# What makes Socionics worth the effort?



## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

I was going to put this in another thread concerning typing people, but I thought maybe it was a topic that deserves its own thread. 

Besides my being an ILE/ENTp, I can't get enough of a decent read on Socionics to type others. It seems far too technical and poorly translated for me to develop enough of a context about it one way or the other. 

So what, in your opinion, makes Socionics any better than MBTI, or Enneagram? 

Where did you learn enough about it to type others?


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## cyamitide (Jul 8, 2010)

Most people become interested in socionics because it explores the subject of intertype relationships which MBTI doesn't cover. It systematically explains the communication hurdles, or lack of thereof, that you can expect to have with people of other types based on how you metabolize information. It then goes a level further than individual level into examining these communication flows on level of society (quadra progression). It was complex and intriguing which is what made it worth it for me.

I've learned a lot from reading socionics.us website for intro material, then I looked up discussions on whichever socionics topics interested me on 16types.info where most of socionics stuff was discussed in plain language, so it wasn't all that difficult to get into it.


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## RoSoDude (Apr 3, 2012)

Accidental double post.


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## RoSoDude (Apr 3, 2012)

In addition to what @cyamitide has said, I also find that the model A for function order is far more descriptive and insightful than the usual rank-ladder of functions used in western MBTI/Jung analysis. It gives perspective not only on the kinds of information each type values and seeks out, but also that which they reject and ignore. In this way, it provides very valuable knowledge on the ways in which cognitive processes that are foreign to us and that we devalue can affect our lives. Where western systems simply paint these functions as the "shadow functions" and can say very little about them, the way Model A is built allows for much more elaborate and constructive discussion on the effect of these functions.

The other related reason I find Socionics to be of particular value is that in more clearly delineating the four function blocks, it does not treat the Super-Id block with the same dismissal as MBTI does with the tertiary/inferior functions (or in the case of the inferior, disdain). Putting these functions in a more positive light extends understanding of the conscious/unconscious aspect that Jung discussed, and in my opinion is a lot more accurate.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

l make a half-hearted attempt at getting into Socionics, maybe every 6 months or so and every time l read something like "___(type) can always be found wearing fashionable clothing and also has a large nose" l have to give it up.

l think some of it is lost in translation, perhaps. l have seen some pretty shaky Socionics related sites, to be fair. l've never looked at something like the site above.


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## SirZangief (Mar 19, 2013)

I keep getting different Socionics type: First I was a ISTp, ISTj, ESTp or an ESTj -(ESTj, ISTj, ISTp usually I get). 
Weirdness one I ever gotten was a ENFp. 
The test I took was on VI (visual-advance version of Socionics). I think the Socionics is geared toward more extroverted from my point of view. Nothing wrong with the test, just that the VI tend to screw me, as I dont judge on a person look. I base on there health or If they working toward being healthy and personality/trait. I only took the test, so I do not fully understand the Socionics.


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## HighClassSavage (Nov 29, 2012)

OMG WTF BRO said:


> l make a half-hearted attempt at getting into Socionics, maybe every 6 months or so and every time l read something like "___(type) can always be found wearing fashionable clothing and also has a large nose" l have to give it up.
> 
> l think some of it is lost in translation, perhaps. l have seen some pretty shaky Socionics related sites, to be fair. l've never looked at something like the site above.


Try out this website:Wikisocion


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## Kanerou (Oct 8, 2009)

OMG WTF BRO said:


> l make a half-hearted attempt at getting into Socionics, maybe every 6 months or so and every time l read something like "___(type) can always be found wearing fashionable clothing and also has a large nose" l have to give it up.
> 
> l think some of it is lost in translation, perhaps. l have seen some pretty shaky Socionics related sites, to be fair. l've never looked at something like the site above.


Visual Identification, when referring to typing one by physical features (as opposed to, say, looking at their energy and expression through a video or some such), is not widely considered to be a particularly useful or accurate method. If that's what turns you off of the theory, I'd suggest discarding VI completely and looking at other aspects.


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## cyamitide (Jul 8, 2010)

OMG WTF BRO said:


> l make a half-hearted attempt at getting into Socionics, maybe every 6 months or so and every time l read something like "___(type) can always be found wearing fashionable clothing and also has a large nose" l have to give it up.
> 
> l think some of it is lost in translation, perhaps. l have seen some pretty shaky Socionics related sites, to be fair. l've never looked at something like the site above.


You may have run into Socionics.com website. This is the one that comes up on top of google search for socionics, and quite regrettably because it's considered to be a poor source of information for socionics, yet it's the website that anyone starting researching the subject is most likely to be directed to by google. It has all these weird type descriptions that go into describing the facial and clothing aspects in great detail that really suck.

Generally when I see any of the profiles going into such trivial details like appearance, clothing, cooking and food, how much some types likes to clean their place and keep it orderly, and other things that may be considered personal preferences or habits rather than something type related, I skip these and look for parts of the profile that talk about attitudes, feelings and thoughts of the type. Some socionics profiles are quite good at taking a look at the inner constitution and workings of a type and are quite insightful, others are quite shallow. It depends on who their author is and is no way a reflection of the typology itself.


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## Sol_ (Jan 8, 2013)

tanstaafl28 said:


> So what, in your opinion, makes Socionics any better than MBTI


- correct functional model for introverted types (MBT controverts to Jung there)
- all 8 functions model of types
- intertype relations theory
- better studied Jungian functions



> Where did you learn enough about it to type others?


books and years of observations


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

I complained about it for a long time because it's different from Jung, and because I had to learn the Jungian system first (which put me in cognitive pain, until I just "got it") ...and here's this whole other complex system, that is so much more confounded than Keirsey or MBTI, it's really on par with Jung in its complexity, but in an entirely different way.

I also was put off by things like facial typing. I really do think that perhaps this aspect of it should be in most cases entirely disregarded. 

HOWEVER, I just got it. I've finally got it. I've got it SO much that I realize that I am the individual type SEE-Fi, that I am definitely a Gamma without question, and that I am even an Se romantic aggressor.

Once the interpersonal dynamics MADE SENSE ...and this is the huge thing about Socionics ...once the interpersonal dynamics click, and you think about things like how you interact with others or perceive the varying groups...then voila, there it is.

It's so based in this relationship-oriented theory, though, that this is the track you have to get on board with to completely understand it. I don't think you can understand Socionics in parts.


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## BrennanWayne (Apr 15, 2013)

A better understanding. Build your understanding over time, bit by bit. Don't be turned away because it's complicated, then you'll never know what you've missed out on.


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## BrennanWayne (Apr 15, 2013)

If you mean "face typing" as typing based on facial expressions, looking at the eyes and the persons gaze, yes you can type somewhat by that. I use it a lot to spot Se. But if you mean face shape and size, yeah, that's B.S.


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