Model A

Leading Function, Program, Base (4D, [strong conscious valued verbal], Inert, Bold; Evaluatory; Exterior; Accepting)

1 function is ‘basic’, it determines the meaning of life and the programme of actions of the sociotype carrier. It describes in general terms the person’s most comfortable thinking patterns, perspective on life, state of mind, and behavioral style as well as their positive motivational forces (what they pursue most vigorously when they have a choice).

A strong conscious function that underlies the human worldview, and the perception of the world through it seems so natural that it is often difficult to realise that the world can be perceived in any other way. The function is rather inflexible, changes the world picture reluctantly; information that can cause such changes causes resistance or rejection.

Basic function is the first lens through which we see the world. When choosing an angle, a way to respond, or a narrative thread, it is the Basic Function that we most often rely on.

The leading function is critical to interpersonal dynamics because people constantly and inadvertently make judgments, assessments, and assumptions based on it. Generally speaking, the leading function perceives, processes, and produces information most intensively. Use of the base function comes effortlessly and produces a sense of internal satisfaction regardless of any external rewards. 

The basic function continuously scans the environment for information coming from its aspect and perceives it without any delay. Therefore, it is the function that quantitatively perceives more information than other functions.

This area is quite conservative, it is difficult to change anything in it. According to the first function, a person is self-confident. In the area of the first function is what I am sure of, what I know well enough about myself. Usually in the area corresponding to the first function a person demonstrates confident orientation and reliable mastery of the situation. 

Creative Function, Instrumental (3D, [strong conscious valued verbal], Contact, Cautious; Situational; Interior; Producing)

2 function - ‘creative’, it defines the mechanism of activity and the way of implementation of the programme function.

It is also a strong conscious function, but more flexible than the basic function. There is no complete picture, this function is ready to experiment, to consider and try different options in order to choose the most appropriate solution for the situation or the most satisfactory to the person from the point of view of his basic.

This function describes the primary mode of application of the base function, the creative function describes main instrument for interacting with the rest of society. People use their creative function less than their base function and attach less personal significance to it, although due to the nature of blocked functions it is usually used in tandem with the base function.

The Creative Function is broadcast by a person almost as abundantly and regularly as the Basic Function. Through the Creative function one manifests ingenuity, creative approach, some practical/social activity. This is the area where a person manifests himself as a functional system. The second function is also called the zone of risk in the sense that here a person can take risks, i.e. has rather wide limits of realisation. Great internal freedom in the choice of strategies allows here extremely ‘sharp’ decisions. The specificity of human speech behaviour is largely connected with the second function. The second function is creativity, demonstration of possibilities, ‘what I can and can do’, and at the same time it is the most easily rationalised sphere.

The creative function prefers to pay attention to the information it perceives only when necessary, even though it perceives it immediately when it arrives. This allows it to quickly get involved in the workflow at any time, unburdened by unnecessary information.

Role Function, Regulatory (2D, [weak conscious not-valued nonverbal], Contact, Bold; Situational; Exterior; Accepting)

3 function - ‘role’, according to it a person usually tries to show himself competent, but it is difficult for a person to solve complex situations and work for a long time in the mode of this function.

It is also quite a flexible function, but it is weak. It can be called a reserve, which is activated in situations when the creative and basic functions are insufficient, or in situations new for a person, when a comprehensive perception of information is required. However, unlike the creative function, it does not look for new solutions, but selects the most appropriate one from the already developed patterns. In addition, prolonged activity on this function leads to discomfort and fatigue. But at the same time, there is a desire to prove oneself, to make sure ‘I am not worse than others in this area’.

When a person is actively using his base function, the role function is essentially turned off. The two cannot both be “on” at the same time, because they represent two opposing approaches to similar things. It is typical for people to periodically work on their role function in order to correct imbalances in their life and improve their weak areas. However, these attempts are generally sporadic and are forgotten as soon as the perceived problem begins to go away and the person once again becomes carried away with their usual lifestyle which is dominated by their base function. When people are criticized for their lack of attentiveness to their role function, they are often irritated because they are already well aware of the deficiency and have already tried and failed to correct it.

The role function prefers to pay attention to the information it perceives only when necessary. The role function only learns information with which it has had personal interaction, so it has difficulty understanding what it has never dealt with. Carriers of the type are rarely attracted to sources of information on the aspect of the role function, they do not enjoy the process of its processing. These are usually topics that the person does not touch, that they are uncomfortable with, that they are not well versed in, activity on this function leads to discomfort and fatigue.

Vulnerable Function, Sensitive, Painful, (1D, [weak conscious not-valued nonverbal], Inert, Cautious; Evaluatory; Interior; Producing)

4 function is ‘painful’, the place of least resistance, by painful function a person painfully perceives information and needs tactful help.

The most problematic of all socionic functions. It is very weak, and this weakness is realised and most often perceived by a person as his/her shortcoming. Painful function often results in distorted perception of information. When faced with the necessity to act according to painful function, a person feels extremely insecure, as he/she cannot assess the adequacy of actions to the situation and their effectiveness. Activity on it takes a lot of energy and leads to very fast fatigue, but if it was possible to achieve any positive result, it is perceived as a major achievement. The function is rather conservative and hard to accept new information, especially if it does not fit with the existing experience.

Information received on painful function is often distorted and misinterpreted by a person, often too much exaggerated or too underestimated. Getting confronted with the need to deal with one’s own painful function, a person experiences a lot of uncertainty, senses his or her inability to accurately evaluate one’s own notions and actions and their effectiveness, and feels like he or she doesn’t know how to proceed correctly. Such realizations are often accompanied by feelings of anxiety and discomfort, a person may even start panicking.  Any need to focus on the painful function leads to quick exhaustion, a sense of being drained out of energy. 

The element in this function creates a feeling of frustration and inadequacy. A person does not understand the importance of this element entirely, and it can easily lead to painful consequences if not adequately considered. The painful function is unencumbered by excessive patterns of thinking because it is unable to form a holistic and deep understanding of the phenomena it perceives. In addition, the painful function's view of the world is limited to its personal experience.

In contrast to the Suggestive ability, the area of the Pain function does not arouse any interest or enthusiasm when you touch it. You want to simply do without it, or have someone else solve problems in this area without your involvement.

Suggestive Function, Credulous (1D, [weak unconscious valued verbal], Contact, Cautious; Evaluatory; Interior; Accepting)

5 function is ‘suggestible’, a person perceives information uncritically and with gratitude, needs help and advice. At the same time, a person is poorly aware of his/her needs according to this function up to the emergence of specific problems - ‘he/she wants something, but it is not clear what exactly he/she wants’.

This is a weak function. Information on it is perceived uncritically, but unlike painful, it does not cause discomfort or rejection and does not tire, rather on the contrary, a person feels unconditional trust to the world and gratitude for help and information on it, and this information is perceived as something very valuable and important. By influence on this function it is possible to change quickly the internal state of a person, but it is practically impossible for him to influence it himself.

By this function a person is open to external influences. Here a person tends to orientate on others, to rely on external authorities. There is no criticism in this sphere. As a rule, a person simply does not notice the impact. The impact is traced only afterwards, when he fixes the new state in which he finds himself.

The suggestive function is also called the dual-seeking function or the fifth function. The subject finds it difficult to be overwhelmed by this element, since it perfectly complements and drives the activity of the leading function. The more it is present in his daily life, the more he will naturally adapt to its presence. They are easily entertained by this kind of information, and its sustained presence creates a soothing psychological effect. People focus deeply on the use of this function in day-to-day life, always attempting to digest information received from the environment through this aspect of reality.

This function keeps a close eye on all incoming information, but only focuses on it when necessary. The Suggestive function strives to maintain constant favourable conditions for continuous and long-term work with its aspect. At the same time, when perceiving new information, it often prefers not to spend extra time on its processing. Carriers of the type are attracted by sources of information on the aspect of the Suggestive function, they like to process such information, and also they strive to expand the volume of its assimilation.

Activating Function, Referent (2D, [weak unconscious valued verbal], Inert, Bold; Situational; Exterior; Producing)

6 function - ‘activation’, according to it a person is oriented to the nearest environment, positively reacts to the impact.

It is also a weak but valuable function, for which help is willingly accepted. However, unlike the suggestive function, the information on it is checked against some internal standard, which is used to evaluate ‘whether it suits me or not’. In fact, the whole unconscious evaluation of a partner in terms of whether he or she is suitable or not, goes exactly according to the activation function.

It is the function by which one evaluates oneself. This function is the place in the type structure by which the individual receives energy from society. Constant negative self-assessment is unbearable for a person. A person tries by all means to escape from this evaluation. A person subconsciously organises, provokes his behaviour in such a way that in this place, the place of self-esteem, there is a constant supply of plus reinforcement. Positive self-esteem is a tremendous source of energy for the individual. If a person is successful in the sphere of his/her activation function, he/she is sometimes a bit flirtatious with it, turning to others for support and evaluation, as success is a reason for good attitude to oneself. For the activation function of a person it is necessary to have a clear confirmation that he/she is ‘all right’.  

Help in this element is appreciated, but past a certain point is seen as excessive. The subject is more comfortable using this function than the suggestive function but still can only use it sporadically. A person’s activity level on this aspect depends on other people - if there is support, then a person’s activity may even surpass those around him, however, if there is no support - the person vanishes without a trace.
Unlike the suggestive function, the activating function often reacts painfully to any perceived criticisms and remarks, and expects only silent understanding and support.

Carriers of the type are attracted by sources of information on the aspect of activation function, they like to process such information, and also they strive to expand the volume of its assimilation.

Ignoring Function, Limiting (3D, [strong unconscious not-valued nonverbal], Inert, Cautious; Situational; Interior; Accepting)

7 function - ‘observational’, according to this function a person well perceives and processes information, but prefers rather to criticise mistakes of others according to this function, than to show initiative on it.

A strong function, capable of independently finding new solutions, but most of the time it is aimed at tracing how not to do, warning the partner about possible consequences, recommending possible ways of action and, if necessary, helping him to get out of a negative situation. Prolonged constructive activity on it seems to be something boring and not worthy of attention. Like all vital functions, it is oriented to specific situations experienced by a person here and now, without tracking any generalising moments.

The ignore zone. For each type there is a certain part of reality, which he ignores. Normally, he simply does not notice it.

A person has very little use of this element. Prolonged and in depth activity of this function, however, is perceived by the individual as something boring and unnecessary, and even irritating. The individual may admire other people who occasionally demonstrate strong use of this function, but generally considers that it is not something deserving of much attention. The individual typically ignores or omits information relayed on this aspect from further conversation, by which he limits its spread. When lectured by another on the use of the ignoring function, the individual sees it as superfluous information, for he or she knows how to use the function well, but chooses not to use it in favor of his or her more convenient base function. 

The extreme avoidance of this function can make it appear weak at times. However, when engaged it does not cause the same kind of psychological stress as a weak function, instead creating a kind of boredom or malaise.

The limiting function does not monitor incoming information and only pays attention to it when necessary.

Demonstrative Function, Background (4D, [strong unconscious not-valued nonverbal], Contact, Bold; Evaluatory; Exterior; Producing)

8 function - ‘demonstrative’, it is usually manifested without words in deed, organically and naturally, without unnecessary explanations.

The most difficult to recognise function, aimed at preventing negative development of the situation for oneself and for the partner. Unlike the limiting function, the background function does not warn the partner about possible consequences, but without unnecessary words takes necessary measures to prevent them. Despite the fact that the function is strong, active discussion of information on it causes almost the same rejection as on the painful one and the desire to switch communication to value aspects.

Since the aspect of demonstrative function corresponds to the aspect of the painful function of dual types, in this manner duals stop the influx of unwanted information and shield each other’s painful functions. Any actions against oneself or close people are met by rebuffs from demonstrative function. A person will often have just as sophisticated an understanding of this function. A person does not say it out loud, does not think it through, and cannot name it in any way. When a person is given information regarding the element in the demonstrative function by someone else, they will tend to take it as obvious information that is irrelevant to completely focus on.

In fact, this is our subconscious essence. It works continuously, monitoring the situation and pushes into consciousness only that which requires a prompt response, everything else is done automatically. The background function tracks all information, but a person does not notice it and is not inclined to discuss it with others, for why discuss the obvious?

Through the Background ability a person perceives the world as volumetrically as through the Basic function. But a person reacts to the information coming through this lens without increased interest, solves questions ‘on automatic’, rarely voicing out loud any details. This function also prefers not to spend extra time on its work, processing information quickly and promptly.   

EGO (functions 1 and 2)

Socially demonstrative, creative block; a means of consciously influencing the world. These functions describe the aspects of reality that a person perceives with the greatest depth and clarity and verbalizes with the greatest ease.

SUPER-EGO (functions 3 and 4)

Social-conformal block; a means of displaying the external world; a block of ‘norms’ that a person tries to conform to. The peculiarity of this block is that the impact on it is very discomforting. When a person’s own interests are not sufficiently developed and people around him pressure him to be more competent with his Super-Ego functions, distress and disappointment result.

SUPER-ID (functions 5 and 6)

Block of helplessness, dependence on external objects. Block of weak unconscious functions. It is difficult to be engaged in any purposeful activity on it, therefore most often a person acts in a role of the consumer, willingly accepting from surrounding people information on aspects of this block and even provoking them on more active giving out of this information.

ID (functions 7 and 8)

This block is a physics demonstration, or practical block. The main task of this block is to monitor safety, fulfil basic needs and ensure the survival of the individual himself and possibly his immediate environment.

Strong functions (1,2,7,8) generally have a more sophisticated grasp on information, and can be used practically for the benefit of oneself and others. Information is perceived broadly and multifacetedly.

Weak functions (3,4,5,6) in contrast, tend to oversimplify data, do not usually generate conclusions on their own, and depend on help from outside sources.

1D functions (4,5) - can only use experience gained directly, i.e. which a person either lived or was a direct observer of. In other words, a person learns only from his or her mistakes.

2D functions (3,6) - in addition to lived experience, can use and mediated experience: from the explanations of other people, from books, learn the norms accepted in this or that community, but in the future the received experience is used in a formulaic way, without processing it for the specifics of a new situation.

3D functions (3,7) - there is a possibility of creative use of the received experience, its adaptation to the situation or application of knowledge from a completely different field.

4D functions (1,8) - there is an opportunity to see ‘what will come out of it’ even if there is no experience of similar situations at all, in other words, the possibility of expert forecasting.

Inert functions (1, 4, 6, 7) are those that do not integrate information from the environment; thus, the strength of these functions remain the way they are. A person does not seek guidance in these areas.

Contact functions (2, 3, 5, 8) are essentially how we touch upon the environment; they adapt and integrate new experiences from the environment. These are capable of being improved over time.

Valued functions are essentially what make up the foundation of our socionic type.  Every person actively seeks to process information based on these functions, and warmly create a sense of connection to others who value similar functions.

Subdued functions are the remaining four functions that oppose our preferences; as a result we try to limit the use of these functions.

Verbal (discursive) functions (1, 2, 5, 6). They provide the active exchange of information between people. Information on these functions is interesting, and easily discussed. They tend to self-development.

Non-verbal (working, cooperative) functions (3, 4, 7, 8). Aspects of these functions are not negotiable, prefer to receive help through action, deeds. Activity is limited to immediate needs and demands of society.

Exterior (constant) - Functions 1, 3, 6, 8. It is characteristic for them to consider certain aspects to be part of an invariable essence of the world, and strive to leave them in the form in which they are. External changes are perceived as something inevitable but not characteristic.

Interior (variable) - Functions 2, 4, 5, 7. These functions tend to see in their aspects elements that should be changed in the first place. They are either actively influencing the world or passively expecting changes from it.

Evaluatory functions are the strongest (1 and 8) and weakest (4 and 5) functions of a person’s psyche; strong judgments about areas that involve these functions are made.

Situational functions are accessed on a case-by-case basis, so decisions and judgments made in these areas are more or less inclined to remain constant.

Bold functions are used more freely than cautious functions.

Cautious functions are used with great care.

Accepting functions ‘come first’ in each block and are odd-numbered: 1, 3, 5, and 7, accepting functions focus on obtaining a picture of reality

Producing functions ‘come second’ and are even-numbered: 2, 4, 6, and 8, producing functions create some sort of ‘new’ product that is molded to that cross-cut of reality obtained by the accepting function.

Mental ring

The functions in the mental ring (functions 1, 2, 3, and 4) strive to verbalize information and formulate observations and form the core of the individual’s intellectual activity.

Vital ring

The functions in the vital ring (functions 5, 6, 7, and 8) tend to manifest themselves without words in the process of doing things or inadvertently in the form of spontaneous sentiments.

Inquiry

By valued functions, we like to perceive, process and assimilate information. Their aspects form our picture of the world, so we tend to interpret many phenomena through them. Interacting with information on them, we do not feel internal resistance: on the contrary, we want to develop first of all in the spheres of aspects of these functions. Our psyche pays more attention to these very aspects. A person on these aspects strives for different kinds of activity, is ready to overcome difficulties on these aspects, is ready to spend time, money and various resources on them. A person likes to work on his/her value aspects. Information on these aspects is a priori important for him, he feels the need to receive information on these aspects. A person is drawn to experience Functional States corresponding to these functions. Our sociotype is designed to work on our value functions. It is for working on them that it is designed. It is natural for it to work according to these functions. It is not natural for it to work on non-value functions. Our sociotype has a need to work in our value functions. Literally a need. And it is expressed in direct information hunger. If our sociotype does not receive information on these aspects, we naturally feel bad. In turn, by non-value functions, we tend to limit unnecessary information. We are not interested in topics and phenomena. Non-valuable functions are those that are not only NOT necessary for us, but from which our psyche tries to isolate itself in every possible way and tries to get rid of them in some way. Even feeling confident in the spheres of these functions, we still do not strive to realize ourselves according to them. These functions for us are just something necessary for life, but nothing more. Yes, of course, a person may see something curious for him/herself, a person may even strive for something in his/her non-valuable functions. But in general, every person tries to work less and get more. According to our non-value functions we are lazy, we do not want to do anything and do not even want to think about these topics. Our non-value functions are things that we generally don't need. When we work on non-value aspects and get results from them, in the end we do not get the proper satisfaction that we would get if we worked on value aspects. The effort is spent, the result is there, but there is no true joy - only fatigue and a desire to forget the difficulties overcome as soon as possible.