An MBTI tribe: A look at how various personalities fit in

[Craig Weiler]

This is a blog post I did that looks at personalities (MBTI) as member of a tribe and I speculate on where people might fit in.

http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/it-takes-all-kinds-the-tribe-constellation/

A constellation is basically a group of people that form a group. It can involve ancestors.

I'd be interested to hear people's opinions.

 

[MikeINvalid]

Very good article.

I especially like the second to last paragraph. I have been thinking along similar lines lately about how our modern society stretches and puts stress on different personalities. I suppose if every personality type has some contribution towards how our modern society evolves, then maybe the outcome won't leave behind the vulnerable types.

Also, I wonder if your third group (which includes INFJs) have always been those that were more apt to be outcasts from their tribe.

 

[Craig Weiler]

Very good article.

I especially like the second to last paragraph. I have been thinking along similar lines lately about how our modern society stretches and puts stress on different personalities. I suppose if every personality type has some contribution towards how our modern society evolves, then maybe the outcome won't leave behind the vulnerable types.

Also, I wonder if your third group (which includes INFJs) have always been those that were more apt to be outcasts from their tribe.

I think that in pre-industrial societies, where people lived together their whole lives, outcasts based on personality type were practically non existent. In a tribe, they wouldn't identify someone as psychic, they would identify him as Tim, the brother of Caroline who's married to James. Tim is kind of weird and predicted a few things accurately. There is a communal memory and trust based on long association.

In modern society, I think most personality types blend in some way. While I know that INFJ's are a bit of an outcast, I don't know about the others.

 

[Owfin]

If the tribe were advanced enough to have writing, I would undoubtedly be the scribe/librarian. I would own all the clay tablets or the scrolls, depending on how much advanced the tribe was further. It is also a fairly good representation of my personality, I say.

I'm fairly ambitious, though. Or at least I would want to be remembered in the tribe's history. I'm not aiming for uniqueness; importance, more like it.

 

[Craig Weiler]

If the tribe were advanced enough to have writing, I would undoubtedly be the scribe/librarian. I would own all the clay tablets or the scrolls, depending on how much advanced the tribe was further. It is also a fairly good representation of my personality, I say.

I'm fairly ambitious, though. Or at least I would want to be remembered in the tribe's history. I'm not aiming for uniqueness; importance, more like it.

Thanks for your observations. It reinforces my feelings about this. You would own the clay tablets, but not for your own sake. You'd be making sure they were treated properly and that people used them.

And your idea of ambition isn't based on selfishness. The scenario you describe is to be among the elites, not THE elite. You're helping the tribe be cohesive.

 

[Owfin]

You would own the clay tablets, but not for your own sake. You'd be making sure they were treated properly and that people used them.

Not exactly. I'm a little more selfish than that, I'm afraid. The contracts and that sort of thing, that's a job. Transcribing letters to other people, again, a job, but I might add stylistic flourishes.

Books and such would be more of my own private collection, that people can borrow from. I would write down an oral fable for my own personal study. I realize that I am putting myself in an upper class position, but it would suit my personality best.

I'm just not particularly interested in the unity of the tribe.

 

[Quiet]

This is a blog post I did that looks at personalities (MBTI) as member of a tribe and I speculate on where people might fit in.

http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/it-takes-all-kinds-the-tribe-constellation/

A constellation is basically a group of people that form a group. It can involve ancestors.

I'd be interested to hear people's opinions.

This is very interesting. I too wonder about this a lot. Why are there 16 types, the ratios, each type's purpose, how we all serve a role to each other and the community, how all types enrich each other, how we all fit to make a whole.

I think most people recognise that there are archetypes, as archetypes are prevalent cross culturally in history, story telling, myths, legends, religions and philosophy. There are many symbols and concepts that have similar value to many people around the world such as mandalas, the four elements, four temperaments, two balancing forces etc. These concepts are often symbollically echoed in the physical or natural world as well.

What do you think?

 

[Craig Weiler]

This is very interesting. I too wonder about this a lot. Why are there 16 types, the ratios, each type's purpose, how we all serve a role to each other and the community, how all types enrich each other, how we all fit to make a whole.

I think most people recognise that there are archetypes, as archetypes are prevalent cross culturally in history, story telling, myths, legends, religions and philosophy. There are many symbols and concepts that have similar value to many people around the world such as mandalas, the four elements, four temperaments, two balancing forces etc. These concepts are often symbollically echoed in the physical or natural world as well.

What do you think?

I think you're right and that you have an interesting perspective. You can kind of see how this blends with the MBTI

 

[Craig Weiler]

Not exactly. I'm a little more selfish than that, I'm afraid. The contracts and that sort of thing, that's a job. Transcribing letters to other people, again, a job, but I might add stylistic flourishes.

Books and such would be more of my own private collection, that people can borrow from. I would write down an oral fable for my own personal study. I realize that I am putting myself in an upper class position, but it would suit my personality best.

I'm just not particularly interested in the unity of the tribe.

The average tribe is about 150 people, and this would be comprised of much family and many friends and acquaintances that you grew up with and had known all your life.

When I talk about the unity of the tribe, I don't mean that you consciously work for the unity of the tribe, but rather that your natural inclination would be to find a niche that interacted with the tribe and was valuable to the community.

This is different from me, an INFJ. We don't relate well to most people, we have a foot in the spirit world all the time and march to our own drummer. We can't really contribute in a way that promotes unity.

 

[JCPA]

The remaining 28.2% of the personality types are basically the tribe specialists. Among the specialists there is a kind of round table of thinkers who provide a very wide array of methods to approach problem solving. A tribe with all the different personality types has at its disposal every possible useful way of thinking so that the group can meet an enormous range of unpredictable challenges

What a thought-provoking article! Great insight. I implore you to continue delving.

 

[MissionHouse]

The average tribe is about 150 people, and this would be comprised of much family and many friends and acquaintances that you grew up with and had known all your life.

When I talk about the unity of the tribe, I don't mean that you consciously work for the unity of the tribe, but rather that your natural inclination would be to find a niche that interacted with the tribe and was valuable to the community.

This is different from me, an INFJ. We don't relate well to most people, we have a foot in the spirit world all the time and march to our own drummer. We can't really contribute in a way that promotes unity.

So, what would be the INFJ's place in this tribe? (in your opinion--what would the INFJ do exactly to contribute?)

 

[Craig Weiler]

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So, what would be the INFJ's place in this tribe? (in your opinion--what would the INFJ do exactly to contribute?)

The MBTI lists us as The Protector. I don't think that's wrong. My take on it is that we have three crucial functions. Psychic ability to alert the tribe to unforeseen dangers, high sensitivity to alert the tribe to environmental dangers (canary in the mineshaft) and an extreme ability to see things from pretty much anyone else's point of view to be able to communicate with complete strangers.

 

[MissionHouse]

The MBTI lists us as The Protector. I don't think that's wrong. My take on it is that we have three crucial functions. Psychic ability to alert the tribe to unforeseen dangers, high sensitivity to alert the tribe to environmental dangers (canary in the mineshaft) and an extreme ability to see things from pretty much anyone else's point of view to be able to communicate with complete strangers.

This is all true. Except there's that problem of extreme (for me, anyway) introversion. Said introversion causes me to keep to myself about 99% of the time. I guess there are some INFJ's out there who are not quite as introverted as I am, however. I never know when I'm going to speak up about something. There is no planning involved whatsoever with me when it comes to such things. I think the vulnerability is too much for me, or something. I usually just withdraw, or I feel I will actually die.

I like your viewpoint.

 

[Craig Weiler]

This is all true. Except there's that problem of extreme (for me, anyway) introversion. Said introversion causes me to keep to myself about 99% of the time. I guess there are some INFJ's out there who are not quite as introverted as I am, however. I never know when I'm going to speak up about something. There is no planning involved whatsoever with me when it comes to such things. I think the vulnerability is too much for me, or something. I usually just withdraw, or I feel I will actually die.

I like your viewpoint.

Thanks. I think that INFJ's, more than other personality types, suffer from a lack of a tribe because of what you mentioned. We need people who know who we are and have a long association with us for our own stability. I think it's also necessary for them to trust us when we sense that some massively horrible thing is going to happen and they need to take action.

 

[JCPA]

The MBTI lists us as The Protector. I don't think that's wrong. My take on it is that we have three crucial functions. Psychic ability to alert the tribe to unforeseen dangers, high sensitivity to alert the tribe to environmental dangers (canary in the mineshaft) and an extreme ability to see things from pretty much anyone else's point of view to be able to communicate with complete strangers.

By your rationale, how do you recommend we fulfill these three functions in modern society? Perhaps we should 1) get good sleep, exercise, maintain diet and health and be in top form at all times, 2) ?? spend more time outdoors, & 3) learn languages, specialize in the subject of Communications, go into politics

 

[iauiugu]

This is so cool.

It reminds me of what Kiersey once wrote, that NFs are Shamanistic, SFs are foragers, NTs are hunters, and STs are toolmakers. it's logical to think of personality types as regularly emerging; otherwise average percentages would not be feasible. your article depicts this very strongly.

i feel like if personality types gained supremacy as a basis for understanding others, we could overcome a lot of prejudices we hold due to artificial difference like gender, sex, sexuality, race, class, ect. because personality is least socially constructed. if we knew of the depths of how others tick as personality types lay it out, superficial understanding of difference would lessen, which is the root of bigotry. at least, it would be a start.

 

[TDMmyriad]

I liked your article. Your 3 groups seem to correspond interestingly to workers, managers, and leaders.

[MENTION=5303]iauiugu[/MENTION]
While personality types are very useful for understanding people, I would be wary of promoting them too much. I fear that we may get to a position where people think "No, they didn't actually mean that because their type doesn't think like that", and that would be just as bad as the current bigotry's. If anything I think types are more useful for people to understand themselves. That way they can see which of their views are particularly different from everyone else's and compensate for them.

 

[Craig Weiler]

I liked your article. Your 3 groups seem to correspond interestingly to workers, managers, and leaders.

[MENTION=5303]iauiugu[/MENTION]
While personality types are very useful for understanding people, I would be wary of promoting them too much. I fear that we may get to a position where people think "No, they didn't actually mean that because their type doesn't think like that", and that would be just as bad as the current bigotry's. If anything I think types are more useful for people to understand themselves. That way they can see which of their views are particularly different from everyone else's and compensate for them.

I agree that we shouldn't focus too closely on individuals and their personality types. There is some discussion about whether this changes over time. You don't want to box people in too much.

What I came away with after examining this idea, was that we aren't meant to go it alone in terms of decision making. Our personality types blend together to provide a kind of over-mind that is greater than its individual parts.

 

[iauiugu]

I agree that we shouldn't focus too closely on individuals and their personality types. There is some discussion about whether this changes over time. You don't want to box people in too much.

What I came away with after examining this idea, was that we aren't meant to go it alone in terms of decision making. Our personality types blend together to provide a kind of over-mind that is greater than its individual parts.

I agree that it's most important for individuals to discover their own personality type, especially as it serves as a rite of passage into understanding and reconstructing interpretations of oneself and others in terms of MBTI.

I don't think MBTI would be as bad as other forms of bigotry at all however. I believe that essentializing difference is an unavoidable human trait as the mechanism that causes it is necessary for our survival (otherwise everything would constantly overwhelm us as new), but there are limits to how sereve it can be with MBTI. MBTI is fundamentally recognized as variant, which I think could easily be ignored, but much less so than with other forms of identity.

Unlike other forms of identity, seminal texts about MBTI are not spatially or temporally dependent, allowing them to have a greater depth of analysis without requiring high amounts of contextualization. Race, sexuality, gender, class, ect. are all so transient through time and space, but personality inclinations are more innate than these more superficial constructs of self.

Social identity and prejudices tend to develop unconsciously, especially if it develops in a society in which it is dominant and therefore can go permanently unexamined. For example it's much more difficult for many homosexuals to develop prejudice against heterosexuals that doesn't correspond with lived experience when the majority of people are heterosexual, so understanding heterosexuality is compulsory, at least for survival. In contrast, MBTI requires a conscious learning and understanding of both one's own and others' types, making everything equally conscious.

Of course, users of MBTI could still essentialize and generalize to a point of counterproductivity, but I can't imagine it would be worse than how gender, sex, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity and culture are generalized. in other words, MBTI is the lesser of all evils as an identity model.

I think MBTI can also promote what Craig has said, that all personality types are necessary for the suprastructure of humanity.