Personality types: Jung's model of typology - Inner City Books

38 Extraversion and the Four Functionsveils of unconsciousness . . . . He has no secrets he has notlong since shared with others. Should something unmentionablenevertheless befall him, he prefers to forget it. Anythingthat might tarnish the parade of optimism and positivism isavoided. Whatever he thinks, intends, and does is displayedwith conviction and warmth. 37According to Jung, the psychic life of this type is enactedoutside, strictly in reaction to the environment:He lives in and through others; all self-communings give himthe creeps. Dangers lurk there which are better drowned outby noise. If he should ever have a "complex," he finds refugein the social whirl and allows himself to be assured severaltimes a day that everything is in order. 38Although these comments seem rather harsh and uncomplimentary,Jung ends his description of the extraverted typewith a qualified appreciation: "Provided he is not too much ofa busy-body, too pushing, and too superficial, he can be a distinctlyuseful member of the community." 39Jung believed that type differentiation begins very early,"so early that in some cases one must speak of it as innate:"The earliest sign of extraversion in a child is his quick adaptationto the environment, and the extraordinary attention hegives to objects and especially to the effect he has on them.Fear of objects is minimal; he lives and moves among themwith confidence .... and can therefore play with them freelyand learn through them. He likes to carry his enterprises to theextreme and exposes himself to risks. Everything unknown isalluring. 4037 Ibid., par. 973.38 Ibid., par. 974.39 Ibid.40 Ibid., par. 896.