Newsletter #47

In this issue:

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and Communicating with ENTPs

About the Strong Interest Inventory®: Investigative Theme & College Majors

About the FIRO-B™: Team Development – Wanted Control

The 16PF®– The 16 Personality Factors: Correlations with Myers-Briggs, Part I

Communicating with ENTPs

ENTPs usually respond well to logic and reason, as well as people who are clear and precise. As with other types, they prefer people who are expert or competent in their field, so it's best if you know what you're talking about. ENTPs are likely to challenge your assumptions and engage in what can be quite a vigorous debate. They will often spend time analyzing your comments and integrating them into their existing knowledge. Any plan will likely come up for some serious critiquing if an ENTP is given the chance to review it. You can expect many questions from an ENTP as he or she tries to understand the issue at hand. Many enjoy working on complex problems and developing novel solutions. Most ENTPs respond best when given a lot of freedom to do their work.

Things to avoid when communicating with ENTPs include giving them specific details or directions on how to do a job. Likewise, they are unlikely to give such information to people who work for them. Avoid focusing on personal or emotional issues, particularly in the workplace. If you are looking for appreciation and validation from an ENTP, you might be waiting for a long time. Most ENTPs dislike discussing routine or mundane matters. There's no need to state the obvious to them. You'll want to avoid taking personally the criticism, questions, and challenges you're sure to receive from an ENTP. Avoid any plan or project that cannot be explained or justified with logic or reason. Top

About the Strong Interest Inventory: Investigative Theme & College Majors

The latest version of the Strong was released in December 2004. One study looked at the relationship between themes on the Strong and the college majors chosen by the participants. This time we'll look at those who scored highest on the Investigative scale.

Let's start with the men. The top college majors for this group were Biological Sciences, Computers & Information Systems, Engineering, Computer Technology, Marketing, Psychology, Management, and Political Science.

For women, the list included Biological Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, History, Health & Medical Science, Computers & Informatin Systems, Foreign Languages, Literature, Psychology, and Sociology.

As with all statistics, these results cannot predict how any one individual will respond to the Strong based on his or her major alone. It's also true that people with the same majors had different top themes on the Strong. Therefore, no one should pick or drop a major because his or her top theme on the Strong might indicate it's not as popular with the group. Top

The FIRO-B: Team Development – Wanted Control

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 Wanted Control and how people with high scores are likely to act on a team.

Those who score highest on Wanted Control will likely stick closely to established procedures, set and meet deadlines, ask for and give clear directions, and bring up items for discussion by the team. These people will usually want role clarity on the team, a high level of order, and internal consistency. High scorers frequently ask other team members for help and guidance. They will also likely try to get other team members to act in the same manner, or reinforce those who exhibit the same behavior. For example, they are likely to be time-conscious, want to reach a decision after a discussion, and focus on goal attainment.

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: Correlations with Myers-Briggs, Part I

This time we'll look at how the 16 scales correlate to the scale on the Myers-Briggs. A positive correlation means that as the score on one scale goes up, the score on the other scale goes up also. A negative correlation means the opposite. For example, someone with a high score on Factor A is likely to show up on the Extraverted side of the MBTI. Someone with a low score on Factor B probably would too.

For Extraversion on the Myers-Briggs, here are the correlations from the 16PF:

Factor A (Warmth): Positive

Factor B (Reasoning): Negative

Factor C (Emotional Stability): Positive

Factor E (Dominance): Positive

Factor F (Liveliness): Positive

Factor G (Rule-Consciousness): Negative

Factor H (Social Boldness): Positive

Factor I (Sensitivity): Negative

Factor L (Vigilance): Negative

Factor M (Abstractedness): Negative

Factor N (Privateness): Negative

Factor O (Apprehension): Negative

Factor Q1 (Openness to Change): Positive

Factor Q2 (Self-Reliance): Negative

Factor Q3 (Perfectionism): Negative

Factor Q4 (Tension): Negative

The factors with the greatest positive correlation to Extraversion are H, F, and A. Those with the greatest negative correaltion are Q2, N, and L.