Personality vs. Psychology
I was cruising online message boards the other day when I came across a post from someone who said they have INFJ preferences, and claimed most of his friends also had INFJ preferences. Somebody expressed jealousy in reply how anyone could "peg" the types so easily.
I got that sinking feeling. Do you know the one I mean? The irrational one where you fear you're incompetent? I was triggered right into that place of wondering whether I was a fraud or an imposter and had no business calling myself a Self-Discovery Specialist. After all, I can't spot the types that fast.
I focused on my self-doubt to see how true it might be. Was I really an imposter? Or maybe I'm really bad at what I do, and have no talent for it? Could that be the case...?
In a flash, it was if I heard a voice in my head: I suddenly remembered how Jungian Dr. John Beebe has oft quoted James Hillman: "The types are not easy to spot." The types are not easy to spot!
If I'm a fraud, I guess I'm in good company. Me, Hillman, Beebe. All us frauds together.
The sinking feeling went away.
But still... what's going on that some civilian can spot types so easily? (Assuming they peg them accurately, of course.) I've been at this for ten years now, and I still find it challenging. What gives?
Then I realized: chances are the speed-typers are using models of personality – they look at personality types, not psychological types! Things started making better sense.
Everyone knows what a personality is. After all, there are radio personalities and TV personalities. There are personalities in grade school classrooms, and personalities at work. Let's not overlook personalities at parties – sometimes those are the most vivid personalities of all.
But personalities are not models of psychology. Personality may or may not mirror one's psychological type -- at least not in the stereotypical sense that "personality" usually means.
Let me share an example: Steve Martin. Probably most people know who Steve Martin is. From making a splash on "Saturday Night Live," to his comedic film roles, to hosting the Oscars, I expect most people are familiar with Steve's popular personality. With his big, well-known personality, he must surely be an extravert!
But I've met another side of Steve. Steve is a writer. He authored several sketches one year to present at the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colorado. They were previewed at a theater I work with in Los Angeles. As it happens, I was house manager for those previews.
Let me tell you about big extravert Steve. I helped him find a place to hide (yes, hide) upstairs. I arranged to come get him after the house lights went out and sneak him into the back of the theatre. Likewise, we arranged to return him to hiding once the show ended but before the house lights came up so he wouldn’t be seen. He didn’t want anyone to know he was there. I don't know that comparing him to a scared rabbit is entirely accurate, but it's not so far off.
So this big extravert was behaving a lot like an introvert. Which are his true preferences?
I don't know. "The types are not easy to spot." Perhaps Steve has an extraverted personality and an introverted psychology. It's possible. He wouldn't be the first.
I'm brought to mind of a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes. He said, "The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions." Now I don't want to be accused of age bias here, but if we think of "age" as a measure of experience, it seems that the longer a person spends working with type, the less likely they are to jump to quick conclusions about what type any given person is.
In other words, I suspect that people who rapidly identify others as being any particular type are actually perpetuating and trafficking in bias and stereotype. They sort people according to obvious traits: i.e., only introverts are quiet; only extraverts are noisy. Thinking types are all cold and critical; feeling types are all warm and friendly. Perceiving types are all flaky and judging types are all bossy. And my favorite of all: "S" stands for Stupid; "N" stands for iNtelligent.
Stop the presses! It's all figured out. Who says the types aren’t easy to spot? Personalities are obvious. See how easy it is.
I believe I'll leave personality typing to the amateurs. Me, I’ll stick with trying to identify psychological types, along with Beebe and Hillman.
I got that sinking feeling. Do you know the one I mean? The irrational one where you fear you're incompetent? I was triggered right into that place of wondering whether I was a fraud or an imposter and had no business calling myself a Self-Discovery Specialist. After all, I can't spot the types that fast.
I focused on my self-doubt to see how true it might be. Was I really an imposter? Or maybe I'm really bad at what I do, and have no talent for it? Could that be the case...?
In a flash, it was if I heard a voice in my head: I suddenly remembered how Jungian Dr. John Beebe has oft quoted James Hillman: "The types are not easy to spot." The types are not easy to spot!
If I'm a fraud, I guess I'm in good company. Me, Hillman, Beebe. All us frauds together.
The sinking feeling went away.
But still... what's going on that some civilian can spot types so easily? (Assuming they peg them accurately, of course.) I've been at this for ten years now, and I still find it challenging. What gives?
Then I realized: chances are the speed-typers are using models of personality – they look at personality types, not psychological types! Things started making better sense.
Everyone knows what a personality is. After all, there are radio personalities and TV personalities. There are personalities in grade school classrooms, and personalities at work. Let's not overlook personalities at parties – sometimes those are the most vivid personalities of all.
But personalities are not models of psychology. Personality may or may not mirror one's psychological type -- at least not in the stereotypical sense that "personality" usually means.
Let me share an example: Steve Martin. Probably most people know who Steve Martin is. From making a splash on "Saturday Night Live," to his comedic film roles, to hosting the Oscars, I expect most people are familiar with Steve's popular personality. With his big, well-known personality, he must surely be an extravert!
But I've met another side of Steve. Steve is a writer. He authored several sketches one year to present at the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colorado. They were previewed at a theater I work with in Los Angeles. As it happens, I was house manager for those previews.
Let me tell you about big extravert Steve. I helped him find a place to hide (yes, hide) upstairs. I arranged to come get him after the house lights went out and sneak him into the back of the theatre. Likewise, we arranged to return him to hiding once the show ended but before the house lights came up so he wouldn’t be seen. He didn’t want anyone to know he was there. I don't know that comparing him to a scared rabbit is entirely accurate, but it's not so far off.
So this big extravert was behaving a lot like an introvert. Which are his true preferences?
I don't know. "The types are not easy to spot." Perhaps Steve has an extraverted personality and an introverted psychology. It's possible. He wouldn't be the first.
I'm brought to mind of a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes. He said, "The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions." Now I don't want to be accused of age bias here, but if we think of "age" as a measure of experience, it seems that the longer a person spends working with type, the less likely they are to jump to quick conclusions about what type any given person is.
In other words, I suspect that people who rapidly identify others as being any particular type are actually perpetuating and trafficking in bias and stereotype. They sort people according to obvious traits: i.e., only introverts are quiet; only extraverts are noisy. Thinking types are all cold and critical; feeling types are all warm and friendly. Perceiving types are all flaky and judging types are all bossy. And my favorite of all: "S" stands for Stupid; "N" stands for iNtelligent.
Stop the presses! It's all figured out. Who says the types aren’t easy to spot? Personalities are obvious. See how easy it is.
I believe I'll leave personality typing to the amateurs. Me, I’ll stick with trying to identify psychological types, along with Beebe and Hillman.
posted by Vicky Jo at 9:51 PM
2 Comments:
re the Steve Martin story -- I can totally relate. I'm a youth librarian and I perform high-energy programs for kids of all ages, usually several programs per week. I sing, do silly dances with the kids, storytell, read books aloud, tell jokes with puppets, etc. I love entertaining children, and I love being in the spotlight -- for that 45 minutes the program is going on. If I didn't get some down time alone afterwards, I'd feel so stressed out. I really don't want to socialize with anyone afer I've just spent time being "on stage", and that includes even being around people I love and am comfortable with.
I also wanted to say I agree with what you say regarding personality type vs. psychological type. I will never understand why there are so MANY people out there who cling to the stereotypes in Keirsey's descriptions (and other similar sources) and believe them to be accurate predictors of what everyone would do in any given situation.
Sarah
(ISFP)
Amen! My ex-wife is vicitim of instant typing. It's unfortuante because she went from an open and nonjudgmental being to the other side of the spectrum, boxing people into one of 16 possible types.
Jason
(ISFP)
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