An Introduction to Psychological Types Michael Kiyoshi Salvatore C. G. Jung’s living legacy can broadly be placed within two psychological frameworks: that of depth psychology, a study of human experience with an emphasis on working with the unconscious and its contents, and that of psychological types, descriptions of cognitive and behavioral inclinations that are theorized to be innate to individuals. Jung began conceptualizing his typology in part to grasp the irreconcilability he saw in Sigmund Freud’s and Alfred Adler’s own psychological theories. Jung’s inquiry, with the help of his friend Hans Schmid and the original contributions of analyst Maria Moltzer and Jung’s ‘spiritual wife’ Toni Wolff 1 , grew into psychological types. While initially hesitant to posit a plurality of truth, Jung came to see how “every judgment made by an individual is conditioned by his personality type … every point of view is necessarily relative.” 2 His typology captures how these biases tend to operate. Four attitudes, or orientations of mental energy Four functions, or processes of mental information Introversion (I) Oriented towards the inner world of feelings, ideas, memory, and imagination. 3 Extroversion (E) Oriented towards the outer world of people, objects, places, and action. 4 Sensing (S) Operates from “actualities” and “direct experience” 5 from the details received from the five senses. Intuition (N) Operates from “enticing visions of possibilities” 6 or “hunches” 7 of the imagination. Irrational, or Perceiving (P) “Attuned to incoming information” with an “open, curious, and . . . adaptable” attitude. 8 Rational, or Judging (J) “Concerned with making decisions, seeking closure, planning operations, or organizing activities.” 9 Thinking (T) Seeks “objective truth” 10 and to “organize facts and ideas into a logical sequence.” Feeling (F) “Informs you . . . of the value of things . . . whether a thing is acceptable or agreeable or not,” its “worth.” 11 1 Nan Healy, Toni Wolff & C.G. Jung: A Collaboration (Los Angeles, CA: Tiberius Press, 2017), 177-183. 2 C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1989), 209. 3 Dario Nardi, 8 Keys to Self-Leadership (Huntington Beach, CA: Unite Business, 2005), 5. 4 Nardi, 8 Keys to Self-Leadership, 5. 5 Isabel Myers and Peter Myers, Gifts Differing (Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black, 1995), 59. 6 Myers, Gifts Differing, 59. 7 C. G. Jung, Analytical Psychology in Theory and Practice (New York: Vintage Books, 1970), 13. 8 Isabel Myers and Mary McCaulley, A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press, 1985), 14. 9 Myers and McCaulley, A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, 14. 10 Myers, Gifts Differing, 65. 1