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CHAPTER 2 PERSONALITY PREFERENCES
Emotional competence is the research domain on which this research is based. This chapter focuses on the discussion of personality preferences as a variable that influences the emotional competence of individuals. Personality preferences are discussed from the paradigmatic perspective of the Analytical Psychology of Carl Jung. By discussing the personality theory (more specifically, the Psychological Type theory) of Carl Jung (1921, 1959, 1971, 1990) and the MBTI Personality Type theory of Myers and Briggs (Myers, 1987), the researcher attempts to organise observations of people by providing some kind of underlying framework for classifying and describing individual behaviour. The aim is to determine what aspects of personality enable certain individuals to be more emotionally competent than others. This is in line with step 1 of phase one of the research method as described in chapter 1 (refer to point 1.8).
This chapter also aims to address the first research question stated in chapter 1 which relates to the theoretical conceptualisation of the construct personality preferences. In this chapter then, the construct personality preferences will be explored by examining the basic literature and research on personality and personality preferences. An integrated model of personality preferences from the perspective of Analytical Psychology will be proposed to enable the researcher to explain the theoretical relationship between the variables personality preferences, self-esteem, and emotional competence. Finally, the theoretical research implications for leader development and the field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology will be discussed.
2.1 PARADIGMATIC AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS
The discussion of the paradigmatic and conceptual foundations that follows, aims at a broader understanding of the constructs personality and personality preferences from the paradigmatic perspective of Analytical Psychology.
Jung’s (1921, 1959, 1971) theory on personality is extremely complex (Feist & Feist, 2002; Meyer, Moore, & Viljoen, 1994; Möller, 1995). In his attempt to understand the psychological functioning of individuals, Jung drew on information from a wide spectrum of disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, theology, philosophy, biology, physics, chemistry, archaeology, literature, history, anthropology and mythology. According to Möller (1995), this resulted in an esoteric
end-product. What follows is a broad summary of the basic assumptions and principles of Jung’s (1921, 1959, 1971) theory on personality.
2.1.1 Basic assumptions
The basic assumptions of Jung’s analytical theory of personality can be summarised as follows:
- Humans are complex beings with many opposing poles. People are motivated partly by conscious thoughts, partly by images from their personal unconscious, and partly by latent memory traces inherited from their ancestral past. The complex makeup of humans invalidates any simple or one-sided description. Each person is a composition of opposing forces. No one is completely introverted or totally extraverted; all male or all female; solely a thinking, feeling, sensing, or intuitive person; and no one proceeds invariably in the direction of either progression or regression (Feist & Feist, 2002; Jung, 1969; Möller, 1995; Quenk, 1993a).
- The persona is but a fraction of an individual. What one wishes to show others is usually only the socially acceptable side of personality. Every person has a dark side, a shadow, and most try to conceal it from both society and themselves. In addition, each man possesses an anima and every woman an animus (Feist & Feist, 2002; Jung, 1969; Meyer et al., 1994).
- The various complexes and archetypes cast their spell over people and are responsible for many of their words and actions and most of their dreams and fantasies. However, people are not completely dominated by forces beyond their control. All people have some limited capacity to determine their lives. Through their will and with great courage, they can explore the hidden recesses of their psyche. People can recognise their shadow as their own, become partially conscious of their feminine or masculine side, and cultivate more than a single function. This process, which is called individuation or self-realisation, is not easy and demands more fortitude than most people can muster. Ordinarily, a person who has achieved self- realisation has reached middle life and has lived successfully through the stages of childhood and youth. During middle age, people must be willing to set aside the goals and behaviours of youth and adopt a new style appropriate to their stage of psychic development. A healthy middle life and
person, the ego takes a secondary position to the unconscious self (Jung, 1921, 1959). Thus, consciousness plays a relatively minor role in analytical psychology, and an overemphasis on expanding one’s conscious psyche can lead to psychological imbalance. Healthy individuals are in contact with themselves and the outer world, they recognise their persona, and they allow themselves to experience their unconscious self to achieve individuation (Feist & Feist, 2002; Jung, 1971).
Although the persona is a necessary side of the human personality, people should not confuse their public face with their complete self. If people over-identify with their persona they lose touch with their inner self and remain dependent on society’s expectations of them. To become psychologically healthy, people must strike a balance between the demands of society and what they truly are (Feist & Feist, 2002; Jung, 1971, 1976).
2.1.2.2 Personal unconscious
The second system of the psyche is called the personal unconscious. This system is unique to the individual because it is formed by individual experiences. The personal unconscious embraces all repressed, forgotten, or subliminally perceived experiences of one particular individual. The contents of the personal unconscious are called complexes. A complex is an emotionally toned conglomeration of associated ideas. Complexes are largely personal, but they may also be partly derived from humanity’s collective experience, the collective unconscious (Jung, 1954; 1969).
The shadow and anima/animus are part of the personal unconscious. According to Jung (1921, 1959), all people have a shadow side, which is unconscious. It is made up of material that people do not like about themselves. However, some of the shadow material may be positive. For example, if a young child is taught that assertiveness is wrong, the child is likely to assign this to the shadow and may not act with normal assertiveness. Many people project their shadow onto someone else. Since it is too painful to accept shadow qualities, people see them in someone else. The shadow is characterised by traits and attitudes, whether negative or positive, which the conscious ego tends to reject or ignore. Consciously assimilating one’s shadow usually results in an increase of energy.
Just as the shadow is part of the personal unconscious, the anima or animus is also a part of it. Every person has a contrasexual image which is part of them. This means that every man has an anima or woman image in his unconscious and every woman has an animus or male image in her unconscious. The anima or feminine side of men is responsible for many of their irrational moods and feelings. The animus, the masculine side of women, is responsible for irrational thinking and illogical opinions in women (Jung, 1921, 1959).
2.1.2.3 Collective unconscious
The third system of the psyche is known as the collective unconscious or objective psyche. One of the most unique teachings of analytical psychology is the concept of the collective unconscious (Feist & Feist, 2002; Möller, 1995). The deeper level of the objective psyche is composed of a universal structure in humankind. Therefore, the contents of the collective unconscious are more or less the same for people in all cultures (Jung, 1921, 1959).
The contents of the collective unconscious do not lie dormant but are active and influence a person’s thoughts, emotions and actions. The collective unconscious is responsible for people’s many myths, legends, and religious beliefs. The collective unconscious does not refer to inherited ideas but rather to humans’ innate tendency to react in a particular way whenever their experiences stimulate a biologically inherited response tendency. Humans, like other animals, come into the world with inherited predispositions to act or react in certain ways if their present experiences touch on these biologically based predispositions (Jung, 1969).
Deep within the collective unconscious are archetypes, which cannot be represented in and of themselves. Archetypes are ancient or archaic images that derive from the collective unconscious. They are similar to complexes in that they are emotionally toned collections of associated images, which are universal motifs. The images are the basic content of fairy tales, mythologies, and religions. Whereas complexes are individualised components of the personal unconscious, archetypes are generalised and form the content of the collective unconscious (Jung, 1954; 1969).
There are many archetypes by which people live. Typical archetypes include persona, shadow, anima, animus, great mother, wise old man, hero, and self. The
Conscious (ego)
Collective
unconscious
Conscious (ego) Conscious (ego)
Conscious (ego)
Personal
unconscious
Anima (femininity)
Persona
Shadow
Animus (masculinity)
Personal
unconscious
Figure 2.1 Jung’s conception of personality (Feist & Feist, 2002:107)
2.1.3 The dynamics of personality
Jung (1921, 1959, 1969) views personality as an energy system. The motivation of personality is explained in terms of the movement of energy between the various structural systems of the psyche or personality. Psychic energy flows continually from one system to another, in a constant striving for harmony. Jung (1921, 1959) views life as an energy process geared towards an aim. Energy is always used in terms of an aim, physical and psychological. This self-orientation implies a capacity to make a freer choice.
2.1.3.1 Psychic energy
Jung (1959) uses the term libido to refer to the psychic or general life process. Psychic energy (or libido) can be expressed in sexuality, but also, for example, in hunger, a desire or a decision of the will. When a large quantity of psychic energy is
manifested in a specific thought or feeling, such a thought or feeling will exercise a strong influence on the person’s behaviour. Jung (1969) refers to that psychic energy which is not at the disposal of the conscious as the instincts. Instinct is the concept in which the influence of the psyche and the body are united within the personality and does not exist in isolation.
2.1.3.2 The principle of opposites
The principle of opposites explains how psychic energy is generated. It also underlies changes in personality (Jung, 1969). Opposing forces within the personality, for example love and hate, create a conflict from which energy arises. This, in turn, is expressed in behaviour. The same happens with the presence of opposing values. Every desire, thought or feeling has its opposite. The structural systems of the psyche are also in constant opposition to each other, for example the shadow and the ego, or the conscious and the unconscious. The number of possible conflicts from which energy may be generated is unlimited. According to Jung (1969), without antithesis, there can be no energy, and this applies to both physical as well as psychic energy. Polarities lead to a process of equalisation and the result is energy. The greater the conflict, the stronger the energy generated.
2.1.3.3 The principles of equivalence and entropy
Jung (1969) adapted two principles from physics (the first and second laws of thermodynamics) in order to explain the movement of psychic energy on the same basis as physical energy:
- According to the principle of equivalence an increase in the functioning of one aspect of the psyche will be accompanied by a decrease in the functioning of another aspect.
- The opposite is also true. If someone’s psychological value weakens or disappears in a certain area, that energy is shifted to another part of the psyche. The area to which the psychic energy is transferred must be of the same psychological value, in other words, just as desirable. If this is not the case, the energy will move into the unconscious (Schultz, 1976).
- The principle of entropy refers to the process within the psyche by which elements of unequal force strive to attain equilibrium. For example, if psychic energy is concentrated within the unconscious at a given moment,
2.1.4.1 Self-actualisation
According to Jung (1921, 1959, 1969), self-actualisation is both teleological and causative in nature. Personality is determined by what the person hopes to become as well as by what he was.
Jung (1959) describes two principles underlying growth and self-actualisation, namely individuation and transcendence:
- Individuation refers to the process whereby the systems of the psyche achieve the fullest measure of differentiation and development. Individuation is an inborn and inevitable process. It will take place, but it may be restricted or assisted by environmental factors. Individuation, also called psychological rebirth, is the process of becoming an individual or whole person. Self- realisation is the process of integrating the opposite poles into a single homogeneous individual.
- Transcendence refers to the integration of the various systems of the psyche in order to achieve unity and harmony within the psyche as well as unity with humankind. Transcendence is also the process of integrating the opposite poles into a single homogeneous individual. Individuation leads to variety within the psyche, whereas transcendence brings unity, integration and harmony, with the development of the self as the highest form of integration.
Self-realisation is relatively rare and is achieved only by people who are able to assimilate their unconscious into their total personality. Self-realised people are able to contend with both their external and their internal worlds (Jung, 1959).
2.1.4.2 Stages of personality development
Jung (1969) grouped the stages of life into four general periods – childhood, youth, middle life, and old age.
(a) Childhood
Childhood is divided into three sub-stages, namely the anarchic, the monarchic, and the dualistic. The anarchic phase is characterised by chaotic and sporadic
consciousness. Experiences of the anarchic phase sometimes enter consciousness as primitive images, incapable of being accurately verbalised.
The monarchic phase of childhood is characterised by the development of the ego and by the beginning of logical and verbal thinking. During this time children see themselves objectively and often refer to themselves in the third person.
The ego as perceiver arises during the dualistic phase of childhood, when the ego is divided into the objective and subjective. Children now refer to themselves in the first person and are aware of their existence as separate individuals.
(b) Youth
The period from puberty until middle life is called youth. Young people strive to gain psychic and physical independence from their parents, find a mate, raise a family, and make a place in the world. According to Jung (1960), youth is a period of increased activity, maturing sexuality, growing consciousness, and recognition that the problem-free era of childhood is gone forever.
(c) Middle life
Jung (1969) believed that middle life begins at approximately age 35 or 40. This phase is primarily characterised by the expansion of the conscious through new experiences and knowledge. The mid-life phase heralds the second half of life and the focus shifts to the unconscious (as opposed to the conscious). The mid-life is the period in which individuals begin to pay attention to those inner aspects of themselves which they have neglected until now and have to obtain insight into those dimensions of themselves of which they were not aware.
(d) Old age
This stage begins between 60 and 65. During this phase the person has a wonderful opportunity for individuation. This stage should also be characterised by the development of a balance or harmony by reconciling the opposite forces, because the individual has experienced so many situations and their opposites up until this phase. This harmony (and thus self-realisation) also arises from the reconciliation of the opposites of life and death.
that he cannot give any guidance). Similarly, extraversion may be positive (for example, he readily asks others for help and advice) or negative (for example, the advice is not assessed critically, but accepted blindly, with detrimental results) (Möller, 1995).
2.2.1.2 Functions
Jung’s (1921, 1971, 1990) theory of psychological types is concerned with the conscious use of the functions of perception and decision making (or judgment), and the areas of life in which these functions are used. Jung (1921, 1971, 1990) assumes that apart from a dominant attitude, each person also has a specific way in which he or she observes his or her world and assigns meaning to each experience. Jung (1921, 1971, 1990) distinguishes four such conscious mental functions, or processes, namely two perception processes (sensation or sensing, and intuition), and two judgment processes (thinking and feeling). Both introversion and extraversion can combine with any or more of these four functions, forming eight possible orientations or psychological types of personality. The four functions can be briefly defined as follows:
(a) Sensation
Sensation (or sensing) is the initial experience or perception of a phenomenon, without any evaluation. Sensation tells people that something exists. These perceptions are not dependent on logical thinking or feeling but exist as absolute, elementary facts within each person (Jung, 1921, 1971, 1990).
Extraverted people with a dominant sensing function perceive external stimuli objectively, in much the same way that these stimuli exist in reality. Their sensations are not greatly influenced by their subjective attitudes (Jung, 1921, 1971).
Introverted people with a dominant sensing function are largely influenced by their subjective sensations of sight, sound, taste, touch, and so forth. They are guided by their interpretation of sense stimuli rather than the stimuli themselves (Jung, 1921, 1971, 1990).
(b) Thinking
Thinking refers to cognitive processes, and entails the reasonable and logical interpretation of memory so that it acquires meaning. The thinking type can be either extraverted or introverted, depending on a person’s basic attitude (Jung, 1921, 1971, 1990).
Extraverted people with a dominant thinking function rely heavily on concrete thoughts, but they may also use abstract ideas if these ideas have been transmitted to them from without, for example, from parents or teachers (Jung, 1971).
Introverted people with a dominant thinking function react to external stimuli, but their interpretation of an event is coloured more by the internal meaning they bring with them than by the objective facts themselves. Inventors and philosophers are often introverted thinking types because they react to the external world in a highly subjective and creative manner, interpreting old data in new ways (Jung, 1971).
(c) Feeling
Feeling entails subjective evaluation of experiences in terms of emotions such as love, pity and hate. Feeling is the process of valuing, sensing or intuiting an idea or event. The feeling function should be distinguished from emotion. Feeling is the valuation of every conscious activity, even those valued as indifferent. Most of these valuations have no emotional content, but they are capable of becoming emotions if their intensity increases to the point of stimulating physiological changes within the person. Emotions, however, are not limited to feelings; any of the four functions can lead to emotion when their strength is increased (Feist & Feist, 2002).
Extraverted people with a dominant feeling function use objective data to make valuations. They are not guided so much by their subjective opinion, but by external values and widely accepted standards of judgment. They are likely to be at ease in social situations, knowing on the spur of the moment what to say and how to say it. They are usually well liked because of their sociability, but in their quest to conform to social standards, they may appear artificial, cold, and unreliable (Jung, 1971).
Introverted people with a dominant feeling function base their value judgments primarily on subjective perceptions rather than objective facts. Critics of the various
with the least differentiation in the subordinate function. Any of the four functions may be dominant.
Most people cultivate only one function so that they characteristically approach a situation relying on the one dominant or superior function. Some people develop two functions, and a few very mature individuals have cultivated three. A person who has theoretically achieved self-realisation or individuation would have all four functions highly developed (Feist & Feist, 2002). The four functions are like the points on a compass, with the self in the center facing a given direction, but using all four points as guides (Jung, 1971). Figure 2.2 illustrates this.
Figure 2.2 The four opposite functions (Quenk, 1993a:3)
Table 2.1 gives an overview of the four mental functions and the four attitudes with their characteristics.
Thinking judgment SELF Feeling judgment
Sensing perception
Intuitive perception
Table 2.1 The four attitudes and the four mental functions (Quenk, 1996: 2, 3)
The four attitudes Extraverted Introverted Energy is produced through interaction with the outer world of people and objects. Focus is on breadth and variety of experiences in the world.
Energy is produced through interaction with inner experiences and ideas. Focus is on depth and intensity of private reflections.
Judging Perceiving Approach to the outer world is to come to conclusions and make judgments. Focus is on closure, predictability, planning, organisation and control.
Approach to the outer world is to gather information and perceive. Focus is on adaptability, flexibility, spontaneity and openness to new information. The four mental functions Perceiving Functions Sensing Intuition Information is gathered through the five senses. Focus is on concrete facts, details and experiences that occur in the present.
Information is acquired as patterns or global wholes. Focus is on interrelationships, meanings and possibilities in the future. Judging Functions Thinking Feeling Conclusions are based on logical analysis of Sensing or Intuitive information. Focus is on impartiality and objectivity.
Conclusions are based on personal values about Sensing or Intuitive information. Focus is on empathy and harmony.
Jung (1921, 1971, 1990) based his theory on clinical observations and consequently portrays each mental process in sharpest focus and with maximum contrast between its extraverted and introverted forms. Jung (1971, 1990) thus describes the rare, theoretically “pure” types (Myers, 1987). Myers and Briggs (Myers, 1987) developed an instrument, called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, to make it possible to empirically test and use Jung’s theory with non-clinical populations. An overview of Myers and Briggs’ (Myers, 1987) theory on personality
- Extraverts with dominant Thinking and auxiliary Intuition (ENTJ)
- Introverts with dominant Thinking and auxiliary Sensing (ISTP)
- Introverts with dominant Thinking and auxiliary Intuition (INTP)
- Extraverts with dominant Feeling and auxiliary Sensing (ESFJ)
- Extraverts with dominant Feeling and auxiliary Intuition (ENFJ)
- Introverts with dominant Feeling and auxiliary Sensing (ISFP)
- Introverts with dominant Feeling and auxiliary Intuition (INFP)
Myers (1987) states that for people to be balanced, they need adequate (but by no means equal) development of a second process, not as a rival to the dominant process but as a welcome auxiliary. If the dominant process is a judging one, the auxiliary process will be perceptive: either sensing or intuition can supply sound material for judgments. If the dominant process is perceptive, the auxiliary process will be a judging one: either thinking or feeling can give continuity of aim. The auxiliary is thus always formed in the dimension that the dominant is not in.
Good personality type development thus demands that the auxiliary supplements the dominant process in two respects. It must supply a useful degree of balance not only between perception and judgment but also between extraversion and introversion. To live happily and effectively in both worlds, people need a balancing auxiliary that will make it possible to adapt in both directions – to the world around them and to their inner selves. When it fails to do so it leaves the individual literally “unbalanced”, retreating into the preferred world and consciously or unconsciously afraid of the other world (Myers & Myers, 1980; Myers, 1987; Quenk, 1993a).
When the auxiliary process is taken into consideration, it splits each of Jung’s personality types into two. Instead of merely the introverted thinker, there are the introverted thinker with sensing and the introverted thinker with intuition. Thus there are sixteen personality types in place of Jung’s eight. Each of the sixteen personality types is the logical result of its own preferences and is closely related to other personality types that share some of those preferences (Myers, 1987; Myers & McCaulley, 1992).
2.2.2.1 The four bipolar preferences
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was developed by Myers and Briggs (Myers et al., 1998) to study personality types empirically. The MBTI questionnaire
is concerned with four bipolar preferences to determine the relative preference of one over the other. The four scales correspond to the four dimensions of the MBTI Personality Type Theory as shown in Table 2.2. The MBTI uses a short hand designation for the eight characteristics as depicted in Table 2.2. The four preferences are as follows (McCaulley, 1990; Myers et al., 1998):
(a) Extraversion attitude (E) or Introversion attitude (I)
In the extraverted attitude (E), persons seek engagement with the environment and give weight to events in the world around them. Energy and attention flow out, or are drawn out, to the objects and people in the environment. The individual experiences a desire to act on the environment, to affirm its importance, to increase its effect.
In the introverted attitude (I), persons seek engagement with the inner world and give weight to concepts and ideas to understand events. Energy is drawn from the environment toward inner experience and reflection. One desires to stay focused on the internal, subjective state, to affirm its value, and to maintain this focus as long as possible.
(b) Sensing perception (S) or Intuitive perception (N)
When using sensing perception (S), people are interested in what is real, immediate, practical, and observable by the senses. When using intuitive perception (N), people are interested in future possibilities, implicit meanings, and symbolic or theoretical patterns suggested by insight.
(c) Thinking judgment (T) or Feeling judgment (F)
When using thinking judgment (T), people rationally decide through a process of logical analysis of causes and effects. When using feeling judgment (F), people rationally decide by weighing the relative importance or value of competing alternatives.
