World Socionics

The 8 Information Metabolism Elements, often shortened to  'IM' Elements  or even 'IMEs', are the building blocks of the Socionics theory. They represent the processes by which a person approaches one of the 8  'Aspects'  of reality, presented as information from the external world, as well as our internal thoughts and feelings, before metabolising it into our cognitions and behaviours, essentially personality. In this Two-Part series, I will go over comprehensive definitions of these IM Elements, covering  1)  the Aspect of information, i.e. the kind of information we interact with;  2)  the process by which we  metabolise  this information into the output of our personality;  3)  a description of how a  'Strong' , capable usage of this IM Element manifests; and  4)  a description of how one would  'Value'  this IM Element, appreciating its presence and use. IM Elements can be most broadly split in...

Where Socionics differs most significantly from the MBTI is its focus on Quadras, four groupings of four personality types, united by having similar values and ways of looking at the world. The most beneficial relationships are thought to occur between people of the same Quadra. Each Quadra is composed of two opposite halves, known as Clubs, which naturally complement each other. These Clubs, which are the same in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, are known as either Researchers and Socialites or Pragmatists and Humanitarians. Finally, each Club within each Quadra splits into two types of opposing Temperaments, i.e. differing levels of energy and flexibility. All in all, this results in 16 types. The following presentation in quotes was written by Rana Levy from World Socionics Society:  Alpha  Alpha types are ILE, SEI, ESE and LII. They are childlike in their values. Researchers – “Alphas understand and are content with different viewpoints and concepts. They a...

In Part 1 , I covered the basics and in Part 2 , I showed how the basics come together into a Model for each personality type. In Part 3, I will show how these different types interact with each other in relationships and in communities of people. Inter-type Relations This refers to the pattern of functional interaction between two socionic types, that is to say the description of the  psychological compatibility between two types . There are fourteen of these relationships and among them twelve are called  symmetrical  and two  asymmetrical . Some of the inter-type relations are more  psychologically compatible (or favourable) than others. The different  relationships are listed below in order of most to least compatible ·         Duality :  Symmetric relation . They are perfectly fitted for each other as the suggestive and mobilising functions of one match the leading and creative functions of t...