From: yamauchi@ces.cwru.edu (Brian Yamauchi)
Newsgroups: alt.politics.libertarian,talk.politics.misc,sci.psychology
Subject: Politics and Personality Type (was Re: Why????)
Date: 6 Nov 92 01:19:39 GMT
	<Nov.5.13.55.11.1992.13054@planchet.rutgers.edu>
Organization: Case Western Reserve University
NNTP-Posting-Host: yuggoth.ces.cwru.edu
In-reply-to: josh@planchet.rutgers.edu's message of 5 Nov 92 18:55:12 GMT

In article <Nov.5.13.55.11.1992.13054@planchet.rutgers.edu> josh@planchet.rutgers.edu (J Storrs Hall) writes:
>nancy@genie.slhs.udel.edu (Nancy Lebovitz) writes:

>>I heard that the Libertarian Party tried addressing the question of
>>why libertarianism hasn't caught on more by (probably in a workshop)
>>dividing people into four types and coming up with arguments for
>>each type. (It seems to be a simplified version of Jungian typology.)
>>...

>It's a simplification of the Myers-Briggs personality classification
>system, which was loosely based on Jungian types.  The groups of M-B
>types denoted by *S*P, *S*J, *NF*, and *NT* form the "colors".  The
>"native" libertarian type is *NT* (intuitive thinkers).

>I was at an ISIL conference where the a speaker handed out the 
>four-colored-card sets to the audience and asked them to pick the 
>one they matched.  About 90% of the crowd was NT (as opposed to 
>10% of the population if I remember right).

In _A_Guide_to_the_Development_and_Use_of_the_Myers-Briggs_Type_
Indicator_, by Myers and McCaulley, the authors summarize a wide
variety of different studies correlating MBTI with other measures.

One study in particular (Mitchell, 1981) seems relevant to the
discussion above.  This was based on studies of organizations and job
preference and performance.

I tend to take these studies with a grain of salt, but it's
interesting to speculate on the political implications, if the
following data is meaningful...

E = Extraverted		I = Introverted
N = Intuitive		S = Sensory
T = Thinking		F = Feeling
P = Perceiving		J = Judging

Factor 1: Happy family (harmonious interpersonal relationships with
pleasant material surroundings).  Highest types were ESFJ, ISFP, ISFJ,
and ESFP.  Lowest type was ENTP.

Factor 2: Variety and challenge (latitude to work creatively on
intellectually stimulating problems).  Highest type was ENTP.  Lowest
types were ISFJ and ISFP.

Factor 3: Achievement within the system (orientation toward climbing
the corporate ladder).  Highest type was ESTJ.  Lowest types were
ESFP, ESTP, and ENFP.  (The highest six types were all Js, the lowest
six are all Ps.)

Factor 4: Visible autonomy (free expression of views even when at odds
with the social millieu).  Highest types were ESTP, INTP, and ENTP.
Lowest types were ISTJ and ISFJ.

Factor 5: Outgoing affiliation (satisfaction in being part of a
group).  Highest type was ESFJ.  Lowest type was ISTP.  (Top three
types were all EFs; bottom three were all ITs.)

Factor 6: Business sociability (sociability with a purpose).  Highest
type was ESFJ.  Lowest type was INTJ.  (Top four types were all EJ;
bottom three were all IN.)

Factor 7: Financial analysis (scientific and intellectual curiousity
about economic and financial matters).  Highest types were NTJ types.
Lowest types were STP types.

Factor 8: Nurturing affiliation.  Highest types were ENFJ and INFP.
Lowest type was ENTJ.  (Top seven types were F, bottom five were T.)

Based on the data above, one might expect conservatives to be SJs,
liberals to be NFs, and libertarians to be NTs.

From purely anecdotal evidence, this seems to be a pretty decent first
estimate.  There certainly seem to be more libertarians in the
scientifical/technical (NT) fields in general, and computer science
(NTP) in particular, than in the overall population.  Likewise
political conservativism seems to be strongly correlated with
religious conservativism and traditional values (SJ), and political
liberalism with humanist academia and the fine arts (NF).

I'd be curious to see whether anyone has done a scientific study...
--
_______________________________________________________________________________

Brian Yamauchi			Case Western Reserve University
yamauchi@alpha.ces.cwru.edu	Department of Computer Engineering and Science
_______________________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: alt.politics.libertarian,rec.arts.startrek.current,alt.politics.bush