’s it going?” I answer “Not well.” “How am I going to entertain
myself? Certainly I wouldn’t go to a restaurant, neither a casino …
but somewhere out to nature…” “There will be a building there, but
that’s not what you’re looking for. After that you will see a street,
but don’t take it, continue on your path. Go around the building and
don’t use the first two entrances.”
Description from
Forms of Cognition
by V. Gulenko
¶
Positivism I understand as the tendency to maximize the positive,
Negativism as the tendency to minimize the negative. Positivists
primarily perceive the positive side of any phenomenon, and often turn a
blind eye to the negative. Negativists won’t overlook problems, and
simultaneously mitigate any positive aspects to their situation of
interest.
Intellectual Level
¶
At this level, the PositivismNegativism dichotomy manifests as
identification of similarities or differences in object comparison. In
Negativists thought processes prevails contrast, in Positivists leads
comparison. Meaning that Positivists more easily hold overall views of
an object, without considering its internal divisions. Conversely,
Negativists more easily distinguish its extreme points of separation and
opposing contrasts.
Directly relevant to this is a dichotomy known in cognitive psychology
as convergent/divergent thinking [5], discovered by J. P. Guilford. In
his opinion, divergent thinking, from simple initial data, yields
several different solutions to the same problem; a trait characteristic
to the alternative-thinking of Negativists.
Opposite this, convergent thinking searches for a single valid
encompassing solution; a trait more characteristic to Positivist
thinking. For them, a problem is unsolved until the validity of one
solution is proven against other alternatives.
Social Level
¶
PositivismNegativism affects the degree of internal group coherence and
regulates attraction/repulsion between its members.
An individual’s ability to assimilate into a group is typologically
predictable. Negativists are remote types. They need constant assurance,
even in a group they consider their own. Therefore it is more difficult
to fully integrate Negativists into a group. Positivists on the other
hand, are inclined to close range communication. They do not polarize
contrasts, but smooth them over in one way or another. Thus Positivists
facilitate monocentric group structure and unity of purpose. Whereas
Negativists amplify polarizing forces conducive to polycentric group
structure.
Consider the example of
SEI
, a fairly good-natured type, although
Negativist. Is there a behavioral tendency towards remoteness? Yes, it
contrasts its subgroup with other subgroups. Thereby disrupting,
unintentionally or not, unity of purpose in the whole group overall.
What process balances internal group cohesion? It is observed that
Positivists are drawn towards their opposite, which contributes to
overall group solidarity, particularly through the ease of intragroup
role distribution. Negativists on the other hand, have an inherent
paradoxical attraction to those similar to themselves. The nearer such
parallel charged elements converge, however, it becomes increasingly
difficult to implement mutual action. Repulsive forces rapidly emerge
and fracture group integration.
The overall incidence of monolithic or polarized group behavior is a
reliable index for gauging PositivistNegativist tendencies. Negativism
generates tension in intragroup relations, leading on one hand to an
increase in psychological distance between members, but on the other
hand activating its internal momentum to say “Move!”. Positivism by
contrast contracts psychological distance and encourages internal group
cohesion, but can also bring complacency, carelessness, and ‘vapidity’
of existence.
Psychological Level
¶
In a psychological sense, this dichotomy can be approximately
interpreted as trust/distrust.
Each type of person behaves in life according to how they answer the
following existential question: is human nature inherently good or evil?
For Positivists, human nature is inherently good, so they are more
likely to be trusting. This does not mean that they consciously consider
themselves to be good, just that they conduct themselves as if others
were. Negativists even under favorable conditions are inclined to expect
the worst. Their degree of trust in others is therefore is much lower.
The relation between Positivists and Negativists is illustrated well by
the analogy of electric conductors. Electric-people (Negativists who
have accumulated a negative psychological charge) discharge into
conductor-people (Positivists), who tend to provoke them in just the
right way to do so. All of which happens mostly automatically and
unconsciously. The resulting emotional flash establishing temporary
balance of psychological (electro-)potentials. This beneficial surge of
emotional release, Aristotle in his “Poetics” called
‘catharsis’psychological purging via intense experience.
Physical Level
¶
The spatial arrangement of conversation parties in front or near is a
key factor in communication, its importance first stressed by Harry S.
Sullivan. Negativists gain leverage in communication from positions
opposite the partner, Positivists from positions alongside or at an
angle deflecting a straight-on gaze.
Automatic reductions in confrontation due to being seated side by side,
are a common method used by marital psychologists working with couples.
Sitting side by side and addressing an imaginary third party, enables
couples to gradually decrease the severity of sore conflict.
Clinical psychologists studying nonverbal cues classify gestures
indicative of critical attitudes. Such gestures are typically
‘closed’for instance, a hand at the mouth. From a Socionics standpoint
then, closed demeanor is better explained by Negativism, not
Introversion.
Negativism induces tangible bodily tension. Negativists are inclined to
accumulate ‘charge’, making highly-charged Negativists easily
overexcitable (especially if also Dynamic). In order to compensate
against this, Negativists are recommended to engage in physical exercise
that relaxes and smooths internal tension. While Positivists are
recommended to perform physical exercise that excites and intensifies
their physiological processes.
Additional Commentary and Notes
¶
Positivism-Negativism is often mistaken for optimism-pessimism, where
Positivism has become synonymous with optimism, and Negativism - with
pessimism. By extension, those who fall into Eneagram’s
positive outlook triad
(these are types 2,7,9) are sometimes mistaken for Positivist types due
to these triad’s innate preference for dealing with problems by adopting
a “positive attitude”, for as much as possible, and reframing
disappointments in some more uplifting way; while the often mistrustful
attitude and propensity to mentally dwell on problems and threats of
enneagram type 6
can
be mistaken for Negativism.
It is important to note that there is no
direct relation between Positivist-Negativist Reinin dichotomy and
optimism-pessimism. The name of this dichotomy should not be interpreted
literally. Positivists do not have an inherently positive outlook on
life, and Negativists - a negative one.
The Positivist-Negativist
dichotomy describes certain kinds aspects of cognitive perception and
mental operations rather than person’s outlook, attitudes, and prevalent
emotional state. Optimism-pessimism is a quality that arises from
personal experiences; socionics factors do not influence and condition
this phenomenon in itself.
A distinguishing trait of Positivist and Negativist types is the
preference for comparison (Positivists) or contrast (Negativists).
Positivist types are more inclined to spot similarities and draw
analogies (“they are so alike”, “y is just like x” etc.), while
Negativist are inclined to instead look at contrasts or alternatives
(“they are nothing alike!”). Figuratively speaking, if Positivists are
shown the front side then they will be looking at the front side, while
Negativists will try to look at its inverse. If this inverse is not
readily apparent, they will start searching for it. Thus Negativists do
not seek to present a “negative” or “pessimistic” view of things, but
simply the inverse or the alternative one. It is precisely due to such
mental preference that a Negativist type such as ILI voices pessimistic
predictions upon hearing optimistic forecasts. From a Negativist’s point
of view, he or she is not being a downer, but rather restoring the
balance by pointing out the opposite. Since Negativist types are
inclined to look for the inverse, if they are presented with pessimistic
information they start searching for its alternatives, for what is
absent and not there, such as a more optimistic interpretation. If the
same ILI is told that everything is bleak, he or she will proceed to
look for evidence that the situation is really not as bleak as it could
have been. This distinguishes socionics trait of Negativism from
manifestations of personal traits such as pessimism, depression, or
propensity to “catastrophize”.
Example: LII, negativist: “This is very much how I process
information. I compare of what something logically cannot be, so then
I know what something can be. I always seem to look for what’s not
there in general in order to arrive at what’s there.”
Thus, Positivists, in contrast to Negativists that see and investigate
alternatives to anything, at times make an impression of being too
“one-track” minded, too oriented at “one way”, “one method”, “one
opinion”, stubbornly enforcing a singular opinion, viewpoint, or
interpretation, or feeling exasperated when that single track has failed
them due to weak ability to see anything alternative. This shows more
strongly for C-D types than V-S types, due to V-S propensity to loop
back and try to correct the initial mistake, wrong attitude, or opinion.
Another point of confusion: Criticalness and Positivist-Negativist
trait. Under this misinterpretation, Positivist types are depicted as
always accepting, never critical of anything. This, of course, does
not hold up to the scrutiny of the statements of Positivist types.
Positivist types can and do critically treat information albeit with
some delay (especially information relayed on their ego block
functions), but the manner in which they voice their criticisms
differs from Negativist types. Positivist types are more inclined to
voice affirmative statements that use irony or aburdism to highlight
the incorrectness of some argument and demonstrate their own disbelief
(Example: Highlighting parts of a type’s description that doesn’t fit
them, and then exclaiming with irony “Yes, I see how that applies to
me!”)
Criticisms of Negativist types, in contrast, are usually directly
negating, eliminating, or invalidating statements. Negativist types as
if “cut off”, or bar some information (or people) that they’ve found
to be dubious.
In general, Positivists are initially more open and accepting of new
information (and people), but later may reject it after a more
critical consideration; while Negativists have larger initial barrier
to “entry” of new information (and people), but have greater
difficulty getting rid of something that they have already accepted.
Additional Links
¶
Video Lecture: Positivists and Negativists
by Victor Gulenko.
Sociotypograph  determine your sociotype by Renin    dichotomies
.
Examples
¶
Note that a single statement is not enough to determine where a person
belongs on this dichotomy. What is important is the
relative
proportion
of the two in person’s lexicon - negating statements are
found at higher frequency in the statements of negativist types than of
positivist types. Below are a few possible examples of such statements.
Examples of now Positivist/Negativist phrasing differs from
positive/negative content:
Positivist: “Yes, life is crap.” - affirmative phrasing, but the
message is pessimistic or negative in content.
Negativist: “No, life isn’t crap.” - negating phrasing, but the
message is optimistic or positive in content.
Positivist: “Yes, life is wonderful.” - affirmative framing of
optimistic content.
Negativist: “No, life isn’t wonderful.” - negating framing of
pessimistic content.
Negativism:
LII, negativist: “This is very much how I process information. I
compare of what something logically cannot be, so then I know what
something can be. I always seem to look for what’s not there in
general in order to arrive at what’s there.”
IEE negativist: “I find myself saying things like: “she isn’t a mean
person.” instead of “she’s a nice person” and “I’m not sad” instead
of “I’m happy.” It feels more realistic and tempered and I don’t
know. Negativism isn’t being negative, it’s stating even positive
things in a way that makes them more neutral…in my mind, at least.”
IEE, negativist Fi: “There are very few people here I don’t like, and
you aren’t one of them. As for the question from the OP, maybe it’s
because I’m an Fi negativist, but I seem to only be able to think of
people I don’t want to get to know better. LOL. And, again, it’s only
a few people.”
IEE, negativist: “You can’t win at a game you aren’t playing”
LSE, negativist: “Hey, that’s not bad” (as a compliment)
IEE, negativist: “I do not see Barack as EII - he is not ethical
enough or intuitive enough and I know my Mirrors, and I do not think
Michelle is LSI - she is not intellectually pragmatic enough or
Introvert enough.”
ESI, negativist Fi: “I acutely feel poor attitudes  towards myself
or between other people. I can see it right away and I am never wrong
in this. But when it comes to good relations I orient rather poorly
… Two days ago my boyfriend introduced my girlfriend to his friend.
I watched the couple the entire evening, but couldn’t discern if his
friend liked her or not. There were no signs of negative attitude,
that’s for sure, but I couldn’t estimate the degree of good relations
either.” (difficulty picking up on affinities, relationship is
assessed by looking for inverse of positive relations).
Positivism:
SLI, positivist: “Yahoo answers are, of course, intellectual - a good
place to get your information.” - delivering an ironic criticism. Her
intent is to indicate that Yahoo answers is a poor source of
information, but as a Positivist type she makes an affirmative ironic
statement to get her point across rather than a negating,
disqualifying statement.
IEI, positivist: “Yes, Ti is autism” - making an ironic criticism.
Same as SLI in the example above she condenses another poster’s
writing to a single affirmative ironic statement to point out the
absurdity of what another person has said (involution + positivism).
SLI, positivist: “But it’s nice to see you are searching for ways to
discredit other people’s socionics functions. What a noble effort and
worthwhile activity” - while criticizing another poster yet framing
his criticisms into affirmative statements.
EII, positivist: “I relate to most of what has been said. These parts
of the profile apply to me [proceeds to highlight the applicable
parts]” - as a positivist type she is highlighting and affirming the
parts of the profile that work for her rather than discussing what
the profile doesn’t mention.
EII, positivist: “I will critically refer to anything that is being
said to me and try to analyze it, this comes naturally to me. It’s
like I pick up something and try to examine it closely, polish it,
remove the dust, and work on it until it starts making sense to me.
Discussing it with others helps me to clarify anything that I’m
uncertain about.”
Theoretical properties
¶
Warning
Plus and minus IM elements are not accepted by many socionists.
Positivist types have either a static plus element or a dynamic minus
element in base function.
Negativist types have either a dynamic plus element or a static minus
element in base function.
Type
dichotomies
¶
Rationality and irrationality
Extraversion and introversion
Sensing and intuition
Ethics and logic
Static and dynamic
Process and result
Positivist and negativist
Asking and declaring
Constructivist and emotivist
Carefree and farsighted
Yielding and obstinate
Tactical and strategic
Merry and serious
Judicious and decisive
Asking and declaring