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It is a common lament among analysts that although Jung's theory of psychological types is a gem based on solid empirical evidence, the practical assessment of a particular patient is quite uncertain. Klopfer (1955, p. 159) reports Jung to have remarked, half-jokingly, that one would have to wait thirty years after a person's death in order to say with certainty to which type he belonged. Klopfer is hopeful that the use of projective methods may shorten this time requirement. Henderson (1955, p. 134 ff.) details his own awkward attempts, early in his career, to make such a diagnosis; by a lucky error, he succeeded in making a totally opposite judgement of his patient and thus helped her to develop her inferior function. The doubts as to his own competence and the theory's usefulness were subsequently overcome, and he attests to the importance of such knowledge of types in distinguishing between normal development and pathology and, even more importantly, as part of the equipment of information the patient needs to have for his individuation process after analysis is completed.
In addition to its practical usefulness, the type theory stands as one of the more important contributions of Jung—second only, perhaps, to the discovery of the archetypes—and merits study as a psychological contribution in its own right. The difficulties of assessment are generally said to arise from a number of sources: the undeveloped state of the person, which shows itself in lack of differentiation of either attitude or function; a highly developed state, in which compensations and integration tend to cloud the picture; the development of a persona which is inconsistent with the “true” personality type (rather common in the United States, at least); stages of life and crises which also produce conflicting pictures of the type. All of these attest to the fact that the type is a dynamic concept and that its assessment and study will have to take account of these fluctuations.
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