Newsletter #45

In this issue:

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and Communicating with INTJs

About the Strong Interest Inventory®: 2004 Conventional Theme Scores

About the FIRO-B™: Team Development – Expressed Affection

The 16PF®– The 16 Personality Factors: Factor Q3 – Perfectionism

Communicating with INTJs

Our friends the INTJs generally prefer people who are logical, objective, and systematic in providing information. They like people who are honest, frank or even blunt, straightforward, and who focus on results more than how we get the results. Like many Intuitives, INTJs like goals and timelines, but prefer the freedom to work out how to get there, instead of being told to do it one way. You can expect INTJs to be critical and to challenge your statements. Like many Introverts, they like to have time to consider information before being asked to respond or make a decision. INTJs usually like to have private space and time to think. Most prefer to work alone as opposed to a large team. Since they tend think about and plan for the future, they often like to have feedback as soon as possible. That way they can adjust their plans.

Things you'll want to avoid when communicating with INTJs include surprises, or rapid change with no advanced discussion or rationale. Emotional outbursts will rarely work with INTJs. At work, they are likely to skip or avoid personal discussions. Asking INTJs to "take a quick look" at something will usually make them nervous. They want to be sure they have complete information. They will rarely change their minds in a short time. INTJs will usually not feel comfortable thinking or acting towards short-term goals alone. They prefer not to focus on details or routine affairs. When they must work on details, they will likely be uncomfortable unless they have an idea of the "big picture," or the final goal. Top

About the Strong Interest Inventory: 2004 Conventional Theme Scores

The latest version of the Strong was released in December 2004. There were a number of changes to the test questions and the resulting reports. One change was the ranking of the different professions for men and women in each general occupational theme code, according to the most and least likely to choose that theme. This issue the Conventional theme is our focus.

Let's start with the men. The occupations most likely to choose Conventional as the top theme included Credit Manager, Administrative Assistant, Actuary, Network Administrator, Technical Support Specialist, Health Information Specialist, Computer Scientist, and Mathematics Teacher. The least likely included Artist, Photographer, Graphic Designer, Medical Illustrator, Advertising Account Manager, and Musician.

For women, the list was almost identical for the most likely. The one difference was Banker, and the order was somewhat different. The least likely was same, in a slightly different order.

Of course, it's possible to have Conventional as your top theme on the Strong Interest Inventory and not like any of the above occupations. This information shows the general trend, and is not a reason to either choose or eliminate any option from your career search. Top

The FIRO-B: Team Development – Expressed Affection

When working with teams, the FIRO-B can provide useful insights into how each person likes to work with others. The items below are quite likely to be true for you the higher your score on a scale is. If you scored at seven or above, you probably demonstrate these behaviors very often. If you scored two or less, you probably rarely do these things. Of course, those in the middle will likely do them to varying degrees, depending on the situation.

This time we'll discuss Expressed Affection and how people with high scores are likely to act on a team.

Those who score highest on Expressed Affection frequently cooperate openly with others, provide positive feedback, and compliments or reassures team members. They are likely to be supportive and encourage others to contribute and share their viewpoints with the team. They will often offer to assist others, or provide personal coaching or advice. High scorers will be interested in the personal lives of other team members, and be aware of the team's needs and desires. High scorers often are optimistic, encourage others to be frank, and will check frequently to make sure others on the team are satisfied with the team's progress or direction. They usually are quite attuned to the emotions and energy of the team overall.

Most people will share the above traits to some degree. However, it's likely that this style will dominate for some people more than others. Your score on the scales should indicate which style is the preferred one for you. Top

The 16 Personality Factors: Factor Q3 – Perfectionism

The next 16PF scale for discussion is the Factor "Q3" scale, which is Perfectionism (Perfectionistic vs. Tolerates Disorder). What exactly does this scale measure?

High scorers tend to want to do things correctly, be organized, have a place for everything and everything in its place, and to plan ahead. They often keep their possessions in top condition, and believe if you're going to do a job, you need to do it thoroughly and properly. Many high scorers dislike unpredictable situations, and can be inflexible. They are usually more comfortable in highly structured situations.

In contrast, low scorers tend to want leave things to chance and are more at ease with disorder. They often report they don't care if their rooms are messy, that some tasks do not need to be done as carefully as others, or that they spend little time thinking about steps to take before starting a task. These types can be seen as unprepared, disorganized, or lackadaisical. They might have trouble with motivating themselves to take action.

Factor Q3 is related to the Myers-Briggs Extraversion Judging – Perceiving scale. Low scorers on Q3 tend to come out as Perceivers on the Myers-Briggs, while high scorers tend to show up as Judgers. This scale also contributes to the Self-Control global factor on the 16PF.

As with all the 16PF scales, major insights come from the interactions among the 16 scales, and not from each scale in isolation.