As you have undoubtedly experienced by now, all people do not think alike. All people are not motivated by the same things and not all people care about the same things. The things in which people believe and about which they think and feel are unlikely to change as they are part of their personalities. Naturally, this leads to a difference in personalities and in what we describe as personality ‘type’.
These differences in personality type, if not understood, can often lead to conflict and since a person is unlikely to change his or her personality type, that conflict is likely to persist. One way to at least manage the conflict is to understand the differences in type and to hopefully appreciate those differences.
Problem resolution depends largely on managing conflict and as part of the problem resolution process we utilise the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
MBTI is perhaps the most widely used psychological instrument in the world today. We use it solely so that we and your partner, and most importantly you yourself, can have some insight into the things that are important to you and why those things are important.
MBTI is largely based on the psychological theory of Carl Gustav Jung, the 19th century Swiss psychologist and a contemporary of Sigmund Freud. It has been said that Jung is the father of modern psychology and Freud the father of modern psychiatry.
Jung posited that we are all born with an “attitude” to the world. We either reach out to it or we withdraw from it. He coined the terms “introvert” and “extrovert” (I/E). He also posited that we all have four functions that we all use in daily life -the “perceiving” functions that we use to take in information, Sensing and Intuiting (S/N) and the “judging” functions that we use to make decisions,Thinking and Feeling (T/F) .
Myers and Briggs adopted Jung’s theories of “attitude” and “functions” and posited that we all have a preference for which function we use for each purpose. Although most people are able to use both hands to perform manual tasks, we each have a preference for which hand we use. Thus we have what we refer to as “left-handed” and “right-handed” people. In truth, this is merely a preference. Similarly, we have a preference for which function we use for our information-gathering and which function we use for our decision-making.
Myers and Briggs went a little further than Jung and suggested that we also all have an attitude towards (or a preference for) the timing of the implementation of our decision-making – either we wish to “close” quickly or we wish to wait for further information. Myers and Briggs referred to this as “Judging” and “Perceiving” (J/P).
Thus there are 4 possible “attitudes” and 4 possible “functions”. In combination they create a matrix of 16 possible personality “types”. We do not suggest that this is an exhaustive list. It is however a valuable tool that serves to illustrate the existence of “difference” and sheds some light on where those differences lie.
This knowledge is of enormous benefit to the parties and to the facilitator in conflict management and problem solving.
We encourage you and your former partner to participate in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and, for a small fee (presently $44 inclusive of GST but subject to change as the cost of materials may increase), to take advantage of the materials provided to assess your personality types. We are confident it will be of great benefit to you as we move through the process of reaching an accord.
If you wish to participate, please ensure that you tick the appropriate box at the bottom of the NEW CLIENT FORM.