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

94 Concluding RemarksWould results of a type test be relevant at either point in herlife?The bottom line is that an externally evaluated test, eventhough self-administered, is not a reliable guide to what is goingon inside. In the area of typology, as with any attempt tounderstand oneself, there is no substitute for prolonged selfreflection.Although this is self-evident to the introvert, who is usedto, and depends on, reflection, it is rarely so clear to the extravert,who is predisposed to trust, and rely on, determinantsin the external world.Typology and the ShadowJung's model of typology is based on preferential or habitualways of functioning. Used responsibly, it is a valuable guideto our dominant psychological disposition, the way we mostlyare. It also reveals, by inference, the way we mostly aren't —but could also be.Where, then, is the rest of us (mostly)?Theoretically, we can say that the inferior or undevelopedattitude and functions are part of that side of ourselves Jungcalled the shadow. The reason for this is both conceptual andpragmatic.Conceptually, the shadow, like the ego, is a complex. Butwhere the ego, as the dominant complex of consciousness, isassociated with aspects of oneself that are more or less known(as "I"), the shadow is comprised of personality characteristicsthat are not part of one's usual way of being in theworld, and therefore more or less alien to one's sense of personalidentity. 117117 See Jung, "The Shadow," Aion, CW 9ii, pars. 13ff.