User:Tcaudilllg/Viktor Gulenko

Viktor Gulenko is a clinical psychologist and sociologist. He identifies himself as a socionist and is the chairperson of the Humanitarian Socionics Institute in Kiev, Ukraine.

Work

Gulenko has emerged as a leading figure in socionics. He is the 2nd most cited socionist (after Aleksandr Boukalov) in peer reviewed publications (citation needed) and is respected for making a number of important discoveries. Gulenko has offered a number of hypotheses, including the "DCHN" subtype system, the first such system to be empirically validated. (cite Boukalov here)

Gulenko considers himself an analytical psychologist and a disciple of Carl Gustav Jung. In his work he has sought to bring clarity to Jung's assertions and to show how socionics can justify them.

Early achievements

Gulenko assisted Aushra Augustinaviciute in the production of two vital components of Model A, the function order and the sign system.

Function Order

Gulenko discovered the order of information flow between functions. According to him, function processing begins with the base function and proceeds through the creative, role, and vulnerable functions and back to the base. The vital track functions may be accessed temporarily through a relationship between dual functions. Gulenko cites neurological research when he asserts that processing through the vital track is hampered by lower psychic energy levels compared to processing in the mental track. (citation needed)

Sign

main article: Model B (socionics)

The sign system attributes a modulus to each function of either positive or negative. The modulus is seen as a modifying "subfunction" which allows each function in Model A to specialize itself for work with either of its possible partners. For example, introverted feeling can pair with either extroverted intuition or extroverted sensing, which in turn modulates the form of introverted feeling into something that is coherent with either intuition or sensing. The same goes for the partner: extroverted intuition must be modulated into something compatible with introverted feeling. The modulation is effected by taking the function's general definition and subtracting all elements of the definition which cohere with the function opposite the partner. Introverted feeling is concerned both with attitudes and motivations: motivations pair with potential/opportunity and attitudes toward a thing pair with one's experience of it. Therefore to deduce the form of introverted feeling with extroverted intuition, it is necessary to ignore the attitude-relevant components and focus only on the motivation-relevant aspects.

Gulenko signs functions based on whether they exalt processes or results when paired with a particular partner. For example, extroverted feeling, when paired with introverted intuition, always focuses on compensating for a lack of good emotions. It is concerned with setting a tone, and is engaged in the process ("+") of effecting it. Introverted intuition, in contrast, is concerned with the behavioral response to the stimulation offered by extroverted intuition: it observes the results the activity, and gets a "-".

DCHN

In (cite year), Gulenko proposed a series of sub-categorizations to account for variations in behavior between people of the same type. According to Gulenko, these categorizations are necessary because functional strength, represented in terms of frequency of usage, can differ. (cite) The DCHN is itself an extension of an earlier subtype system, also proposed by Gulenko, which distinguished between "accepting" and "producing" subtypes.

Dominant

A person whose base function is strongest is said to be dominant. Dominant people are said to have stronger resolve than the other types, and make the best leaders.

Creative

A person whose creative function is strongest is said to be creating. Creative people focus on generating new ideas, but tend to give ground to the dominant in an argument.

Harmonizing

Harmonizing people have a strong vulnerable function, and as such feel uncomfortable in an argument. They try to mediate and bring disagreeing parties together.

Normalizing

Normalizing people focus on stability.

Other systems

Gulenko has proposed other extensions to socionics beyond DCHN. In a 1990 paper, Gulenko proposed the existence of 16 "counter-types" opposite the sixteen identified by Augustinaviciute. Gulenko argues that the functions of these types process information differently and have different behavior and thinking from the other 16. In 1989, Aleksandr Boukalov cited the human shadow or inner function circuit as being describable using the counter-types paradigm. (cite)

Multiple types

In a 2000 paper, Gulenko proposes the existence of two or more types in one person.Particularly, he proposes that numerous intra-type differences can be explained by proposing a second dimension of personality which has processing functions of its own. Socionists have argued for the existence of functional "accentuation" factors since the 1980s to account for these differences. However, Gulenko is the first to assert that some deviations are due to the existence of another dimension of personality completely.

In recent years, Gulenko has been publishing his research on this second type on his professional blog in advance of a formal paper. He has concluded that it is a processor of energy, as opposed to information, and concerns the efficacy level of the person when dealing with various tasks. Gulenko argues that the energy type pairs with the information metabolizing type to yield one of 256 combinations, each of which entail a specific set of aptitudes/ineptitudes. The research stands to be highly influential, having applications in career placement, psychotherapy, and informatics. Additionally, it brings clarity to some questions concerning the function order, explaining how information aspects can be processed in apparent violation of the functional succession rules. (the violating aspects are not information aspects at all, but aspects of energy whose processing functions are unrelated to the functions of the information metabolizing type or their ordering).