The fourth and final scale that's part of the Myers-Briggs Personality Types deals with how people live their "outer life".
There are two sides to this scale:
- Judging types prefer organization and planning.
- Perceiving types like to improvise and explore options.
- Judging types value punctuality and completeness of tasks.
- Perceiving types value spontaneity and flexibility.
- Judging types prefer decisions made. They are task oriented and love to make lists.
- Perceiving types prefer to multitask. They mix work with play, and love variety.
- Judging types can be accused of being "too structured".
- Perceiving types can be accused of being "too loosey goosey."
As I've mentioned in previous posts about Myers-Briggs, there is no right or wrong preference. We need both types in our world.
Please don't confuse Judging types with the term "judgmental". They are not related.
I'm a Judging type. I keep all my school supplies organized by the month I use them. I have tubs of activities for each month of the year. All the clothes in my closet are in order by color. I have all the tops in hanging in one section, facing the same way, of course, starting with red, and going through the rainbow. Black and brown come at the end. The bottoms are on the other side of the closet. In color order, of course. All the money in my wallet is in order of denomination, all facing the same way.
I realized very early that my daughter was also a judging type when she lined up all her dolls around her by height. (She did this all the time, it was scary!)
Once a friend of mine told me I needed to be more spontaneous. I told him I'd put it in my plans.
Of all four scales of the Myers-Briggs, this is one scale where I'm nowhere near the middle. I'm a strong "J".
However, understanding personality types has helped me from becoming too extreme. I no longer panic if I don't know what's coming up. I'm ok if plans have to be changed.
One of the things I appreciate most about understanding the different personality types is that I've learned to be tolerant and appreciative of the other types.
I know and enjoy people who are Perceiving types. I admire spontaneity. I appreciate those who are good at improvising.
I've completed MBTI assessment a couple of times since I've been teaching, as well as at least once before that. Each time I come out as an ISTJ. The second time I did it (since teaching) was particularly interesting, as my preferences were very strong in some areas (more so than the previous time). Someone suggested that maybe, because of the challenges I'd been facing, I had reverted to my deeper root preferences, as opposed to the previous time when they may have been some mellowing as I enjoyed what I was doing and had become more flexible. Then when faced with a tough situation, I went into self-preservation mode, which was more extreme.
ReplyDeleteI like what you've posted. This is a great tool for helping us understand how we interact with the world, and also for understanding our students.
Life in Cambodia, and especially life at my new school, has soften some of my reactions. I've learned to be more spontaneous, and to accept curved balls more easily and more graciously.
Thanks for the reminder of this great tool I have to use.
God gave us all individual personalities and it's great that He's also given us ways that help us understand who we are and how we think.