Sensation description

Sensation, sometimes called sensing or sensorics (the latter a more technically correct Russian translation), is an irrational informational dimension in socionics encompassing the information elements of introverted sensation and extroverted sensation, symbolically depicted as and , respectively.

Roughly speaking, sensation is concerned with bodily/kinesthetic perceptions, experiences, and concrete, worldly needs. As with all elements, and differ with respect to their particular emphases in these perceptions and needs. In general, focuses most intently on meeting and attending to external demands while focuses primarily on internal demands.

One anecdotal contrast between and is that of two runners in a race, and the differing conscious emphases that they bring with them. The runner may be most concerned on the preservation of their internal state while running the race -- the way that the race affects him physically, whether he feels sick or overly tired. The runner furthermore is most likely to modulate his activity based on his internal experiences; for example, if he feels too tired, by stopping the race. In contrast, the runner is more focused on the external demands and elements of his environment rather than his internal experience of them. While the runner is likely to notice his surroundings and bodily experiences, they are less inclined to focus on how these sensations affect them internally; they may notice but place little importance on the beauty of their physical surroundings during the race, for instance. Instead, they are likely to be more attuned towards the energy and competitive aspect of the race itself, and also more inclined to physically push themselves towards the goal of victory, seeing their physical experience as less important than the goal or surrounding circumstances.

Naturally, this is a stupid and simplistic example; it is not intended to suggest that types always get tired and stop running in races, nor that types ignore their bodies and run interminably like Forrest Gump (who was definitely not an archetype). Rather, it is intended to illustrate the differences in the way that the two might interpret the same situation and often express, to some extent, differential life emphases and values.

Here is a more conceptually deep comparison: Individuals who focus on external demands are primarily attuned to their needs with the expectation of acquiring these needs from the outside world; the attention is focused on the contingencies of the outside world and the needs of the individual are seen as being met by effectuating a direct impact on the outside world. In contrast, individuals who focus on their internal demands are primarily attuned to the immediate lived circumstances of their being; attention is not focused on what they need from the world, but on the individual's goodness of fit with respect to their world. Assessments are made evaluating their needs not on the efficacy of their direct impact on meeting their own needs, but based on the circumstances of their living, and their ability to indirectly impact their needs by favorably managing these circumstances.

Extroverted Sensation

is often associated with such themes as willpower, energy, power, drive, initiative, volition, instinct, desire, and impulsivity. It also generally encompasses normative elements of fashion, dress style, and sex appeal. In general, is also an experientially motivated function; it is associated (though especially so in the case of dominant types, SLE and SEE) with intensity, range, and uninhibited nature of sensory experiences (for example, the thrill and danger of skydiving, or the impulsive sensation of "ooh, shiny; i want that!"). Additionally, types are sometimes extensively materialistic, and attached to their material possessions. may also be sometimes associated with partying, general debauchery, and the "happening," predominantly active lifestyle. In creative types (LSI and ESI), however, the element is expressed more distinctly in the guise of self-control and rigid, inflexible determination. In contrast to dominants, who may be very flexible and capricious in their sense of adopted principles (instead, taking a stand and "fighting" for the very experience of fighting), creatives tend to subordinate their volitionally uncompromising nature to the principles of their existing lifestyle ( or ).

Introverted Sensation

is most often associated with themes like naturalism, adaptability, comfort, richness, and enjoyment of sensory experiences, satiety, attentiveness to one's physical surroundings, and awareness of bodily/kinesthetic signals. Like , is also an experientially based element, emphasizing active experience of and adaptation to one's environment as opposed to a style too detached or controlled -- though in the case of creatives, adaptability is less emphasized and the goals of and sensory experience can be subdued to goals of the dominant (rational) element, and expressed as a preference for familiarity and sameness.