WEEK TWO
The first “personality types” were developed around 190 AD from the Greeks and the Romans. A “Roman physician Galen who, developing the ideas of Hippocrates, proposed that…it is the balance of our body fluids, the four ‘humors,’ as they were called.” They four types that Galen proposed were Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic. (There is a current, very popular book based on these four personalities that is also fun to read. This is Personality Plus and Personality Plus for Parents by Florence Littaure.)
Yet, 600 years before Galen, Plato had also described four personality types that corresponded significantly to the ones developed by Hippocrates and Galen.
Therefore, theorists have been classifying people into personality types for thousands of years. More recently Carl Jung observed patterns of behavior across cultures throughout the world. He found that despite cultural differences, people have predictable patterns of behavior. Jung introduced two major personality types-the introvert and the extrovert and within these personality types are four styles of functioning: thinking, sensing, feeling, and intuitive. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, one of the most widely used personality tests, is based on these Jungian types. David Keirsey condensed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and this test is very popular in the business world.
There are hundreds of personality tests. Some are silly, some are backed by solid research. John Holland is a psychologist and vocational counselor. He has developed an inventory based on six personality types. These personality types are highly related to career choice. Everyone functions to some degree in each of the six personality types, but usually there are one or two types that a person will prefer. Please take the Personality Mosaic from chapter two now. When you are finished, score your inventory. Also, answer the questions on the next pages at the end of the inventory. It is important that you take this inventory because the personality types will be discussed throughout the rest of the book.
Interpreting the Personality Mosaic
You most likely will have scored in all of the areas of the inventory. For the purpose of this class, your personality type is the type that you scored the highest in. If you scored equally in two, or close to equal in two areas, then pay special attention to both of these areas as you read the chapters.
Realistic personality-These people are hand-on people. They express themselves through their bodies. They are independent and aggressive, but conservative. They like being outdoors, and they solve problems by doing something physical. They focus on things. These people excel in physical emergencies. This personality is stereotypically male, and so many women who are a realistic personality do not display these qualities.
Investigative Personality- These people “live” in their minds. They are intellectually curious and logical. They like to read and discuss. They enjoy mental challenges and solve problems by thinking and analyzing. These people prefer to read and study rather than working with things. They collect information and analyze before making a decision.
Artistic Personality- These people are creative and want to express new possibilities in creative ways. They are sensitive to color and prefer to work independently. They enjoy beauty and need a unstructured environment for creative expression. They solve problems by creating something new. The artistic personality express creativity in many ways; some through art and some through ideas and systems. They would rather create ideas than study them.
Social personality- These are people who “live” in their feelings. They are sensitive, perceptive, and focus on people. They enjoy being with others and solve problems by feelings and intuition. These people are not all extroverts, but can also be introverts who have a great concern for people, but need time alone. They can pull people together and generate positive energy. This personality is stereotypically female. Many men who fit into this personality type may not express their abilities here.
Enterprising Personality- These people are absorbed in their strategies. They are energetic, assertive, self-motivated leaders. They use their skills with dealing with people and projects to achieve their goals. They enjoy money and status and solve problems by taking risks. This person initiates projects and get others to carry them out. They may seem restless and irresponsible because they jump from one task to another. They are dynamic leaders. Important- They have an inner drive to connect with people and events.
Conventional Personality-These are people who “live” in their orderliness. They are careful, responsible, and task orientated. They attend to detail, prefer to work for someone rather than being in charge, and they solve problems by following rules. (this is my personality type. I follow rules and expect others to too. So, read the assignments and syllabus carefully!) These people obey rules, value order, are well prepared ahead of time, and prefer minimal changes. They enjoy getting tasks completed.
Look at page 49 in your book. This is the personality hexagon. The personality types that are next to each other are the most similar. The personality types opposite of each other are the most different. For example: The social personality is most similar to enterprising and artistic, but most unlike the realistic personality. Social and enterprising are similar because they are both people leaders, but in different ways. Social is concerned with people and enterprising wants to get people motivated. Sometimes you will find that your significant other is on the opposite side of the hexagon! Don’t worry, there is still hope for you! People who are opposite, and you will come across them in your daily life, you may work with some, or have a boss that is opposite of you, can improve their relationship by understanding their differences. Opposites compliment each other. They make up where the other person falls short. A similar hexagon is on page 87 in your packet of handouts. This gives a brief summary of all of the personality types.
Now strengths in any of these personality types can become weaknesses if taken to excess. For example, the conventional personality who feels it necessary to organize soup cans alphabetically. (No, I don’t do this, but I know someone who does!!)
Why is it important to understand personality as it relates to a career? It is important for many reasons, which will be discussed all through the semester. But for one, you may find a job difficult if it is in your opposite personality. Conversely, if the job is in your personality type, doing your job may altruistically reward you. Understanding your personality can help you make good career decisions. If you understand the personalities of others it can lead to increased communication, acceptance, and understanding of others. Chances are you are living with someone who is opposite of you, whether it is a parent, spouse, or child, and learning to understand and accept differences can increase quality of life.
Data,
People, Things
We are going to do a short exercise. I want you to imagine that you are walking down a road on a pleasant day. You see a house in a lovely setting and decide to approach it. At the entrance you realize that it has three rooms, so you first survey all three.
In the first are several people. Glance in and see who is there.
In the second room are many books, magazines, maps, computers, TVs; information is available about almost anything.
In the third very large room you can find material and told that could be used to make, design, or fix just about anything.
At this point, feel free to go any place and do as you like in this setting. Now, Which room did you go into first. Write it down. We will discuss your choice in the next paragraphs.
In this world, there are only three areas that your personality can relate to. (This is a quiz question!) These three areas are data (ideas and information), people, and things. With the above exercise, the room that you went into usually signifies the area that you relate best to. If you went into the room with all of the people, you may related best to people. If you went into the room with books, you may relate best to data. If you went into the room with the materials and tools you may relate best to things. But first, we’ll look at the definitions of data, people, and things.
Data: This can be in the form of words, numbers, and symbols. We all deal with data every day. We read, listen, write, and speak all day long. This is all data.
People: This is also an activity that we do all day long. Greeting, waiting on, and providing service for people all involves interaction with people. The level of interaction that we want to have with people may vary. I enjoy teaching because I deal with groups of people, the majority of the time, but I didn’t enjoy counseling as much because it was one on one interaction with people.
Things: This can be building, repairing, carrying, running machines, etc. Again, these are things that we deal with all day long.
On page 64 there is a list of action words dealing with data, people, and things. These are great words to use on your resume.
Skills
On a resume or job application you are often asked to list your skills or to discuss them. Many people think that they don’t have any skills because they don’t have a specific area that they excel in. In reality, you have been accomplishing things for many years of your life. An example of this is in your book. A teacher took a inventory that suggested a career in the performing arts. She finally realized how much she loved “appearing” in a class or workshop. Focus on the activities that you can do.
All activities flow from ten basic aptitudes or skills. They are grouped according to their interaction with data, people, and things. They are also coded according to personality type. Important-Although most people can operate in most of these areas, they will be more comfortable in some areas than in others. Most people do not develop high levels of skills in all skill areas. Most people acquire skills in areas that they enjoy, which makes sense. If you enjoy doing something, you will most likely continue doing it, which will increase your skill in that area. The ten basic skills are:
Data Skills:
1. Logical intelligence (I)-Think, observe, plan, analyze, evaluate, understand, solve problems. Put ideas and information together, plan and organize work.
2. Intuitive intelligence (A)-Imagine, compare, see things holistically, decide based on best guesses. Use words, numbers, or symbols creatively, develop new ideas.
3. Verbal ability (E/S)-use words to read, research, write listen, record, discuss, direct, instruct communicate, motivate.
4. Numerical ability (I)-Use numbers and symbols to figure, calculate, estimae, keep books, budget, analyze.
5. Exactness with detail (C)-Follow directions exactly, make decisions based on set rules, attend to small details.
6. Facility with multidimensional forms (A)-Understand, visualize, relate, two- or three-dimensional lines or shapes, spaces, shadings.
People Skills:
7. Facility in businesslike contact with people (E/S)-Manage, supervise, organize, motivate, train, entertain, serve, negotiate, cooperate with people
8. Ability to influence people (E/S)-Persuade/inspire, teach exchange, interpret ideas/facts/feelings, help solve personal problems.
Thing skills:
9. Finger/hand agility (RIAC)-Use fingers/hands to make, repair, process, test, assemble, operate, various products/machines/tools using special, sometimes highly complex techniques.
10. Whole-body agility (RIAC)-Use the whole body to handle, carry, lift, move, balance, or coordinate intself to other physical objects.
There are three kinds of skills. (Yes, I realize this is confusing because we just talked about 10 basic skills!) The ten basic skills that we just discussed all fall under one kind of skill; transferable skills. These skills can be used in many kinds of activities and transferred from one job to another. Every job requires transferable skills.
The other kinds of skills are work specific and personal responsibility skills. Work specific skills are skills that are usually learned through on-the-job training or through special training that develops work specific skills. These skills are especially important in science and technical fields, or the arts.
The last kind of skill is personal responsibility skills. These skills are the ways you manage yourself in relation to data, people, and things. They are also the way you express your transferable and work specific skills. Some of these are common sense, responsibility, dedication, willingness to learn, to work hard, and to finish what you begin. Getting along with people is a skill that employee recruiters often look for.
People often underestimate that they have done in life. When job hunting it is important that you know what you have done so that you can apply it to what you want to do. Take the time now to jot down some of these skills that you have done. Use the action words and the ten basic skills to get a good list.
Note Taking and Studying
Much of the information that
is important in note taking and studying is included in the Supplemental
Materials on the webpage or access it by the link here:
http://www.bcconline.biz/psyc5g/handouts.htm
Or you can go to the main page of the course and click on Supplemental
Materials.
Review these thoroughly. You will be tested on them on the quiz and midterm.
Review the Succeeding in College: 10 mistakes to avoid.
review the Study Distractions Analysis. List one place where you usually study. Answer true or false for the 15 statements. If you have many true statements for this study area, this is probably a poor place to study. You may have distractions that take away from your actual studying.
Review how you study with the section on Control of the Environment. Do you have a place to study where you ONLY study? Do you study on your bed? Research has found that people, when they stud on their bed, either fall asleep, or have trouble sleeping! Find a place to study so that when you go there your mind says, “Okay, it is time to study.”
Review Some Hints on Planning a Better Study Schedule. Pay special attention to the study time required for classes. Important-You should plan 3 hours of work PER UNIT per week. So, for most classes which are three units, you should plan 9 hours of study time per week. Now this is just study time, this isn’t time that you are in class.
For online classes this can get a little confusing because you have to add in time for “attending” class. Normal 18 week semester classes that meet once a week meet for 3 hours a week. With 9-week classes, students meet 6 hours a week. For online sessions of classes, you should spend 9 hours a week “attending” class and 9 hours a week doing class work and studying. That is 18 hours a week for one class!!
Now how many classes are you taking? Keep this in mind as you plan your schedule. During a normal semester many students think, “Oh, online classes, I can take 6 classes because they are mostly during different sessions, and then I’ll have 18 units. Well, that is great if all you do is go to school. But if you work, full-time or part-time, if you have a family, if you have other conflicts in your life, 18 units is NOT for you! That would mean 54 hours a week of “attending” class and 54 hours a week for work outside of class. That is 108 hours a week!! That is why it is called full-time school. Now I realize that the classes probably don’t all meet during the same 9 weeks, but if you are taking 2 classes a session, that should be 18 hours a week of “attending” class and 18 hours a week of study time.
For this class, which is 9 weeks, you should plan 9 hours a week to “attend” class, and 9 hours a week for class work. Now, I honestly don’t think you will spend 18 hours reading each week’s lecture and the accompanying chapters from the book. But, when midterms and finals and portfolios are due along with weekly assignments and discussions, you should plan to spend the time needed to put in your best effort.
Review the Study Skills Program-How to Master a Textbook Chapter. This is the SQ3R method of studying. There will be questions on the test about this study method. Please review it.
Marking a Textbook covers hints and tips for marking a textbook.
Lastly, In the Classroom--Listening and Note Taking- For this class some of this information isn’t applicable because this is an online class. But in the future, you will find it very helpful when you have a class in the classroom. Please review the material.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter
This week you need to take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Please go to www.keirsey.com. Click on "The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II An Online Personality Questionnaire." THIS TEST IS FREE. You do not HAVE to pay for your results. You will be given a preliminary personality "type" with two letters. Either SP, SJ, NF, or NT. Use the activity #6 on page 68 of your book to further narrow down your complete four letter style.
Earlier in the lecture I gave a very brief history of personality development. I mentioned David Keirsey and how he condensed the Myers-Briggs Inventory and developed the Keirsey temperament sorter. If you are attending Park College and are getting a degree in Social Psychology, you will be required to take a course called Theories of Personality. I actually finished this course a few years ago and found it very informational. As you can probably guess, there are many theories to personality and many varied beliefs. I will be discussing the theory of personality based on David Keirsey because it is a very popular theory at this time.
According to David
Keirsey, personality is made up of temperament and character. Temperament
is inclinations while character is habits. Let’s discuss each one
individually.
Temperament is predispositions to act in certain ways. So, this is the genetic determinants of personality. The NATURE in the nature verses nurture controversy.
Foxes are predisposed to kill chickens, beavers are predisposed to build dams.
Character, being habits, are environmental determinants. Character, habits are developed over time and vary with environment. This is the NURTURE in the nature verses nurture controversy.
Keirsey developed four distinct temperaments. Certain traits, characteristics “hang with” the separate temperaments. Now, please remember, this is a theory and generalizations. Some of this may fit for you, but some may not. We do not characterize people by personality types to “put them into boxes,” but rather to better understand people and how to work best with their qualities and characteristics. Everyone has a preferred way of doing things. For example, are you left or right handed? How does it feel to write with your preferred hand? How does it feel to write with the opposite hand? You may be able to do it, it may be legible, but what do you PREFER? Do you have to work harder, concentrate more with the opposite hand? Most people do. We can function in all areas of personality; we can be extroverted in situations if we are normally introverted, and visa versa, but we prefer one style over the other.
Many, many books have been written about personality because it is so important in working with people. Wouldn’t it be easier to work with your boss if you knew how best to please him or her? Wouldn’t it be easier to motivate employees if you know what they were most motivated by? Wouldn’t it be easier to sell things to people if you knew their purchasing habits and what influences them to buy? What about with raising children? All children are different and what works for one my not work with another. These are all part of personality. A couple of great book about this are Instant Rapport, Please Understand Me by David Keirsey, and Personality Plus and Personality Plus for Parents by Florence Littauer.
Okay, now back to Keirsey and his four temperaments. Please make sure you have taken the Keirsey Tempermant Sorter so that you know your two letters and the activity on page 68 for your four letters. They letters are very important to understand this section of the lecture.
Keirsey’s four temperaments are Artisans, Guardians, Idealists and Rationals. Going by the four letters, here is how they are classified:
SPs-Artisans-ESTP, ISTP, ESFP, ISFP
SJs-Guardians-ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, ISFJ
NFs-Idealists-ENFJ, INFJ, ENFP, INFP
NTs-Rationals-ENTJ, INTJ, ENTP, INTP
Okay, now what does all that mean?? You are either
E = Extraverted/Expressive or I =Introverted/Reserved
S = Sensory/Observant or N = Intuitive/Introspective
T = Thinking/Tough-minded or F = Feeling/Friendly
J = Judging/Scheduling or P = Perceiving/Probing
Okay, now what does all THAT mean?? I will discuss each of the letters individually and then the four temperaments (Artisan, Guardian, etc.) according to their strengths and limitations. Please notice though that as I explain these, I won’t list many limitations. To find your limitations, look at the strengths of the type opposite you. For example, if you are an extrovert, your limitations would be the strengths of the introvert. To further explain, a strength of an extrovert is that he/she is easy to get to know. This is a limitation for an introvert because they are harder to get to know. You will need to understand your strengths and limitations of your personality style. So, take notes!!
E or I-Where
your attention/energy is focused:
Your first letter was either
an E or an I. This is for Extrovert or Introvert.
This is where your energy is focused. It is not necessarily weather your
are outgoing or not, but where you focus your energy; inside yourself or outside
yourself. Another way to look
at it is do you think before you speak or do you speak first?
Do you process information internally or as you speak it?
I have a nephew who is an extravert. He talks CONSTANTLY!! And it isn’t
just carrying on a conversation, it is him thinking out loud. He has done this
his whole life! It is quiet annoying to me as an introvert.
Here are the strengths of each:
E-Extrovert: Prefer to focus on the outer world of people and things.
Easy
to get to know
Can talk to anyone
Many acquaintances
Broad range of interests
Aware of environment, networking, action
Learn best through movement, action, talking
Develop a more thorough understanding during group discussions and projects
Little forethought, just “dive right in”
Trial and error type so problem solving
Feedback-Enjoys public recognition
I-Introvert: Prefers to focus on the inner world of ideas and impressions
Takes longer to get to know
and more difficult to get to know
Fewer, deeper relationships
Depth of interests
Conceptualize the problem, look deeply into issue
Learn best in quiet
Need time to think about ideas before sharing
Pre-thinks situations, plans for solutions before trying them
Prefers to anticipate before acting
Feedback- Prefers one-to-one communication
How do you see the world?
Do you focus on using your senses or on intuition?
S-Sensing
Details, facts, procedure,
present-orientated
Concrete information gained from senses
Likes to know the facts, understand the planning stages, work out implementation
details
Learn best with they move from concrete to abstract in step-by-step progression
Enjoy programmed, modular, or computer-assisted learning
Value knowledge that is practical and want to be precise and accurate in work
Excel at memorizing facts
Feedback-describe actual and specific positive behavior or accomplishments
N-Intuition
Possibilities, future, connections, “big picture,” imaginative, new ways to
do things
View toward patterns and possibilities
Forge into new areas, develop new possibilities
leap to conceptual understanding and may daydream or act-out during drill work
or factual lectures
Value quick clashes of insight, but are often careless about details
Tend to excel at imaginative tasks and theoretical topics
Feedback-relate
actual behavior to big picture (team productivity) and mention implications for
the future
How do you make your
decisions? Do you make them based on people or do you make them in a logical way
weighing the pro’s and con’s?
T-Thinking
Analytical,
look at pro’s and cons, objective, cause and effect
Discuss issues in a logical way
Spot inconsistencies in a plan
Motivated when provide with a logical
rationale for project and when teachers Acknowledge and respect competence
Prefer topics that help them to understand systems or cause and effect
relationships
Thinking is syllogistic and analytic
Feedback-Determine and express the pleasant outcomes for you, others,
relationship, team
F-Feeling
Harmony,
values, subjective evaluations, person-centered concerns
Understand what is important to people
Acknowledge human side of decision making
Help others accept decisions
Motivated when given personal encouragement and shown the human angle of a topic
Think to clarify their values and to establish networks of values
Even when expressions seem syllogistic, they have usually evolved from some
personally held belief or value
Feedback-discuss value of person’s action/accomplishment, express what
behavior meant personally
P-Perceiving
Open to new ideas
Adaptable
Likes a flexible and spontaneous approach to life and prefers to keep options
open
Open to new ideas, provide insight, react with flexibility if system breaks down
View learning as a free-wheeling, flexible quest
Could care less about deadlines and completion of tasks
Prefer open and spontaneous learning environments and feel “imprisoned” in a
highly structured classroom
Feedback-adapt praise as the situation warrants
Okay,
now go back to the names of the personality types. What is yours?
I will discuss them briefly here, specifically relating to learning
style.
Artisan:
Artisans hunger for action. This
group is the least represented in colleges and have the lowest correlation
between academic ability and GPA. (They are great ability, but don’t put forth
the effort to get a good grade.) They need physical involvement and hands-on
experience. They love to be entertained. The tend to rebel against close
supervision and instructions. They
seek constant change of pace and variety. Lectures
are uninteresting. They often have a
problem with authority.
Guardian:
Guardians hunger for belonging to a group. They are responsible and dependable.
They work well in a traditional classroom and want to please the teacher. They
generally have good study habits and lessons are seen as worthwhile. They do
well with workbooks, need structure and so best when lessons are presented
sequentially in increments that make sense. They are often pessimistic about
others and have selective hearing!
Rational:
Rationals
hunger for competence. They must know all they should know and their list of
“should knows” is endless. They look for whatever will enable them to
understand, explain, predict and control. They tend to collect rules and
principles that give structure to their cognitive world. They are intellectually
curious and technically orientated. They
tend to be independent thinkers and like to pursue inspirations, tracking down
information until the desire for learning is satisfied.
Idealists:
Idealists hunger for an ever-increasing “sense of self.” They want to be him or herself. These individuals are charismatic, empathetic, dramatic, and seeking to establish an identity to feel complete and undivided. They have a built-in desire to communicate in a personal way with others. They thrive on recognition, caring, personal attention. They enjoy interaction, work well in democratically run classrooms, participate enthusiastically in group discussion. They may be shy if introverted. Cooperation rather than competition is the key.
As a last thought, remember that everyone is different and it is not right or wrong, just different. Often times we seek to change people close to us or at least wish they would change. This normally doesn’t happen. Please think about that as you read the following:
“If
you do not want what I want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.
Or if my beliefs are
different from yours, at least pause before you set out to correct them.
Or if my emotion seems
less or more intense than yours, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me
to feel other than I do.
Or if I act, or fail to
act, in the manner of your design for action, please let me be.
I do not, for the moment
at least, ask you to understand me. That will only come when you are willing to
give up trying to change me into a copy of you.
If you allow me any of my
own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself to the
possibility that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might
finally appear as right-for me. To put up with me is the first step to
understanding me.
Not that you embrace my
way as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with
me for my seeming waywardness. And one day, perhaps, in trying to understand me,
you might come to prize my differences, and, far from seeking to change me,
might preserve and even cherish those differences.
I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring, your friend, your colleague. But whatever our relation, this I know: You and I are fundamentally different and both of us have to march to our own drummer” (Keirsey, 1998).
References:
Keirsey, D. (1998) Please understand me II. United States: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.
Discussion Question Two
The discussions are based on the book Rich Dad Poor Dad.
Please make sure you
have read Chapter One and Chapter Two before you complete the
discussion. You will notice that there are many questions in this discussion.
Please make sure you answer all parts of the discussion question in a well
thought out answer that brings in material from the book.
Your answer should be at least 200 words.
In the introduction the question is asked, "Does school prepare children for the real world?" Lesson one is "The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them" (p. 30). Relating to lesson one, what does school teach about succeeding in life financially?
How does the power of thought and fear relate to poor people and to rich people in how they think about money?
What lessons were you taught about money?
Submit your assignments below: