Type names

This article describes and explains various ways of naming types in socionics.

Full Type Names

The full type name for each socionics type is based on naming the Jungian dichotomies of:

  • the first and second function of the type: Ti/Te - Logical, Fi/Fe - Ethical, Ni/Se - Intuitive, Si/Se - Sensing.

  • the introverted-extraverted orientation of the first function: Ni, Ti, Si, Fi - Introvert or Introtim; Se, Ne, Fe, Te - Extravert or Extratim.

Warning

This is the basic and the minimum amount of information that is needed to identify a type.

On example of type with Ni in first function and Te in second function - ILI (Ni,Te) - the full name for this type would be Intuitive - Ni, intuition, as first function, Logical - Te, logic, in second function, Introtim - introverted intuition in first function. In this example, “Intuitive Logical” describes the nature of the first and second function that form this type’s ego block, and “Introtim” denotes the E/I-orientation of this type’s first function.

On example of type with Fe in first function and Si in second function - ESE (Fe,Si) - the full name of this type would be Ethical - Fe, ethics, as first function, Sensing - Si, sensing, as second function, Extratim - extraverted feeling in first function. Here “Ethical Sensing” describes the nature of the first and second function, and “Extratim” denotes the E/I-orientation of this type’s first function.

The following table lists full type names for 16 socionics types.

Full Type Names

Ego

Full type name

Ego

Full type name

(Ne, Ti)

Intuitive Logical Extrotim

(Si, Fe)

Sensing Ethical Introtim

(Fe, Si)

Ethical Sensing Extrotim

(Ti, Ne)

Logical Intuitive Introtim

(Se, Ti)

Sensing Logical Extrotim

(Ni, Fe)

Intuitive Ethical Introtim

(Fe, Ni)

Ethical Intuitive Extrotim

(Ti, Se)

Logical Sensing Introtim

(Se, Fi)

Sensing Ethical Extrotim

(Ni, Te)

Intuitive Logical Introtim

(Te, Ni)

Logical Intuitive Extrotim

(Fi, Se)

Ethical Sensing Introtim

(Ne, Fi)

Intuitive Ethical Extrotim

(Si, Te)

Sensing Logical Introtim

(Te, Si)

Logical Sensing Extrotim

(Fi, Ne)

Ethical Intuitive Introtim

Three-Letter Type Codes

The three-letter code simply takes the first letter of each word of the full name of the type to create a 3-letter abbreviation. The following is a table of 16 types of the socion represented by three-letter codes:

Three-Letter Type Codes

Ego

Code

Ego

Code

(Ne, Ti)

ILE

(Si, Fe)

SEI

(Fe, Si)

ESE

(Ti, Ne)

LII

(Se, Ti)

SLE

(Ni, Fe)

IEI

(Fe, Ni)

EIE

(Ti, Se)

LSI

(Se, Fi)

SEE

(Ni, Te)

ILI

(Te, Ni)

LIE

(Fi, Se)

ESI

(Ne, Fi)

IEE

(Si, Te)

SLI

(Te, Si)

LSE

(Fi, Ne)

EII

Three-letter codes are the most common way of denoting types. Some people who get involved with socionics prefer to use the 3-letter type codes to other type naming conventions for several reasons.

  • They are short and quick to write, saving time in typing and space in text and presentations.

  • Unlike 4-letter codes, they are not likely to get confused for MBTI types, which are also denoted by 4 letters, opening doors to potential confusion.

  • Unlike type pseudonyms, such as “Dumas” or “Hamlet”, they don’t create opportunities to mistake the properties of socionics TIMs for biographical details and personal characteristics of the personages and historical personalities after which they were named.

Their drawback, of course, is that it takes some time and practice to memorize the 3-letter codes, especially for people coming to Socionics with a background in MBTI.

Four-Letter Type Codes

In English-speaking socionics communities sometimes four-letter codes are used instead of the more orthodox three-letter coding. The letters for the four-letter names are derived from Carl Jung’s original dichotomies: Intuition-Sensing, Feeling-Thinking, Introversion-Extroversion, and Judging-Perceiving.

Jungian dichotomies and letter symbols

Dichotomy

either

or

Extroversion-Introversion

E (Extrovert)

I (Introvert)

Intuition-Sensing

N (Intuitive)

S (Sensing)

Logical-Ethical

T (Logical)

F (Ethical)

Judging-Perceiving

j (Judging)

p (Perceiving)

The functions that are called “judging” in MBTI and in the works of Carl Jung, Thinking and Feeling – are called Rational in Socionics. The functions that are called “perceiving” in MBTI and Jung’s writing, Intuition and Sensing – are known as Irrational in Socionics.

In Socionics 4-letter type names the last j/p letter is always determined by the nature of the first or leading function of the type.

  • If the 1st function of the type holds a rational (judging) element T/F, then the last letter is ‘j’.

  • If the 1st function of the type holds an irrational (perceiving) element N/S, then the last letter is ‘p’.

The last ‘j’ and ‘p’ letters of Socionics 4-letter type names constitute a Socionics dichotomy called Rationality-Irrationality.

  • Types that have a rational (judging) aspect F or T as their leading function are called Rational types.

  • Types that have an irrational (perceiving) aspect N or S as their leading one are called Irrational types.

For example, type ILI (Ni,Te) has the first function of Ni, which is a perceiving (irrational) element. Thus, in 4-letter type nomenclature this type is denoted as INTp, with the last letter ‘p’ denoting the perceiving element positioned in this type’s first or leading function. The type INTp (ILI) is one of the irrational types in Socionics.

On example of type LII (Ti,Ne) that has the first function of Ti: since this type’s first function is occupied by a judging (rational) element Ti, this type is denoted as INTj, with the last letter ‘j’ denoting the rational (judging) nature of its leading function. The type INTj (LII) is one of the rational types in Socionics.

The above forms a distinction between Socionics 4-letter codes and MBTI 4-letter codes. The J/P letter in MBTI is determined on basis of highest order extroverted function of the type, which for introverted types is not the same as the first function. For instance, the type that has Ni as its first function and Te as its second function in MBTI is denoted as INTJ, with a “J” as the last letter, since its highest order extroverted function is Te - a judging element - while this type is denoted as INTp in socionics, having a perceiving function (Ni) as the first one.

In summary:

  • In Socionics, the last j/p letter is always determined by the first or leading function.

  • In MBTI, the last J/P letter is always determined by the highest order extraverted function - which is not the same as the first function for introverted types.

Warning

The above is one of the reasons why MBTI 4-letter codes cannot be converted letter-for-letter to Socionics 4-letter codes.

To highlight this difference, Socionics 4-letter type codes are written with a lower case “j” or “p” at the end to distinguish Socionics type names (e.g. INFj, ENTp) from MBTI type names that have J/P as a capital letter (e.g. ESFP, ISTJ) (although some socionists like Reinin initially used all capital letters).

4-letter codes

3-letter

4-letter

3-letter

4-letter

ILE

ENTp

SEI

ISFp

ESE

ESFj

LII

INTj

SLI

ESTp

IEI

INFp

EIE

ENTj

LSI

ISTj

SEE

ESFp

ILI

INTp

LIE

ENTj

ESI

ISFj

IEE

ENFp

SLI

ISTp

LSE

ESTj

EII

INFj

Four-letter codes are very often found in English-speaking socionics websites, and less frequently on Russian-speaking socionics websites. The popularization of this system of nomenclature among the English-speaking socionics community is often accredited to Sergei Ganin.

Benefits of 4-letter code type denominations:

  • They make it easier to remember dichotomies and intertype relations.

  • They allow to specify groups of types more concisely (e.g., Ij for introverted rational type, or simply N for intuitive types).

  • They are easier to remember for people who are already familiar with MBTI notations and are learning Socionics ones. Three-letter codes, in comparison, take some time and practice to memorize. For this reason, Socionics articles written to target English-speaking audience will often use four-letter codes to denote types, rather than three-letter codes, symbols, or type pseudonyms.

Drawbacks:

  • Four-letter codes can encourage dichotomous typing, which can cause misinterpretation of contradictory properties.

  • They are easy to confuse with Myers-Briggs types, especially if care is not taken to write the last letter in lower case. This may result in erroneous conceptions regarding the nature and characteristics of types in Socionics.

Two-Letter Codes

The two letter-codes were created by Victor Gulenko. They are even shorter than the traditional 3-letter codes, as they use 1 letter to denote the first two functions of the type. This is the most concise type naming system used in socionics that uses letters or words. It is essentially equivalent to using the symbols associated with the first two functions.

The letter associated with each IM element is the first letter of words whose meaning is closely related to the use of the element. This endows this naming system with an advantage that it can be used internationally, since the names are in Latin letters and are derived from Latin roots.

Elements are denoted by the Latin letters F, I, P, E, S, T, L and R.

Codes for Elements

Element

Letter

Name

Related words

Se

F

factor

force, fact

Ne

I

intueor

insight, inspire, idea

Te

P

profiteor

profit, produce

Fe

E

emoveo

emotion, express

Si

S

sensus

sensation, sense

Ni

T

tempus

time, temporal

Ti

L

lex

logic, law

Fi

R

relatio

relate, relation

two-letter codes

3-letter

2-letter

3-letter

2-letter

ILE

IL

SEI

SE

ESE

ES

LII

LI

SLE

FL

IEI

TE

EIE

ET

LSI

LF

SEE

FR

ILI

TP

LIE

PT

ESI

RF

IEE

IR

SLI

SP

LSE

PS

EII

RI

Geometric Symbol and Function Names

Socionics types can be named by specifying the first and the second element of the given type’s ego block. This is enough information provided to identify the type. These elements can be written as letters (e.g. NeFi) or as symbols (e.g. Ne Fi). Some socionists prefer not to use the IE shapes nomenclature, considering it to be hard to adjust to for beginners and not a serious approach to terminology.

The symbols used to denote the first and second functions of the type are as follows:

  • Sensing ( Se / Si ) is portrayed by a circle, representing the entirety of reality.

  • Intuition ( Ne / Ni ) is portrayed by a triangle which fits inside the circle, but has sharp points of “insight”.

  • Logic ( Te / Ti ) is portrayed by a square, representing logical thought and reason.

  • Ethics ( Fe / Fi ) is portrayed by a square with a ‘chip’ taken out of it, representing partiality and a rejection of reason alone.

These symbols were chosen by A. Augusta to reflect certain qualities of perception associated with each element. For instance, the extraverted elements are shaded in, representing characteristics of objects, while introverted ones are empty, representing the inner space of the subject.

English nicknames

English nicknames are translations of similar type names used by many Russian socionists. The idea behind these names is to capture a common social role or common characteristics displayed by people of the type. These names have not caught on very well in English-language socionics, in which the three- and four-letter codes are much more popular. These nicknames can be seen at summary chart of type names.

Summary Chart of Socionics Type Names

Navigating through competing terminology in socionics can be difficult. Here is a chart with all type naming systems that the reader is likely to ever encounter. The most official and universally recognized names are the names in bold (with links to type descriptions).

Summary Chart of Type Names

Ego elements

Full name

3l

4l

2l

nicknames

pseudonyms

Ne, Ti (Ne Ti)

Intuitive Logical Extratim

ILE

ENTp

IL

Seeker, Inventor

Don Quixote

Si, Fe (Si Fe)

Sensing Ethical Introtim

SEI

ISFp

SE

Mediator, Peacemaker

Dumas

Fe, Si (Fe Si)

Ethical Sensing Extratim

ESE

ESFj

ES

Enthusiast, Bonvivant

Hugo

Ti, Ne (Ti Ne)

Logical Intuitive Introtim

LII

INTj

LI

Analyst

Robespierre

Fe, Ni (Fe Ni)

Ethical Intuitive Extratim

EIE

ENFj

ET

Actor, Mentor

Hamlet

Ti, Se (Ti Se)

Logical Sensing Introtim

LSI

ISTj

LF

Inspector, Pragmatist

Maxim Gorky

Se, Ti (Se Ti)

Sensing Logical Extratim

SLE

ESTp

FL

Conqueror, Legionnaire, Marshal

Zhukov, Beetles

Ni, Fe (Ni Fe)

Intuitive Ethical Introtim

IEI

INFp

TE

Romantic, Lyricist

Esenin, Tutankhamun

Se, Fi (Se Fi)

Sensing Ethical Extratim

SEE

ESFp

FR

Politician, Ambassador

Napoleon, Caesar

Ni, Te (Ni Te)

Intuitive Logical Introtim

ILI

INTp

TP

Critic, Observer

Balzac

Te, Ni (Te Ni)

Logical Intuitive Extratim

LIE

ENTj

PT

Enterpriser, Pioneer

Jack London

Fi, Se (Fi Se)

Ethical Sensing Introtim

ESI

ISFj

RT

Guardian, Conservator

Dreiser

Te, Si (Te Si)

Logical Sensing Extratim

LSE

ESTj

PS

Director, Administrator

Stirlitz, Sherlock Holmes (rare)

Fi, Ne (Fi Ne)

Ethical Intuitive Introtim

EII

INFj

RI

Empath, Humanist

Dostoevsky, Watson (rare)

Ne, Fi (Ne Fi)

Intuitive Ethical Extratim

IEE

ENFp

IR

Psychologist, Reporter

Huxley, Tom Sawyer (rare)

Si, Te (Si Te)

Sensing Logical Introtim

SLI

ISTp

SP

Craftsman, Artisan

Gabin