Basic e*f*u* (IcRcAc)
     
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Preface to the 64 Basic Types   What this page is a part of.
Interpretative Notes to the 64 Basic Types   Read these before reading any of the types!

This is the most tension-producing adjustment of the primitive IRA orientation since it is, in effect, a reaction formation. In spite of this, it is the most common adjustment of the primitive cluster and an is a generally satisfactory and an efficient solution.

Among those with high intelligence, this is the pattern of the true intellectual. At average and and lower levels, the e*f*u* tends to be a cautious sensitive person who places great importance on his ability to be feeling and relating. To a large extent, the e*f*u* tries to be a selfless person who dedicates his life to learning how to understand and help others. He feels very guilty and disturbed by any tendency on his part to be self-centered, selfish, and self-seeking. He avidly learns techniques for observing and remembering the things that go on around him; he learns and tries to apply all possible methods of developing insight and understanding. He is particularly interested in the improvement of mankind, in general. The e*f*u*, obviously, is an idealist, but his effectiveness ranges all the way from total unrealism to highly complex theoretical productivity. The philosophical idealist usually comes from this cluster and, as such, he is very wary of the empiricist and the naturalist and is very careful not to be inductive in his reasoning.

While the i*f*u* [EcRcAc] is often similar, he is much more intensely intellectualized. He, too, is threatened by his tendency to be tempted by empirical-naturalistic data and becomes negativistic to this sort of stimuli. The e*f*u*, in contrast, is much less negativistic because denial is not necessary for him. Empirical-naturalistic stimuli simply do not exist for him; therefore, anyone who claims that it does exist is either a charlatan, or a hypocrite. Self-weakness, the tendency toward idle thoughts, mind wandering, and purposeless existence is much more threatening for the e*f*u*. He tries to be an active, independent person who disciplines his body and his mind in order to be socially productive. Learning, study, planned experience, and theoretical evaluation are, for him, the means to creative living. Life is the search for truth, and truth can be obtained only by rational, objective, and scientific study. The pragmatist is likely to be influenced by his own needs; his ideas and beliefs distorted by his own objectivity. Essentially, this is also true for the e*ra, [IcRuAu] a response pattern the e*f*u* actively avoids. It is less true for the i*fu [EcFuUu] or i*f*u* [EcRcAc] who, we believe, have a sensitivity and an perceptivity to external events that is lacking in the e*f*u* and the i*fu. [EcFuUu] However, the e*f*u* is indifferent to the i*fu [EcFuUu] - because he "knows" that the latter is wrong. The i*f*u*, [EcRcAc] on the other hand, is extremely hostile toward the i*fu, [EcFuUu] because he threatens to subvert the i*f*u* [EcRcAc] adjustment.

The e*f*u* does not take the active social role of the e*f*a. [IcRcAu] Indeed, he is opposed to the social effectiveness of the e*f*a [IcRcAu] because he believes him to be too much influenced by the needs and desires of the group. The e*f*u* has much more need to change society than to conform to it. As a result, he is much concerned with how things should be, and less concerned with learning how to adjust to life as it is. Missionaries, political scientists, organization and management specialists, economists, jurists, and psychotherapists are fairly common in this cluster. Conventionality, in the sense that they learn and apply the traditional, the tried, and the authority-based solutions, is characteristic of the e*f*u*, but this does not include conformity. The e*f*u* is usually an active reformer who wants to do what is right, proper, and just.

The e*f*u* is considerably more intense than the e*f*a*, [IcRcUc] although both tend to drive themselves in order to avoid lassitude and passivity. The e*f*a [IcRcAu] can get considerable satisfaction from his social activity and becomes fatigued and discouraged when he fails to live up to his responsibilities on the job or to his family. The e*f*u* is much more prone to disillusionment, discouragement, and an depression. His sense of responsibility is much wider for it includes all mankind. His failure to have the influence he feels he should have, the failure of people to live up to his expectations, or his own loss of energy and drive tend to disturb and, often, disable him. Fatigue states and tension disorders of all kinds are common in this pattern. Because of his reliance on ideas, concepts, and abstractions as a means of explaining life, paranoid delusions of a megalomaniacal nature may occur in some e*f*u* individuals. Since, at best, he is an intense, dedicated person who feels the need for change or correction, it is not unusual for the e*f*u* to be forthright and even combative in expressing his feelings and attitudes.

Most of the discussion above applies to e*f*u* in the upper ranges of intellectual capacity. In the middle and an below average ranges, there is a tendency for the e*f*u* to become very involved with movements for social change and social benefit. Many e*f*u* will be very active in religious and an fraternal organizations that have social welfare and humanitarian aims. These people are also very active in taking courses that provide training in leadership, supervision, personality development, public speaking, and other forms of intellectual discipline. Mystical and philosophical groups also attract many from this cluster, although they do not have the same fascination for this group as for the i*f*a*. [EcRcUc] Generally speaking, the middle level e*f*u* is humanitarian, sentimental, and conventional. He takes his religion, patriotism, and family responsibilities very seriously.