UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Mrs. Janice Librandilla

ATTITUDES OF CARL JUNG
BY GROUP 4
CARL JUNG WAS A SWISS PSYCHOLOGIST AND
PSYCHOTHERAPIST BEST KNOWN FOR HIS
FOUNDING OF ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND HIS
WORK PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES.
THIS BOOK WAS THE RESULT OF TWENTY YEARS OF
RESEARCH IN THE DOMAIN OF PRACTICAL
PSYCHOLOGY.
IT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO FIND A COMPROMISE
BETWEEN TWO MAINSTREAM THEORIES THAT
EXISTED AT THE TIME — ONE OF THESE THEORIES
BELONGED TO SIGMUND FREUD, AND THE OTHER
ONE BELONGED TO
CARL JUNG WAS THE FIRST TO INTRODUCE THE
CONCEPTS OF INTROVERSION AND
EXTROVERSION (ALSO SPELLED AS
EXTRAVERSION).

IT’S IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT THE MODERN

USAGE OF THESE TWO PRINCIPLES HAS DEVIATED
FROM HIS ORIGINAL DEFINITIONS AND INTENT.

HE CONCLUDED THAT FREUD’S THEORY WAS

EXTROVERTED IN ITS NATURE WHILE ADLER’S
THEORY WAS INTROVERTED.
IN HIS BOOK PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES, JUNG ATTEMPTED NOT ONLY TO
FIND A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE TWO THEORIES BUT ALSO DEFINE
HOW HIS OWN VIEW DIFFERED FROM FREUD’S VIEW AND ADLER’S
VIEW.

CONTRARY TO WHAT ONE MAY EXPECT, JUNG’S PERSONALITY TYPES

(OR TYPOLOGY) ISN’T A HOROSCOPE-LIKE SYSTEM FOR CHARACTER
ANALYSIS.

IT ISN’T A SYSTEM TO LABEL PEOPLE.

IT WASN’T INVENTED TO SIMPLIFY OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE
AND PERSONALITY TYPES.

INSTEAD, IT WAS INVENTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE COMPLEXITY OF

HUMAN TYPOLOGY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
 THERE TWO TYPES OF ATTITUDE

•extroversion and introversion.

INTROVERSION - THE STATE OF OR TENDENCY TOWARD BEING PREDOMINANTLY
CONCERNED WITH AND OBTAINING GRATIFICATION FROM ONE'S OWN MENTAL LIFE : A
PERSONALITY TRAIT OR STYLE CHARACTERIZED BY A PREFERENCE FOR OR
ORIENTATION TO ONE'S OWN THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

• EXTROVERSION - the state of or tendency toward being predominantly concerned with

and obtaining gratification from what is outside the self : a personality trait or style
characterized by a preference for or orientation to engaging socially with others
THINKING AND SENSATIONS ARE RATIONAL, ACCORDING TO JUNG, WHILE INTUITION
AND FEELING ARE IRRATIONAL.
IT IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CARL JUNG MEANT
BY INTROVERSION AND EXTROVERSION.
JUNG SAW BOTH INTROVERSION AND EXTROVERSION AS
ATTITUDES.

INTROVERSION, ACCORDING TO HIM, IS ONE’S FOCUS ON THE

INNER WORLD, WHILE EXTROVERSION IS ONE’S FOCUS ON
THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

ACCORDING TO JUNG’S VIEW, IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO

DEMONSTRATE EXTROVERSION OR INTROVERSION IN
ISOLATION.
IT MUST BE ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF THE FOUR FUNCTIONS — THINKING, SENSATION, INTUITION, AND
FEELING. THIS RESULTS IN EIGHT VARIATIONS:
*EXTROVERTED THINKING

*INTROVERTED THINKING

*EXTROVERTED SENSATION

*INTROVERTED SENSATION

*EXTROVERTED INTUITION

*INTROVERTED INTUITION

*EXTROVERTED FEELING

*INTROVERTED FEELING

ALL FOUR FUNCTIONS — THINKING, SENSATION, INTUITION, AND FEELING — ARE USED AT
DIFFERENT TIMES DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT, ACCORDING TO JUNG, TYPICALLY
THERE WILL BE A PREFERENCE FOR ONE SINGLE PREDOMINANT FUNCTION OR “SUPERIOR
FUNCTION.”
THIS TENDENCY MAY BE EITHER INBORN OR DEVELOPED
THROUGHOUT ONE’S LIFE.

THE LESS PREFERRED FUNCTION — THE FOURTH

FUNCTION — IS USED UNCONSCIOUSLY.

JUNG CALLED IT “THE INFERIOR FUNCTION”.

THE INFERIOR FUNCTION IS ALWAYS THE OPPOSITE OF
YOUR PRIMARY FUNCTION.

ACCORDING TO JUNG, YOUR DOMINANT FUNCTION

REPRESENTS YOUR CONSCIOUS BEHAVIOR, AND YOUR
INFERIOR FUNCTION REPRESENTS YOUR UNCONSCIOUS
OR REPRESSED BEHAVIOR.
ACCORDING TO THE THEORY OF JUNG PERSONALITY
TYPES, THE OPPOSITE OF THINKING IS FEELING, AND
THE OPPOSITE OF SENSATION IS INTUITION.

HERE IS A DRAWING OF JUNGIAN FUNCTIONS AND

THEIR OPPOSITES:
IF YOUR SUPERIOR FUNCTION (OR PRIMARY FUNCTION) IS THINKING,
YOUR SECONDARY FUNCTIONS (OR AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS) ARE
INTUITION AND SENSATION, AND YOUR INFERIOR FUNCTION (LESS
DEVELOPED, UNCONSCIOUSLY USED FUNCTION) IS FEELING.

ACCORDING TO JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES THEORY, IF YOUR

PRIMARY FUNCTION IS THINKING, FEELING CANNOT BE YOUR
SECONDARY FUNCTION, BECAUSE IT’S ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE
SPECTRUM.

SIMILARLY, IF YOUR PRIMARY FUNCTION IS SENSATION, YOUR

AUXILIARY (SECONDARY) FUNCTIONS ARE THINKING AND FEELING,
AND YOUR INFERIOR FUNCTION IS INTUITION.

THE SAME LOGIC APPLIES TO PERSONALITY ATTITUDES —

EXTROVERSION AND INTROVERSION.
WHAT MAKES YOU THE WAY YOU ARE? TAKE THIS TEST TO DISCOVER YOUR PERSONALITY
TYPE.

IF YOUR PRIMARY MODE IS EXTROVERTED THINKING, YOUR LESS USED AND LESS CONSCIOUS
MODE WOULD BE INTROVERTED FEELING.

GENERALLY, PEOPLE FIND IT HARD TO OPERATE USING THEIR LEAST PREFERRED FUNCTION, BUT
THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU CAN’T DEVELOP YOUR INFERIOR FUNCTION AND RAISE IT TO A
MORE CONSCIOUS LEVEL.

MARIE-LOUISE VON FRANZ, SWISS JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGIST AND SCHOLAR, WROTE IN

HER JUNG’S TYPOLOGY:

IN THE REALM OF THE INFERIOR FUNCTION THERE IS A GREAT CONCENTRATION OF LIFE, SO THAT
AS SOON AS THE SUPERIOR FUNCTION IS WORN OUT – BEGINS TO RATTLE AND LOSE OIL LIKE AN
OLD CAR – IF PEOPLE SUCCEED IN TURNING TO THEIR INFERIOR FUNCTION THEY WILL
REDISCOVER A NEW POTENTIAL OF LIFE. EVERYTHING IN THE REALM OF THE INFERIOR FUNCTION
BECOMES EXCITING, DRAMATIC, FULL OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POSSIBILITIES.

THERE IS TREMENDOUS TENSION AND THE WORLD IS, AS IT WERE, REDISCOVERED THROUGH THE
INFERIOR FUNCTION.
ACTIVATING YOUR INFERIOR FUNCTION IS NOT WITHOUT SIDE EFFECTS.
FIRST, STRENGTHENING YOUR INFERIOR FUNCTION WOULD
AUTOMATICALLY MEAN WEAKENING OF YOUR SUPERIOR FUNCTION.

SECOND, ACCORDING TO JUNG’S THEORY, SWITCHING TO YOUR

INFERIOR FUNCTION COULD RESULT IN STRONG EMOTIONAL
REACTIONS FROM FALLING IN LOVE TO BLIND RAGE.

ACTIVATING THE INFERIOR FUNCTION TAKES TIME AND YOU WOULD

NEED TO GO THROUGH ONE OF YOUR AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS FIRST
(SECONDARY FUNCTIONS).
FOR EXAMPLE, A PATH FROM SUPERIOR FEELING
FUNCTION TO INFERIOR THINKING FUNCTION
COULD LOOK LIKE THIS: