Book Description

In Psychological Types (1921), Carl Jung presents a framework for understanding individual differences in personality by identifying two basic attitudes: extraversion and introversion. Extraverts are outward-focused, gaining energy from their interactions with the external world, while introverts are inward-focused, deriving energy from their inner thoughts and feelings. Jung emphasizes that while most people tend to favor one attitude, both exist in the psyche and can be accessed as needed. This dynamic shapes how individuals engage with the world and their surroundings. In addition to these attitudes, Jung introduces four psychological functions that define how individuals process information and make decisions. These functions are divided into two categories: rational and irrational. The rational functions include thinking, which is logical and objective, and feeling, which evaluates based on personal values and subjective experience. The irrational functions are sensation, which relies on perceiving concrete reality, and intuition, which involves perceiving possibilities and abstract connections. Each individual tends to favor one of these functions, further influencing their personality type. Jung’s typology leads to the creation of eight primary personality types based on combinations of attitudes (introversion/extraversion) and dominant functions (thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition). For example, an introverted thinking type primarily processes the world through internal logic, while an extraverted feeling type engages with the world based on emotional and social values. Here in his famous 1921 Psychological Types (Psychologische Typen) Jung elaborates on the differences in fundamental psychological orientations among individuals. According to Jung, these orientations define how individuals perceive the world and make decisions. The core of this theory revolves around two Kantian Antinomies: Attitude and Function types. One of Jung’s most important works, Psychological Types introduces the distinction between introversion and extroversion as fundamental orientations of human personality. Jung also elaborates on the four psychological functions—thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition—each of which can be dominant in an individual’s personality. This book was essential in the development of personality theory and has had a lasting influence on psychology, particularly through the development of personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Jung’s typology provides a framework for understanding the diversity of human behavior and cognition, emphasizing that psychological health comes from balancing and integrating these different functions and attitudes. This edition contains a new translation from the original German manuscript with an Afterword by the Translator, a philosophic index of Jung's terminology and a timeline of his life and works.