Quotes from Lynne Baab on Personality Types

I covered the "why" of personality types in my last post about Lynne Baab's book, Personality Type in Congregations: How to Work with Others More Effectively, but this time around I wanted to list some direct quotes from the book. 

"...we need to make sure there are places in every church where every type preference can experienced."

I think this is really important. I understand why SJ's would want to attend a church that focuses on structure, tradition, creeds and solemnity. And I understand why people with an Extroverted Sensing function might feel most comfortable in a church with incense or candles or raised hands or spectacular music. It makes sense to be in a congregation where we feel like we "fit" and we're best able to feel connected to God. And maybe we don't need to worry so much about visitors because they can always keep looking till they find a church that fits for them. But what about our kids? I have Extroverted Feeling daughters who love when we clap along to songs or otherwise get into the music, but that really doesn't happen so often in our mostly SJ church. 

And I think it's important that even in an SJ church, people are encouraged to stretch a little, try new things, and find other ways to connect to God that might not feel as natural or as comfortable, but that might still enable them to have a better sense of God that goes beyond their previous understanding. 

"When we are taking in information through intuition, we remain in the present reality of the senses only long enough to receive enough sensory data to make a leap into the possibilities associated with those data. While sensing focuses on the present and uses memories of the past to provide further information, intuition focuses on the future. Intuition explores the big pictures, the overall theme, the patterns that are present, the connections between the pieces of data received, and, above all, the meaning of the information."

"Each of us uses both ways of taking in information, but most of us prefer one over the other. People who prefer sensing tend to be practical, factual, and concrete, concerned with the details of each tree rather than studying the forest as a whole. People who prefer intuition tend to be abstract and to think globally. They are concerned with the pattern of the forest rather than the characteristics of the individual trees."

I found the first paragraph to be very helpful. (I included the second because it's also a good description, though I'd understood that part before.) When I try to explain the different between S and N to people, I often find myself saying that S's are more detail oriented and N's are more big picture oriented. But what confuses me is that I notice details, too. In fact, sometimes specific details are exactly what give me my insights. So I've been confused about the differences in detail gathering between S's and N's. I think Baab delineated the differences well in this paragraph. 

"The physical surroundings in their house of worship may be quite important to sensing types." 

This is so true of Rob, not just with worship but with schools, too. Every time we visit a university campus he doesn't care what programs they offer or what type of classes he could take, what matters is how old and cool the buildings are. He struggles with the fact that our congregation meets in a building that was built in the 60s or 70s. He's much rather be downtown in something old and funky. 

"When [Jung] uses the word feeling, he is referring to a decision making pattern that involves concern for human values and that strives primarily for relational harmony. It is decision making based on deeply held values. In contrast, the word "thinking" involves making decisions with a concern for logica nd truth. Thinking is more detached and objective than feeling."

"Thinking involves a concern for logic and truth; feeling involves a concern for values and harmony." 

I'm very clear on what thinking means. I get foggy when it comes to feeling. Or, more to the point, I get foggy when it comes to Rob. I would say that he makes decisions based on values and truth. He has very strongly held values and he sees them as core truths. So is he a T or is he an F? When he takes tests he often comes out right in the middle. I think he's an F when it comes to the values bit but a T when it comes to the relational harmony bit. 

Oh, and for the sake of the feeling folks here, let me add this quote:

"Logical analysis alone doesn't guarantee accuracy." 

You can use that against us the next time you're in an argument with a T.  ;-)

"In congregations the thinking-feeling preference may be the most explosive and painful aspect of psychological type differences. It can be difficult for people who prefer thinking and feeling to respect each other. The feeling type proposes an action. The thinking type asks, 'Why?' The feeling type thinks, 'If she really respected me, she wouldn't need to hear reasons.' The thinking type, meanwhile, is wondering, 'If he can't articulate his reasons, can this really be a good idea?'"

I thought this was a great insight. If we knew that we were T's and F's talking, then perhaps we could talk this out and satisfy either side in the end. But without knowing the metathinking that's going on, it's really hard to tease out what's really happening in a situation.

"Perceiving refers to a preference for keeping things open, for continuing to remain in a perceptive attitude. People who prefer perceiving often come across as flexible and easy-going. Judging refers to a preference for making decisions over taking in more information. People who prefer judging often seem to be organized, structured, committed to deadlines, and aware of schedules." 

I thought this was a nice description of J and P. 

Whew! That's plenty of quotes for now, and it doesn't even hit upon the bit of reading I did today. That was all from previous reading. I'll try to splash some more quotes up here soon.