The 4 Temperaments in Socionics (Ej, Ij, Ep, Ip), though seeming to be minor details in the overall picture of Socionics, probably play a much larger role than one might anticipate. The temperament of a sociotype provides a glimpse of his or her "life rhythm", which in turn sets a somewhat important factor for inter-type relations. We can generally define these rhythms through these definitions:
Ej - Taking Action (Affecting a situation or things)
Ip - Observing Effects
Ep - Engaging Things
Ij - Establishing Order
Right now, we'll be focusing on Ep and Ij, which are opposing rhythms (produces relations of supervision, mirror, and conflicting). These two rhythms, thus, openly conflict with each other, considering that the Ep temperament is generally associated with chaos and that the Ij temperament is generally associated with order. It would be strange, then, to see a sociotype being strong in both the chaos of Ep and the order of Ij, yet we have this element pairing.
Take the LSI's mental block as an example:
Ti Se
Fi Ne
What we find is that the LSI excels in the establishment of logical order (Lead Ti), yet also excels in the chaos and impulsiveness of physical chaos (Creative Se). These two directives would seem to be contradictory, but we must consider the conditions that allow the LSI to excel so well in logical order in the first place. To establish order efficiently and correctly, the LSI would have to be able to identify and work with chaos, to break it down into parts to make it easier to understand what is happening. Now, the LSI, being a Sensing Sociotype, thus applies the Pe perspective to the physical, tangible realm of reality, thus, the LSI excels at identifying the chaos occurring in the physical environment, allowing him or her to efficiently categorize problems and fix them, all in the name of establishing logical order. Thus, the LSI's competence in the creative function is a method to deal with the opposing perspective of Ep, Chaos.
However, the other aspect of Pe (in the LSI's case, Ne), is an area of incompetence, and thus fully embodies this "opposing temperament" attitude in the sociotype. LSIs can easily organize physical chaos and understand that which is in the present moment, but when it comes to conceptual chaos, where there is aimless speculation and where there isn't a certain, unambiguous answer, the LSI is hopeless. Where the LSI is able to identify and troubleshoot the physical world around him, the conceptual battleground which is unfettered to reality is a chaos he or she dare not disturb for fear of it overrunning him or her. Thus, Ne becomes a Phobia, something that is desperately avoided, and something which the LSI is hypersensitive to notice at any hint of its appearance. This is why the vulnerable function acts the way it does, because it embodies the opposing temperament (Chaos juxtaposing Order), is weak, and threatens the very lifestyle of what the sociotype stands for.
Why does Pe allow Ji to organize chaos? Pe allows sociotypes to take note of the characteristics of phenomena (Se revolving primarily around physical properties and Ne revolving around the characteristics of concepts). Being able to take note of characteristics feeds Ji the information it needs to organize and establish order (Sorting things on a basis).
LSI:
Ti - Establishing Logical Order (Ji)
Se - In the Chaos that is the Physical World (Pe)
Fi - By Ignoring Ethical Qualms (Restrictive Ji)
Ne - And By Avoiding the Chaos that is the Conceptual Battleground (Phobic Pe)
Ej - Taking Action (Affecting a situation or things)
Ip - Observing Effects
Ep - Engaging Things
Ij - Establishing Order
Right now, we'll be focusing on Ep and Ij, which are opposing rhythms (produces relations of supervision, mirror, and conflicting). These two rhythms, thus, openly conflict with each other, considering that the Ep temperament is generally associated with chaos and that the Ij temperament is generally associated with order. It would be strange, then, to see a sociotype being strong in both the chaos of Ep and the order of Ij, yet we have this element pairing.
Take the LSI's mental block as an example:
Ti Se
Fi Ne
What we find is that the LSI excels in the establishment of logical order (Lead Ti), yet also excels in the chaos and impulsiveness of physical chaos (Creative Se). These two directives would seem to be contradictory, but we must consider the conditions that allow the LSI to excel so well in logical order in the first place. To establish order efficiently and correctly, the LSI would have to be able to identify and work with chaos, to break it down into parts to make it easier to understand what is happening. Now, the LSI, being a Sensing Sociotype, thus applies the Pe perspective to the physical, tangible realm of reality, thus, the LSI excels at identifying the chaos occurring in the physical environment, allowing him or her to efficiently categorize problems and fix them, all in the name of establishing logical order. Thus, the LSI's competence in the creative function is a method to deal with the opposing perspective of Ep, Chaos.
However, the other aspect of Pe (in the LSI's case, Ne), is an area of incompetence, and thus fully embodies this "opposing temperament" attitude in the sociotype. LSIs can easily organize physical chaos and understand that which is in the present moment, but when it comes to conceptual chaos, where there is aimless speculation and where there isn't a certain, unambiguous answer, the LSI is hopeless. Where the LSI is able to identify and troubleshoot the physical world around him, the conceptual battleground which is unfettered to reality is a chaos he or she dare not disturb for fear of it overrunning him or her. Thus, Ne becomes a Phobia, something that is desperately avoided, and something which the LSI is hypersensitive to notice at any hint of its appearance. This is why the vulnerable function acts the way it does, because it embodies the opposing temperament (Chaos juxtaposing Order), is weak, and threatens the very lifestyle of what the sociotype stands for.
Why does Pe allow Ji to organize chaos? Pe allows sociotypes to take note of the characteristics of phenomena (Se revolving primarily around physical properties and Ne revolving around the characteristics of concepts). Being able to take note of characteristics feeds Ji the information it needs to organize and establish order (Sorting things on a basis).
LSI:
Ti - Establishing Logical Order (Ji)
Se - In the Chaos that is the Physical World (Pe)
Fi - By Ignoring Ethical Qualms (Restrictive Ji)
Ne - And By Avoiding the Chaos that is the Conceptual Battleground (Phobic Pe)