The chapters which follow describe, in greater detail, the polar extremes of the three basic dimensions of personality. At the outset, it must again be emphasized that, according to the theory, the dimensions of personality, considered singly, do not constitute major determinants of personality structure or personality development. True individual differences in structure are thought to depend on the particular pattern of primitive tendencies which are inherent in the individual. On the other hand, his development is determined, in theory, by these combined factors interacting with his acquired compensatory and modifying activities. Before such interaction can be described, however, some understanding of the attributes associated with each of the primitive tendencies is necessary, so that their respective contributions to the interaction can become increasingly meaningful, and their combined influence on human behavior and experience can be better understood.
The present chapter is devoted to the Externalizer and the Internalizer, respectively. It includes sections which describe their inherent tendencies and concomitant attributes, the general course of their personality development, and the nature and direction of their acquired compensations.
The Externalizer and the Internalizer
The Externalizer-Internalizer continuum is regarded as the component of personality which is most intimately associated with an individual's intellectual endowment. It is therefore referred to as the "intellectual variable in the structure of his personality. This dimension is thought to have direct bearing on both the quality and content of the individual's mental activity, as well as on the ways in which such activities are utilized. The Externalizer and the Internalizer are the polar extremes of the dimension, and are diametrically opposed to one another in connection with the respective areas of awareness to which they are attuned, and the kind and quality of behavior with which they are predisposed to respond.
A similar oppositional tendency characterizes the polar extremes of the Rigid-Flexible and the Role Adaptive-Role Uniform dimensions of personality. The inherent differences In all such polar opposites include the kinds of stimuli to which they are sensitive, end the types of responses which are induced; the types of satisfactions which they seek, and the ways in which they seek them; their major sources of threat, and the quality of their resulting defensiveness; the course of their development, and the content and direction of their acquired adjustments; their proneness to mental and physical malfunctioning; and. the quality of the inter, intra, and impersonal environments which facilitate or hamper optimal functioning.
The term "primitive" refers, by theoretical definition, to the personality tendencies regarded as present at birth, which exert powerful influences on the directions of development, whether or not they remain in awareness.