Original Article in Russian

Accentuated Functions

The concept of accentuated functions, from psychology, is alien to socionics. The term “accentuation” was introduced by the German psychiatrist Carl Leonhard, who wrote the book “Accentuated Personalities” (1976). In it he presented his classification of accentuations, and gave examples of their manifestations in real people, as well as examples of characters in classical literature.

What is accentuation? It is an emphasized, sharpened personality trait, which distinguishes a person from other people by clearly discernable peculiarities of behavior. Accentuation is not a pathology, although it gives a person many inconveniences in life. To be fair, we must note that there is a possibility of accentuation transitioning into a pathological state under unfavorable conditions.

A study about accentuation was used by Aushra in the development of socionics typology. In particular, in the work “On the Dual Nature of Man” she conducted a simple comparison of Leonhard and Licko's accentuations with the 16 sociotypes. There turned out to be more types than accentuations, so Aushra left several lines of the table blank.

In Humanitarian Socionics it is believed that there is no such linear relation; therefore accentuation is not determined by type or its first function. In other words, in each type any function may be accentuated.

Based on my practice, I present the following necessary symptoms of an accentuated function:
· a strong manifestation in behavior,
· an energy imbalance,
· situational inadequacy.

The painfully sharpened function is commonly accompanied by anxiety, and even complexes. To wit, what you are fixated on, what gnaws at you, what you worry about and inopportunely attempt to actualize in your behavior, that is your accentuation. If you systematically and stressfully think about money and get involved in unproductive commercial projects, it's an accentuation of , if you think about unmotivated aggression, which you find difficult to restrain within yourself, it's an accentuation of , etc.

Attention! Do not fall into the error of the supporters of the informational paradigm, who believe that constant concentration of thought on some object or event leads to accentuation. On the contrary, already emergent accentuation is reflected in obtrusive thoughts.

Many especially talented representatives of the abstract sciences (mathematicians, computer programmers) have strong -accentuation (autism, deep sinking into their mental imagery to the point of ignoring of external reality). By all appearances, Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman (see photo) has this accentuation, to whom the Clay Institute (USA) awarded the Millenium Prize for his proof of Poincare's hypothesis.



If accentuation leads to genius, should we fight it? I think not. But in other cases, if one desires to remain in the community, it makes sense to change something, to correct it. One can "treat” unstable-excess mental functions, primarily, by balancing them. , for example, requires its equivalent . How does one establish balance between harmony of the abstract-mathematical and harmony of the concrete-aesthetic? Simply by not allowing slovenliness of clothing and neglect of the body. See this report about the lifestyle of a scientist, resembling the homeless: eg.ru/daily/melochi/9823/

Another way is to vent one's problematic energy outward. An example of this way may be the characteristic behavior of today's young people in many online communities, where many of its members present themselves in a sort of caricature, an exaggerated manner, having little in common with their real selves. In this manner, they remove stress from their accentuated functions for a while.