Category: Psychology

By Ryan Smith, Eva Gregersen, and Sigurd Arild A number of common critiques of Jungian typology and the MBTI are often voiced in no uncertain terms by people who have comparatively little knowledge about these fields. In this article we purport to answer the most common of these critiques. CRITICISMS OF THE MBTI THAT ARE[…] Continue Reading

By Ryan Smith and Sigurd Arild The current state of Jungian typology is such that Jungian concepts that do not directly relate to type are sometimes thrown around to spice up people’s experience and presentation of typology. In particular, Jung’s idea of archetypes is often mentioned in order to complement people’s understanding of type. However,[…] Continue Reading

By Eva Gregersen “It is chiefly extraverts who resent being called extraverts, as if it were a derogatory designation. I even know of a case where a famous extravert, having been called an extravert, challenged his opponent to a duel!” – C.G. Jung in a personal letter to R.L. Kroon While it is a fairly[…] Continue Reading

By Ryan Smith and Sigurd Arild This article requires Greek characters to be displayed on your screen. In 2012, the classical Jungian and former professor of political science V.W. Odajnyk published the book Archetype and Character (see our review here). In this book, Odajnyk proposes a new typology of four basic archetypes: Power, Love, Spirit,[…] Continue Reading

By Ryan Smith When advising their clients on how to save a romantic relationship, lots of psychologists and psychotherapists still rely on random tidbits of conventional wisdom and generalities. But their advice is not science-based. John M. Gottman, who is both a mathematician and a psychologist, has used data to back up his study. There[…] Continue Reading

By Ryan Smith When asked how good they are at interpersonal communication, most people think that they’re either good or about average. But in fact, if we could look at the whole of human communication from a psychologist’s perspective, it would soon become obvious that most people are abysmally bad at communicating with others. In[…] Continue Reading

By Guilherme Varela with additions by Ryan Smith When assessing someone’s type we must be vigilant not to mistake the contents of their psychic functions for the psychic functions themselves. That is probably the number one mistake that is made by people who attempt to type by the functions. They view them as behavioral traits,[…] Continue Reading

By Ryan Smith As with all functions, there are two types of Thinking: Te and Ti. One is fed from unconscious premises, governed by what is important to the individual (Ti), and one is fed from external data and direct sense-perception (Te). Extroverted functions are oriented to external data and to cognizing external data objectively,[…] Continue Reading

Email: I noticed you listed Zizek as ENTP but he seems much more INTJ. First, his prime function is overwhelmingly Ni. Ni starts with a goal or problem in mind and then works backwards to determine the most effective way to unite all the different interpretations of that problem into the most effective plan of[…] Continue Reading