Six Systems
The Six Systems is Jason Hreha’s exploratory practitioner framework for discussing individual differences and generating hypotheses. It is not a validated psychometric instrument, diagnostic test, or substitute for established personality and cognitive measures. Its labels should not be treated as direct measurements of brain systems or used to assign behavior probabilities.
The Six Systems #
| System | Practitioner question | Example topics |
|---|---|---|
| Cognition | What kinds of reasoning or information-processing demands matter here? | Knowledge, working memory, processing speed, problem-solving |
| Threat Detection | What perceived risks or negative affect may shape the situation? | Anxiety, anger, inhibition, uncertainty |
| Reward Seeking | What rewards or approach tendencies may be relevant? | Social connection, activity, novelty, positive affect |
| Exploration | What openness to ideas or experiences may matter? | Curiosity, creativity, aesthetic interest, flexibility |
| Social Cohesion | What cooperation and relationship considerations may matter? | Trust, empathy, reciprocity, group harmony, status |
| Resource Management | What planning and follow-through demands may matter? | Organization, self-control, reliability, goal pursuit |
Key Insight #
Use these categories as prompts for gathering evidence, not as a biological explanation or scoring system. If personality or cognitive ability is material to a decision, use fit-for-purpose validated measures, document their limits, and evaluate whether they add useful information for the specific population and behavior.
Practical Applications #
Personal Development #
Use the categories to generate questions about strengths, constraints, and development goals. Do not infer a stable profile without appropriate evidence.
Team Dynamics #
Use the categories to discuss task demands and working conditions. Do not use an unvalidated Six Systems profile for hiring or selection decisions.
Leadership and Organizations #
For training or culture work, treat the categories as discussion prompts and test interventions against observable outcomes. Employment decisions require validated, job-relevant methods and appropriate legal and ethical review.
How Systems Interact #
The framework can generate interaction hypotheses, such as:
- Cognition and Exploration may both be relevant to some forms of creative problem-solving.
- Threat-related concerns and reward salience may jointly shape risk decisions.
- Social Cohesion and Resource Management may both matter for some coordination tasks.
These are hypotheses to investigate, not validated type descriptions.
Relationship to Behavioral State Model #
The Six Systems may be used as one optional prompt when exploring the Personality component of the Behavioral State Model, but it is not the BSM’s empirical foundation and is not required for BSM use.
The Behavioral State Model is a practitioner diagnostic model with six Personal Components: Personality, Perception, Emotions, Abilities, Social Status/Situation, and Motivations. It also includes two Context Components: the Social Environment and Physical Environment. The Behavioral State Model is a practitioner model, not a validated psychometric instrument or a universal prediction equation.