From: noring@netcom.com (Jon Noring)
Subject: Do Cultures Exhibit a Collective Personality That Changes With Time?
Summary: A speculation bordering on a theory.
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 01:16:53 GMT

I am reposting this article which originally appeared a couple of months
ago in alt.psychology.personality.  I am also cross-posting it for the first
time to other pertinent newsgroups.  Reference is made liberally to
personality models using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  If you're
not familiar with the MBTI, e-mail me for a summary, or quicker yet, go over
to alt.psychology.personality and grab a copy that was posted today.

Jon Noring


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Hello,

I'm not sure if the title in the subject says exactly what I want it to say,
but let me explain further.

Is it possible for cultures to exhibit an overall 'personality', somewhat
akin to individual human personalities, and that these cultural
'personalities' can dynamically and dramatically change over time?  For
example, it seems to me that the so-called Victorian era of the mid and late
1800's seemed highly dominated by an SJ 'personality', using Myers-Briggs
terminology.  The SJ personality for an individual is characterized as
follows:

Key Focus:  Responsibility	
Fundamental Emotional Need:  To Maintain Order

Beliefs/behaviors
-- Conserves heritage and tradition, or establishes new ones
-- Belief in hierarchy:  subordination and superordination
-- Rules:  compelled to be bound and obligated
-- My duty is to serve, give, care, save, share
-- "Shoulds" & "oughts";  "be prepared"
-- Fosters and creates social units:  clubs, church groups


Obviously, the Victorian era, at least from what I've heard and read
about it, was an SJ's dream-come-true:  order, strict social rules, etc.,
ruled supreme.  It was in sharp contrast and in reaction to the period
before in the 1700's which was considerably more 'libertine' (at least on
a relative basis), or, again using Myers-Briggs, tended more towards an SP
'personality', characterized as follows:

Key Focus:  Freedom, Independence
Fundamental Emotional Need:  To Have Fun

Beliefs/behaviors
-- Impulsive - can be very expressive
-- To do what I want, when I want
-- Action to fulfill my current needs, impulses, not as investment for longer
   term need
-- Works dramatically and quickly in crisis
-- Hungers for action without constraints
-- Tremendous stamina


Now I'm not saying that everybody in any given culture exhibits the same
dominant 'personality' that the culture does.  I wouldn't be surprised if
the percentages within the population of the four main individual personality
types are by and large about the same for any given culture in history.  But,
what I am saying is that, for any culture, the overall social 'viewpoint' is
'dominated', for whatever historical and/or social reasons, by a particular
'personality'.

This speculation furthermore suggests that in any culture, there is constant
vying for 'control' between the four basic personality types:  melancholic
(SJ), sanguine (SP), choleric (NT), and phlegmatic (NF).  This vying for
control may be due to the cumulative effects of various social organizations,
within which there may be a dominant personality type of the individuals
comprising the organizations.

For other eras, maybe the Renaissance was essentially 'NT' in character
(invention, science, and humanism arose replacing the older, rigid 'SJ'
personality established by traditionalist religion).  More recently, the
social and peace movements starting in the late 60's, and which are still
continuing today, are essentially 'NF' in 'personality'.

Anyway, this is highly speculative, but interesting to discuss.  Maybe
we can develop a 'test', analogous to the Myers-Briggs test, to determine
the overall personality of any given culture.  From this, the correlation
to historical events and the effect of that culture on the rest of the world
would be an interesting study.  Who knows?  This may form the basis for an
interesting Ph.D. thesis.  I wonder what personality my ancestors the Vikings
were?  :^) (answer:  must be adventure-loving 'SP' - "Sven, I'm bored, let's
go pillage and plunder a few villages today.")

Comments/criticisms/etc.?


Jon Noring



BTW, let me list the overall traits of the NT and the NF to complete the
'profile' of the four main types:


NT, a.k.a. Choleric

Key Focus:  Competence
Fundamental Emotional Need:  To Lead and Control

Beliefs/behaviors
-- Tries to understand "whys" of the universe
-- Very demanding of selves and others - a driver
-- "Should have known" and "Should have done better"
-- Cooly objective;  straightforward in dealing with others
-- Reluctance to state obvious;  little redundancy in communications
-- Work is for improvement, perfection, proof of skills
-- Love of knowledge



NF, a.k.a. Phlegmatic

Key Focus:  Search for Self
Fundamental Emotional Need:  Peace and Harmony

Beliefs/behaviors
-- "How do I become the person I really am?" 
-- Value relationships
-- Harmony with others - can be very amiable
-- Desire to inspire and persuade
-- Need to live a life of significance
-- Search for unique identity
-- Tend to focus on the good in others


If you'd like a general summary of the MBTI personality typing system, let
me know, and I'll e-mail it to you.  Quicker still, just go over to
alt.psychology.personality.  I just posted the summary there an hour before
this was posted.



-- 

Charter Member of the INFJ Club.

Now, if you're just dying to know what INFJ stands for, be brave, e-mail me,
and I'll send you some information.  It WILL be worth the inquiry, I think.

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