Emtional and Personality Type Models
Emotions
There are said to be 36 basic pairs of emotions that humans are capable of expressing. Actors practise to master these 36 basic emotions. Dr Bach who brought Bach Flower remedies to the alternative medical world identified 38 negative emotions, on which he based his flower healing remedies. Here is his list.
| Fear: - Shyness - Terror/panic - Fear of mind giving way - Worries of unknown origin - Over concern for others Uncertainty: - Seeks advice and confirmation from others - Indecision - Despondency with a known reason - Hopelessness - Monday morning feeling - Uncertainty as to the correct path of life |
Lack of interest in present circumstances: - Dreaminess - Lives in the past - Apathy - Lack of vital energy - Unwanted thoughts & mental arguments - Failure to learn from past mistakes - Sadness with no origin Loneliness: - Proud / aloof - Impatience - Self-concern |
Over-sensitivity to influences and ideas: - Mental torment behind a cheerful face - Weak willed / subservient - Protection from change and outside influences - Hatred / envy / jealousy Despair: - Lack of confidence - Self guilt - Overwhelmed by responsibility - Extreme mental anguish - After effects of shock - Resentment - Exhausted but struggles on - Self-hatred / uncleanliness |
Over-care for the welfare of others: - Selfish / possessive - Over-enthusiasm - Domineering / inflexible - Intolerance - Self-repression / self-denial |
Personality Models
These Personality models come from psychologists, who study the emotions and mental states. These models are accepted by the medical profession, and are used in counselling and treating patients. There is little in the way of foundational theory behind these models, though the Enneagram comes from several thousand year old traditional guru-disciple traditions. These models are different from the Esoteric Psychology in the teachings of Alice Bailey.
Enneagram
The Enneagram defines 9 personality types (see book by Don Richard Riso, for example). The history of the Enneagram is that knowledge was passed down from guru to disciple for thousands of years, until early this century when Gurdjieff and the Arica Institute took an interest in it and wrote it down. Within each personality type a further 9 levels of "health" are defined. A healthy person tends to move in the direction of the arrow taking on the positive traits of the next personality type. An unhealthy person degenerates in the opposite direction, and the US psychiatric disorders correspond with the categories of unhealthy people in this model.
There are two basic types of people, the 3-6-9 type and the 1-4-2-8-5-7 type.
Integration: 1 - 7 - 5 - 8 - 2 - 4 - 1, or 9 - 3 - 6 - 9
Disintegration: 1 - 4 - 2 - 8 - 5 - 7, or 9 - 6 - 3 - 9
Each person has a major type plus a wing, which is a percentage of the characteristics of one adjacent side. The combination of these along with varying levels of health and integration/disintegration, is a vast number of personality types - thousands, not just a few generalised boxes (which many people detest being categorised into).
References:
- Riso, Don Richard: Personality Types, Aquarian Press, 1987.
- Palmer, Helen: The Enneagram in Love & Work, Harper, 1995.
Gurdjieff Models
Compare the Enneagram model above with the more complete models from Gurdjieff's teachings (these pictures taken from "The Enneagram in Love & Work" by Helen Palmer.
And also compare with the following table, modelling the Moving, Feeling and Reasoning principles, with Moving, Emotional and Intellectual parts. The italics show the negative aspects of the principles. For example, the positive action of the moving part of the reasoning principle includes formation and storage of impressions and ideas, but the negative aspects include circular thoughts and inner conversations (too much "moving" principle). The moving part of the feeling principle gives rise to crowd emotion and a feeling of awakening, but can also give rise to depression (too much "reasoning") or excitement and elation (too much "activity" or "moving"). Love of movement includes sport, juggling, musical rhythm, etc. It is interesting to see the higher intellectual principles separate Discovery, Invention and Creation.
| Principle | Moving | Emotional | Intellectual |
| Reasoning | Watchman Formation of ideas Storage of impressions Classification Circling thoughts Inner conversations Simple associations Imaginings |
Love of knowledge Attachment to ideas Suppression of thought |
Discovery |
| Feeling | Awakening Rough sense of fun Crowd emotion Excitement and Elation Depression and Fear |
Love of Truth Desire to create Attachment to rituals, forms, beliefs, ceremonies Persecution |
Creation |
| Moving | Simple movement Thinking about movement |
Love of movement Cruelty and torture |
Invention |
| Instinctive | Simple reflexes | Love of Life | Life |
Myers-Briggs
This is another well tried technique assisting people to understand themselves. It is based on 4 pairs of opposite characteristics:
I Introvert E Extrovert
S Sensate N iNtuitive
F Feeling T Thinking
J Judgemental P Perceptive
I am not going to explain these categories in more detail here - refer to the reference sources. It results in 16 types of people:
ISTJ Doing what should be done |
ISFJ A high sense of duty |
INFJ An inspiration to others |
INTJ Everything has room for improvement |
ISTP Ready to try anything once |
ISFP Sees much but shares little |
INFP Performing noble service to aid society |
INTP A love of problem solving |
ESTP The ultimate realists |
ESFP You only around once in life |
ENFP Giving life an extra squeeze |
ENTP One exciting challenge after another |
ESTJ Life’s administrators |
ESFJ Hosts and hostesses of the world |
ENFJ Smooth talking persuaders |
ENTJ Life’s natural leaders |
This method is particularly good for identifying the type of job you suit, your partners, why you get into conflict with certain people and situations. I recommend reading up on these personality types. The purpose of this is to help understand who you are, how you interact with others in the world, and to help coming to grips with your own power.
References:
Kroeger, Otto & Thuesen, Janet M.: Type Talk, Dell Books
http://www.typelogic.com/
http://keirsey.com/
"Classical" Personality Model
I have used "Classical Model" to refer to the common 4 classifications of people, Analytical, Driver, Leader and Amiable. These categories can be sub-divided further (ie Driver-Driver, Driver-Analytical, Analytical-Amiable) into 16 sub-types, and bears a strong resemblance to the Myers-Briggs categories. These four states are also described in Hindu teachings, relating to the four states of consciousness:
There are three realms: Body, Soul and Spirit (physical, astral and causal)
There are four states: Thinking, Sleeping, Dreaming and Sensing.
These 3 x 4 combine to form the 12 signs of the zodiac (the frame of the Universe).
The four states are sometimes described in terms of personality types (cf with Myers-Briggs covered elsewhere):
Analytical |
Driver |
Amiable |
Leader |
Ayurveda
In Ayurvedic medicine (made popular in the west by Deepak Chopra) people are classified according to three types (Doshas):
- Varta - air and ether
- Pitta - fire and water
- Kapha - water and earth
Most people are a mixture of two or three, in different proportions. The pulse is often taken in determining mix of Doshas, and diet/sleep/exercise are prescribed to bring the body back into balance.
| Varta | Pitta | Kapha | |
| Frame | Thin | Moderate | Heavy |
| Weight | Light | Moderate | Solid |
| Skin | Dry, rough, cool, brown, black | Soft, oily, red, warm, fair, yellowish | Thick, oily, cool, pale, white |
| Hair | Black, dry, kinky | Soft, oily, red, yellow, greys early | Thick, oily, wavy, dark or light |
| Teeth | Protruded, large | Moderate, soft gums, yellowish | Strong, white |
| Eyes | Small, dull, dry, brown, black | Sharp, green, grey, yellow | Large, attractive, blue, thick lashes |
| Appetite | Variable, scanty | Strong | Slow, steady |
| Thirst | Variable | Excessive | Scanty |
| Bowels | Constipated | Soft, oily, loose | Thick, heavy, oily, slow |
| Physical | Very active | Moderate | Slow |
| Dreams | Frequent, fearful, flying, jumping | Dramatic, fiery, violent | Watery, romantic, swimming |
| Sleep | Light, scanty, interrupted | Little and sound | Long and heavy |
| Speech | Fast | Sharp and cutting | Slow, deliverate |
| Financial | Spends money easily, trifles | Spends money on luxeries | Spends money on food, saves well |
| Memory | Quick to learn, quick to forget | Sharp | Good, slow to learn |
| Emotional | Restless, anxious, fearful, erratic, indecisive, impulsive, addictive | Angry, frustrated, jealous, impatient, critical, try too hard, serious | Possessive, depressed, sad, stubborn, mentally rigid, pretence |
References:
- Australian Yoga Digest, Winter 1994, pp 47 - 51.
- Books by Deepak Chopra, Ph.D.
- http://www.ayurveda.com/
Belbins Team Types
Dr Meredith Belbin of ITRU at Cambridge derived the following personality types observable in teams in the work environment. He believes that successful workgroups will consist of ideally one of each type of personality. Once again, people may be predominantly one type, or a mixture of several types (in this case, usually 3 or less).
| Company Worker | Beaver | Stable and controlled - turning concepts and plans into practical working procedures; and carrying out plans systematically and efficiently |
| Chairperson | Lion | Stable, dominant, extrovert - controlling the way in which a team moves towards the group objectives by making the best use of team resources; recognising where the team's strengths and weaknesses lie; and ensuring that the best use is made of each team member's potential |
| Shaper | Lead bullock | Anxious, dominant, extrovert - specifies shaping the way in which team effort is applied; directing attention generally to the setting of objectives and priorities; and seeking to impose some shape or pattern on group discussion and on the outcome of group activities |
| Plant | Owl | Dominant, very high IQ, introvert - advancing new ideas and strategies with special attention to major issues; and looking for possible breaks in approach to the problems with which the group is confronted |
| Resource investigator | Chimp | Stable, dominant, extrovert - exploring and reporting on ideas, developments and resources outside the group; creating external contacts that may be useful to the team and conducting any subsequent negotiations |
| Monitor evaluator | Sheep dog | High IQ, stable, introvert - analysing problems; and evaluating ideas and suggestions so that the team is better placed to make balanced decisions |
| Team worker | Bee | Stable, extrovert, low in dominance - specifies supporting members in their strengths (eg building on suggestions); underpinning members in their shortcomings; improving communications between members and fostering team spirit generally |
| Completer-Finisher | Mole | Introvert - ensuring that the team is protected as far as possible from mistakes of both commission and omission; actively searching for aspects of work which need a more than usual degree of attention; and maintaining a sense or urgency within the team |
© In the Light, 17 September, 2009 , Disclaimer, Son of Suckerfish drop-downs from HTML dog