What is "socionics"

Socionics, in psychology and sociology, is a scientific theory of information processing and personality type, distinguished by its information model of the psyche (called "Model A") and a model of interpersonal relations. It incorporates Carl Jung's work on Psychological Types with Antoni Kępiński's theory of information metabolism. Socionics is a modification of Jung's personality type theory that uses eight psychic functions, in contrast to Jung's model, which used only four. These functions are supposed to process information at varying levels of competency and interact with the corresponding function in other individuals, giving rise to predictable reactions and impressions—a theory of intertype relations.

Socionics was developed in the 1970s and 1980s, primarily by the Lithuanian researcher Aušra Augustinavičiūtė, an economist, sociologist, psychologist, and dean of the Vilnius Pedagogical University's department of family science. The name "socionics" is derived from the word " society", because Augustinavičiūtė believed that each personality type has a distinct purpose in society, which can be described and explained by socionics.

In 1995 socionics was recognized as a discovery by the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (not to be confused with Russian Academy of Sciences), and its creator Aušra Augustinavičiūtė was granted a certificate of discovery (diploma) and a medal.

"Российской Академией естественных наук (РАЕН) соционика признана открытием, а ее создатель - Аушра Аугустинавичюте - награждена дипломом об открытии и медалью им.П.Л.Капицы."

The central idea of socionics is that information is intuitively divisible into eight categories, called information aspects or information elements, which a person's psyche processes using eight psychological functions. Each sociotype has a different correspondence between functions and information elements, which results in different ways of perceiving, processing, and producing information. This in turn results in distinct thinking patterns, values, and responses to arguments, all of which are encompassed within socionic type. Socionics' theory of intertype relations is based on the interaction of these functions between types.