The Personality Formation scores are a “new – old thing.” Let me explain. As I was reading Jung’s (1923) text “Psychological Types” and learning about Type, I noticed that Jung referred to the occurrence of blockages to the development of personality Type (old thing). He discusses how life experiences can facilitate or inhibit the natural use or expression of an individual’s mental functions. Typically, these experiences or blockages are not what one would call good or bad, but rather a demonstration of the flexibility and adaptability of the human mind. Personality Formations are our response (chosen or forced) to negative or positive events in life. It seemed to me that this was a critical piece of information regarding the individual that had not been accessed through psychological measurement (new thing). This is the “Why” of the development of these scores and statements. What are they good for? Read on.
We all have events in our lives that require us to act or respond in an adaptive way. For example, when stress occurs in our lives, we may learn that the adaptive response is to drive and thrive through the stressor. We are not bothered by the events. We simply power through it and find that we get through the stressful situation successfully. For others, they have learned that stressful situations can ruin their day. They will stop and avoid the stressful event to prevent the learned negative experience. How does one individual learn to drive and thrive and another to stop and avoid? Life experiences mixed with personality (genetics). Both responses are adaptive and keep the individual comfortable during daily life at work or at home. The result we see on the Personality Formation Scores, found in the Majors Elements of Personality Type Professional Report, tells us what the individual reports as his or her typical response to pressure (along with six other areas). It will help the professional know how to steer the feedback session to be the most helpful for the individual.
An example of use of one element of the Formation Scores will be helpful. A good set of questions/statements for someone who prefers to Stop and Avoid stressful events might be:
- You find comfort in not confronting stressful situations by simply avoiding or stopping your interaction with them.
- Tell me how you learned that response?
- It seems to work for you.
We as professionals must listen to the story. They may not know why or how they have learned their response, but it starts with them thinking about why they do what they do. This thinking about their thinking (metacognition) leads to type development. Jung spoke of type development as making the unconscious mind conscious. A subject too deep for this blog, but a good focus for using the Personality Formation Scores and the professional is also encouraged to read Jung to learn more.
There are seven specific and three global scores given on the professional report for the Personality Formations. The respondents are given seven statements to help them grow in their self-understanding in the Personal Development Report. Clients should not be given the scores from the professional report, as they may result in unnecessary confusion and/or psychological harm. Reading the manual for the Majors Elements of Personality Type is necessary if you choose to use this assessment effectively.
Psychological measurement is the process of taking a snapshot of one or more elements of an individual. In a photographic snapshot, focus and lighting make the image clear or understandable. In psychological measurement, the goal is to present one or more areas of life in a clearly understandable way. For the Majors Elements instrument, the Personality Formation information gives clarity of individual differences by illuminating responses to essential elements of life.
Much more needs to be covered on this element of personality and will be the subject of future blogs. Readers are encouraged to send questions to the publisher at Leaders Beacon in order to direct the focus of my blogs so that they are informative and helpful.
Blessings,
Dr. Mark
