16 Shades
Wiki
Framework & classification
How does this relate to MBTI?
The two labels add layers to the portrayal; they do not convert one test into the other.
Creative interpretation & theory referenceHow can cognitive functions relate to our four axes?
Think of cognitive functions as a language for how someone attends to information and makes judgments, and our four axes as a language for what someone prioritizes and does in a shadow situation.
Creative interpretation & theory referenceWhy can the same shadow role look so different?
A role describes a path; real people still travel it at different speeds, in different tones, and with different tools.
Creative interpretation & theory referenceWhy can people with the same MBTI type have different shadow roles?
The four letters offer a familiar entry point, but they do not capture every difference in how people handle gain, control, conflict, and norms.
Project definitionModel overview: four axes describe style, five dimensions describe harmfulness
This framework explores how people tend to act around gain, competition, control, and conflict.
Project definition16 types and four families
Start with a recognizable character archetype, then use the four axes to understand the logic of its actions.
Model assumptionHow are the estimated population shares of the types calculated?
A reproducible hypothetical scenario; the actual population shares are currently unknown.
Axes & situations
Harm: Instrumental and Punitive
Once the external goal is achieved or the damage is repaired, when does the conflict end?
Project definitionGoal: Gain and Control
When you cannot keep both the practical benefit and the final say, which matters more?
Project definitionMeans: Strategy and Pressure
Do you tend to rearrange information, relationships, and options, or set conditions and consequences directly?
Project definitionNorms: Justification and Disregard
When acting in a questionable way, how do you handle respectability, rules, and the judgment of onlookers?
Character interpretationThree everyday situations: putting choice back into type
See how the four axes help frame questions about a project, making amends, and dividing responsibilities.
Limits & evidence
Matches, ties, and limits of use
Results are a starting point for reading, not a diagnosis, a probability, or a final judgment of anyone.
External theoretical referenceTheoretical sources and limits of use
The project draws on related theories to ask questions, without presenting external research as validation of its 16 types.
Relationships
How Do We Understand the Relationship Between Two People?
A complete middle-layer method that separates character tendencies, interaction mechanisms, and situational storytelling.
Project definitionRelationship map: from two people to a situation
Relationships emerge from both participants’ responses, circumstances, and choices. Types only provide a way into the questions.
Interaction mechanisms
M01 | Alliances and contests for position
How shared goals, dependence, and alternatives create alliances and struggles for position.
Project definitionM02 | Mirrors and complementarity
How shared language, shared blind spots, and the current division of work shape interaction.
Project definitionM03 | Different accounts of a relationship
How each person understands help, exchange, obedience, fairness, and debts.
Project definitionM04 | Escalation and ceasefires
Who wants change now, how responses escalate, and where the cycle can stop.
Project definitionM05 | Frontstage and backstage
How audiences, approval from norms, and responsibility change public and private interaction.
Project definitionM06 | Exceptions and mutual shaping
How responses to a particular person and freely offered support create exceptions in a relationship.
Psychology references
Why We Cannot Look Only at “What Each Person Is Like”
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhere Does Power in a Relationship Come From?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhat Exactly Does “Complementarity” Mean?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceDoes a Smooth Interaction Rhythm Mean a Good Relationship?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceDo Similar People Really Like Each Other More?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhy Can the Same Help Be Entered in Two Different Ledgers?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhy Does One Person Pursue While the Other Withdraws?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceA Ceasefire Is Not Surrender: How Destructive Impulses Get Interrupted
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhy Does the Public Story Change—and How Does Someone Come to Believe It?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhy “Only You” Cannot Be Calculated from a Type Chart
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceGood Support Helps You Move Toward the Person You Want to Become
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.
External theoretical referenceWhy Does Sharing Something New Make a Relationship Light Up—Temporarily?
An accessible guide to outside research: the questions it addresses, the evidence behind it, and the limits of its application.