Socionics is a concept in psychology that describes sixteen socionic personality types, each of which has its own characteristic thinking traits. The structure of socionics was first considered by its creator, Aushra Augustinaviciute, in the book “The Dual Nature of Man”, written back in the 80s. The basis of socionics is the typology of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, but it should be understood that in its structure, socionics significantly surpasses other post-Jungian concepts that exist to this day (such as the Myers-Briggs typology), since it has a structural model describing the relationships between its various elements.
In scientific language, the subject of research in socionics is information: data characterizing the phenomena that make up our world and the processes taking place in it. In turn, the object of research is information metabolism – how our psyche perceives, processes, and assimilates this data. Thus, with the help of sociotypes, we describe different types of thinking, which are also called types of information metabolism.
At the basis of each IM type is a Model A: an interconnected structure of eight functions. Different functions are characterized by different features of perception, processing and assimilation of information. For convenience, they are assigned names (Leading, Creative, Role…), based on which we form an idea of how they work. However, a function is not just the result of generalizing our observations of the manifestations of different types, as is commonly believed. A function is a element of the psyche with properties that determine how our thinking works.
Thus, IM functions are defined by combinations of seven properties that describe how our psyche perceives, processes and assimilates information. Thanks to these properties, we can break down how each type works into its constituent parts. The main differences between socionic types are determined by the aspects of information that their functions process. For example, for one type, the Leading function may correspond to the introverted sensing aspect, while for another type, it could be itroverted intuition. Thus, by knowing what these aspects are responsible for and how the Leading function works, we can understand how the thinking of one type differs from the thinking of another.
Interactions between representatives of two socionic types are commonly called intertype relations. In our understanding, it is more accurate to speak of “type of information exchange”, since as we have already established, socionics describes not so much the characters of individuals, as the peculiarities of their thinking, and therefore, the interaction between types takes place not on a personal (relational) level, but on an informational one. Thus, by knowing the types of specific individuals, we can describe the main difficulties in their mutual understanding, as well as build a more harmonious and productive model of interaction.
In addition, socionics applies the DCNH subtypes, which describe four possible models of behavior for each socionic type. Thus, regardless of a person’s type, their behavior can be expressed through the Dominant, Creative, Normative or Harmonizing subtype. Like types, subtypes have their characteristic properties explaining their manifestations, and unlike socionic types, subtypes can change under the prolonged influence of the environment. In other words, they represent a dynamic adaptation of socionic type to external circumstances.
That’s pretty much all we can tell you to give you a basic introduction to socionics. If you have come to our website for the first time with the intention of studying socionics, we recommend that you read our theoretical articles, which are abundant in various sections of the site. Also, if you want to undergo a professional socionic typing, you can sign up for it on this page by filling out the form and leaving your contact information.