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People have
different ways of interpreting and explaining the world they live in.
Some of these explanations are somewhat logical or scientific, and some are not.
Nevertheless, those notions exist, and sometimes people become so attached to
them that they preclude their using the type model effectively. Some of
these less-reliable concepts describe ethnic attributions ("She has an Irish temper."
"His German side is very hard to deal with."); some invoke parental
influences ("He takes after his father." "She takes after
her grandmother." "They raised those kids to be hellions."); and
gender is a common scapegoat ("All men want the same thing."
"She's just a typical woman.").
It can be
very difficult to trade in these comfortable old explanations for a new one,
especially a model as complex as Type. It's far easier for most people to stick with the
old habits and reflexively blame the old influences -- even though part of them
knows these models aren't sound.
What about
you -- can you trade in your old models for new ones?
* * *
ASTROLOGY
A popular
model many people rely on is Astrology. It's a very interesting model that
has been around since the dawn of time. In fact, the
earliest recorded attempts of humans to explain the differences among us are
found in ancient Astrology. Astrologers claimed that the movement of the sun, moon, and
planets would influence your behavior patterns or your fate. They used
twelve constellations in the sky and four major groupings, symbolized by earth,
air, fire, and water. It's particularly interesting because astrology
claims that your personality is not formed by what's inside you, but is
determined by something completely outside of you. Astrology said that the way the heavens were
aligned when you were born determined your behavior. Thousands
of years ago, stars were what they went by. So it's no surprise that
Astrology persists today, and many people have tried to map personality type and
Astrology together.
Unfortunately,
there is NO correlation. None. Nada.
Here's
what Dr. John Beebe says on the matter:
Astrology
is the Ancient World's psychology. It is a psychology of the unconscious
-- a proto-psychology, a pre-psychology. We can't correlate typology with
astrology. Astrology speaks to an instinctive underpinning, an
infrastructure to our psychology, but doesn't in itself explain consciousness.
And
Jung says:
Astrology
is assured of recognition from psychology without further restrictions because
Astrology represents the summation of all the psychological knowledge of
antiquity.
As I am a psychologist, I am particularly interested in the particular light the
horoscope sheds on certain complications in the character. In cases of difficult
psychological diagnosis, I usually get a horoscope in order to have a further
point of view from an entirely different angle. I must say that I have very
often found that the astrological data elucidated certain points which I
otherwise would have been unable to understand.
We
are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we
have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology
does not lay claim to anything more.
I
suspect Beebe or Jung himself would have found a parallel if there was one. After all,
both of them have found Astrology to be very intriguing and worthwhile. So I figure if
Dr. Jung and Dr. Beebe can't link the two concepts together, it's probably pointless for the
rest of us to attempt it.
However,
Astrology can be very interesting when used in conjunction with Jungian
archetypes, as Jung himself appears to have done. It brings a whole new dimension to both models.
My
husband and I had our horoscopes cast by a world-famous astrologer, Alice
Howell, who is also a Jungian. Alice diagrams the astrological
influences in one's chart and maps it to the Jungian archetypes that are probably
influencing you. And she's eerily accurate. When I did my session
with her, she nicknamed me "Crusader Rabbit" and "Sparkle
Plenty" in order to describe some of the archetypal influences governing me.
Alice has written an interesting book, Jungian
Symbolism in Astrology, that describes her methods.
(She's written
a number of wonderful books, so check them all out!) I
highly recommend you schedule a session with her if you can -- she lives in the
Berkshires in Massachusetts. (Her roof leaks, so it'd be doing her a favor
to become a paying customer. Email me if you'd like the contact details.)
To
summarize, while it isn't possible to link Astrology to personality type,
it is an extremely worthwhile tool for getting at some psychological influences
and exploring unusual facets of your personality.
* * *
HUMOURS
Catalysts
are categorized as "Cholerics" in the ancient Hippocratean typology
system. I have heard from certain sources that the Humours model still
exists today, but differs wildly from what Hippocrates first proposed, and that
"Catalyst" no longer maps effectively to this contemporary version of
the Humours. (I don't know what Catalysts map to now, because I
don't know this contemporary method. I've heard people say that the
current version of "Humours" better maps to the Interaction
Styles model.)
Below is
taken from a matrix created by Dr. David Keirsey to show how the Hippocratean
typology maps to other systems that have been espoused over the centuries.
|
Hippocrates
c450BC
Plato
c35OBC
Galen
c250
Paracelsus
c1530
Adickes
1905
Spranger
1914
Kretschmer
1920
Fromm
1947
Myers
1955
Keirsey/Bates
1960s
Keirsey
1970s
Berens
2006 |
Choleric
Philosophic
Enthused
Nymph/Water/Devoted
Doctrinaire
Ethical
Sensitive/Hyperaesthetic
Receptive
Emotional
Apollonian
Idealists
Catalysts |
* * *
ENNEAGRAM
The
Enneagram is not my thing. Other people swear by it, but I'm not one of
them. The three models I rely on can each be reduced to a
single matrix that reflects "tension of opposites," but the
Enneagram starts at a level of complexity that's uncomfortable for me, and
appears to be a philosophical model.
Because I
know little about it and tend to avoid it, another Catalyst shared with me an in-depth explanation
(aversion?), which may be found here.
The only
other piece I can share is that someone told me "Margaret Frings Keys' book
Emotions and the
Enneagram: Working Through Your Shadow Life Script, has the best discussion
published on
relating Jungian and Enneagram thought." Maybe someone else reading
this can tell me what's
great about it?
* * *
NIEDNAGEL
& BRAINTYPES
It seems Niednagel took Temperament and put his own twist on it. But he left
something out in the process. For instance, I don't trust his assessments.
Such as, his website claims that George Bush, Sr., has ENFJ preferences.
Um, ENFJ -- for the man who said he doesn't "do the vision thing"??
Hm, can't say that sits right with me. And he claims George's son, Dubya,
has ENTJ preferences. Wow. Most of the leading type experts I know attribute him
with preferences for ISFP or ISTP. So there's a pretty big disparity from
Niednagel and the rest of the Type community.
* * *
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE (Daniel Goleman)
To come...
* * *
TRUE COLORS
This is an easy
one! It's no secret that True Colors (tm) is based on Keirsey's
Temperament. The authors freely admit their model is a derivative of his
work. The mapping is thus: blue = Catalyst/Idealist; green =
Theorist/Rational; gold = Stabilizer/Guardian; orange = Improviser/Artisan.
* * *
ELEVATIONS
Same
as above -- it's based on Keirsey's
Temperament. Helen Scully (INFJ) acknowledges this is a derivative of his
work. Instead of colors, Elevations
uses symbols as its Temperament labels as a tool for career counseling.
* * *
NEURO-LINGUISTIC
PROGRAMMING (to come)
Dario Nardi's
new book uses NLP techniques to experience
the eight cognitive processes. It's groundbreaking!
* * *
MTR-i (to
come)
* * *
SOCIONICS
I think Socionics
is the Scientology of the personality type world. I simply can't take this theory
seriously. It seems like a "wannabe" theory based on Jung's work,
which leaves me wondering what's wrong with Jung's work and that of his
antecedents? Socionics mixes the letters up and has all manner of claims
about matching one's image to an online picture. (I get sooo many
questions about this.) While I do think there is
some connection between personality and body type, Socionics does not (in my
experience) capture that relationship.
* * *
SOCIAL
STYLES MODELS
DISC
ASSESSMENT
According
to the DiSC assessment, INFJs would be categorized as "C." The
problem with the DiSC is that the way this personality type gets described
sounds like a seriously rigid ISTJ! One article I read describing C's was
that they probably have broken glasses with tape around them, wear a pocket
protector, and carry a slide rule! (Do I LOOK
like that description?!?) It's very uncomfortable to be with the DiSC's
"C" description, which is why I prefer the Berens Interaction Styles
model -- it is much less stereotyping and insulting to INFJs, INTJs, and ISTPs.
It also doesn't "map" perfectly to the MBTI, and Berens Interaction
Styles does. So I go with the one that "maps" and
"fits."
BOLTON
AND BOLTON
INFJs
are "Analytical." See above.
ALESSANDRA
INFJs
are "Thinkers." See above.
THOMAS
KILMAN CONFLICT MODEL (TKI)
INFJs
are "Avoiding." See above.
BERENS
INTERACTION STYLES
INFJs
are "chart-the-course"
in their interaction style.
* * *
HSP --
Highly Sensitive Persons
HSP is
not a model per se. Elaine Aron wrote a book titled The Highly Sensitive Person , and
many people latched onto the idea and self-diagnosed themselves as
"highly-sensitive." Below, I include an abstract to an
article by Aron that provides more information on the
internet. Amazon's book review says more as well.
However, let me
quickly say that people I've met who are attached to the idea
they are "highly sensitive" tend not to have INFJ preferences.
(The ones I've met generally have INFP preferences, though it's not a rule!)
The
reason HSP doesn't work well as a concept for me is because I feel I get the
same information (but better!) via Beebe's archetypes. Truthfully, I
believe we're all sensitive with some aspect of our selves. I
don't believe any type owns the corner on sensitivity, yet some types feel
they do. And therein lies the hook.
*
Revisiting
Jung's concept of innate sensitiveness
Elaine N. Aron
Abstract: Jung suggested that innate sensitiveness predisposes some
individuals to be particularly affected by negative childhood experiences,
so that later, when under pressure to adapt to some challenge, they retreat
into infantile fantasies based on those experiences and become neurotic.
Recent research by the author and others is reviewed to support Jung's
theory of sensitiveness as a distinctly thorough conscious and unconscious
reflection on experiences. Indeed, this probably innate tendency is found in
about twenty percent of humans, and, in a sense, in most species, in that
about this percentage will evidence a strategy of thoroughly processing
information before taking action, while the majority depend on efficient,
rapid motor activity. Given this thorough processing, sensitive individuals
readily detect subtleties—including whatever is distressing or
threatening. Hence, as Jung observed, given the same degree of stress in
childhood as non-sensitive individuals, sensitive persons will develop more
depression, anxiety, and shyness. Without undue stress, they evidence no
more of these difficulties than the non-sensitive—or even less, being
unusually aware of supportive as well as negative cues from caregivers.
Given this interaction, one treatment task is to distinguish the effects of
such childhood difficulties from what does not need treatment, which are the
typical effects of the trait itself on an adult without a troubled
developmental history.
Link
to purchase article is here.
* * *
-------------------- Following
are my scribbly notes / trash. It may get developed eventually. Jung-invented
terms: introversion, extraversion, synchronicity, personality complex
(Jung as INTJ) Aboriginal
Dreamtime
(Yin &
Yang = Perceiving & Judging? Balance requires we do both effectively.)
Jung said
"A depression is a blessing of God. I mean, in the
individual it's the greatest blessing somebody can have. Jung always talked
about the blessing of a neurosis because it's the only way you are tempted to
look within."
Your
vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks
outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.
Carl
Jung 1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist on Vision
Everything that
irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. -- Carl
Jung
"There can
be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without
emotion." - CARL JUNG
Nothing
worse could happen to one than to be completely understood.
Carl
Gustav Jung
ugly
duckling
energy
locator
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