Thursday, October 27, 2011

Personality and Power

Today I was at a seminar in which the instructor discussed the "four personality types." There are many variations on the four personality types, though they are pretty much all the same. My instructor claimed that the idea came from the ancient Greeks, although this is patently false. The concept of "personality," as we understand it today, did not exist at that time and place. Our concept of "personality" is, in fact, a product of the modern social order, and more specifically, it is a prime mechanism of governmental power. I described in a previous post how "government" is a form of power that seeks to nurture, manage and produce - to enhance life, health, happiness, and efficiency.

The concept of governmental power (aka "governmentality") was introduced by the French philosopher/sociologist Michel Foucault. Foucault argued that government employs two contradictory modes of operation: it abstracts and manages humans as populations at the same time as it acts by penetrating individual consciousness and creating personal "essences." This is accomplished through the construction of "types" - the sorts of labels that we commonly apply to people. On the one hand, "types" are abstractions which can be used to describe populations (for example, in terms of percent makeup) without referring to any individual person. Yet, simultaneously, these "types" and their associated stereotypes become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and in that sense actually work at the individual level to shape behavior.

It is important to keep in mind that "government" is distinct from the state. The state does employ governmental strategies, but government extends far beyond the state. The "personality types," which has become a very popular corporate/organizational training tool, is one such example. Corporations invest in this training because they believe it will increase the efficacy of communication in the workplace. They can induce desired behaviors among their employees by assigning to all of them a certain essence and encouraging them to view their work relationships within the framework of these essences. It is easier to deal with someone when the complexity and unpredictability of their actions is eliminated.

This is most definitely a form of power, though it need not necessarily be harmful, in and of itself. Still, I must say that I do not like to be interpreted and responded to according to some label that does not represent who I really am. I, like everyone, am context-specific and complex. I first encountered the four personality types during a job training. I believe that it actually made communication with my coworkers more difficult because they mischaracterized me from the beginning and were quite apt to misinterpret my behavior.

I think it is useful to remember that the concept of "personality" is a tool of governmental power, and that the best way to get to know anyone is to learn all the nuances of their behavior across a variety of contexts. That is difficult work, but it is more accurate.

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