Theory

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Introduction

E-Types

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The Dimensions of Environmental Types

Like Jung's psychological typology, this taxonomy has been built on four underlying dimensions that serve as the warp and weft of environmental types.

Extraversion and Introversion

When examining the differences in presses or demands of environments, as related to personal extraversion and introversion, a type of duality is evidenced in the bipolar nature of the relative obtrusiveness. This pull/push of psychic energy by the environment has been tied directly to an individual's ability to make perceptions and interpretations.

An extraverted environment is full of salient stimulus energy and requires the attention and participation of the people in it. This type of environment "pulls" people into it and openly manages the exchange of psychic energy. The environment serves as a catalyst for a broad array of events and actions. It may be loud, noisy, bright and social.

An introverted environment allows individuals to regulate the level of the stimulation that they receive. By "pushing" management of the exchange of psychic energy back to the person, this type of environment would is more facilitative of private actions and individual functioning. It might be described as subdued, quiet, sedate, and reserved.

Judging and Perceiving

As related to individual perception and evaluation, environments also employ two interactive functions within the exchange: construction of a recognizable repertoire of elements and maintenance of a predictable level of organization. In other words, our individual perceptions must have some source of energy and our evaluations must make sense within a shared context.

A perceiving environment accentuates the elements that serve as sources of energy or stimulation. In some perceiving environments, the task of establishing a repertoire could be sufficiently challenging as to thwart any efforts at maintaining a consistent reality. Disorder and change would be conspicuous. As is sometimes the case with newly formed groups, environmental perception can provide confusion, as well as opportunities for growth.

A judging environment manifests orderliness and/or "plannedness", both in operation and organization. An environmental system (e.g., laws or customs) would function to maintain a coherent, collective reality. Occasionally, these systems could be so pervasive as to possess a life of their own. Modifying a judging reality could be difficult, if not impossible, in some instances.

Sensing and Intuition

The distinguishing characteristic of these two perceptive environmental functions follows a convergence/divergence dichotomy. In order that individuals are able to interact with it, does the environment require them to step-up and "sense the trees" or to step-back and "intuit the forest"?

The direct stimulus energy offered by existent environmental elements ( e.g., people, things, facts, or values) drives the sensing environment, and no movement occurs beyond them. Elements are identified for their immediate, practical applications and honed to the task. A primitive judging process would attempt to facilitate efficiency of operation, but might be quite tedious to learn.

By contrast, intuitive environments diverge from a focus on existent elements. Instead, energy flows from the broader relationships among elements. Diversity and experimentation would serve to stimulate continued generation of new environmental intuitions. Change may occur often because the "tried and true" would be rejected as confining. Creativity would be aided by a loose and simplistic judging reality.

Thinking and Feeling

For people to be able to make judgments about their behaviors, environments must maintain an underlying set of guidelines that govern their operation. Two approaches for maintaining a collective reality within an environment have been noted. One is the predominantly accepted, logical/ empirical approach to truth. The other is the lesser-discussed, value-oriented pole on the scale.

A thinking environment contains an objective set of logical operations that is based on a central, depersonalized truth or science. In the hierarchical thinking environment, psychic energy is treated as a finite resource. Competitiveness, skepticism and distrust might be conspicuous in this type of environment.

Feeling environments stress "connectiveness" in making judgments and are concerned with values and interpersonal interactions. A basic trust and warmth would be evident. This type of environment might be described as socially oriented, humanistic, or sentimental.


   

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