The Fit Between Personality and Mind Dynamix Profiling within the context of career guidance

By Nicola Richardson

Personality finds its expression through the Mind Dynamix Profile – the skeleton containing the person’s essence.  There’s an encouraging link between the attributes as interpreted after profile analysis and the findings from the Jung Personality Questionnaire.

The Jung Personality Questionnaire (JPQ) aims to assist the individual in choosing a career by assessing their personality type and thereby revealing those stable personality characteristics that persist over time.  The JPQ, used in career guidance, can therefore assist in identifying an occupation or category which should prove satisfying to the individual – a career which matches their core personality type.

The Jung Personality Questionnaire reveals the individual’s basic attitude – Extraversion or Introversion, as well as their preferred psychological functions of: Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, and Intuiting.  The four personality dimensions used are referred to as the Extraversion-Introversion; Thought-Feeling; Sensation-Intuition; and Judgement-Perception.

The Mind Dynamix profile is an indication of an individual’s strengths and how he or she can best utilize them to fulfil his/her innate, true potential.  It reveals where potential challenges may lie and how the person can best overcome them. A Mind Dynamix profile reveals the least you will ever be and hence does not limit an individual in anyway.

The input and output variables, namely the input variables (visual and auditory), and output variables of communication and decision-making, are characterized by the brain hemisphere they are controlled by.  The left side of the body is controlled by the right brain hemisphere and similarly the right side of the body is controlled by the left-brain hemisphere.  An understanding of what and how each variable processes, provides great knowledge as to why and how a person absorbs information, processes it and then communicates and takes action.  This is because the brain is divided into six dimensions, all of which are equally significant in terms of analysing the flow of information from the input phase to the decision-making, action phase.  These six dimensions include: the left (logic) and right (creative) hemispheres, the top (cognitive) brain, the bottom (emotive) brain, the back (reflective) brain and the front (expressive) brain. A person’s entire profile must be assessed holistically in order to make correct interpretations – simply making judgments on what is seen on a behavioural level leads to false assumptions being made.  The way a person chooses to absorb information may be very different to the way they prefer to respond.

In terms of identifying career options the Mind Dynamix profile helps to direct an individual into a career in which their natural talents will be realized and through which their true potential and strengths can manifest.  The Mind Dynamix profile helps people to discover their passion, purpose and those career circumstances complementary to his or her personality.

Case Studies

An analytical comparison of four randomly selected career reports follows.  The two assessments (JPG and Mind Dynamix profiling) combined reveal how a person’s talents, interests and processing styles fit within their personality category, and enable a career-specific and complementary analysis which provides guidance in choosing a career direction.

Mind Dynamix Profile Subject A: 

Summarised Mind Dynamix Profile Interpretation:

Subject A sees the potential in situations and people and reads between the lines as she has creative input.  Her auditory input is detailed implying that Subject A listens firstly for the facts before detecting tone.  Her emotional filtering helps her to detect the tone underlying the message and brings sensitivity to her hearing.  Subject A thinks in a logical, detailed style and makes decisions in a similar manner.  Under stress she may struggle to proofread her work as her genetically dominant eye is the creative eye that notices similarities requiring that she consciously re-read in order to pick up on errors.  Subject A will, however, continue to hear, process and make logical and planned decisions under stress.  Her communication, however, may block under stress since, although the language centres are housed in her genetically dominant hemisphere, she enjoys a dual-communication ability. This dual-communication ability is a gift as it gives Subject A the ability to communicate in both a creative and/or structured manner.  The downside of this talent is that the two options may cause a temporary delay as it requires that she first has to decide whether to present her discussion in a creative or logical manner. This decision can cause Subject A to block when “on the spot” – writing down her response before sharing will assist Subject A in lining up her thoughts.  Subject A is also people orientated and creative, and she enjoys presenting information in unique ways that will make an impact on her audience.

JUNG Personality Type: EFNJ

Analysis:  Subject A’s personality type is namely: Extrovert with Feeling and Intuition.

ENFJs direct their energy towards the outside world of actions and spoken words.  They would make decisions based on personal values, are appreciative and accepting towards others, are considerate when making decisions to account for their decision’s impact on others.      Their focus is on bringing out the best in others as they focus on ideas and possibilities aiming to enhance meaningful relationships and an understanding of others.  They are often fast-paced and good at whatever captures their interest.  They enjoy careers in which their activities inspire others and dislike dealing with impersonal reasoning.  They have a tendency to worry excessively and to be guilt driven should they not have found their niche in life, as well as being sensitive to criticism.

Comparing the Mind Dynamix Profile of Subject A with the Jung EFNJ Analysis

The Mind Dynamix Profile reveals creative vision and seeing possibility in others.  This is identified by the Jung Personality test in terms of a focus on helping enrich other’s lives.  The Profile shows bottom brain genetic dominance implying the emotional filtering of thoughts.  The Jung agrees with this but refers to it as Intuitive processing and finding meaning in activities that capture their interest.  The Jung also refers to the tendency of an ENFJ to dislike objective reasoning, the profile is in harmony with this at it reveals a subjective more empathic type reasoning.  The Jung analysis shows that these individuals are sensitive, fast paced and can worry excessively, being guilt driven should they not be in a well-suited career type.  The profile interpretation would agree with this too – a left brain dominance coupled with stress can cause subject A to become over-attentive to detail.  The left brain coupled with the right logical ear and right foot would show that decisions can be taken quickly due to the direct flow of information and complementary processing styles between these three attributes.  Sensitivity to criticism as revealed in the Jung analysis could very well be a response by Subject A according to the profile analysis, as emotional processing stirs action and a perfectionist tendency can easily inflict self-condemnation should Subject A’s personal standards not be met, or alternatively, should Subject A feel as if the person they are trying to help has had their situation compromised as a result of a decision she has taken.

Final Finding for Subject A in terms of this study

Complementary relationship between Mind Dynamix Profiling and the Jung Personality Test.

Mind Dynamix Profile Subject B: 

Summarised Mind Dynamix Profile Interpretation:

– Subject B is very creative.  Her input is creative as well as her processing.  Subject B is optimistic by nature as she sees and hears the potential in situations. She listens with a vision, reads between the lines and is very attentive to tone.    Subject B has a structured communication and decision making style and objective style of reasoning, judging situations for what they are.  Subject B enjoys time to herself too as this allows her to convert her big picture processing into a final product with a structured style and to make decisions privately or introspectively.  Subject B should, therefore, enjoy being creative within a defined scope as her more logical, precise output enjoys the security generated by structured boundaries.  Subject B would enjoy the freedom to redesign and to think “out-of-the-box”.  She is also likely to prefer team work setups rather than rigid hierarchical systems. Under stress Subject B needs to “get creative” in order to restore her processing.  If she doesn’t she will struggle to make decisions and to communicate effectively in a structured manner.

JUNG Personality Type: EFSP

Analysis: Subject B’s personality type is namely: Extrovert with Feeling and Sensation.

According to the Jung Personality Test, Subject B is an Extrovert with Feeling and Sensation.  As she is a Perception type it would appear that Sensation is her dominant function and Feeling is in an auxiliary capacity.  An extroverted attitude orientates the person toward the external, objective world.  Subject B invests her energy into things outside of herself and has an interest in people and things.   In this regard Subject B needs to interact with others and is influenced by them and sensitive to their attitudes towards her.

Decision making is composed of a rational and irrational process.  Rational meaning a decision is made using judgment – expressed either in thinking or through feeling.  Irrational functions are those mental processes involving some kind of perception – either a sensory perception (using the five senses) or an inner, unconscious perception (commonly referred to as intuition). Since Subject B’s test results show that her dominant mental functioning type is Perception – it would appear that Sensation is her preferred method of decision making followed by Feeling.  Hence in decision making, Subject B will generally prefer to use her five senses in order to make sense of her inward and outward experience. Subject B’s less dominant processing type is Feeling – this implies that Subject B may accept or reject an idea on the basis of whether it arouses a pleasant or unpleasant feeling within her.

Comparing the Mind Dynamix Profile of Subject B with the Jung EFSP Analysis

The Mind Dynamix Profile reveals creative input – sensitive listening and creative vision coupled with big picture and creative processing.  This coincides with the Jung’s assessment in terms of extroversion and feeling – as Subject B is oriented toward the external and objective world of people and things.    The profile reveals intraspective processing as well as objective reasoning.  It is likely that her genetic preference for structured output reduces her decision making and communication ability when under stress. This may cause her to rely on her senses in order to learn by exploration, thereby linking to the Jung’s finding of sensation.

Final Finding for Subject B in terms of this study

Complementary relationship between Mind Dynamix Profiling and the Jung Personality Test.

Mind Dynamix Profile Subject C: 

Summarised Mind Dynamix Profile Interpretation:

–  Subject C has detailed visual input.  When comparing two almost identical pictures he will likely spot the differences before the similarities.  This is the reading eye and the eye that likes facts and detail.  He hears how something is said to him before he listens for the detail, or “what” is being said.  In doing so he hears the possibilities in what he hears and he hears with sensitivity.  Subject C remains very accurate in his processing when under stress in terms of his visual input, communication with others and his decision-making.  He may experience a drop in his creative auditory input when stressed.  He generally makes his decisions privately and then shares his final decision. When put under pressure however, he may be more emotionally driven resulting in his taking action sooner than he normally would.  He filters his thoughts and what he sees and hears through his emotions, making him sensitive to others. Subject C sees the potential in others and will do his best in helping to enrich them.

JUNG Personality Type: (EFN (J))

Analysis:  Subject C’s personality type is namely: Extrovert with Feeling and Intuition.

Decision making is composed of a rational and irrational process.  Rational meaning a decision is made using judgment – expressed either in thinking or through feeling.  Irrational functions are those mental processes involving some kind of perception – either a sensory perception (using the five senses) or an inner, unconscious perception (commonly referred to as intuition).

According to the JPQ, Subject C is an Extrovert with Feeling and Intuition.  As he is a Judgment type it would appear that Feeling is Subject C’s dominant function and that Intuition is in an auxiliary capacity.  Subject C’s slightly more extroverted attitude orientates him toward the external, objective world; hence his energy flow is outward.   He is sensitive and considerate toward others.  Subject C likes new situations and experiences, and tends to accept or reject an idea on the basis of whether it arouses a pleasant or unpleasant feeling within him.  He is also intuitive, meaning Subject C may make decisions based on an active, creative process that relies on unconscious thought processing – he could therefore get a hunch and not know exactly how he knows what he knows.

Comparing the Mind Dynamix Profile of Subject C with the Jung Analysis

According to the Jung test, this individual thinks things through emotionally and introspectively.  This is complemented by the profile analysis which reveals that Subject C has emotional processing and that the subject’s auditory input is sensitive to mood and tone, implying sensitivity toward others.

The Jung test suggests an extroverted or external orientation – to people and to things around him.  This is not disputed by the profile even though the profile indicates reflective dominance and not expressive dominance.  Reflective dominance merely reveals that his/her processing is more private.  An expressive profile does generally link more to extroversion, yet due to Subject C’s sensitive auditory input and emotional processing, Subject C does have an external focus in the way he or she sees possibility in others and feels and hears with empathy.  Subject C is a deep thinker and will take decisions with caution.  Emotional processing is linked to intuition on the Jung profile.

Final Finding for Subject C in terms of this study

Complementary relationship between Mind Dynamix Profiling and the Jung Personality

Mind Dynamix Profile Subject D: 

Summarised Mind Dynamix Profile Interpretation:

Subject D is very creative.  Her input is creative as well as her processing.  Subject D is optimistic by nature as she sees and hears the potential in situations. She listens with a vision, reads between the lines and is very attentive to tone.  Subject D listens with empathy to others and identifies with their emotions as she filters her thinking through her emotions.  Under stress her creativity is stronger and her emotional processing is heightened but her decision making style prevents her being impulsive.  Subject D has dual-communication abilities, meaning she has the ability to be flexible in the way she communicates, either in a structured or creative manner.  She may find, however, that under stress her ability to communicate effectively is lessened as the language centres are housed in her non-dominant hemisphere and her brain has to decide which way to communicate, creatively or logically depending on the situation at hand.  She may find that under stress she prefers to write down what she wants to say before sharing.  She enjoys time to herself too as this allows her to convert her big picture processing into a final product with a structured style.  She should, therefore, enjoy being creative within a defined scope as her more logical, precise output enjoys the security generated by structured boundaries.  She would enjoy the freedom to redesign and to think “out-of-the-box”.  She is also likely to prefer team work setups rather than rigid hierarchical systems. Under stress, Subject D needs to “get creative” in order to restore her processing.  If she doesn’t she will struggle to make decisions and to communicate effectively in a structured manner.

JUNG Personality Type: (EFN(J))

Analysis: Subject D’s personality type is namely: Extrovert with Feeling and Intuition.

Decision making is composed of a rational and irrational process.  Rational meaning a decision is made using judgment – expressed either in thinking or through feeling.  Irrational functions are those mental processes involving some kind of perception – either a sensory perception (using the five senses) or an inner, unconscious perception (commonly referred to as intuition).

According to the JPQ, Subject D is an Extrovert with Feeling and Intuition.  As she is a Judgment type it would appear that Feeling is her dominant function and that Intuition occurs in an auxiliary capacity. Subject D’s slightly more extroverted attitude orientates her toward the external, objective world; hence her energy flow is outward.   Subject D is sensitive and considerate toward others.  She likes new situations and experiences, and she tends to accept or reject an idea on the basis of whether it arouses a pleasant or unpleasant feeling within her.  She is also intuitive, meaning she may make decisions based on an active, creative process that relies on unconscious thought processing – Subject D would therefore get a hunch and not know exactly how she knows what she knows.

Comparing the Mind Dynamix Profile of Subject D with the Jung Analysis

The Jung test suggests an external orientation – to people and to things around her.  This is not disputed by the profile even though the profile indicates reflective dominance and not expressive dominance.  Subject D’s creative and sensitive input, coupled with emotional processing and big picture processing creates an outward focus as the person cares and sees possibility in others. According to the profile, decisions are made privately and with feeling – agreed with in the Jung analysis.  Intuition is revealed though both tests – in the profile the interactive effect of Subject D’s sensitive input variables as well as right brain dominance and emotional filtering, create intuitive processing.

Final Finding for Subject D in terms of this study

Complementary relationship between Mind Dynamix  Profiling and the Jung Personality Test.

Conclusion:

The sample used has shown a correlation between the Jung Personality Test and the Mind Dynamix Profile.  This study’s findings do show that personality finds its expression through the Mind Dynamix profile variables.

Bibliography:

Du Toit, L.B.H. 1992.  Manual for the Jung Personality Questionnaire (JPQ). Pretoria: HSRC.

De Jager, M.  2006.  Mind Moves – removing barriers to learning.  Linden: The BG ConneXion (Pty) Ltd.

De Jager, M. & Nelson, N. 2006.  Manual for Mind Dynamix Profile Course – Survival Strategies. Linden. The BG ConneXion (Pty) Ltd.

Nicola Richardson is a registered Counsellor (Specialisation Careers) Pr 248053