The Truth About Carl Jung’s Psychological Types: Introversion – Extroversion and The 4 Psychological Functions Explained

20.10.26

Nowadays, people are obsessed with shadow work, but few people understand that the backbone of Jungian Analysis and shadow integration is the Psychological Types.

This tool is capable of revealing people’s deepest psychological tendencies and core patterns of behavior, and that’s also why it’s the fastest way to spot someone’s shadow and precisely what needs to be integrated.

In this article, I’ll reveal the truth about Carl Jung’s psychological types, why Jung never created any type of assessment like the ones you find online, and how I map someone’s typology and shadow in 1 hour.

The Psychological Types Unraveled

First, we have to cover what the Psychological Types really are, and then we’ll cover introversion and extroversion, as well as the 4 psychological functions.

In my last article, I explained how the conscious attitude is the most important concept in Jungian Psychology.

The conscious attitude is basically how a person is wired: their basic tendencies, patterns of behavior, and belief system. It’s how one tends to interpret, filter, and react to the world.

But behind all of these individual tendencies, Jung discovered a system that acts as a foundation for the conscious attitude and structures the psyche, namely the Psychological Types.

I consider this method the ultimate compass for our psychological development. It can give us immense clarity about how to harmonize our strengths and weaknesses, and invaluable insights to navigate our relationships.

That said, you might have encountered several tests on the internet claiming to reveal your typology, and every time I see one, I picture Carl Jung rolling and agonizing in his grave, as this is a flat-out scam.

Firstly, typology isn’t static; it changes and evolves as we mature psychologically. Secondly, typology isn’t deterministic or characterological.

This means typology doesn’t reveal personal qualities such as being empathetic, confident, well-spoken, or a perfectionist and overthinker. This is related to someone’s psychological maturity, unique skills, and, quite frankly, not being neurotic. Also, the typological method doesn’t reveal our destiny, relationships, or careers.

Finally, a test is incapable of capturing the psychodynamics involved. People seldom have an objective view of themselves, and more often than not, they give answers that don’t match their true personalities, as the unconscious is constantly interjecting.

What’s possible is to delineate a few basic personality tendencies, while knowing that people will express them in a myriad of ways. Before we start covering these patterns, I want to be clear that pure types don’t exist and people will always fall on a spectrum:

“Naturally, they [psychological types] never occur, in reality, in their pure form, but always and only with individual variations derived from the principle that governs their appearance, similar to crystals, which, generally, are variants of the same system” (C. G. Jung – V8 – §221).

Introversion x Extroversion

The first thing we have to understand about introversion and extroversion is that they aren’t static; they’re fluid, and no one is 100% introverted or extroverted all of the time. What we have is the relative predominance of one of the mechanisms.

You’ve probably heard people say that they’re generally introverted but extremely extroverted with people they know more intimately, that’s why. Also, we might experience certain periods in our lives where one of the mechanisms is more prevalent than the other.

This doesn’t make you an “ambivert”, as there’s no such thing. Being an introvert or extrovert is a way of relating to and understanding the world, and the biggest difference lies in the relationship with objects.

Let’s start with extroversion.

Jung says extroverts have their attention and libido directed to the external world and other people. They tend to be determined by external objects. Extroverts are typically heavily influenced and shaped by their environment, culture, and collective opinion, to the point that if they were born in a different culture, their personalities would easily be molded by it.

For that reason, they tend to be socially adapted and have a collective way of thinking and behaving. They see the world as something empty, so they “lend” their souls to animate external objects. They think and feel outside themselves – “in the objects”.

As they’re constantly seeking to affect and be affected, they find themselves in the changeable and tend to be more flexible and malleable. For that same reason, they lack inner conviction and have difficulty perceiving their own individuality. In extreme cases, they can completely lose their sense of self in the objects and their environment.

Most extroverts have a deep fear of being alone, and there’s no solid core to sustain their convictions, as they can change their minds and emotional states at any given moment if they’re affected by something external.

In contrast, introverts have their attention primarily directed to their inner world.

This means that their ego and subjective opinions have a higher value than external conditions, such as their culture and environment. Introverts are constantly filtering external reality through their subjectivity, and they seek to shield themselves from the external world and control it, instead of being absorbed by it like extroverts.

Introverts seek constancy and tend to be guided by a firm set of conscious or unconscious rules, which makes them more rigid and inflexible. This is an attempt to always control the outcome and protect themselves from affects and the influence of other people.

In extreme cases, there’s constant worry about the future and agoraphobia. That’s why introverts tend to be socially awkward and find socializing draining. But on the other hand, they typically have a rich inner life, conviction, and a sense of separation from collective opinion.

This concludes the first layer of the typological method: introversion and extroversion. Now let’s cover the second layer: the 4 psychological functions.

The 4 Psychological Functions

Apart from an introverted or extroverted orientation, people will also have one psychological function that guides their conscious mind: thinking, feeling, sensation, or intuition.

The 4 functions make up two pairs of opposites:

Thinking and Feeling (rational functions).
Sensation and Intuition (irrational functions).

The conscious attitude is primarily guided by only ONE function, which is called the main function, while the other functions typically remain unconscious and make up the shadow. Some people also develop an auxiliary function that belongs to a different pair of opposites than the main function.

For instance, a thinking type could have sensation or intuition as an auxiliary function, but never feeling. Taking this one step further, if this thinking type develops sensation as an auxiliary function, feeling and intuition will remain unconscious and part of his shadow.

Now let’s qualify each function individually, starting with the first pair of opposites – the rational functions.

Thinking is typically logical, rational, and processual. It tells us what a thing is and adds concepts and ideas through a process of comparison. Thinking tends to be detached, neutral, and cold, as it sees every object as having equal value. Thinking focuses on facts.

In contrast, feeling tells us the worth and value of something, and that’s why it’s contrary to thinking. It makes judgments about whether you like or dislike something and whether it’s acceptable or not. It adds “color”, nuances, and adjectives to objects.

The feeling function always develops a clear hierarchy of what is important and what matters. That’s why feeling is deeply personal and tends to create relationships with objects. It gives you the ability to perceive the emotional atmosphere and understand your own feelings and those of others.

That’s why it’s the primary function used in connecting with other people and establishing relationships.

An important distinction is that feeling isn’t the same as experiencing overwhelming emotions, as the feeling function is the conscious experience of an emotion, and therefore it’s subject to the conscious will. Because It’s about judging and ascribing value to objects.

Now let’s discuss the second pair of opposites – the irrational functions.

They’re called irrational not because they’re less than the rational functions, which are typically subject to conscious will. But because they operate beyond reason, are closer to the unconscious, and usually happen to you as you’re a receiver of these impressions, and then you decode them.

For instance, you can’t actively make an intuition happen. It comes to you. You receive an intuition. Whereas with thinking and feeling, you can actively think about something and ascribe value to an object.

That said, sensation is the function of reality and provides the perception of physical stimuli, both external and internal. It’s the awareness of everything we can perceive with the five senses. It’s detail-oriented, grounded in reality, and rooted in the present moment.

In contrast, intuition is the function closest to the unconscious, and that’s why it often takes a metaphorical and symbolic form. It tends to present itself to the conscious mind as images or as a certain hunch or gut feeling. It’s contrary to sensation because it’s future-oriented; it sees the potential of objects and what they can become. Intuition sees things as a finished whole instead of small details like sensation does.

The 8 Psychological Types

Finally, if we pair the extroverted and introverted tendencies with one of the four functions, we get the eight psychological types.

Each of the four functions takes on different manifestations according to a more introverted or extroverted nature, giving each type unique traits and tendencies:

Extroverted or Introverted Thinking Type.
Extroverted or Introverted Feeling Type.
Extroverted or Introverted Sensation Type.
Extroverted or Introverted Intuitive Type.

The Psychological Types and the Shadow

Once you understand the typological method, mapping the shadow becomes easy.

Jungian Psychology rests on the foundational premise that the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious is compensatory and complementary. That’s why everything works in pairs.

If someone is more extroverted, it means introversion will be part of their shadow, and vice versa.
If someone is oriented by Thinking, it means Feeling will make up their shadow, and vice versa.
When someone is oriented by Intuition, it means Sensation will be part of their shadow, and vice versa.

This matters because, depending on someone’s typology, the origin of neurosis and what has to be integrated will be the exact opposite of someone else’s:

While some need to develop their social skills and persona, others need to connect more with their inner world and separate from the collective.
While some have to develop their feeling and judgment of value, others have to give structure to their thoughts and philosophy of life.
While some need to connect more with their bodies and the practical aspects of life, others need to unlock their imagination to envision new possibilities and a positive future.

That’s why, when you understand typology, you can quickly map someone’s personality structure, their shadow, and what needs to be integrated in 1 or 2 hours.

Read this one next – The 3-Step Method To Master Jungian Analysis

Rafael Krüger – Jungian Psychology Specialist

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