The Mental Principle
The mental principle is associated with the mind and thinking.  People with a well-developed mental
principle direct their actions with detachment, perspective, clear vision and well-defined values
and principles, while focusing on the long-term.
The Emotional Principle
The emotional principle is associated with feelings and relating.  Someone in whom the emotional
principle is well-developed is aware of his or her own feelings without being dominated by them,
expresses those feelings appropriately, is communicative and emphathetic, and forms positive
relationships with others.  He or she is self-aware, well-organized, flexible, creative and able to find
the middle ground between enjoying the diversity of life and maintaining focus.
The Physical Principle
The physical principle is associated with the body and the translation into action of what is thought
and felt.  This principle is the pragmatic part of people, expressed in making, doing, and actualizing.
 People in whom the physical principle is well expressed have a strong affinity for group life and
cooperative effort.  They are reliable and productive and either complete tasks competently or see
that those tasks are well performed.  In any project, they ensure that ideas are carried into effective
action by creating systems for realizing the original objectives.  They are also acutely attuned to
their instincts and the sensory world, but are not dominated by them.  Because they have an innate
sense of the systemic nature of things, and experience that everything (including themselves) is at
once whole and part of a larger whole, they commonly feel responsibility for the well-being and
well0functioning of any system in which they are involved.
If a house is designed on the mental level, and its construction is organized on the emotional level, it is
systemically built on the physical level.

In general, when the mental, emotional and physical principles are developed and integrated, individuals
function well, with the ability to think clearly, relate emphathetically and express their thinking and feeling in
practical actions.

Discovery #1: The Humand Dynamics investigations have found that while all of us have mental, emotion
and physical dimensions, we seem to be "organized" in such a way that one of these three principles
predominates as central in our functioning.  Some people are "centred" mentally (rationally), some
emotionally (relationally) and some physically (practically) (pg 32).

The principle at the core determines how we typically process information and each type of centering
strikingly as way of being and functioning.  However it is most important to emphasize here that although
these broad groups function very differently, they are equal in value.

Discovery #2: The second part of the discovery says, that while one princple is core or central in our
functioning, it has a significant connection to one of the other two principles (if mental is the core, then it
could be significantly connected to either the emotional or physical principles).  The particular pattern of
interaction between the two is what distinguishes each personality dynamic system and sets it apart distinctly
from others.  Each personality dynamic has a whole system of functioning - be it leadership function,
problem-solving processes, function on teams, communication and learning processes and health
management and specific path of development - that naturally expresses its particular underlying pattern of
mental-emotional-physical "organization" (pg 37)

Discovery #3:  Of the nine possible personality dynamics, five constitute the vast majority of the world's
population - one way of being centred (mental-physical - 5% or less), two ways of being centred emotionally
(emotional-mental and emotional-physical - 35-40%) and two ways of being centred physically
(physical-menal and physical-emotional - 60-70%)  (pg 32).

Discovery #4:  The majority of Western populations appear to be emotionally-centred.  This contrasts
strikingly with the proportions found in the East, where the vast majority of individuals seems to be
physically-centred.  In fact, most of people that Sandra and David have met of Japanese heritage , whether
born and raised inside or outside Japan, have been phyical-mental; while the majority of people of Chinese
heritage have been physical-emotional.  These findings holds extraordinary significance.  It suggests that
some of the fundamental differences between East and West may derive as much from differences in
personality dynamics as in culture (pg 33).

Discovery #5:  Everyone is in a process of development along the continuum characteristic of her or her
personality dynamic.  This developmental aspect creates distinctions in each person's quality of expression
(pg 28, and Chap 12).  The journey has two aspects: development of the integrated personality
(demonstrating a balanced expression of all three principles) and transpersonal development (involving
nurturing and integrating the three principles in their higher, more spiritual form of expression, such as vision
(mental); deep compassion (emotional) and actions that are directed by vision and compassion in the service
of the collective good (physical)) (pg 269).

Discovery #6:  Another distinguishing feature that sets apart persons in each personality dynamic uniquely
is that the distribution of the mental, emotional and physical energies is unique to the individual (and not
331/3 % percentage for everyone).  In spite of these differences, they share the same fundamental
infrastructure and would recognise in each other a great similarity in how they experience life, process
information and interact with others.  The uniqueness allows particular gifts and inclinations and each will
face particular challenges in her or her developmental journey.

Discovery #7:  The quantitative distribution and central functioning of a person's personality dynamic
changes little, if at all, over time, although the principles can become more completely realized and
integrated.  While the quantitative distribution seems to be a consistent characteristic of a person's
"instrument", every individual can learn to play his or her instrument more qualitatively ( pg 40)

Written by David Horne, co-author of Human Dynamics: A New Framework for
Understanding People and Realizing the Potential in Our Organizations
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