Clarifying "Quadra Values"

"Quadra values" is one of many socionics terms that is repeated often and yet understood litte. I would like to venture a technological explanation of the term that will also help to clarify some of the roots of intertype relations.

Everyone acknowledges all socionic functions and believes they have a rightful place in life. For instance, who would object that people in a competition are trying to beat each other? Or who believes that people should never get mushy and sentimental when they're in love with someone? Or that people whose job it is to forecast should not speculate? No one objects when Alex Trebek (Jeopardy game show) bluntly tells people on his show that they are "incorrect." These are approaches that are inherent to the activity.

Thus, if your conflictor is ESE and you are exposed to him or her using  in an situation, it probably won't bother you, even though  is your "vulnerable function." What will bother you are uses of  in ambiguous situations or, even more importantly, in situations where you feel a different approach is more justified.

What differs fundamentally among quadras and types are responses to situations where a socionic function is being used outside the inherent domain of that function. For example, being robotlike in an interpersonal situation that demands sympathy and warmth, or appealing to personal sentiments in the context of scientific discourse. Or being overly individualistic and attention-getting when cooperation and trustworthiness are called for. If Alex Trebek continued to routinely tell people they are incorrect outside of his game show, many people would view him as being callous and rude (however, most duals will probably view this is a sign of admirable honesty and sincerity), even though it is perfectly acceptable in the context of Jeopardy.

Basically, if the function that is "overstepping" its bounds belongs to the quadra values (the four valued functions of the quadra, corresponding to the four base functions represented in the quadra), it is viewed as a "minor weakness," a "good joke," or a "sign of sincerity." If the function, however, is not among the quadra values (i.e. is one of the four "suppressed" functions), then overstepping the natural bounds of that function is viewed as "showing off," or as something counterproductive, malicious, or even sinister. 

Naturally, people view their own leading function as the most benign thing in the world and don't see anything wrong with applying it freely to just about anything. Then comes the suggestive function, which they may learn to grant the same range of expression (in others, at least) as they grant themselves in their leading function. Everything else, though, needs to be cropped, caged, and harnessed to make way for the free expression of these functions. So, while an ILE grants free reign in applying  and (if he's lucky) to nearly anything in the world, he sincerely believes must be limited to Mother's Day cards and eulogies. When he oversteps the natural bounds of , it's just "practice" or "fun and games," but one someone else oversteps the natural bounds of , it's a deadly sin. 

So, to recap, peoples' negative reactions to use of certain functions occurs when they perceive someone to be applying the wrong function for the situation. There's nothing inherently negative about one's vulnerable function; one is just particularly sensitive to overuse of this type of activity or approach.

"Dyad values"

Values differ somewhat within quadras as well. For instance, in Beta Quadra, the LSI and EIE dyad (dual types) are more forgiving of overdoing things with and  and a little less tolerant of overdone and , though they still remain generally sympathetic. 

Application

I believe this explanation has some constructive applications. For instance, if you want to avoid conflict, then try to resist natural, lazy impulses to overstep the natural bounds of your Ego functions, and instead try to appreciate (and possibly learn) the "best practices" inherent to each area you venture into rather than compulsively applying your leading function behavior to everything you see. Other types will be sure to point out your "errors."

Examples of Vulnerable Function Fixations

(continuation of previous post)

As you can see, fixations can be self-justifying or self-destructive. Every fixation in real life is quite specific; those listed below just indicate general areas where fixations can form.

ILE: "I will prove to them that I am nice to everyone" or "I will prove that I am a blundering ass"
SEI: "I will prove to them that I can be highly productive" or "I will prove that I am useless"
ESE: "I will prove to them that I can foresee events" (??) or "I will prove that I have no foresight"
LII: "I will prove to them that I can be nasty and aggressive" or "I will prove that I am defenseless"
EIE: "I will prove to them that I am healthy" or "I will prove that I am sick"
LSI: "I will prove to them that I see the whole picture" or "I will prove that I am narrow-minded"
SLE: "I will prove to them that I am nice" or "I will prove that I am heartless"
IEI: "I will prove to them that I can make money" or "I will prove that I am destitute"
SEE: "I will prove to them that I can follow rules" or "I will prove that I am unable to follow rules"
ILI: "I will prove to them that I have emotions" or "I will prove that I don't feel anything"
LIE: "I will prove to them that I am healthy and fit" or "I will prove that I am can't maintain my health"
ESI: "I will prove to them that I have potential" or "I will prove that I have no talents"
LSE: "I will prove to them that I know what's going to happen" or "I will prove that I have no thought for the future"
EII: "I will prove to them that I am disciplined" or "I will prove that I am hopelessly scattered"
IEE: "I will prove to them that I am logical" or "I will prove that I am illogical"
SLI: "I will prove to them that I am happy" or "I will prove that I am depressed"

A healthy vulnerable function isn't out to prove anything, but serves primarily as an area for personal reflection.

Vulnerable Function Fixations and Their Resolution

Excessive focus on the vulnerable (4th) function can lead to a sort of mental paralysis or unhealthy obsession that robs the individual of his spontaneity and ability to interact with others effectively. The person feels like he must prove something to the world and defend his right to exist on this planet. An intense, prolongued focus can probably lead to severe psychological problems. Most likely the solution (if the problem is not yet too severe) is to have the person move to a more favorable environment with "better" socionic types and responsibilities that activate his Ego and Super-Id functions more, thus drawing away focus from his unhealthy fixations.

Here are some different scenarios that create long-term distress for the vulnerable function, and their possible resolution:

Situation:
Someone in your immediate family or social or professional circles constistently criticizes you for not meeting their standards/expectations in the area of your vulnerable function and lets their opinion be known publicly. The situation is compounded severely if this person has a higher position of authority and you are somehow dependent on him or her.

Examples:

• An ESI parent criticizes an SLE child for being unkind and heartless and for being unable to get along with others.
• An LII criticizes an IEE for his ideological (political, religious, etc.) views and constantly reminds him publicly of the disagreement.
• Professionally oriented parents expect their SEI child to make wise professional choices based on financial and career prospects and stick to those decisions and criticize him for doing otherwise.
• No one believes that a LSE's business activities will lead anywhere, and they criticize him for trying to accomplish things too fast and not seeing all the intermediate steps that must be done first.

Response:
The "victim" has a deep sense that he or she has been wrongly judged and must correct the misunderstanding in order to continue his life. However, each attempt to explain the true situation to the "offender" fails, because the offender cannot see what the person is trying to get at, simply does not try hard enough to understand, or quickly forgets the point the "victim" was trying to make and repeats the criticism again later. If this continues long enough or if there are more than one person making the same criticism, the victim may feel like the whole world is against him and that he must prove to them that they are wrong about him. Then the person begans carrying the issue around him and "proving" it to people who couldn't care less, which makes them lose interest in him and alienates him even more.

Examples:

• The SLE talks to everyone about interpersonal ethics and tries to prove that interaction should be based on (for instance, challenging other people, making demands on them to see if they can perform them, and testing one's strength and will with those of others), not (for instance, being sensitive to people's feelings, avoiding potential sore spots, and distancing oneself from people with whom conflicts may arise). Obviously, few people will sympathize with this kind of viewpoint, so the more the SLE focuses on it, the fewer people like him. If the SLE makes agreement with this viewpoint a criterion for friendship, he will end up with few friends. The fixation on ethical issues leaves him unable to be spontaneous with his creative (generating logical reasoning off the top of his head for fun and being playfully combative in logical arguments, which is typical for SLEs), which is an SLE's key to establishing contact with other people.
• The IEE talks to everyone about his disagreements with the LII, trying to pick apart the LII's logical errors from a broader perspective and show that he is wrong, even when listeners aren't really interested in their disagreements. Since defining, elaborating, and defending viewpoints is not an IEE's strong point, the more he focuses on this, the less likeable he becomes to other people. Instead of the spontaneous, mild, and fun and accepting person that he could and "should" be, people begin to see him as an ideologically preoccupied person who is not much fun to be around. (Incidentally, LIIs -- who are naturally more ideologically focused than IEEs -- can forget about ideology in a second and respond to emotionally playful and engaging activities that have nothing to do with ideology. When an IEE is ideologically focused, however, it seems like a fixation, because the person does not respond well to other kinds of signals.) The fixation with keeps the IEE from seeing the people around him and responding creatively to the emotional canvas of each situation he is in (in short, creative ).
• The SEI talks to everyone about how life is not just about work and production, but also about enjoyment and following one's true desires. This is a mundane assertion to many people, and the more the SEI focuses on criticizing all people who value their corporate positions and who think first about financial and career benefits, the less people around him are able to sympathize with him and the more it seems like he has a chip on his shoulder. This "campaign" against "bad " saps the SEI of emotional energy that is better spent having fun and generating lively and stimulating interaction () with others, which is the SEI's main tool for building relationships with others.
• The LSE tells everyone of his business plans and how he is sure to achieve his objectives despite what other people say. He talks to others about his chosen way of making money and tries to prove that it really has great financial prospects. Most people aren't that interested, though, and wonder why he is pushing the issue so much. The LSE may seem obsessed and unhealthily single-minded, as if his whole plan for life depended on a single undertaking that seems like a gamble to most other people. This over-focus on what he believes his activities will lead to () leaves him unable to sufficiently focus on satisfying real needs that have already surfaced (), which is an LSE's greater strength. And if an LSE can't do that, then he has little basis to build relationships with other people.

NOTE: Here I have described situations where the "victim" tries to fight and disprove the criticism. However, sometimes people react the opposite way -- by purposely neglecting the criticized area. For instance, the SLE becoming even more mean and heartless, the IEE giving up all attempts to logically express his views, the SEI purposely doing unproductive things, or the LSE ignoring all preliminary steps even more than before. Ultimately, this drives others away just like the fixations described above.

Resolution:
The victim physically and emotionally distances himself from the offenders and gets involved with people from his own quadra who help to straighten out his values and self-perception and stimulate him to focus on his real strengths. Gradually the vulnerable function fixation dissipates, and over time the former "victim" recognizes the fixation and learns how to avoid such situations in the future.

Examples:

• The SLE moves away from home and gets involved with friends from his quadra who help him to see that it's more important to be fun, exciting, and vocal than nice and sensitive ( value vs. value) and who accept his challenging interaction style and welcome his logical abilities. Over time the SLE builds up his own rules of thumb for interacting with other people that are based on things like considering the logic of the situation ( = what kind of situation it is, what position each participant occupies within the situation, etc.) and welcoming and responding to displays of emotion whenever they come up. This helps him to ultimately address the weakness his parent had criticized and find the correct place for in his life while not focusing on it directly.
• The IEE distances himself physically from the LII and gets emotionally involved with friends who help him to see that it's more important to be productive and get things done effectively than to have the most correctly systematized point of view ( value vs. value) and who value his spontaneous insights and bring out the friendly and emotional side in him. Over time the IEE builds up his own rules of thumb for dealing with differences of opinion and logical disputes based on an understanding of the emotional aspect of the situation ( helps to recognize when the emotional distance is suitable for a deep discussion of viewpoints and when it is unsuitable) and attaching more value to discussions that lead to productive cooperation. This helps him to ultimately address the insufficiencies the LII and others had noted and find the correct place for in his life while not focusing on it directly.
• The SEI moves away from his parents and finds a more accepting social group that is fun to be in and helps him to see that it's more important to have a systematized concept of your activities than to try to obtain profit from everything ( value vs. value), and who value his relaxed and fun-loving nature more than his attempts at productivity. The SEI comes to realize he is liked more for his ability to get people involved and emotionally enlivened. Over time the SEI builds up his own rules of thumb for making professional choices based not on a direct profit-loss analysis but on an understanding of the emotional implications of his decisions and the positive support that organizational systems provide in his life ( and focus over ). By being part of a logical system where he also has fun and enjoys himself, he is able to resolve the productivity issues he had before and be part of a group that will take partial responsibility for his professional decisions.
• The LSE gets involved more closely with types with strong and who help him to see that it's more important to develop your personal potential (interests and talents) than to choose the right high-potential enterprise and put all your eggs in one basket ( value vs. value) and who value his ability to get useful things done. By considering different new and interesting areas that show potential, the LSE comes to realize that he had closed himself off to many interesting possibilities and had been ignoring tangible needs and achievable goals for the sake of a single illusory goal. By having strong types around him, the LSE can safely shift his focus from trying to see into the future to useful activities that satisfy real needs while being sure that others near him are picking up on high-potential areas of development and can give him the tips he needs to not fall behind the times.

"Openness" of the Mental Functions

If you look at the mental functions (1 through 4), there is a clear tendency for each function to be more restrictive than the previous one, with the 1st function most open to new information and the 4th function most closed.

The base function is open to new experience and is willing to consider pretty much any information that comes its way, even though this function forms opinions quickly and often categorically (and loves to exaggerate). The creative function has a considerably more restrictive view of reality and doesn't want to consider "useless" information corresponding to this aspect. The role function is more restrictive yet and "tries" to operate just enough to avoid major risks to one's well-being and social reputation. The vulnerable function barely tries to consider new information -- much less information that is clearly inapplicable to one's situation -- and only considers information that the individual has dealt with on a personal level.

Here are some scattered examples:

• IEEs and SEEs believe that all relationships should be good and don't want to invest in or waste time with those that aren't ideal or don't go anywhere (restrictions on 2 ). EIIs and ESIs do not shun "bad" relationships, but see them as an integral part of life that must be worked with and learned from (no limitations on 1 ).
• IEEs believe that people are the way they are and are worthy of study and understanding no matter what makes them tick (no limitations on 1). EIIs believe that people should strive towards certain ideals (restrictions on 2).
• LSEs and ESEs find recreation, enjoyment, and comfort very important, but try to "perfect" these activities by ridding them of unpleasant sensations (restrictions on 2). SEIs and SLIs are more open to experimenting with new sensations, even if not all turn out to be positive.
• ILIs and SLIs try to avoid doing any "useless" work and applying ineffective methods that don't bring any immediate returns (restrictions on 2). LIEs and LSEs are more open to experimenting with new methods to test their effectiveness, even if that means wasting energy and discovering dead ends.
• IEIs and SEIs try to brighten up the emotional atmosphere and avoid "negative" emotions (restrictions on 2). EIEs and ESEs are less likely to avoid or skirt heated negative emotional situations, because this is part of what life is about.
• ILEs are likely to ignore logical systems and classifications that they see as pointless or lacking in insightfulness (restrictions on 2), while LIIs are more open to considering any systems, perhaps to hone their logical thinking skills or to whet their mental appetite.
• IEEs and EIIs both don't appreciate coercive or overbearing behavior (who does, really?), but IEEs believe they personally need to be capable of coping with it effectively, while EIIs believe it should be eradicated altogether (greater restriction on 4 than on 3). Similarly, SEEs and SLEs have more open attitudes towards changeable, unpredictable, and finicky behavior in others and try to be prepared to deal with the unexpected in people and events, while ESIs and LSIs try to limit the possibility of unexpected changes in direction to a bare minimum (greater restrictions on 4 than on 3)