Physical Education · Ch 9 — Psychology and Sports
Jung's Classification of Personality Types
Jung's Classification of Personality Types
Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, was for five years a close follower of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. He later developed views that differed from Freud's on several major points and went his own professional way — which is why he is often called a Neo-Freudian. In 1921 he published Psychologische Typen (Psychological Types), setting out his own theory of personality built on two aspects.
Jung classified personality along:
- Personality Attitude — whether a person is an Extrovert or an Introvert. Jung is credited with first introducing the terms introversion and extroversion to psychology; his aim was not to label people but to show the complexity of human typology.
- Personality Functions — four ways of dealing with the world: Thinking, Feeling, Sensing and Intuition. Jung divided these into rational (judging) functions — Thinking and Sensation — and irrational (perceiving) functions — Intuition and Feeling.
Introvert: in Jung's theory, introverts are mainly interested in their own inner mental life. They tend to be reserved, reflective and drawn away from external reality, living in an inner world of thoughts and feelings. They enjoy solitary activities such as reading, writing or meditating, shy away from too much public interaction, and are analytical — they think before they act.
Extrovert: extroverts are the opposite. They are oriented to the outer world of people and things, are broad-minded, highly socialised and meet new people easily. They are typically bold, outgoing and optimistic, enjoy human interaction, and work well in groups and large social gatherings.
| Introvert | Extrovert |
|---|---|
| Interested in their own self; reserved | Highly socialised; broad-minded |
| Self-aware and introspective | Expressive; enjoy the centre of attention |
| Take pleasure in reading and writing; tend to shy away from the public | Meet unknown people easily |
| Think before acting | Bold, outgoing and optimistic; action-oriented |
The four personality functions. Whichever attitude a person has, they use a preferred way of handling situations:
- Feeling — making decisions based on values and their effect on people rather than on logic.
- Thinking — deciding objectively, using evidence and applicable principles.
- Sensing — perceiving the world through facts, data and detail; using the senses to gather information.
- Intuitive — perceiving the world through concepts, theories and abstractions; sometimes called a person's “sixth sense.”
A convenient way to see the four dichotomies is the set of Eight Preferences, each a pair of opposite poles:
| Preference (what it decides) | One pole | Opposite pole |
|---|---|---|
| Where you focus attention | E – Extraversion (outer world of people and things) | I – Introversion (inner world of ideas and impressions) |
| How you take in information | S – Sensing (through the five senses, facts) | N – Intuition (through patterns and the big picture) |
| How you make decisions | T – Thinking (logic, objective cause and effect) | F – Feeling (values, person-centred concern) |
| How you deal with the outer world | J – Judging (planned, organised, settled) | P – Perceiving (flexible, spontaneous, open) |
The eight types. Jung held that the two attitudes cannot exist on their own — each combines with one of the four functions. Extroversion and introversion combined with the four functions give eight mental functions-in-attitude (eight personality types):
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Extroverted Thinking | Segmenting, organising for efficiency, systematising, applying logic, checking consequences and standards, setting boundaries and parameters; sees the world through complex, solid ideas; often works in Maths and Science. |
| Introverted Thinking | Analysing and categorising, judging whether something fits a model, working out underlying principles, checking for inconsistencies and clarifying definitions; understands the world in a subjective, creative way built on internal knowledge; often works in the sciences. |
| Extroverted Feeling | Connecting with and considering others and the group, honouring shared values and feelings, maintaining social or organisational values, deciding what is appropriate to others; judges from known social values; often works in business and politics. |
| Introverted Feeling | Valuing, weighing importance and worth, reviewing for incongruity, judging by the truths on which something rests; bases feelings on inner emotions and beliefs; often works in the arts. |
| Extroverted Sensing | Experiencing the immediate context, acting in the physical world, noticing changes and opportunities, accumulating experiences and scanning for relevant data; sees what is and goes with it, largely uninfluenced by others' opinions. |