Basic eru* (EuRuAc)

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The primary characteristics of people in the b (eru) [EuRuUu] cluster are behavioral activity, a tendency to be fickle in attention, weak verbal memory, and mental inferiority feelings. Such persons like to be on the go and are inclined to become involved with the immediate individuals and events of their external environment. Usually, however, the eru* reacts negatively to this need; consequently, he will be hostile toward and rejecting of, social-interpersonal involvements. The eru* is also obvious in the way he denies authority and defies social conventions. Such a person may be quite effective in learning manual or mechanical activities and, if given the opportunity, will engage spontaneously in this sort of behavior. However, it should be borne in mind that his negativism pushes him toward activities denied to him by his surrogates and authority figures. Antisocial behavior and dangerous activities are, therefore, not uncommon.

The eru* dislikes isolation, but, at the same time avoids conventional and accepted social groups. He actively avoids sensory deprivation and will become aggressive and hostile toward attempts to limit his activity and mobility. He is liable in affect and prone to showing his feelings as he experiences them. However, he will consciously deny and react against positive feelings; thus, much of his affect is negative and hostile.

The eru* has the ability to learn by rote the methods and procedures necessary to maintain some order in his relationships to, and contacts in the milieu in which he operates. However, he has a need to choose independently the sphere in which he operates; consequently, he has little adaptability or versatility. When his mode of adjustment is established, it is little influenced by experience or training. Oddly enough, like the era, [EuRuAu] he is dependent upon external guidance and control both for the rituals he requires for effective performance and for the appropriateness of these rituals to any given situation. The difference is that the era [EuRuAu] responds to almost any discipline or control; the eru* had limited ability for either intellectual or emotional insight and is likely to be actively self-centered, self-seeking, and lacking in self-discipline.

He is particularly sensitive to social-interpersonal requirements and is experienced in being invited into and made a part of a group. A particular characteristic is his tendency to anticipate acceptance and to reject it in a hostile way even before it is offered. Since he has limited sensitivity, he is not particularly clever in differentiating between real and imagined overtures; as a result, he reacts as though every overture is a real, and friendly one. The adjustment of the eru* is somewhat precarious due to the hostility and aggression of the pattern. As in the era, [EuRuAu] adjustment is a function of the extent of which the individual can exploit the advantages of his orientation and avoid the problems of its disadvantages. The basic advantage is the ability to perform manual-manipulative task effectively and efficiently with a minimum of interference from social-interpersonal demands. The disadvantages include an inability to perform intellectual tasks efficiently and the inability to be productive and effective under unacceptable external guidance, control, and discipline.