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Using Mental Resources



Mental Resources

The evidence continues to mount that as Jung suggested, our type is part of an organic human system and he was trying to use basic terms to describe complex processes.  He could not have been more explicit that his work was about the psychology of the types and not about describing the types themselves.  He noted that type was about the natural limits of perception and judgment because of the way human psychology works.  He said that is book was about the relationship of the individual to the world, people, places, and things.

As Jung described the functional types, he provided a general set of characteristics and spent a good deal of effort in describing the interplay with conscious and unconscious aspects of human awareness.  Two threads seem to be ignored that are central to the psychology of the types.

Thread one: the role of subject-object relations is central in understanding the psychology of each type.  In subject-object relations, an individual is so "captive" to a psychological function, he or she cannot simply be "free" from the force of the particular mental function in the way he or she operates in everyday life.  For example, an Introverted Sensing (Si) type isn't fully conscious of how Si directs action and influences perceptions and judgments, and further, when in the presence of Intuition, feels particularly uncomfortable with acknolwedging what it is and how it is useful.  Only through self-awareness can the Si (as is true of all eight functional types) begin to fully understand its "power" in one's psychological life.

Related to this principle is Jung's proposition that the resolution of the subject-object tension is through the transcendent function, which is a way of making the "function" an object of awareness which leads to productive choices in perception and judgment.  In other words, if I can learn how the eight functions operate in my own psychology, I am more likely to mindfully respond to situations rather than provide an automatic response.  For this reason, I wanted the Pearman Personality Integrator to provide information on all eight mental functions and the role of flexibility in the way an individual operates in life. You have to recognize, identify, manage, leverage, and learn from each function to manage the subject-object dynamic within the mental functions.

Thread two: psychology energy is essential in understanding the psychology of the types.  Energy is a finite source which can only be directed in so many ways at any given time.  "Consumers of energy" become an important variable to consider.  For example, if you easily use Extraverted Intuition (Ne) and it is expected in your current environment, you may find this renewing.  However, if  Ne isn't very natural to your use of mental energy and you are required and expected to display Ne, the tension may be energy depleting.  It is very important to know how this energy use is at play in an individual's life.  Shifting between functions (e.g., going from Ne to Si) may consume a considerable amount of mental energy.  And there isn't much doubt that living "intentionally" consumes considerable energy as you try to make choices such that you reduce the limits and increase the possibilities of perception and judgment.  The Pearman provides important clues in the key dimensions of flexibility (e.g. Rejuvenation) to get an understanding of what may be needed to appropriately restore psychological energy.        

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