Psychological Types

Broad cognitive differences determine how people see, understand and explain their world.

Individuals employ different cognitive tools to navigate the world and create stories that define it. Jung developed his theory of psychological types after decades of research, clinical practice with patients, thought and reflection. He pondered why great thinkers so often arrive at entirely different conclusions concerning the same topics. Jung shows great interest in fellow psychoanalysts, Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, who spent their lives studying the human psyche, yet arrived at entirely different conclusions.

Jung saw this across other fields as well. His exploration of the history of Western thought, art and religion features the teachings of Plato and Aristotle, medieval politics, the rise of Christianity, poetry, philosophy, and the use of types and classifications in early psychiatry as the foundations of his Psychological Types.

Jung’s analysis incorporates the thinking of those who came before him. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s ...