Random musings: More on personality types #TBT

Today's post is going back two years, to one of my favorite topics...personality types. This post was actually part of a series of posts on the subject.

Here's the link to the first post in this series: Overview.

I'm going to spend a little time today talking about the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Like I mentioned before, it describes 4 archetypes: Artisans, Guardians, Idealists and Rationals. Most personality type conversations start with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), but I want to start with the general and then go with the specific.

From Wikipedia:

Four temperaments[edit]

David Keirsey expanded on the ancient study of temperament by Hippocrates and Plato. In his works, Keirsey used the names suggested by Plato: Artisan (iconic), Guardian (pistic), Idealist (noetic), and Rational (dianoetic). Keirsey divided the four temperaments into two categories (roles), each with two types (role variants). The resulting 16 types correlate with the 16 personality types described by Briggs and Myers.^[2]

Artisans are concrete and adaptable. Seeking stimulation and virtuosity, they are concerned with making an impact. Their greatest strength is tactics. They excel at troubleshooting, agility, and the manipulation of tools, instruments, and equipment.^[3] The two roles are as follows:

Operators are the directive (proactive) Artisans. Their most developed intelligence operation is expediting. The attentive Crafters and the expressive Promoters are the two role variants.

Entertainers are the informative (reactive) Artisans. Their most developed intelligence operation is improvising. The attentive Composers and the expressive Performers are the two role variants.

Guardians are concrete and organized(scheduled). Seeking security and belonging, they are concerned with responsibility and duty. Their greatest strength is logistics. They excel at organizing, facilitating, checking, and supporting. The two roles are as follows:

Administrators are the directive (proactive) Guardians. Their most developed intelligence operation is regulating. The attentive Inspectors and the expressive Supervisors are the two role variants.

Conservators are the informative (reactive) Guardians. Their most developed intelligence operation is supporting. The attentive Protectors and the expressive Providers are the two role variants.

Idealists are abstract and compassionate. Seeking meaning and significance, they are concerned with personal growth and finding their own unique identity. Their greatest strength isdiplomacy. They excel at clarifying, individualizing, unifying, and inspiring. The two roles are as follows:

Mentors are the directive (proactive) Idealists. Their most developed intelligence operation is developing. The attentive Counselors and the expressive Teachers are the two role variants.

Advocates are the informative (reactive) Idealists. Their most developed intelligence operation is mediating. The attentive Healers and the expressive Champions are the two role variants.

Rationals are abstract and objective. Seeking mastery and self-control, they are concerned with their own knowledge and competence. Their greatest strength is strategy. They excel in any kind of logical investigation such as engineering, conceptualizing, theorizing, and coordinating. The two roles are as follows:

Coordinators are the directive (proactive) Rationals. Their most developed intelligence operation is arranging. The attentive Masterminds and the expressive Fieldmarshals are the two role variants.

Engineers are the informative (reactive) Rationals. Their most developed intelligence operation is constructing. The attentive Architects and the expressive Inventors are the two role variants.

I'm an Architect, which is the Attentive, Informative type of Rational. This corresponds to the INTP MBTI type. We'll talk about Myers-Briggs Type Indicators in a couple of days.

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter basically sorts the 16 MBTI types into 4 groups…NT's, NF's, SJ's and SP's. I'm in the NT category (from my MBTI type of INTP). You can take a 70 question test to determine your Keirsey type, or you can answer these 3 questions:

Do you primarily rely on your senses (S) or intuition (N)?

If you're an "S", do you prefer your life to be structured (SJ) or unstructured (SP)?

If you're an "N", do you rely on your thoughts (NT) or your feelings (NF)?

Keirsey calls the 4 types (or Temperaments) Rationals (NT), Idealists (NF), Guardians (SJ) and Artisans (SP). iPersonic calls these same types Thinkers, Idealists, Realists and Doers. I think the iPersonic names are a bit more descriptive, but you'll find Keirsey's names to be much more common.

According to the Wikipedia descriptions above, the "S" types are concrete in their thinking and "N"s are abstract.

Please take a moment to answer the 3 questions above to determine your temperament and then read the description of your type. Does the general description sound like you? Can you guess your type and role variant? If not, that's ok. When we cover the MBTI, you'll be able to correlate it to your temperament.