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Sunday 19 January 2020

Micah Purvis - Diagnostic Report (IEI)


After a diagnostic interview, an analysis of Micah’s answers suggests the 8 IM Elements may best be assigned to the functions of Model A in the following order, making his best fit type the ‘Intuitive Ethical Integrator’ or ‘IEI’.

Leading Function - Telos (T1)
To Micah, “faith is something that everyone has, so it’s just a matter of what you’re gonna decide to have faith in”. With this view, Micah approaches the fields of film and literature with a near “spiritual” reverence. It is with this reverence that Micah requires a story to be “allowed… to speak through metaphor and imagery”, believing that to do otherwise and overly “preach” the message would not be having faith that it will be interpreted correctly. Micah sees the close identification with literature, and his eventual contribution to it, as his life’s calling. In addition to this pseudo-religious approach to a singular aim, Micah shows a natural affinity for analysing the meanings of themes, this being his chief area of confidence. This affinity for themes also manifests in how his interests draw his attention.  For instance, his enjoyment of the horror genre is less about feeling afraid and more about grappling with the “metaphysical idea of fear in a symbolic way made into reality”. Furthermore, he is clear that in his own writing, he is not so much focused on character, or the plot, but more on the underlying themes these superficial elements represent, with not all of his love poems being “actually love poems”, but representing something deeper. In these ways, we can see that Telos manifests as a prime, all-encompassing motivator for Micah and a place of natural confidence. One could say that Micah ‘lives and breathes’ thematic imagery and is a devotee to creating and furthering these themes in literature. For this reason, the best place for Telos is straightforwardly the Leading function. 

Creative Function - Emotions (E2)
Micah does not see himself as purely an analyst of themes, but also a “storyteller”, and throughout his interview, the desire to shore up the deeper meanings of events was interspersed with an emotive quality that could engage a reader. Micah remarks that in his own writing, there is often a “tragic” quality and he has written multiple poems that would be quite moving. In discussing his own interest in literature, above all other interests, Micah speaks of “passion” it instils in him that he does not feel for other fields, and how that feeling of enthusiasm is crucial for him to give the time to learn something, saying that “once you get [his] heart there, [his] mind is already almost there.” Although a teacher himself, Micah criticises schooling for taking the “exciting” elements out of fiction, such that pupils lose interest in what ought to be emotionally compelling. Furthermore, in mathematics, his least favourite subject, Micah recalls a begrudging respect he felt towards his maths teacher, who eagerly showed his own passion for the subject, which to Micah, may as well be “humanity” itself. With this desire for passion comes an expectation on others to show their emotions openly, with Micah becoming suspicious of his friendships with those who do not communicate a positive reaction to him. At the same time, Micah is able to adapt and shape his tone to the needs of his audience, being able to “work in jokes”  to his speeches to make them less boring and, despite naturally being highly critical of written poetry, being tactful and focusing on the positives when marking another person’s work, assuming the quality of the work did not reflect on his own ability. From this information, we can see that Emotions plays a strong and valued, but flexible and subordinate role to Telos, giving his sense of underlying, thematic meaning, a dramatic and emotional edge. This best fits the Creative function.

Role Function - Senses (S3)
Talking to Micah, he appears to possess a stable, calm demeanour, without the restlessness often seen with a type low in Senses. On a few occasions, Micah mentions how he can be lazy, disposed to “chilling and stuff”. He also shows a middling level of ability in day to day maintenance, and upon being asked about the tidiness of his room, said that “people are worse than me, but I’m not the best”. At college, he was capable at keeping his clothes “off the ground”, but never took much pride in this and never saw himself as a “very tidy person in general”. Furthermore, we can see that Micah, despite feeling lazy, finds the idea of a workaholic to be “very attractive”, which suggests that he is not comfortable with his lack of activity and would prefer a more unhealthy level of activity. Overall, this suggests that Senses is one of Micah’s weaker functions, but not the weakest, while also not being valued, more something Micah does to middling ability without appreciation. This is a good fit for the Role function.

Vulnerable Function - Pragmatism (P4)
In general, Micah says that he has “never really been exceptional… at anything” and does not feel confident in his ability to do things well. Despite this, and not wanting to be “viewed as dumb”, Micah has not evidenced much drive to increase his capabilities. During his college degree, Micah worried about his finances, realising that after graduating he would “have no idea [how] to make money”. Nonetheless, he continued with his chosen degree of English because he enjoyed it. Additionally, when trying to learn things, Micah soon realised that it was a pointless activity unless he was passionate about the thing he wished to learn. In these ways, we see that Micah’s priorities in decision-making are counter to what is practical or about self-improvement, with him much preferring to do what fires his passion, even if the stakes are high. Micah’s difficulty with efficient implementation extends to how he articulates himself, with Micah having a faltering, wordy way of communicating, with many uses of “like” to stall his delivery of sentences and the inappropriate use of qualifications like “almost” or “maybe”, such that the strength of his language, when taken literally, does not match what he actually meant. At times, Micah would pause and say “I’m not sure if I know how to explain”, acknowledging the trouble he has with putting his thoughts into words. In general, Micah avoided the use of objective fact when speaking, preferring to begin controversial sentences with “To me, it is…” and ground the truth of the statement in personal opinion, seemingly an area in which he feels more authority to speak from. What we can see from this is that Micah struggles to accumulate and work with factual information he is not passionate about and has a more universal trouble assessing how to do things well and whether he has done a good job, making it a very weak area. At the same time, he deprioritises attempts to overcome this difficulty, showing he does not value it. This range of qualities best fits the Vulnerable function.

Suggestive Function - Force (F5)
Micah expresses an interest and attraction to the wilful and dynamic, even workaholic “hero” of the stories he analyses. However, when asked about his ‘own story’, Micah said that he is “usually no[t]” the hero, reserving this for “people [he] admire[s]”. Additionally, he was quick to identify the physical activity of sports as one of the areas he is least confident in, and has recently felt “annoy[ed]” at his own lack of assertiveness while teaching at school, feeling unable to “get [the] respect” from his pupils to cause them to be quiet, something which he has seen other teachers achieve “automatically”. As well as lacking assertiveness and the dynamism to see himself as a ‘hero’, Micah shows a general difficulty moving from his thoughts to activity, sometimes due to laziness, or especially when having feelings of emotional distress, and “if [he doesn’t] have someone forcing [him] to do something… it’s really hard for [him] to do” something productive. What we can see from this is a pronounced lack of confidence and ability in Force, with Micah very much seeing himself as support for more engaging individuals. At the same time, it appears that Micah values this area, seeing things in terms of who is more ‘heroic’ and appreciating the forceful willpower that others can provide for him. For these reasons, Force best fits the Suggestive function for Micah.


Mobilising Function – Laws (L6)
Although struggling with the practicality of learning factual information and applying it well, Micah shows more confidence in his ability to “analyse themes” and seems to readily enjoy picking apart the underlying meaning from surface material in literature and film. Although struggling to articulate himself efficiently, Micah shows a refined sense of the distinctions between the ideas he is analysing and has formulated a clear sense of “how [he] see[s] the world” and reality. Analysis of literature is also something he takes seriously, with Micah being “harsh or critical” of the poetry he and others construct. Indeed, despite not feeling very intelligent, intelligence is a quality his friends readily identify in him, and although he will avoid games and puzzles that may make him look “dumb” in front of others, Micah will feel confident with certain other logical games like chess. What can be garnered from this is that Laws is another area of middling natural ability for Micah, but something which he has taken seriously and is able to use competently in his chosen field. This is a good fit for the Mobilising function.

Ignoring Function - Ideas (I7)
It is clear that Micah’s chief interest is in writing literature, and when asked what he would do if this were not an option, he would still like to be in a career that is in close proximity to this field, showing a passionate but singular devotion. While only able to learn that which fires up his passion, it is also clear that Micah maintains a focused, even narrow scope on what creates that passion, and does not seem to collect a broad range of different interests. Nevertheless, Micah does showcase an ability and confidence in analysing ambiguity and breadth of shifting perspectives, particularly when applied to literature, with him enjoying how perception of a story can shift depending on the viewpoint of each character in a story. What this suggests is that Ideas is a limited, even suppressed area for Micah, but which can be used powerfully in service of his Leading function. The Ignoring function best fits this description.

Demonstrative Function – Relations (R8)
A regularly occurring theme for Micah is his focus on close attachments to certain individuals, and this can be seen in his work, with him being “quite fond of… using couples” and love poems, but normally as “metaphors” for deeper themes. This can also be seen in who he identifies as heroes, being the individual people in his life that he “admire[s]”. When feeling inadequate, it is notable that Micah focuses more on his personal relationships and experiences strong feelings in this area. He may begin to “question” his friendship with someone if the other person reacts apathetically to him, causing him further anxiety. This can be quite intense for Micah, with him temporarily abandoning poetry due to the pain of a particular relationship, where he eventually wrote a poem for them. What we can see from this is a consistent, dominant theme for Micah that runs alongside his Leading and Creative functions. The strong focus in this area indicates that it is a strong function. However, it does not appear to be valued, but rather something Micah returns to when feeling inadequate. Furthermore, when given the choice between focusing on personal character for its own sake and broader themes, Micah will choose the latter. For these reasons, we can see Relations as being very strong and prevalent for Micah, but unvalued and not used for its own sake, while seen more when he is lower in confidence. This best fits the Demonstrative function.


If you would like a diagnostic interview, please email worldsocionics@hotmail.com.

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