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Carl G Jung THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF C.G. JUNG'S PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES
Katherine Benziger, Ph.D.

In the 1930's Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, M.D., a Swiss Psychiatrist who had originally worked with Dr. Freud, began to attract attention for his theory of Psychological Types.

Basically, Dr. Jung's theory had eight elements which combined described a powerful, new theoretical tool for understanding, guiding and helping other people. The seven elements were:

(1) Four functions or ways in which humans perceive & process information. These four functions were: thinking, feeling, sensing and intuition. Thinking was defined as logical and analytical. Feeling was defined as sensing the emotional value of an event and of relationships. Sensing was defined as a concrete doing. Intuition was defined as an abstract way of processing, identifying and solving problems which lacked "concrete" and "logical substance" which serves mankind well when all the data is not available, or when all the data cannot be known and no known solution exists.

(2) Two directions in which people focus their energy. These two directions were: introversion and extraversion. Introversion was defined as focusing inward and deriving energy from going within. Extraversion was defined as focusing outward and deriving energy from the external environment.

Richard Haier (3) The existence in each person of a (innately preferred) natural lead function. Thus, members of the same family or group might be seen to have predictably distinct ways of seeing and evaluating the world. A natural Thinker would look for logical, structural relationships between things in order to select the best option. A natural Feeler would look for felt connections between elements of their environment in order to build and enhance the fundamental harmony present. A natural sensor would look for objects to be ordered and handled according to an established procedure to produce a needed result in a dependable manner. An Intuitive would look for big-picture patterns identifying trends and future directions which would allow him to invent or create new ideas or products to facilitate the successful accommodation to these changes.

(4) The concept of type, which combined a person's natural lead function with his preferred direction. Thus, a person might be an introverted thinker, an extraverted thinker, an introverted sensor, an extraverted sensor, an introverted feeler, an extraverted feeler, an introverted intuitive or an extraverted intuitive.

(5) Living True to Type was then understood by Dr. Jung to be any situation in which a person was developing and using predominantly, over time, skills, capabilities and gifts associated with (managed by) their natural lead function, in an environment consistent with that person's natural direction (introversion or extraversion).

(6) Falsification of Type was then understood by Dr. Jung to be any situation in which a person developed and used predominantly, especially for an extended period of time, skills and capabilities associated with (managed by) a function other than their natural lead function.

(7) The Costs of Falsifying Type were observed and reported by Dr. Jung to be predictably significant and troublesome. Such costs included: low self-esteem; a confusion with respect to the identity of the self and its gifts; fatigue; health problems; a lack of synchronicity supporting their life and chosen direction or career.

(8) The acceptance of a clear Link between Living True to Type and Wellness; and between Falsifying Type and Illness.

Thus, Dr. Jung's primary contributions to the theory were:
  1. the complete theory
  2. the understanding of the link between Living True to Type and Wellness; and Falsifying Type and Illness
Indeed, Jung's work was seen by many professionals and lay persons as ground-breaking. A problem which many complained about, however, was that Jung himself was not interested in making his work available to the population in general.

Subsequently, around 1950, the mother daughter team of Myers and Briggs, developed a self-assessment, the MBTI, which could be used to help people everywhere understand and apply Dr. Jung's model to themselves and their own lives. Moreover, after several years, Myers and Briggs sold their assessment to a firm which worked hard to increase the overall visibility of the Jung's model and the MBTI assessment.

Thus the contributions of Myers and Briggs can be seen as:
  1. the development of a self-assessment
  2. the achievement of wide spread visibility for the Jung's work
Unfortunately, the Myers Briggs assessment and materials tended to focus on only the first five of Jung's elements. The result was that very often MBTI data would provide an accurate understanding of how a person was acting and behaving at the time they took the assessment. And, if how they were acting was consistent with their natural lead function and natural type, then their data would be helpful. If, however, they were falsifying type, and their data was not pointing to their natural lead, but to their developed non-preferred competencies, their MBTI data would tend to be harmful, encouraging them to continue using their non-preferred skills.

Next, around 1975, Ned Herrmann, working at General Electric, developed a thinking styles "new model", consistent with Jung's four functions. Although the model and assessment were even less complete than Myers Briggs and the MBTI, Herrmann's work made an important contribution. Namely, Herrmann identified the link between the four functions and the world of business, or more specifically between the intuitive function and a business's ability to adapt successfully to changing market and world.

Then, in 1990, Katherine Benziger, Ph.D., attending to all eight elements of Dr. Jung's model, developed the first, comprehensive application of Dr. Jung's work. Dr. Benziger's contributions are recognized as:
  1. Identifying Falsification of Type and the Costs of Falsification of Type with a Self-Assessment
  2. Identifying Falsification of Type with Bio-Feedback Markers consistent with depression, aging and stress
  3. Identifying the link between Falsifying Type, Midlife Crisis, Depression and Aging; and between Living True to Type and Thriving
As such, Dr. Benziger is fond of saying that:

"Falsification of Type is the Missing Link!
It makes Jung's message invaluable and
brings empowerment and healing to those who use it!"
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