One of the fundamental problems of psychology is the typology of personality. The pioneer in the analysis of this issue was C. Jung. He tried to trace and identify various types of people, carefully examining this problem in his book "Psychological types", which became a classic in psychology. Many other scientists also have their own view on the classification of people, depending on some features.
In most cases, a person is considered as a whole subject, which differs from others not only in such individual characteristics as temperament or character, but also in a specific way of life and perception of the environment, as well as world outlook, value system, etc.
Jung associated typological differences with factors such as the predominance of any mental function and the dominance of one of the attitudes of consciousness in the activity of the personality psyche. So, he singled out extroverted and introverted people. The first type is individuals who are guided mainly by external factors and events. Introverts, on the contrary, are aimed at their inner world, feelings, emotions. Moreover, Jung's understanding of these characteristics differs from the way Eysenck interpreted them, who identified types of temperaments. The scientist, like his followers, believes that the phases of extraversion and introversion can change throughout life. In Jung's understanding, this is only the main focus of consciousness. In more detail, these characteristics are studied by such types of psychology as differentiated and social.
The next factor, according to Jung, which influences the typology of personality, is the maximum manifestation of one of the main mental functions (thinking, intuition, feelings, sensations). The scientist suggested that in human life one of them can become the main one, the other - auxiliary, and the two remaining can be undeveloped and act only at the level of unconsciousness. Based on this criterion, the following personality typology is distinguished. The mental form, primarily in the perception of the world, is based on rational judgments. An emotional type is characterized by an ethical assessment of the environment. An intuitive person will rely on a completely unconscious, but holistic understanding that has appeared in her. Touch facts are important facts and their own impressions. Since each of the listed species can be an extrovert or an introvert, Jung’s personality typology identifies and characterizes 8 groups of people.
At one time, Pavlov also made an attempt to divide people according to their psychological characteristics. In his studies, he relied on the types of nervous activity that he identified. In his classification, a person can be thoughtful, average, and artistic. The basis is the features of the perception of the world and the organization of human activity. Such a typology of personality distinguishes a thinking person, for whom reasonableness is characteristic, a detailed analysis of what happened to him, abstract logical thinking predominates .
The artistic person has very bright emotions, her imagination is developed. Such people are characterized by spontaneity and following their feelings. In the middle type (such people are the majority), one or another type of perception of the world slightly prevails. Moreover, in the latter case, the upbringing and social environment of the individual plays an important role. Typically, features begin to manifest in adolescence, when it is already possible to determine the choice of a further profession.
Theories that describe groups of people with common features characteristic of them are widely studied by students not only in humanitarian fields, but also in economics, law, etc. For example, the psychology of the personality of a criminal is based precisely on the typology of individuals.