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On the Correct Understanding of Dichotomy Extroversion-Introversion by Trehov and Tsypin
¶
Written by
A. Trehov
and
P. Tsypin
from School of Structural Socionics.
Original text.
Review of Definitions and Confusions
¶
“Introversion  is a passive, but energy-saving and defensive
orientation of the psyche, leading to familiarization and deepening
of what already exists. Due to their reserve, introverts, compared to
extroverts, are rarely found in leadership roles, especially when it
comes to large groups” [4, p.186 ].
“Extraversion  is an active, but energy-expending orientation of the
psyche, leading to extension, expansion. In most cases, the
communicative as well as the intellectual leader in a society turns
out to be an extrovert” [4, p.188].
We have no fundamental objections to the formulation of this dichotomy
through the energy-exchange processes. Yes, introversion is related to
preservation of energy, and extroversion - to high energy expenditures.
However, the tight connection of this dichotomy to leadership in a
society evokes perplexity. Whether a person will become a leader or not
is depends, firstly, on his personal qualities (for example, having a
desire to become a leader, having ambition), secondly, on the social
conditions (in some circumstances leaders of extroverted type are in
demand, in others, on the contrary, introverted leaders), and thirdly,
on the specifics of transpiring events (someone “got lucky”, someone
withdrew due to health issues, etc.).
In many cases, when social conditions worked in favor of introverted
orientation, the leaders (even of large groups) were people with
introverted TIMs, in particular: Robespierre (Ti,Ne), Nicholas I
(Ti,Se), Alexander III (Fi,Se), Stalin (Ti,Se), Khrushchev (Si,Fe), Mao
Zedong (Fi,Se), Brezhnev (Fi,Se), Andropov (Ni,Te), Putin (Ti,Se),
Lukashenko (Ti,Se).
Concerning intellectual leadership, this trait cannot be a priority, as
there is no harsh struggle for power: if a person has far-reaching ideas
- then he or she becomes the intellectual leader. For example, one of
the most authoritative figures (and in fact leaders) of Russian culture
of the past decades has been the intellectual D. S. Lihachev, “classic”
representative of TIM Fi-Ne. In the modern Russian cinema one of the
brightest leaders is N. Mikhalkov, TIM Ti-Se.
“Extrovert:
oriented at what is happening outside of himself;
open to everything that happens around him;
correlates his opinions to the opinions of people around him;
loves to act, to take initiative;
prefers to change the situation if it doesn’t suit him;
easily makes new contacts, quickly settles into a new group;
tends to immediately express what is on his mind;
with interest relates to new people, easily becomes acquainted with them;
if relations didn’t work out, leaves just as easily, not trying to change anyone to his own way;
often inclined to take risks.
Introvert:
oriented at his own sensations, thoughts, impressions of what is around him;
tries to shut out (to protect himself) from an abundance of new information;
prefers to adapt to the situation rather than changing it, even if it’s not acceptable to him;
seems pensive, silent, outwardly calm;
has a narrow circle of friends;
rarely makes any new contacts;
gravitates to mental focus and silence;
dislikes unexpected visits and doesn’t make them himself;
works well alone” [5, pp. 33-34].
The excessive categorization of most elements in the above description
is of note. This definition becomes invalid due to its tight and
invariant form. In particular, even the most “extroverted” extrovert
“correlates his opinions” not with everyone around him, but only with
those people whose opinions are of importance to him. Any extrovert is
also quite able to brush off someone’s opinion or not take into account
the views of a number of people, if these are non-authoritative.
Further, the phrase “loves to act” is unclear: it turns out that
introverts always appear idle? To act (in one or another directions)
means to live: this means that introverts don’t like to live?! It is
ridiculous to even talk about the proposition “expresses all he’s
thinking about”: every adult person conceals a wealth of information
without this, any relationships with others become extremely
problematic. It is hard to find a person who wouldn’t filter their
thoughts at least a little before voicing them.
The proposition that the extravert “easily leaves if relations didn’t
work out” is also implausible. The collapse of relations are painful for
any person (but not everyone knows how to show it); any separation  is
a psychological trauma, to a greater or lesser degree, and even ethical
extroverts, who are inclined to self-sufficient management and direction
of their relations, worry and feel upset if someone has dropped all
contact with them.
Description of “thoughtful, silent, outwardly calm” does not apply to
all introverts: in particular, Si-Fe is usually socially active and
likes to “talk” (as do other ethical introverts).
Liking “surprise visits”, in our opinion, cannot be considered a
socionic factor. This is related to a person’s upbringing and education:
people who were brought up well, typically don’t make surprise visits -
they were taught to warn about their intentions to visit someone
beforehand. In practice, most extroverts prefer to know in advance about
a visit of someone else, and feel apprehensive if they hear an
unexpected doorbell.
“One fundamental difference that divides people into two broad
categories is expressed in terms “extroversion” and “introversion”.
These contain succinct characteristic of individual psychological
differences between people, expressed in terms of predominating
orientation of the person either at the world of external objects and
events or at his own subjective the world “[2, p. 20].
This formulation is quite correct. Particularly relevant is the mention
of predominance: because in the world there’s nothing absolute, and in
the human psyche - even more so; the introvert can react to external
events  there is no “abnormal” inability for him to observe what is
happening around. Another thing is that such observations for the
introvert are tedious, thus he engages in them when it is necessary,
mainly in complex, critical situations (when the ID block of model
starts to work intensively A) [6].
“The extrovert is always in the midst of people, sociable, open to
others, has many friends. In activities he is active and
enterprising, uninhibited in his statements, capable of undertaking
risky actions. For the extravert the most important thing  is the
objective outside world, the actual objects. Their properties are
secondary for him, and thus changeable as required. …
He doesn’t pay attention to poor working conditions, if he feels that
he is needed, that without him it would be difficult, however, does
not accept coercion even for high goals. He tries to fulfill routine
work as soon as possible to switch to doing something creative. His
element  is travel, movement. He easily takes off, sometimes
unexpectedly even to himself.
The consciousness of introvert is turned to his inner world; he is
well aware of the aspirations of his soul, his feelings, thoughts,
and experiences. With difficulty absorbs large amounts of new
information. Outwardly he seems calm and smooth. Quiet atmosphere is
more fitting to him; he works best alone. The relationships between
the objects for him are more important than the objects themselves,
which can be changed to achieve the desired results. Surprises, new
acquaintances, sudden visits can knock him off balance. He cherishes
existing relationships, with difficulty breaks them, preferring to
change himself and others to save the relationship. Friends with few,
but for a very long time. Does the work well when he considers it to
be his duty, but does not like responsibility, which he perceives as
a punishment “[1, pp. 18-19].
First of all, even the most expressed extroverts need more or less long
periods of solitude, so that “always being in the midst of the people” -
is a completely incorrect proposition. Further, the extroverted (as the
introvert), of course, pays attention to his working conditions
regardless of whether he is “needed” or not. Nobody wants to work for
low wages in an antediluvian building with nasty co-workers. “Having a
lot of friends” doesn’t happen to anyone: true friends are always very
few; another thing is that the extravert usually has more contacts and
acquaintances on the average than the introvert. But this, of course, is
not a reliable diagnostic feature for this given dichotomy.
Our understanding
¶
This dichotomy, apparently, is a motivating one: it determines what
“triggers” information metabolism. For the extrovert the “trigger”
occurs when a signal is received about events in the outside world,
while for the introvert  with a change in his inner condition.
Definition:
Extraversion  the predominant motivation of thinking by
developments in the outside world.
Introversion  the predominant motivation of thinking by
intrapersonal (or individual) factors.
Objectivity and realism
¶
C. G. Jung considered a person’s tendency towards objective or
subjective judgments and estimates in relation to this dichotomy. He
wrote:
“… introverted type is different from the extroverted type in that
he is focused primarily not on the object and not on at what is
objectively present, as is the extroverted type, but on the
subjective factors. … for introverted type between the perception
of the object and his own action comes a subjective opinion, which
interferes with the action of taking on a character corresponding to
the objectively given” [8, p. 415].
“If a person thinks, feels, and acts … and it directly relates to
the objective conditions and requirements … then he is extraverted”
[8, p. 371].
In actuality, in the mental ring of an extroverted TIM all introverted
aspects are functionally dependent of the extraverted aspects, for
example, Se > Fi. For the extroverted type, the reality is primary
(denoted by extrovert aspects), but a subjective reflection of reality
is secondary. The introvert, on the contrary, is guided by his own
sensations, and only in the presence of the corresponding signal does he
come in contact with reality.
G. A. Shulman considers that introverted aspects are responsible for a
reflection of reality, and extroverted - for the reality itself.
“… in addition the Beta quadra “turned out” to be dominant on
“white[introverted]” functions, functions of reflection of reality,
the idealizing functions, which is how it has received the name:
quadra-idea, while Delta quadra  on “black” logic and intuition, the
functions of reality, and thus it was called quadra-reality” [10,
p.93].
“… Alpha quadra corresponds to the intuition of reality (Ne) …
Beta corresponds to logic of reflection of reality - “white” logic
(Ti); - Gamma - sensing of reality (Se) … while Delta corresponds
to function of reflection of emotions - “white” ethics (Fi) “[10,
p.93].
TIM LIE for example: his notion of time, its expenditure, the dynamics
of events, directly depend on the presence or absence of prospective
projects, business ventures, efficient technologies (Te). If such are
found, there will be time for them, that is, for TIM LIE the logical (or
technological) reality is primary. Not so for TIM ILI. He is guided by
his own (subjective) sense of time and is ready to work only when he
considers is timely (Te as a function of Ni). For NiTe the primary is
not reality, but the subjective sense of time.
In general, the
program
aspects of
introverts in a certain way differ from the identical (taking sign into
consideration)
creative
aspects of
extroverts. For the latter, the creative aspect is always closely
associated with the program one, which brings information about the
reality, so the creative (introverted) aspect also acquires realism. In
introverts, the program aspect does not depend on anything and is the
most subjective (or arbitrary) in any “introverted” model A.
In particular, for TIMs LII and LSI there is always some sort of own
logical system, that is not (or is weakly) associated with the existing
systems; for TIMs SEI and SLI there are their own (sufficiently far from
common) representations of sensations: fashion, acceptable appearance,
sexuality, etc.; for TIMs ESI and EII there are their own ethical
systems are often far removed from the current social standards; TIMs
IEI and ILI have their own perception of time, their own ideas about
what is timely, speed, pace, time consumption norms, etc.
Philosophical part
¶
If we diverge from the topic of socionics research and take a broader
look at the subject of the article, then we can arrive at interesting
philosophical conclusions. Extraversion, as by C. G. Jung was inclined
to think of it (see quotes above) gives priority to the information
about external environment before information born out of internal
impressions and reasoning. This - from a philosophical point of view -
is nothing else but the priority of existing reality over individual
consciousness. This reflects the quote by Karl Marx: “being determines
consciousness”. Only K. Marx (NeTi) has extrapolated this orientation at
all people, and therefore, to all TIMs. However, for introverts it is
the individual consciousness that determines being. For the extrovert,
the current existence is the reality (extrovert aspects in his mental
ring are
accepting
), and for introvert the
reality is his own individual considerations concerning reality
(
accepting
introverted aspects).
Thus, it is clear that this dichotomy has pronounced philosophical
implications, which, in turn, illustrates the profound ideological
differences among real people of extraverted and introverted TIMs.
Diagnostics
¶
It is easier to diagnose this dichotomy with the help of energy-exchange
orientations or temperaments [3], [9]. Extroverts have energy-expending
orientation, introverts - energy-saving.
During diagnosis it is also necessary to consider the effect of subtypes
on this trait [3]. There are fewer errors in typing extroverts with
subtype accentuation of
left (inert) block
of model A  most often these are typical extroverts, without any
additional subtype temperaments. Equally typical are introverts with
strengthened
left (inert) block
of their model: most often these people look introverts in everyday
sense (or “ayzenkovsky” plan). It’s quite a different situation with
type diagnosis of extroverts and introverts with strengthened
right (contact) block
of model A; they have a subtype temperament: for rational extroverts
(e.g. Ni-EIE) - receptive-adaptive, for irrational extraverts (e.g.
Ti-ILE) - balanced-stable, for rational introverts (e.g. Ne-LII) -
flexible-maneuvering, for irrational introverts (e.g. Fe-IEI) -
linear-assertive. These additional subtype temperaments often confuse
typers during type diagnoses; to avoid errors, observe the dynamics of
energy of individual in question preferably in different
socio-psychological conditions.
A set of diagnostic methods for this (and other) dichotomies is given in
[7].
Literature
¶
Ivanov Y. V. Business socionics. - M .: JSC “Business School”.
“Intel-Synthesis”, 2001.
Meged V. V., Ovcharov A. A. Learn to manage people effectively. -
Exactly: PPF “Volinski charms” 2000.
Menshov T. I., Tsypin P. E., Levin J. V. Secrets of typing. - M .:
Good Word 2004.
Rumyantsev E. A. On the way to mutual understanding: socionics for
teachers and parents. - M .: Armada-press, 2002.
Filatova E. S. Socionics for all. Science of communication,
understanding, and agreement. - SPb .: B & K 1999.
Tsypin P. Game of cubes, or socionic theory of mental states //
“Socionics, psychology and interpersonal relations”, 2002, 10,12.
Tsypin P. E. Techniques of successful typing. - M .: Good Keyword:
black squirrels, 2005.
Jung C. G. Psychological Types / Trans. with it .; Under the total.
Ed. Vladimir Zelensky. - Mn .: OOO “Potpourri”, 1998.
Gulenko V. V. Structural and Functional Socionics: Development of a
method of combinatorics polarities. - K .: Transport of Ukraine, 1999. -CH.1.
Shulman G. A. Socionics from the inside. Principles of doing research
and teaching on the example of socionics of Aushra Augustinavichiute.
- M .: Good Keyword: black squirrels, 2007.
Additional Links
¶
On the Correct Understanding of Dichotomy Extroversion-Introversion by Trehov and Tsypin
On the Correct Understanding of Dichotomy Logic-Ethics by Trehov and Tsypin
On the Correct Understanding of Dichotomy Intuition-Sensing by Trehov and Tsypin
On the Correct Understanding of Dichotomy Rationality-Irrationality by Trehov and Tsypin