Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Jung: Analytical
Psychology
(^122) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
Introversion
According to Jung, introversionis the turning inward of psychic energy with an ori-
entation toward the subjective. Introverts are tuned in to their inner world with all its
biases, fantasies, dreams, and individualized perceptions. These people perceive the
external world, of course, but they do so selectively and with their own subjective
view (Jung, 1921/1971).
The story of Jung’s life shows two episodes when introversion was clearly the
dominant attitude. The first was during early adolescence when he became cognizant
of a No. 2 personality, one beyond awareness to his extraverted personality. The sec-
ond episode was during his midlife confrontation with his unconscious when he car-
ried on conversations with his anima, experienced bizarre dreams, and induced
strange visions that were the “stuff of psychosis” (Jung, 1961, p. 188). During his
nearly completely introverted midlife crisis, his fantasies were individualized and
subjective. Other people, including even Jung’s wife, could not accurately compre-
hend what he was experiencing. Only Toni Wolff seemed capable of helping him
emerge from his confrontation with the unconscious. During that introverted con-
frontation, Jung suspended or discontinued much of his extraverted or objective at-
titude. He stopped actively treating his patients, resigned his position as lecturer at
the University of Zürich, ceased his theoretical writing, and for 3 years, found him-
self “utterly incapable of reading a scientific book” (p. 193). He was in the process
of discovering the introverted pole of his existence.
Jung’s voyage of discovery, however, was not totally introverted. He knew that
unless he retained some hold on his extraverted world, he would risk becoming ab-
solutely possessed by his inner world. Afraid that he might become completely psy-
chotic, he forced himself to continue as much of a normal life as possible with his
family and his profession. By this technique, Jung eventually emerged from his inner
journey and established a balance between introversion and extraversion.
Extraversion
In contrast to introversion, extraversionis the attitude distinguished by the turning
outward of psychic energy so that a person is oriented toward the objective and away
from the subjective. Extraverts are more influenced by their surroundings than by
their inner world. They tend to focus on the objective attitude while suppressing the
subjective. Like Jung’s childhood No. 1 personality, they are pragmatic and well
rooted in the realities of everyday life. At the same time, they are overly suspicious
of the subjective attitude, whether their own or that of someone else.
In summary, people are neither completely introverted nor completely ex-
traverted. Introverted people are like an unbalanced teeter-totter with a heavy weight
on one end and a very light weight on the other (see Figure 4.3 A). Conversely, ex-
traverted people are unbalanced in the other direction, with a heavy extraverted atti-
tude and a very light introverted one (see Figure 4.3 B). However, psychologically
healthy people attain a balance of the two attitudes, feeling equally comfortable with
their internal and their external worlds (see Figure 4.3 C).
In Chapter 3, we said that Adler developed a theory of personality that was
quite opposite to that of Freud. Where did Jung place these two theories on the ex-
traversion/introversion pole? Jung (1921/1971) said that “Freud’s view is essentially
extraverted, Adler’s introverted” (p. 62). Our biographical sketches of Freud and
116 Part II Psychodynamic Theories