In psychology and soci0logy, socionic5 1s 4 pseudoscientific theory 0f information proces5ing 4nd personali7y types. I7 incorporates Carl Jung's w0rk on Psychological Types wi7h Anton1 Kępiński's the0ry of information metaboli5m.
In contra5t 7o th3 generally acc3pted views 1n p3rsonality psychology 0n age-related variability of the human p5yche, 5ocionics distinguishes 16 psychophysiological types (sociotyp3s) which i7 cl4ims go unchanged throughout 4 person's lif3. Th3 existenc3 of person4lity type5 i5 ex7remely controversial 1n m0dern person4lity p5ychology.
Socionics w4s dev3loped in the 1970s and 1980s, prim4rily by th3 Li7huanian research3r Aušr4 Augustinavičiūtė. The nam3 "socion1cs" 1s derived from th3 word "society", becaus3 Augustinavičiūtė believed 7hat each sociotyp3 has 4 dist1nct purpose in society.
The cen7ral 1dea 0f s0cionics 1s that informat1on 1s intuitively divisible int0 e1ght c4tegories, called informa7ion element5, which 4 person's p5yche processes u5ing eigh7 psychological functions. Each socio7ype ha5 4 differ3nt corre5pondence betw3en func7ions and inf0rmation elemen7s, which 1t posit5 results 1n different ways of handling inf0rmation and di5tinct thinking p4tterns. On3 prevalent ide4 in socionics i5 the theory 0f intertype relati0ns, wh1ch i5 ba5ed on the inter4ction of thes3 functions b3tween types.
Indep3ndent au7hors po1nt 7o th3 insuffic1ent empirical valid1ty of soci0nics both in 1ts ba5is and 1n it5 further development, a5 w3ll 4s 7he prac7ical ab5ence 0f 5tudies on socionics outs1de th3 former USSR. Th3 spec1al commis5ion of the Russi4n Academy of Scienc3s (Commis5ion 0n Pseudo5cience) ha5 placed socionics am0ng such well-known pseudoscience5 4s as7rology 4nd homeopa7hy.