Unlocking the Secrets of Personality Types – Part 2

Published July 06, 2010 in Psychology by Sharon Harris

Now that you’ve learned about the different personality types in part one, learn what that means for you. You may even find out that your personality type makes you more likely to be a libertarian.

Four temperament types

In his groundbreaking book, Please Understand Me, David Keirsey took the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types and reduced them to four "temperament" types. This makes it much less complicated to figure out and understand a person's type.

The four temperaments are: Intuitive Thinkers (NTs), Intuitive Feelers (NFs), Sensory Judgers (SJs), and Sensory Perceivers (SPs).

The Advocates has put together descriptions of the temperaments on color-coded cards which help people quickly figure out their types. NTs are "Green Cards," NFs are "Blue Cards," SJs are "Gold Cards," and SPs are "Orange Cards."

What "color" are you?

Here are key words that describe each "color":

Green Cards (an estimated 12% of the population): Objective, rational, logical, conceptual, curious, competent, scientific, intelligent, knowledgeable, and wise.

Blue Cards (an estimated 12% of the population): Compassionate, caring, warm, communicative, cooperative, romantic, creative, sensitive, and harmonious.

Gold Cards (an estimated 38% of the population): dependable, Responsible, sensible, helpful, hardworking, stable, loyal, organized, practical, punctual, and traditional.

Orange Cards (an estimated 38% of the population): Spontaneous, active, adventuresome, risk-taking, competitive, flexible, cheerful, realistic, charming, skillful, and fun.

The libertarian type

Over the years, observers have noted that most libertarians are Green Cards -- a temperament type that makes up only 12% of the population. In fact, in 1987, when David Bergland and Marshall Fritz first introduced the libertarian movement to "temperament types," their libertarian audience was 98% Green Cards.

Fortunately, it has been my observation that there has been a major shift in the last few years. Recently, when I've surveyed groups of libertarians, only about half turn out to be Green Cards!

This is a definite sign that libertarians are reaching out and appealing to other types.

Do we need other types?

We need all four types in the libertarian movement. Why? First of all, to reach the general public, we must appeal to that 88% who view the world differently than Green Cards.

Secondly, each type brings its own special gifts to the table.

Green Cards bring logic and reason. They help explain the concepts of liberty and develop the theories behind libertarianism. Blue Cards bring passion and people skills. They are the ones who care most about the needs of others and dedicate themselves to a "cause."

Gold Cards can provide the organizational skills. They are the most dependable and reliable; they make things happen and they keep things on track. Orange Cards bring creativity and excitement. They are the artists who help us find new ways to approach things. And they bring fun to the movement.

For example, what if you knew the "types" of the individuals in your local or state libertarian group? You'd have a Gold Card managing the office and the database, and a "Blue Card" developing relationships with the local media. Not only would the organization be more effective, but each individual would be happier!

All of these skills are needed if we are to have a growing movement for liberty.

How can we use this information to attract more people to libertarianism? Find out part three of Unlocking the Secrets of Personality Types.

In the mean time, learn more about personality types by reading Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey.

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