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Socionics Demystified: A New Social Psychology for Understanding Relationships
¶
Socionics Demystified: A New Social Psychology for Understanding
Relationships
is a new book on Socionics published in June, 2007 by
Spencer Stern.
Introduction to book
¶
(
Provided by author
)
Socionics, a comparatively new social psychology from the 1970s returns
to the roots of
Carl Jung
s theory on psychological
types,
Sigmund Freud
s work on the conscious and
subconscious and incorporates Antoni Kepinski`s
information metabolism theory.
Socionics Demystified aims to introduce us to the sixteen inter-type
relations
after firstly describing the structural
differences within the
Socion
.
Each of the sixteen
types
is broken down into individual
contexts within a theoretical and real-world discussion of their
rudimentary Jungian functions or attitudes.
Jung defined several introspective and extrospective functions (or
attitudes) within the psyche.
What exactly did he mean by introverted/extroverted thinking,
introverted/extroverted feeling, introverted/extroverted sensing,
introverted/extroverted intuition?
By investigating how each make up components of the sixteen
psychological types we can see at a glance how types vary and provides
the basis behind the rationalisation of inter-type relations.
Why do some people arouse us? Why do others irritate us? What ways can
specific types of relationship be useful to us, or not? How can I do
something about it through understanding how one is different and/or
similar to me?
A closer look at the conscious and subconscious mind with an idea behind
how information is being metabolised i.e. transmitted and received
between individuals will attempt to answer the above questions.
Book contents
¶
(
Provided by author
)
Introduction
¶
The book begins with a brief overview of Socionics and its potential
applications. The message is clearly presented  this is not simply
another book with personality profiling  it is a book about the
relations between personality types.
We then proceed with a methodical look at the psyche illustrated with
the standard
Model A
which links together Freuds theory
of the conscious and subconscious.
Jungs eight functions or attitudes are defined which will fit inside
the model at specific positions.
Lastly, Kepinskis work on information metabolism is elaborated upon
giving us an idea of how the Jungian functions or attitudes will affect
each other in the grand scheme of things in the Socion (the sixteen
types).
The following chapters are organised by
Quadra
, which is a
structural unit of the Socion.
The Quadra gives a feeling of cosiness, comfort, security, confidence
and understanding. It gives one the feeling of psychotherapeutic and
physical comfort, full understanding and emotional satisfaction.
PART ONE: The Socion
¶
Chapter 1: The Alpha Quadra
In this first chapter we take a look at the
Alpha Quadra
members: the perceptive analyst, the caring
enthusiast, the harmonious mediator, the exploring searcher.
The general theme of the members in this chapter is reflecting and
delighting in.
For each member, as in all chapters are split into their eight component
functions or attitudes that are individually discussed within the
context of how it likely affects a persons character that can identify
with a personality type.
Chapter 2: The Beta Quadra
In the second chapter we take a look at the
Beta Quadra
members: the serious inspector, the diligent
actor, the peaceful romantic, the intrepid marshal.
The general theme of the members in this chapter is suffering and
conquering.
By now the reader should have an idea of several functions as discussed
previously.
What changes now is that we begin to see how key functional differences
create variations in manifested characters as new personality types
become apparent.
Chapter 3: The Gamma Quadra
In the third chapter we take a look at the
Gamma Quadra
members: the supportive guardian, the
enterprising pioneer, the laidback critic, the tactful ambassador.
The general theme of the members in this chapter is collaboration and
acquisition.
As get through over half way discussing the different personality types,
the reader should begin to piece together how say one persons strong
ethics or weak logic in respect to functional ordering is creating
different attitudes towards each others characters.
The idea is, the more the reader reads, the more they understand the
Socion. It wasnt meant to be dived into at random although that will
certainly be the case after a first read or two for reference sake.
Chapter 4: The Delta Quadra
In the fourth chapter we take a look at the
Delta Quadra
members: the insightful humanist, the decisive
director, the mysterious craftsman, the vigilant psychologist.
The general theme of the members in this chapter is help and protection.
Now that weve discussed all the personality types with a detailed
analysis of the 128 possible positions in total for all functions we
have a complete picture to summarise the relations between the types,
coming up next.
PART TWO: Intertype Relations
¶
Chapter 5: Inner-Quadra Relations
In the fifth chapter I present a concise analysis of the four relations
that exist between types within a Quadra, that is, relations of
identity
,
mirror
,
activity
and
duality
.
Chapter 6: Outer-Quadra Relations
In the sixth chapter I present a concise analysis of the eight relations
that exist between types outside of a Quadra, that is, relations of
partial-duality
,
extinguishment
,
super-ego
,
business
,
mirage
,
quasi-identity
and
conflicting
.
Chapter 7: Asymmetrical Relations
In the seventh chapter I present a concise analysis of the two
asymmetrical relations that exist. These include the relations of
supervision
and
benefit
.
From reading the last three chapters, the reader should have a good
understanding of the different inter-type relations.
Similarly to the psychological types themselves, there is no downright
good or bad relation per se although with the information presented;
democratic opinions should be motivated perhaps with plenty of awe
moments of realisation.
Book audience
¶
(
Provided by author
)
This book on Socionics would probably appeal to the following groups:
Psychology students/teachers
Psychiatric professionals
Teenagers and young adults
Relationship counsellors
Socionics Demystified
serves as an introductory guide to the subject
of intertype relations and also as a reference book for future lookup.
The level would be beginner-intermediate and is generally accessible to
anyone with an interest in Social Psychology or Sociology.
The readership therefore is those with a new or previous interest in
personality typing who would like a better understanding of how types
relate.
It would also be aimed at those whove previously looked at the
MBTI
or have read personality profiles that dont really
provide a complete understanding of underlying Jungian psychology i.e.
how the various functions or attitudes described by Jung come together.
About the author
¶
Spencer Stern is an individual from England who has studied socionics.
You can reach him through
Facebook
or by
e-mail
.
Book availability and pricing
¶
It is available in print and download form directly from
lulu.com
(the publisher) and
also from many on-line retailers (print only). You can run a book price
comparison at
BookButler.com
.
Retail pricing starts at 14.95 (plus delivery) while the e-book
download (from
lulu.com
only)
costs 7.50.
Reviews and critique
¶