Psychic Structures and Personalities

In an effort to optimize the development of the self, each person develops

his or her own psychological type. Each type (Jung conceived of eight

types) consists of a combination of a person’s basic attitude and basic function.

Jung’s two attitudes are extroversion and introversion. These terms follow

societal stereotypes, with the extrovert being outgoing and confident

and the introvert being hesitant and reflective. These attitudes are combined

with four basic functions, or ways of relating to the world. These functions

are thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting, which are consistent

with a general societal view of these terms. Jung used the possible combination

of the attitudes and functions to form the eight possible psychological

types. Each person is thought to have dominance within one of the available

types.

In addition to providing key psychic structures, Jung provides personality

dynamics. He claimed that each person is endowed with psychic or libidinal

energy. Unlike Freud, however, Jung did not view this energy as strictly sexual.

Rather, he perceived it as life-process energy encompassing all aspects

of the psyche. According to Jung, this energy operates according to two

principles of energy flow: equivalence and entropy. The principle of equivalence

states that an increase in energy within one aspect of the psyche must

be accompanied by a decrease in another area. For example, if psychic energy

is increasing in the unconscious self, it must decrease elsewhere, such

as in the conscious ego. The principle of entropy states that when psychic

energy is unbalanced, it will seek a state of equilibrium. For example, it

would not be desirable to have the majority of one’s psychic energy located

in the conscious ego. The energy needs of the other levels of consciousness

must also be met.