According to studies started by Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and developed by psychologists since then, there are two ways people receive information from the outside world.  One way is with the senses, looking for details and facts, and the other way is with insight, trusting their own thoughts and feelings.  Similarly, there are two ways people make decisions.  The first is by thinking it out, and the second is by trusting their feelings.  These 2 variables make the 4 basic personality styles: controlling, promoting, supporting, and analyzing.

About 15% of people have a controlling style personality.  They are natural leaders and love to be in control.  They receive information through their senses and make fast and clear decisions with their feelings.  They are confident, disciplined, self-motivating, forward-looking people who want to get things done quickly.  They like to win, don’t mind stress, and often take risks.  They don’t like to waste time and don’t like other people wasting their time either.  They work best alone.  On the negative side they aren’t good listeners and can be seen as rude.  What they want most is to feel responsible and achieve a lot.

About 15% of people have a promoting style personality.  They are creative with many ideas, often at the same time.  They are friendly, energetic, and competitive people who start relationships easily and motivate others.  They receive information through their feelings and also make spontaneous decisions with their feelings.  They like to be the center of attention by telling good stories, driving fast cars, and doing things other people would never do.  They have good communication skills and can influence and motivate others.  They work best in groups, but like to do things the easiest way.  They don’t like details or anything boring.  On the negative side they talk before they think, are a bit disorganized, and can be forgetful.  What they want most is for others to recognize and approve of them.

About 35% of people have a supporting style personality.  They are friendly and good listeners.  They are dependable, trustworthy, patient, and loyal.  They receive information through their feelings and make slow, emotional decisions by thinking it out.  If they start something, they finish it, and if someone else starts something but doesn’t finish, they will often finish the job because they love to help.  They work best in groups and want to do things in an organized way.  They like to volunteer and be part of a group.  They don’t like public attention but prefer to stay unknown.  On the negative side they don’t take criticism well and don’t like sudden changes.  What they want most is to feel secure and needed.

About 35% of people have an analyzing style personality.  They are careful workers who hate to make mistakes.  They are conscientious, and sometimes unemotional people who like to gather information with their senses and make slow and careful decisions by thinking it out.  This often takes a long time because they need to gather more information to make the right decision.  They work best alone and don’t like to work under pressure.  They work well with details and schedules.  On the negative side they don’t like surprises or changes in their routine.  What they want most is perfection and truth.

Did one of these personality styles sound like you?  By knowing yourself and guessing what other people are, you can improve your communication and get along well with people with other styles.

Click on the audio recording below to hear the lesson.

Vocabulary:

psychiatrist:  a doctor who treats emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders
psychotherapist:  a doctor who treats people with emotional or mental disorders
psychologists:  scientists who study why people do what they do
senses:  seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching
details:  small things
insight:  a feeling or thought you have which does not come from your senses
similarly:  in a way that’s almost the same
decisions:  choices of what to do
thinking it out:  thinking about all the possibilities
variables:  things that can change
styles:  types, kinds
confident:  feeling sure about yourself, knowing you can do the job
disciplined:  always doing the things you have to
self-motivating:  giving yourself reasons to do something
forward-looking:  looking into the future
risks:  things that could  be dangerous
waste:  not use well
rude:  impolite
responsible:  feeling that it’s your duty to do something
achieve:  do important things
creative:  thinking of new things
energetic:  with lots of energy
competitive:  wanting to win
motivate:  encourages other people to do things
spontaneous:  done quickly without thinking
center of attention:  people seeing and listening to you
skills: abilities, things you can easily do
influence:  make people agree with you
recognize:  know who you are
approve: like what you are doing
dependable:  always there to help or support someone
trustworthy:  being a person that people can trust
patient:  able to continue for a long time
loyal:  always supporting another person
volunteer:  freely choose to do something
public attention:  lots of people looking at and listening to you
criticism:  telling someone what they’re doing wrong and how to improve
secure:  safe
conscientious:  always doing the right thing
unemotional:  not showing your emotions like anger, joy or fear
under pressure:  feeling that you have to finish the job quickly and do it well
schedules:  list of jobs to do and times to do them
perfection:  everything being perfect
get along:  interact
Pronunciation Exercise:  Listen and repeat the above vocabulary on the audio file below.

© 2014 Ambien Malecot