By Hile Rutledge
As a long-time type consultant and trainer, it has always puzzled me that there was a rift in the type community between people who embrace and those who reject temperament, the behavioral model first put forth by David Keirsey. While coming from two different camps, the two models, type and temperament, work so well together. In fact, type dynamics, the heart of Jung's model, provide a wonderful explanation as to why the groupings of Keirsey's temperament model (NF, NT, SJ and SP) have so much behavioral relevance.
Temperament was developed separately from psychological type by David Keirsey, who at the time was head of the Counseling Department at California State University, Fullerton. Described in the popular book, Please Understand Me (Keirsey & Bates, Prometheus Nemesis Book Company, 1984), Keirsey notes the human trend, reaching back to ancient Greek culture, to classify human behavior into four distinct groups. His description of these behavioral groups is both an updating and a deepening of these patterns, the original names of which (Idealists, Rationalists, Guardians and Artisans) had nothing to do with type preferences. As a behaviorist, Keirsey was not interested in the internal cognitive functioning of these styles, but rather the patterns of observable behaviors each was likely to engage in consistently over time.
His temperament model already fully developed and defined, Keirsey then discovered Isabel Myers' work on the MBTI assessment and psychological type. Intrigued by the tool and model, he discovered that psychological type (and the MBTI assessment) were effective ways of getting to the four behavioral groupings he found most important.
Psychological type (of interest to Jung and Myers) focuses primarily on brain functioning (how we take in data and make decisions). As such, type theory and type theorists position behavior as a by-product of these mental functions. On the other hand, Temperament (of interest to Keirsey) is concerned exclusively with behavior, and, in particular, what people do consistently and well. This behavioral approach does not rely on, but also does not contradict, an underlying theory of mental functions.
Many people inquire why the temperament groups are distributed so oddly on the type table. The type table, set up to highlight the functions of type theory, positions these functions neatly into the columns of the table. Keirsey's temperament model, however - totally independent of type - was concerned with patterns of behavior, and the most observable, most consistent patterns are the temperament groupings, which happen to be scattered this way on the table. An adherent to temperament theory would claim the issue is with the random way the type table was constructed, not the random scattering of the temperament groups.
As anyone working with type knows, you can focus on any two-letter combination within type (there are 24 to choose from) and get some behavioral insight and predictability. The quadrants (ES, IS, EN, IN), the function pairs (ST, SF, NF, NT), the attitude pairs (IJ, IP, EP, EJ): these are all pairings that can lead to some insight on likely behavior, communication and interaction patterns.
Temperament can be viewed as merely a specific set of two-letters yielding particular patterns of behavior. Given that two of the temperament groups (NF and NT) are also function pairs which group the perceiving and judging functions together, there is generally little push-back or controversy about these pairings. It is how temperament deals with those preferring Sensing perceptions that temperament draws its fire.
The two temperament groups that include the Sensors (SJ and SP) were of course derived independently of type, but if this grouping makes sense, AND if type theory is sound, then there should be some type explanation for why S and J preferences (and S and P) have more power or behavioral predictability than do ST or SF. I think type theory gives us that explanation. At the heart of type theory are the dynamics of type-a view of type that considers the fundamental ways in which we each tend to gather data and make decisions and the tendency of these mental functions to be exercised in introverted or extraverted ways. Type theory asserts that for people preferring to engage with the world through Sensing, their preference for Sensing is either introverted or extraverted-these are very different functions that manifest very different behaviors.
Introverted Sensing is an internal, largely past-focused function that serves as a storage place for all that one knows to have been true. Driven to collect facts, catalog experiences, details, history, procedures: the introverted Sensing function is an archive of what has been. People whose primary connection to the world is introverted Sensing (ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ, and ESFJ) will have likely behaviors that are past-focused, change-resistant, structured, and orderly. These are SJ temperament descriptors, but it is type dynamics that gives these behaviors a cognitive logic.
Extraverted Sensing is an external, sensate connection to the present moment-without the encumbrance of the past or the fantasy of the future. Extraverted Sensing is immediate, practical, sensate and hands-on. Naturally any type that has extraverted Sensing as the primary means of data collection (ISTP, ISFP, ESTP and ESFP) will exhibit behaviors that are now-focused, action oriented, routine-averse. These are the SPs. The temperament model gives us the description, but it is type that gives this group its logical structure.
Take a group of people preferring Sensing, and separate them into subgroups of ST and SF, and you will see behavioral differences, of course. These are the function pairs, and they have great cognitive differences between them. But the differences between ST and SF will pale in comparison to the behavioral contrast you will see if you divide the same group among SJ and SP lines because of the behavioral implications of these different ways of collecting data (introverted and extraverted Sensing).
As a longtime supporter of Jungian type theory and all of its richness as well as the benefits of temperament theory, OKA has long puzzled at the contention that exists in the field between the two camps. Temperament and type are apples and oranges from a theory perspective; neither begat nor is dependent on the other. But they are two tools that work very well together. As a consultant, trainer and coach, I could not do without type, but there is considerable progress I've made with organizations, teams and individuals that came through the insight and vocabulary that temperament bring. It's using them together that has made the difference.
To help you explore temperament, I'm offering a good temperament exercise that tends to produce great data and spark a robust conversation among the temperament groups on how each likes to be treated and worked with. Also, OKA produced an extended temperament training on DVD that we are discounting in support of this newsletter. This broadcast quality four-trainer video takes a deep dive into each of the temperaments. This video will be sold for $45 (usually $90) through May 15.
My type preferences are INFP. I was talking recently with a buddy of mine whose preferences are ESTP, and we were lamenting the challenges we met in the workplace dealing with workers both younger and older than we are. I was surprised at how in synch we were given that our types gives us fundamentally different cognitive and behavioral approaches to the world around us. Then it dawned on me--what we shared was a similar generational outlook. We are both Generation X: born between 1965 and 1980. As such, we came of age at a time when society, pop culture, technology and the socio-political and economic realities in the world around us molded us in much the same way. In recent years, I've come to believe that any good handle on self-awareness includes the telling frame of a generational outlook.
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