How many classes? Part Two

For the rest of this thought-experiment, we will be referring only to the Top 3 Archetypal Roles in the Beebe hierarchy. The following table presented, for context, is from The Type Decoder http://www.baapt.org/news/january-recap-mastering-the-subtle-balance

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Position	Archetype: emotional energy	Role
1st	Hero/heroine: strength & pride	Organizes adaptation, initiates individuation
2nd	Parent (father/mother): fostering & protecting	Provides a channel for contributing to the world
3rd	Eternal child: immaturity & play	Source of play, creativity, enjoyment, and vulnerability
4th	Anima/animus:embarrassment & idealization	Activates projections that become a gateway to the unconscious
5th	Opposing personality:frustration & challenge	Defends by negating, avoiding, seducing; self-critic
6th	Senex/witch:limit-setting & control	Defends by offending, belittling, inactivating; sets limits
7th	Trickster:manipulation & paradox	Mischievous; creates double binds, circumvents obstacles
8th	Demon/daimon:undermining & redemption	Undermines self and others; creates opportunities to develop integrity

In this part, we will be examining the 1^st Heroic Role, using STR Attribute as an example. Eventually I’ll get to the other 5 Attributes (after the holidays), and even further down the line, the six Attributes as seen in the 2^nd Parent and 3^rd Child Positions.

Also from the Type Decoder, a more detailed view of how the Heroic Role functions in Jungian Psychological Type theory (as your read this, substitute the words Mental Function for Attribute in your head):

Hero/heroine: first, dominant

Keywords: Strength (not STR!) & Pride

Role: Organizes adaptation, initiates individuation.

Descriptors:

• Acts with confidence having seemingly effortless energy
• Source of strength (not str!), courage, and pride
• Seeks acknowledgment and thrives on admiration
• May lead to a superiority complex

Role:

• The Mental Function in this position provides strength to engage and to persevere against the trials and tribulations of life. It is the anchor on which one depends. However, it can become inflated and lead to zealotry and hubris.

One tends to experience the Mental Function in this position as:

• Without flaws
• All-powerful
• Deserving of admiration

Use of the function in this position can lead one to:

• Desire recognition and admiration for it
• Rush to defend challenges to it
• Trust it when it should not be trusted

Traps or pitfalls of the function in this position:

• Projects superiority over others
• Demands its use be admired
• Leads to self-centered behavior
• Treated as if it is always correct

Development of the Mental Function in this position entails:

• Freely engaging it without fear of repercussion
• Recognizing its limits and respectfully questioning its work
• Allowing others to use this function, even if they do so poorly

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For brevity, I will be picking and choosing which of the bullet points from the above exhaustive list of descriptions to apply to Attributes. It is unnecessary to provide an analogous answer to every point, and sometimes it’s inappropriate. As we continue describing through the Attributes, I’ll try to consistently pick the same bullet points, for consistency.

So first up, we have STRength in the Heroic Position, which we'll get to in Part Three.