The compensated Internalizer attempts to present a completely externalized picture to the world, and, if he has repressed his primitive "I-ness" with sufficient strength, also to himself. He is predominantly perceptual in awareness and response; his orientation is externalized, environmentally relating, aid interpersonally involving. He has adopted the role of the Externalizer as if it were his own, but he is under tension because his primitive and acquired tendencies are in constant conflict. The moderately compensated primitive Internalizer is symbolized as an [e*=Ic]. The more extreme case is represented by an [e*+=Ic+]. Both are individuals who were passive and intellectually oriented as children, and were pressured into active, perceptually dominant adolescence.
As contrasted with the uncompensated internalized states, the outstanding attribute of the compensated Internalizer is the development and application of self-generated and self-sustained control to his own intellectual activities. To escape from the strong feelings of guilt and insecurity which have become associated with his primitive adjustment, the [e*=Ic], and, to an even greater extent, an [e*+=Ic+], is compelled to uphold his externalized compensation and to protect it from internal and external threat.
Like the [i*=Ec] and [i*+=Ec+], the [e*=Ic] and the [e*+=Ic+] are tension and anxiety prone, and inclined to depression. The [e*=Ic] adaptations, however, will experience depression in a characteristically inwardly-directed, essentially private way, because he remains an Internalizer despite his own determined protests to the contrary. He will also tend to moodiness, attempting to avoid apathy and to ward off depression by over-activity.
Like the [e*=Ic], the [i*=Ec] has not succeeded in replacing his primitive tendency with his compensatory activities, though he has been able to mask them. His inherent internalized abilities, therefore, are not destroyed, and, depending on the strength of his defenses, are at least potentially available. The [e*+=Ic+] will have less recourse to them than will the [e*=Ic], because he has invested them with more Intense feelings of guilt and inferiority, and any acknowledgment of their existence will provoke more extreme anxiety. The commitment of the [e*+=Ic+] to the external environment is therefore more intense than that of the [e*=Ic]. Because of the greater threat which his primitive tendency holds for him, the [e*+=Ic+] has adopted a virtually fanatic belief in, and adherence to, an ideational way of life. Like that of the [i*+=Ec+] his self-picture approximates the delusional.
The [e*=Ic], like the [i*=Ec], has achieved a suppressed adaptation. The [e*+=Ic+], like the [i*+=Ec+] state, is a repressed mode of adjustment, defended by denial and reaction-formation. The [e*+=Ic+] is highly sensitive to manifestations of internalized awareness in others, and is apt to respond with negativism and hostility. He cannot endure inactivity. In the physical areas of expansion, he will undertake sustained, well-defined, and purposeful activities. In intellectual spheres, his involvements will be active, veil-disciplined, and, because of his need to emphasize relatedness to cover his underlying self-sufficiency, often useful socially. The [e*+=Ic+] is often idealistic and humanitarian in his undertakings, to add greater conviction to the quality of his interpersonal involvements.
Since the [e*+=Ic+], like the [i*+=Ec+] often maintains his equilibrium, through repression, both suffer from a high degree of tension, of which they are characteristically unaware. However, since the [i*+=Ec+] is really an Externalizer, he is more overt in manifesting his true feelings, so that his tension is quite apparent to others, even though he himself denies it. The [e*+=Ic+], on the other hand, hides the effects of tension, in line with the inherent preference of the Internalizer for the more covert forms of expression. He may, in fact, succeed in appearing to be exceptionally calm.
Under stress, tension will tend to increase in both the [e*+=Ic+] and the [i*+=Ec+] orientations. Their acquired adjustments have been almost exclusively in a direction which is opposed to their primitive adaptations, and both are unconsciously but acutely threatened by any manifestations of regressive behavior. For this reason, the physical conditions and malfunctioning which are sometimes referred to as "tension disorders" are thought to be most prevalent in basic adjustments of this type. The [i*+=Ec+] is theoretically considered to be especially prone to hypertension. Migraine headaches and ulcers are more in line with the theoretical expectations for the [e*+=Ic+] who is thought to manifest tension in the direction of central nervous system disturbances.
The [e*=Ic] adjusts by becoming active to escape his inherent passivity, Just as the [i*=Ec] has acquired passivity to avoid activity. Both, however, feel the need to utilize externalized and internalized abilities efficiently. Because of the directions of their respective compensations, the [e*=Ic] will tend to emphasize concrete and practical learning, while the [i*=Ec] will lean more toward acquiring theoretical, abstract skills. The [e*=Ic] adjustment has the ability to function comparatively veil in both externalized and internalized types of activity. He has acquired a sense of responsibility and is usually capable of sustained loyalties. He can also maintain reasonably stable interpersonal relationships, though he will tend to protect himself from intense emotional involvements. He is, however, torn between conflicting needs, and highly vulnerable to anxiety because of his own ambivalence.