Ways
to Describe Personality
The following
is adapted from Linda V. Berens and Dario
Nardi, The
16 Personality Types: Descriptions for
Self-Discovery (Telos Publications,
1999) *Used with permission.
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Personality can be described in many ways.
The most common approaches include observing
and measuring traits like cheerfulness,
anxiety, and outgoingness. Sometimes the
traits are extremely relevant to a particular
job performance, so there is value to
this approach. However, even when there
is an attempt to see a pattern to the
traits, the result is usually a fragmented
picture that gives little useful information.
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Parts
have meaning only
in reference to the whole.
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Other times personality is described by
looking at separate dynamic processes,
such as how we gather information and
make decisions. This is not purely a trait
approach because no attempt is made to
measure the degree of the trait, but the
processes are often treated as separate
parts that somehow combine with each other.
Processes, however, have meaning only
in reference to the whole context, so
descriptions based only on this approach
are often missing essential qualities.
Living systems are not concretely visible.
Only in the last forty years have behavioral
scientists really been learning to “see”
systems, especially human systems.
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Systems
are patterns of
relationships that are organized.
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Systems
have “rules” that govern their
behavior. The pattern of organization
is not imposed from outside but “comes
with” the system at the moment of
creation. The system is organized around
a deep operating principle.
Systems
are “driven” to operate in certain
ways. If we try to force a system to behave
in ways inconsistent with its nature,
we spend energy and encounter resistance.
If we can understand the inherent operating
principles and work with them, we can
save energy. Personality descriptions
using a systems approach try to portray
the system as a whole.
Self-Descriptions
One systems approach to describing personality
is to have people describe themselves.
Unfortunately, people are influenced by
the models they already have, as well
as their self-esteem, traumas, stress
and cultures, so they may describe themselves
in a somewhat limited way. However, people
and the inborn patterns existed before
any theoretical models, so the expressions
of self-esteem, traumas, stress, and culture
will themselves be influenced by the push
of that inborn pattern.
Since
each type pattern is reflected in language,
such an approach can use the language
of the type, its syntax, vocabulary, rhythm,
and so on. Descriptions developed this
way can be very helpful in self-discovery,
even if they do not comprehensively describe
the theory.
Type
Themes and Patterns
A second way of describing personality
using a systems approach is to describe
personality in terms of the themes of
each type pattern and how they are organized.
This approach portrays aspects not available
any other way.
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Each
of the sixteen types is a
pattern of related themes.
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It
reveals the pattern of the various dynamics
at play. Sometimes it is hard to sort
out what is the essence of the theme and
what is culture or the result of growth
and development. Yet the pattern of themes
is constant under varying conditions.
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The
themes describe processes that
fill a unique role for each type.
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The
following is adapted
from Linda V. Berens and Dario Nardi,
The
16 Personality Types: Descriptions for
Self-Discovery (Telos Publications,
1999) *Used with permission.
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