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by Nikolai Medvedev | Source | Symbols for IMEs
Machine Translation Revised by Augusta Project
Translator’s Foreword
Model A was not developed by Augusta alone; the theoretical construction of this model was a collaboration between Nikolai Medvedev and another unknown person by the name “V.A. Leshkevichyus”. This excerpt comes from research papers released by Medvedev about the structure of Socionics which would later form Model A.
Creativity Block [Ego]
Element 1 [Leading]
Regarding aspects of this element, I understand everything well and am confident that my understanding is correct. I don’t have difficulties expressing my opinions. I can solve issues creatively. If I’m criticized on this element or given advice, I won’t be offended. If I’m wrong, I can figure out why by myself, start over, and see things through to the end. The perceived information is used mainly to start the producing Element 2.
Element 2 [Creativity]
Regarding aspects of this element, I act consciously, correctly, and confidently. I use these aspects of my activity for the conscious improvement of my condition (and the condition of people around me) in terms of other elements. I can act creatively with my abilities. I’m not afraid of criticism on these aspects of my activity. If I’ve done something wrong, I can calmly listen to criticisms or figure out why and redo things myself.
Summary of the Creativity Block
This is a block of confidence in one’s knowledge and actions. On aspects of elements of this block, individuals act boldly, don’t adhere to ready-made schemes, tell jokes, discuss funny anecdotes, and aren’t afraid to seem ridiculous (because humor is only acceptable in areas where one feels strength). In this block, individuals don’t consider authority or generally accepted norms. On these aspects, one does not hesitate to express admiration and indignation, set trends, get into disputes, and relay unappealing criticisms.
Creativity-Controller Block [Super-Ego]
(The block of one’s greatest doubts, prolonged reflection, a “conscience block”)
Element 3 [PoLR]
Regarding aspects of this component, I don’t understand things – my ability to perceive and comprehend the information perceived is unclear. I rarely dare to express my opinion on these aspects, and only do so when I feel completely safe – i.e. if I’m sure the people around me are friendly. Through this element, I can perceive what is not good about my environment or within me, and the higher block is responsible for analyzing the situation. By this element, I observe changes in my surroundings as a result of the work of the upper block. I do not understand people’s actions and thoughts well. Any remark on aspects of this component makes me confused, and criticism puts me in a state of stress. I cannot even speak on aspects of this component for fear that I will get into a silly-looking, ridiculous position. I subconsciously perceive jokes related to aspects of this component as a hint of my clumsiness, incompetence, and inferiority. The only thing that I can do is express gratitude to people who improve my condition in these aspects through Element 4. When people pay extra attention or interest in this aspect of my personality, I perceive it as intrusive and tactless, like an aspiration to understand what I hide inside me and what I cannot understand myself. I only accept calm care, gratefully.
Element 4 [Role]
Regarding aspects of this element, I act with uncertainly. I prefer to act according to established, familiar methods, traditions, and schemes, and to do this work with the utmost carefulness and diligence. Independent, creative actions are unacceptable, as they can put me and my relatives in a difficult, ridiculous situation. When there are problems that I can’t solve, I prefer not to be the leader, but the follower. I often ask for help from others, quietly grumbling if something does not work. I can express my thoughts only in the form of cautious advice or gratitude for the help I receive.
Summary of the Creativity-Controlling Block
Regarding aspects of this block, what’s accepted and produced is weak. A person strives not to stand out from others, by applying patterns and norms that are tested by time and their own experience. However, this weakness is the strongest of stimuli for one’s self-improvement when they’re connected with animate and inanimate nature, as well as people similar to them. In these components, an individual has no sense of humor, does not understand jokes from others, or perceives them as insults – not only to themselves but also to their close ones. The degree of “security” of the personality on these aspects of relations depends on the volume of the accumulated patterns of behavior and the reactions and presence of friendliness on the part of surrounding people. Too much of a sensitive personality on these aspects will lead a person to a condition of long-term depression and even mental illness. Too low sensitivity (on these aspects) leads to excessive aggression and hyperactivity.
It is necessary to add a special mention about how one perceives works of art, since regardless of which block or functions the aspect of the perception of the harmony of forms, color, and music are in, a person is still able to feel and understand their beauty. These categories are, as it were, “extrinsic”. Obviously, there is some “unconditional” genetic programming here, which is characteristic of all higher living beings, especially humans. It is a language understandable to all types of people. At the same time, it is disharmony in art (“the art of decay”) that has the most destructive effect on the entire structure, coarsening, producing a “disorder” of the Creativity-Controlling [Super-Ego] block.
Labor-Controlling Block [Super-Id]
Element 5 [Mobilizing]
Regarding aspects of this element, I try to understand whether the demands coming from the person cooperating with me are accurate and if I understand them correctly. Are the claims, requests, and complaints people are making accurate? Am I understanding them correctly? Am I behaving correctly when dealing with every task in this element? I do not take a creative approach when perceiving information on aspects of this element but rely on the norms of perception that I’ve mastered and on people around me.
Element 6 [Suggestive]
Regarding aspects of this element, I do not make creative decisions but use mastered norms of actions. If I cannot do what is required, then I either complain with the language corresponding to the given aspect, or demand others to help me, and therefore, by all means accessible, show how difficult my position is surrounding the element. With particular sharpness, regarding this element, I show my critical position if I’m overloaded on the Creativity-Controlling [Super-Ego] block, because feeling overloaded blocks my creativity. Without feeling capable of creativity, I can no longer feel human.
Summary of the Labor-Controlling Block.
This block is also weak in acceptance and production. It can be called the block that is “connected to social conscience.”
Labor Block [Id]
Element 7 [Observing]
Regarding aspects of this element, the individual is most sensitive to accepting the directives of others. They have a good ability to accept information, but are not creative. The receiver entirely relies on the knowledge and experience of the person assigning them a “task”. One does not pay much attention to comments and criticism on aspects of this element, redirecting them – whether physically or mentally, to whoever in their group is issuing directives and taking responsibility for their correctness.
Element 8 [Demonstrative]
Regarding aspects of this element, this is where the individual is most effective at production. However, the individual is not very creative here because they perform these aspects according to directives. The individual works until they achieve the appropriate amount and quality of work specified by the person directing them, or until said person signals them to stop (usually in the form of thank you or an encouragement). Interestingly, the individual is usually not as inclined to be appreciated and rewarded for their work on their Creativity [Ego] block compared to the Labor [Id] block.
If the task is not solved, the individual incorporates the Creativity [Ego] block into their work. If even this does not help, the individual signals unhappiness through Element 6* [Suggestive]. If the person who issued the directive is dissatisfied with its execution, the person following the directive shows them that the directive itself was incorrect through signals on Element 6.
*Translator’s note: While Function 6 is usually the Mobilizing in modern Socionics literature, here it refers to the Suggestive.
Summary of the Labor [Id] Block
According to aspects of the elements of this block, the individual is not creative here and treats criticisms and comments calmly. They justify their calmness by the fact that their actions didn’t come from their own volition, but by the specific commands of someone ordering them. In case of criticism, the individual responds according to the aspects of Element 6. However, the individual themselves cannot assess the scope, quality, and sufficiency of the work they performed. This requires a signal from the person ordering them in the form of appreciation. The absence of such a signal leads to the continuation of labor and complaints on Element 6. This corresponds to our ideas about the principles of collective labor.
Note. Not only should we not forget about the unity of information flows, but also that different types of people use their functions differently, which causes differences in perception, and that these differences are the result of the specialization of people, and that this specialization is partly embedded in the genotype, and partly due to the specific flow of information perceived by a person from the first moments of life. We should not forget that personality formation ends in childhood. This is what served as the authors’ starting point in their work on the analysis of interpersonal relationships.
This is a brief description of the blocks and elements of the “human” system. It is not difficult to understand that inevitable, even minor deviations in the degree of sensitivity and resolution of the elements of the system in individual aspects of the components described earlier, lead to an exceptional diversity of characters of people, without violating the integrity of the systems themselves and descriptions of types, where the main characteristic features of the entire set of people are used, belonging to each specific type. The authors consider the opinion about the presence of “intermediate types” to be incorrect for the simple reason that mathematical study of the system and models showed that each type should contain 15 distinctive features*, and while 7 of them can be characteristic of two types, 8 are exclusive to any given type. Opinions about “intermediate types” arose due to incomplete studies of personalities, i.e. due to checking not by 15, but only by 4-7 signs. We did not attach mathematical studies to this material to reduce the length of this article.
* Translator’s note: These are referring to the Reinin Dichotomies.
Augusta Project 