Finally!!! This topic… people who know me and who see this might wonder, how I haven’t blogged about this till now, considering I have chewed people’s brains talking about this…:P
I have had a trigger which compelled me to write about this- I have for the 100th time yesterday encountered this statement- “But of course Personality changes right?!” and my answer- It doesn’t, It doesn’t… (There, I see unhappy, disapproving looks) I reiterate- Innate Personality traits do not change. Period.
Participants in my training programs always question this aspect whenever we talk about personality typing and I always tell them this- “People might adapt, people might cope, people might completely fool the rest of the world by acting very different from their innate traits- however the fact still remains- the core doesn’t change”. (I wonder why its easier for people to believe “oh I am a Scorpio and hence I am always passionate or super ineterested in Sex” or “Oh I am a libran and hence I always seek fair play” and yet these people can’t accept scientifically proved personality typing)
I am a huge believer in the Jungian theory and I think I will make an honest effort to tell the rest of the world about it, what you then believe is upto you.
Carl Gustav Jung (a very great man indeed) figured that people were essentially different first in terms of whether they got their energy from the outer world or their inner word (Extraverts-E and Introverts-I respectively) for example: I feel low when I am alone for long periods of time, I like talking about my problems to others to find solutions, I hate being totally alone-it saps my energy and therefore I am an Extravert. On the other hand, some of my closest friends are the kinds who need complete space to get back to normal, they want to be by themselves when they are hurt or tired mentally and they come back re-energized and sorted- these are Introverts, they don’t like to typically ‘talk’ about it. This doesn’t mean that extraverts are always talkative, always outgoing, always in the public, never need space etc nor does this mean Introverts are silent, do not need people are always shy etc. The amount of introversion and extraversion (percentage) may vary from person to person.
Then Jung says that there are two ways in which people might process the world around them- These processes are called ‘Perception’ (taking in information) and ‘Judgement’ (evaluating or making decisions) and further that there are two styles of Perception- ‘ Sensing’ (S) and ‘Intuition'(N) and two styles of ‘Judgement’- ‘Thinking'(T) and ‘feeling'(F).
The sensing style of perception dictates, that the person ‘primarily’ percieves the world through his or her ‘senses’ predominantly. These people are the here and now kinda people. They are very fact based people and live the adage “Seeing is believing” , They wont miss objects in their surrondings, are super aware of things going on around etc. These people dislike theories, they’ll be more focused on the practical or the application, vague theories bore them to death. Fantasy and out of this world concepts don’t attract them too much.
The Intuiting style of perception dictates that people ‘primarily’ perceive the world through their intuition. Sometimes they don’t need ‘tangible’ proof or facts to know something is true, they just know or they are just convinced. They don’t live in the here and now, but in the future, mostly they are oblivious to their immediate surroundings. These guys can be extremely forgetful, lose things, are clumsy etc if they are in deep thought about some abstract thing they care about, depending on their level of N (intuition). They are fascinated with abstract theories and concepts and can discuss them for hours. Fantasy appeals to them big time.
Next people make decisions based on which one is dominant- The thinking style or the Felling style. The thinking style are the ‘head over heart’ people making logic based decisions and the Feeling style are the ‘heart over head’ people making emotional decisions.
And then the final preference- how you like to live your outer life – J Vs P (again Judging and perceiving, however please do not not confuse with the the above- they are the ‘styles’ of Judging/decision making) J people like a more structured approach to life, they like to be more organized, these are non-spontaneous people who like to ‘plan’ and ‘prioritize’. These people are more uncomfortable before a decision is made; i.e. They like closure (then they can breathe a sigh of relief) They are in general more fussy about routine and how things must go a certain way. They like rules and will follow them. An intersting thing here is ‘S’ dominated people who are also high on J will follow societal rules; whereas ‘N’ dominated people who are also high on ‘J’ will make and follow their own rules.
The ‘P’ personality on the other hand detests planning, they are spontaneous people who hate being tied down, they like their options being open i.e. they are more uncomfortable ‘after’ a decision is taken. They dislike routine and monotony and are bored far more easily. All people who measure high on P- whether they are S and P or N and P- don’t like following any rules.
These 4 different aspects intermingle to form a personality type. For instance as I have stated in my blog- I am an ENFP, which means I am an Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling , Percieving person. Obviously there are 16 styles in total and each amount to different personalities.
Now a word of caution- nothing is absolute or 100%. I have never met or heard of anyone who is 100% E or I, 100% N or S, 100% F or T etc. But yes, one type will “Predominate” and dictate “Most” of what you are.
This typing is called the MBTI (Myers- Briggs Type Indicator).
There is another typing called the Kiersey typing based on the same theory which puts people into just 4 categories- SJ (guardians); SP( Artisans); NF (Idealists); NT (Rationals).
This theory is brilliant to understand and learn as well and its simpler- because ofcoruse anyone who has an S and J present in their MBTI Type (ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ,ISFJ) are the rule followers, are orderly and systematic and therefore the guardians of the society. Administrative roles suit them perfectly. Many world reknowend Presidents are SJ’s.
NF’s are the idealists, because they are both intuitive/futuristic and care deeply about causes (because of the Feeling side) and expect things to become beautiful and perfect. Many Social workers and revelutionaries and die hard romantics are NF’s.
NT’s- Rationals are obviously the scientiscts of the world, because of their love for theories and concepts and futuristic intuitive outlook combined with their logical ‘T’ side. Most famous scientists are NT’s.
SP’s- the artisans, who love to create and are masters in their chosen artistic field, both because of their highly evolved senses and spontaneity. Many artists- dancers, historians, directors etc etc are Artisans.
Personality typing is useful for so many things, understanding you and the people around, understanding what vocation will suit you best, even understanding what kind of people you ‘most’ relate to and why and thereby how to solve differences.
There is so much more to talk about so many many more modified theories based on Carl Jung’s theory. But I guess I will stop here. I really hope anybody who reads this finds clarity and understands what i mean when I say the core of the individual does not change.
If you are interested in reading further and deeper, I suggest you visit:
http://www.bestfittype.com/cognitiveprocesses.html
If you need to take the MBTI for free, please visit:
www.humanmetrics.com andtake the Jung Typology test.
I would love to know your thoughts on any of this. A topic close to my heart and one which doesn’t purplex me…:)
purplexdme 