Oldham’s Personality Styles |
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Adventurous |
· Nonconformity. Men and women who have the
Adventurous personality style live by their own internal code of values. They
are not strongly influenced by other people or by the norms of society. · Challenge. To live is to dare. Adventurers
love the thrill of risk and routinely engage in high-risk activities. · Mutual independence. They do not worry too much about
others, for they expect each human being to be responsible for him- or
herself. · Persuasiveness. They are silver-tongued, gifted
in the gentle art of winning friends and influencing people. · Wanderlust. They love to keep moving. They
settle down only to have the urge to pick up and go, explore, move out, move
on. They do not worry about finding work, and live well by their talents,
skills, ingenuity, and wits. · Wild oats. In their childhood and
adolescence, people with the Adventurous personality style were usually
high-spirited hell-raisers and mischief makers. · True grit. They are courageous,
physically bold, and tough. They will stand up to anyone who dares to take
advantage of them. · No regrets. Adventurers live in the present. They do
not feel guilty about the past or anxious about the future. Life is meant to
be experienced now. |
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· ommand. Aggressive individuals take
charge. They are comfortable with power, authority, and responsibility. · Hierarchy. They operate best within a
traditional power structure where everyone knows his or her place and the
lines of authority are clear. · Tight ship. They are highly disciplined and
impose rules of order that they expect others in their charge to follow. · Expedience. Aggressive men and women are highly
goal-directed. They take a practical, pragmatic approach to accomplishing
their objectives. They do what is necessary to get the job done. · Guts. They are neither squeamish nor
fainthearted. They can function well and bravely in difficult and dangerous
situations without being distracted by fear or horror. · The rough-and-tumble. Aggressive people like action and
adventure. They are physically assertive and often participate in or enjoy
playing competitive sports, especially contact sports. |
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·
Mood swings.
Shifts from a moderately upbeat, outgoing, creative character to a withdrawn
and sullen depressive one. When in a high state, they can be highly
productive, original, humorous, and engaging. During a low state they become
self-absorbed, pessimistic, apathetic, and may resort to substance abuse. The
mood swings happen regularly in cycles, are similar to bipolar
(manic-depression) disorder, but not as extreme in the polarity, and also the
mood changes in the Artistic personality are usually more so the result of
within the person and not triggered by external circumstances. ·
Artistic inclinations. People of this style often involve themselves in some
sort of creative output. They may go into a state of inspiration where
artistic production is strong then fall into an apathetic daze, where it
becomes difficult, almost unbearable to create art. Since they have a grasp
on many corners of the human personality, they have an advantage at
expressing the nuances of a particular viewpoint. Many of the world's great
artists have had this character style. ·
Unpredictability. They may take up new plans, jobs, residences, etc. out of impulse.
They despise routine and love improvising, stimulation, and new experiences. ·
Feeling-oriented. Their impulses and feelings control their lives and dictate their
appearance and decisions. They rarely make decisions through a systematic,
logical follow-through approach but instead base it on their current mood. ·
Relationship difficulties. Relationships can be trying for these people. They may
become promiscuous, unfaithful, or difficult to handle. ·
Low self-control. They have a difficulty saying "no" to themselves with their
appetite. They may go on shopping sprees, binge on food or drink, give into
sexual compulsions, etc. Afterwards, they may feel guilty about it and
restrict themselves from pleasure. ·
Shaky self-confidence. Can swing from delusions of grandeur and superiority, and
feeling very confident in oneself, to a loss of self-esteem and hopeless
despair. |
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· Hard work. The Conscientious person is
dedicated to work, works very hard, and is capable of intense, single-minded
effort. · The right thing. To be Conscientious is to be a
person of conscience. These are men and women of strong moral principles and
values. Opinions and beliefs on any subject are rarely held lightly.
Conscientious individuals want to do the right thing. · The right way. Everything must be done
"right," and the Conscientious person has a clear understanding of
what that means, from the correct way to balance the checkbook, to the best
strategy to achieve the boss's objectives, to how to fit every single dirty
dish into the dishwasher. · Perfectionism. The Conscientious person likes
all tasks and projects to be complete to the final detail, without even minor
flaws. · Perseverance. They stick to their convictions
and opinions. Opposition only serves to strengthen their dogged
determination. · Order and detail. Conscientious people like the
appearance of orderliness and tidiness. They are good organizers, catalogers,
and list makers. No detail is too small for Conscientious consideration. · Prudence. Thrifty, careful, and cautious in
all areas of their lives, Conscientious individuals do not give in to
reckless abandon or wild excess. · Accumulation. A "pack rat,"
the Conscientious person saves and collects things, reluctant to discard
anything that has, formerly had, or someday may have value for him or her. |
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· Commitment. Individuals with the Devoted
personality style are thoroughly dedicated to the relationships in their
lives. They place the highest value on sustained relationships, they respect
the institution of marriage as well as unofficial avowals of commitment, and
they work hard to keep their relationships together. · Togetherness. They prefer the company of one or
more people to being alone. · Teamwork. People with this personality
style would rather follow than lead. They are cooperative and respectful of
authority and institutions. They easily rely on others and take direction
well. · Deference. When making decisions, they are
happy to seek out others' opinions and to follow their advice. · Harmony. Devoted individuals are careful
to promote good feelings between themselves and the important people in their
lives. To promote harmony, they tend to be polite, agreeable, and tactful. · Consideration. They are thoughtful of others and
good at pleasing them. Devoted people will endure personal discomfort to do a
good turn for the key people in their lives. · Attachment. Relationships provide
life's meaning for this personality style. Even after a painful loss of
someone around whom their life was centered, they are able to form new
meaningful bonds. |
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· Feelings. Dramatic men and women live in an
emotional world. They are sensation oriented, emotionally demonstrative, and
physically affectionate, They react emotionally to events and can shift
quickly from mood to mood. · Color. They experience life vividly and
expansively. They have rich imaginations, they tell entertaining stories, and
they are drawn to romance and melodrama.
· Attention. Dramatic people like to be seen
and noticed. They are often the center of attention, and they rise to the
occasion when all eyes are on them. · Appearance. They pay a lot of attention to
grooming, and they enjoy clothes, style, and fashion. · Sexual attraction. In appearance and behavior,
Dramatic individuals enjoy their sexuality. They are seductive, engaging,
charming tempters and temptresses. · Engagement. Easily putting their
trust in others, they are able to become quickly involved in relationships. · The spirit is willing. People with Dramatic
personality style eagerly respond to new ideas and suggestions from others. |
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· Inner life. Idiosyncratic individuals are
tuned in to and sustained by their own feelings and belief systems, whether
or not others accept or understand their particular worldview or approach to
life. · Own world. They are self-directed and
independent, requiring few close relationships. · Own thing. Oblivious to convention,
Idiosyncratic individuals create interesting, unusual, often eccentric
lifestyles. · Expanded reality. Open to anything, they are
interested in the occult, the extrasensory, and the supernatural. · Metaphysics. They are drawn to abstract and
speculative thinking. · Outward view. Though they are
inner-directed and follow their own hearts and minds, Idiosyncratic men and
women are keen observers of others, particularly sensitive to how other
people react to them. |
·
Idealized self-image. Individuals of the Inventive type develop highly
idealized images of themselves with which they identify and which they love.
The person is his idealized self and seems to adore it (Glad, 494). ·
Subdued demeanor. Persons of the Inventive type are energetic, but phlegmatic in
temperament. "They can be quiet, rather private, subdued in demeanor,
and have artistic interests and aesthetic sensibilities (Riso,
102)." ·
Attention.
Individuals of the Inventive type have a tendency to behave in such a way as
to attract attention. "They can be subtle show-offs, but show-offs
nonetheless (Riso, 103)." ·
Openness to culture. The Inventive person has unusual thought processes, values
intellectual matters, and judges in unconventional terms. He or she is
aesthetically reactive and has a wide range of interests (McCrae and John). ·
Intelligence.
"Intelligence will typically be emphasized in their self-images and
social dealings." They put great stock in their ideas and demand that
others do likewise (Riso, 103). ·
Competence.
The faith of those of the Inventive type is "in their ability to
improvise something, and they display an unusual
talent for rising to the expediency of a situation (Keirsey,
184)." Their focus is on competent excellence in performance. ·
Innovation.
The Inventive type maintains an independent view and is "the most
reluctant of all the types to do things in a particular manner just because
that is the way things always have been done (Keirsey,
183)." They are inventors and innovators. ·
Cleverness.
They are mentally bright and quick-witted. For those of the Inventive type
"to be taken in, to be manipulated by another, is humiliating; this
offends their joy in being masters of the art of oneupmanship
(Keirsey, 185)." ·
Status.
They are highly competitive in pursuit of success and prestige. They want
very much to be outstanding in some way (Riso,
103), to gain recognition, even fame and glory. ·
Self-consciousness Persons of the Inventive type look to others for
approval (Reich, 47). They are very conscious of how others treat them (Riso, 103) and highly sensitive to criticism ( |
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· Inalienable rights. Leisurely men and women believe in
their right to enjoy themselves on their own terms in their own time. They
value and protect their comfort, their free time, and their individual
pursuit of happiness. · Enough is enough. They agree to play by the rules.
They deliver what is expected of them and no more. They expect others to
recognize and respect that limit. · The right to resist. Leisurely individuals cannot be
exploited. They can comfortably resist acceding to demands that they deem
unreasonable or above and beyond the call of duty. · Mañana. Leisurely men and women are
relaxed about time. Unlike Type-A individuals, they
are not obsessed by time urgency or the demands of the clock. To these
individuals, haste makes waste and unnecessary anxiety. They are easygoing
and optimistic that whatever needs to get done will get done, eventually. · I'm okay. They are not overawed by
authority. They accept themselves and their approach to life. · Wheel of fortune. Leisurely people believe that they
are just as good as everyone else and as entitled to the best things in life.
They maintain that blind luck often accounts for who fares well and who fares
poorly. · Mixed feelings. Although they feel
impelled to proceed in their own direction, when their choices put them in
conflict with the people they care for, Leisurely people are often of two
minds about how to proceed. They do not like to risk important relationships,
yet they need to feel free. |
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· Romantic attachment. Mercurial individuals must always
be deeply involved in a romantic relationship with one person. · Intensity. They experience a passionate,
focused attachment in all their relationships. Nothing that goes on between
them and other people is trivial, nothing taken lightly. · Heart. They show what they feel. They
are emotionally active and reactive. Mercurial types put their hearts into
everything. · Unconstraint. They are uninhibited,
spontaneous, fun-loving, and undaunted by risk. · Activity. Energy marks the Mercurial style.
These individuals are lively, creative busy, and engaging. They show
initiative and can stir others to activity. · Open mind. They are imaginative and curious,
willing to experience and experiment with other cultures, roles, and value
systems and to follow new paths. · Alternate states. People with Mercurial
style are skilled at distancing or distracting themselves from reality when
it is painful or harsh. |
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· Generosity. Individuals with the
Self-Sacrificing personality style will give you the shirts off their backs
if you need them. They do not wait to be asked. · Service. Their "prime directive"
is to be helpful to others. Out of deference to others, they are
noncompetitive and unambitious, comfortable coming
second, even last. · Consideration. Self-Sacrificing people are
always considerate in their dealings with others. They are ethical, honest,
and trustworthy. · Acceptance. They are nonjudgmental, tolerant
of others' foibles, and never harshly reproving. They'll stick with you
through thick and thin. · Humility. They are neither boastful nor
proud, and they're uncomfortable being fussed over. Self-Sacrificing men and
women do not like being the center of attention; they are uneasy in the
limelight. · Endurance. They are long-suffering. They
prefer to shoulder their own burdens in life. They have much patience and a
high tolerance for discomfort. · Artlessness. Self-Sacrificing
individuals are rather naive and innocent. They are unaware of the often deep
impact they make on other people's lives, and they tend never to suspect
deviousness or underhanded motives in the people to whom they give so much of
themselves. |
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· Familiarity. Individuals with the Sensitive
personality style prefer the known to the unknown. They are comfortable with,
even inspired by, habit, repetition, and routine. · Concern. Sensitive individuals care deeply
about what other people think of them. · Circumspection. They behave with deliberate
discretion in their dealings with others. They do not make hasty judgments or
jump in before they know what is appropriate. · Polite reserve. Socially they take care to
maintain a courteous, self-restrained demeanor. · Role. They function best in scripted
settings, vocationally and socially: when they know precisely what is
expected of them, how they are supposed to relate to others, and what they
are expected to say. · Privacy. Sensitive men and women are not
quick to share their innermost thoughts and feelings with others, even those
they know well. |
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· Straight face. Individuals with the Serious
personality style maintain a sober demeanor. They are solemn and not given to
emotional expression. · No pretentions. They are realistically aware of
their own capabilities, but they are also aware of their own limitations;
they are not tempted by vanity or self-importance. · Accountability. Serious people hold themselves
responsible for their actions. They will not soft-pedal their own faults and
do not let themselves off the hook. · Cogitation. They're thinkers, analyzers,
evaluators, ruminators: They'll always play things over in their minds before
they act. · Nobody's fool. Men and women with Serious
personality style are sharp appraises of others. In their ability to critique
other people, they are as unhesitating as in their own self-evaluation. · No surprises. They anticipate problems and when
the worst happens, they're prepared to deal with it. · Contrition. Serious people suffer greatly
when they realize they've been thoughtless or impolite to others. |
Solitary |
· Solitude. Individuals with the Solitary
personality style have small need of companionship and are most comfortable
alone. · · Sangfroid. Solitary men and women are
even-tempered, calm, dispassionate, unsentimental, and unflappable. · Stoicism. They display an apparent
indifference to pain and pleasure. · Sexual composure. They are not driven by sexual
needs. They enjoy sex but will not suffer in its absence. · Feet on the ground. They are unswayed
by either praise or criticism and can confidently come to terms with their
own behavior. |
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Autonomy. Vigilant-style individuals possess a resilient
independence. They keep their own counsel, they require no outside
reassurance or advice, they make decisions easily, and they can take care of
themselves. ·
Caution. They are careful in their dealings with others,
preferring to size up a person before entering into a relationship. ·
Perceptiveness. They are good listeners, with an
ear for subtlety, tone, and multiple levels of communication. ·
Self-defense. Individuals with Vigilant style
are feisty and do not hesitate to stand up for themselves, especially when
they are under attack. ·
Alertness to criticism. They take criticism very
seriously, without becoming intimidated. ·
Fidelity. They place a high premium on fidelity and loyalty.
They work hard to earn it, and they never take it for granted. |
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