Plus and minus
===============

**Plus** and **minus** signs are a convention used by many socionists to
separate what are seen as two 'versions' of the same :doc:`IM element <elements>`, depending on which of two other elements it is
blocked with in the `type formula <model_a>` of a specific
socionic type.

For Alpha and Gamma, irrational functions are given + and rational
functions -, whereas for Beta and Delta, irrational functions are given
\- and rational functions +.

Overview
--------

.. list-table:: Plus and Minus
    :header-rows: 1

    * - Plus +
      - Minus -
    * - |Ne| + = |Ne| |Ti|
      - |Ne| - = |Ne| |Fi|
    * - |Ni| + = |Ni| |Te|
      - |Ni| - = |Ni| |Fe|
    * - |Se| + = |Se| |Fi|
      - |Se| - = |Se| |Ti|
    * - |Si| + = |Si| |Fe|
      - |Si| - = |Si| |Te|
    * - |Te| + = |Te| |Si|
      - |Te| - = |Te| |Ni|
    * - |Ti| + = |Ti| |Se|
      - |Ti| - = |Ti| |Ne|
    * - |Fe| + = |Fe| |Ni|
      - |Fe| - = |Fe| |Si|
    * - |Fi| + = |Fi| |Ne|
      - |Fi| - = |Fi| |Se|

Names
-----

The property in question has been given various names: + has been called
"short-range" and - has been called "long-range." However, these names
may not always correspond intuitively with the plain meaning of the
terms "short-range" and "long-range." For example, given these names, it
may not be apparent why Ethics becomes "long-range" when in the ego
block with Sensing, but "short-range" when in the ego block with
Intuition.

Better names might be *expanding* for + and *reducing* for -.

Implications
------------

One implication of assigning plus and minus signs is that it implies the
existence of some property linking various different IM elements. This
suggests that Intuition (in the presence of Logic) has something in
common with Sensing (in the presence of Ethics), and also with Logic (in
the presence of Sensing) and Ethics (in the presence of Intuition) -
namely, Intuition, Sensing, Logic and Ethics respectively have in common
some property of "plusness," whereas the IM elements they're paired with
(Logic, Ethics, Sensing, Intuition respectively) have in common
"minusness."

Criticism
---------

Numerous socionists see the practice of using plus and minus signs as
logically superfluous. Nevertheless, this system got quite a good rating
in the study :doc:`Portrait of a Modern Socionist <portrait_socionics>`.



External Links:
---------------

-  Excerpt from `Quadras and their Socio-psychological
   Characteristics <http://forum.thesocio.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4>`__
   by :doc:`Gulenko <gulenko>`

.. |Ne| image:: Symbol_i.gif
.. |Ti| image:: Symbol_l.gif
.. |Ni| image:: Symbol_t.gif
.. |Te| image:: Symbol_p.gif
.. |Fe| image:: Symbol_e.gif
.. |Se| image:: Symbol_f.gif
.. |Fi| image:: Symbol_r.gif
.. |Si| image:: Symbol_s.gif