Intro text

E     (Extroverted)

  • More relaxed and comfortable in social situations
  • Attention primarily directed towards what is present in the external situation
  • Interact with their inner mental contents by projecting them onto the outer world
  • Expansive and broad in their interests

OR

I     (Introverted)

  • More reserved and questioning in social situations
  • Attention primarily directed towards own processing of previously assimilated impressions
  • Interact with the outer world through the filter of their inner mental contents
  • Intensive and deep in their interests

S     (Realistic)

  • Go by hard facts and real experience
  • Realists: Things are what they are
  • Live by life's actual challenges
  • Common sense: May oversimplify things

OR

N     (Abstract)

  • Go by concepts and mental representations
  • Fantasists: Things are what they could be
  • Live by introspective musings
  • Ivory tower: May overcomplicate things

T     (Thinking)

  • Value logic over sentiment
  • More interested in rules and things
  • See the world as it "must" be, if everything was logical
  • More cynical about political problems

OR

F     (Feeling)

  • Value sentiment over logic
  • More interested in values and people
  • See the world as it "should" be, if everything was agreeable
  • More idealistic about political problems

J     (Judging)

  • Like closure and definite conclusions
  • More structured and purposeful
  • Understand and see the need for many of the general rules in society
  • See goals as objectives and work in a linear and thorough fashion towards achieving them

OR

P     (Exploring)

  • Like "testing the waters" and keeping their options open
  • More flexible and adaptable
  • Feel harried by and question the need for many of the general rules in society
  • See goals as guidelines and keep a lookout for new possibilities while working towards them

Q: But that seems way too simple!

A: Okay, we lied and made the system simpler than it actually is. Way simpler. What really underpins this system is the notion of cognitive functions. But that's not something we can teach you in an afternoon. So it's important to understand that our rundown above is just a quick way to explain the system to newcomers and not what actually goes on behind the scenes.

Q: Is this system scientific?

A: Despite the existence of blowhards who like to say that Jungian typology is "completely random" or "no better than astrology," scientific evaluations have repeatedly found it to be "acceptable." Instruments that aim to test Jungian typology have been systematically compared to the state-of-the-art "Big Five" personality instrument that is used in psychological research and the two have been found to be fairly well in tune along several dimensions. Click here for scientific references. So seen through the eyes of science, Jungian typology says something about you, but not everything about you.

Q: What do the colors mean?

A: Remember that scene in Reservoir Dogs where all the robbers get colors? Well:

If you're N and T, you get to be Mr. Blue.

If you're N and F, you get to be Mr. Green.

If you're S and J, you get to be Mr. Yellow.

And if you're S and P, you get to be Mr. Red.

Men in colors

In truth the colors don't really mean so much. They're more of an excuse to get some gangster references and pretty colors on to our website. But some theorists like to believe that the Mr. Blues of this world are typically some twitchy intellectuals who don't get invited to any parties, the Mr. Greens these oversensitive crybabies who wince at the evil of this world, the Mr. Yellows the responsible adults who actually do stuff and the Mr. Reds the ones who get all the girls and then winsomely disappear before the dishwashing beings.

Q: Is there a relationship between type and IQ?

A: When measuring large groups of people scientists tend to find a relationship between type and IQ. So on a group level there is a relationship between type and IQ, but it is important to understand that statistics do not say anything about specific individuals. So on the individual level you have your IQ score and you have your psychological type and the two are not really related.

Q: Is this the same as Myers-Briggs (MBTI)?

A: Well, yes and no. MBTI is a specific product within the broader field of Jungian typology, just like Google Chrome is a specific product within the broader field of internet browsers. In this example, the MBTI is one brand of browser and we are another. But we're both concerned with the same thing, which is Jungian typology.

Q: I disagree with your typing of [name]?

A: As you can see from our News page, we are not above revising our work once new data and better arguments are presented to us. Our continued revisions are proof of how seriously we take this stuff and besides - if neither Jung nor Einstein could avoid revising their work, we certainly do not kid ourselves that we can. Therefore, if you are not a beginner, you disagree with us, and you actually want to argue your case, then we would be glad to hear from you (and indeed to credit you if you end up convincing us).




That's all for now. Hopefully, you'll now feel a little less bewildered than before when browsing the main site.