How to... Identifying Personality Type

[LWulf]

Writer Resource
​

Something I was taught at one job was to easily identify people.
In relation to that, I thought this might be a helpful tool for writers. If you know what type of person your character is, writing their parts should be easier.

http://s25.postimg.org/42llzrkzz/personality_type.png​

To explain the four personality types, there are:

• Amiable - This is your BFF. Their word is their bond.
• Expressive - This is your favorite Uncle Bob or Aunt Beatrice. The one who comes over to you, throws his arm around your shoulder and starts talking ever so easily to you. They also gesticulate a lot.
• Driver - This is someone who is short, to the point and hates being friendly.
• Analytical - Self explanatory. For writers, this might be a good character to use to go into exposition with, or if the character is a detective.

There are four primary descriptions for those four personality types. They are:

• Introvert - This is a person who gets energy by being alone.
• Extrovert - This is a person who gets energy by being in the spot light
• Social - In a word, friendly
• Anti-social - contrary to the laws and customs of society; devoid of, or antagonistic to sociable instincts or practices

**note that these are shared by two of the above personality types described above.

****​

Sometimes knowing those four categories of personalities is enough, sometimes you want more detailed characters. To that end, each of the four personalities is broken into 4 subsets that share traits with the other three. So one is a primary personality type, and the second is a secondary personality type.
Broken down, they are
DA - Double Amiable - Primary: Amiable, Secondary: Amiable
AE - Amiable Expressive - Primary: Amiable, Secondary: Expressive
AA - Amiable Analytical - Primary: Amiable, Secondary: Analytical
AD - Amiable Driver - Primary: Amiable, Secondary: Driver (a difficult combination to explain because it is conflicting personality types)

DE - Double Expressive - Primary: Expressive, Secondary: Expressive
EA - Expressive Amiable - Primary: Expressive, Secondary: Amiable
ED - Expressive Driver - Primary: Expressive, Secondary: Driver
EA - Expressive Analytical - Primary: Expressive, Secondary: Analytical (a difficult combination to explain because it is conflicting personality types)

DD - Double Driver - Primary: Driver, Secondary: Driver (truly a worst nightmare)
DA - Driver Analytical - Primary: Driver, Secondary: Analytical
DE - Driver Expressive - Primary: Driver, Secondary: Expressive
DA - Driver Amiable - Primary: Driver, Secondary: Amiable (a difficult combination to explain because it is conflicting personality types)

DA - Double Analytical - Primary: Analytical, Secondary: Analytical
AA - Analytical Amiable - Primary: Analytical, Secondary: Amiable
AD - Analytical Driver - Primary: Analytical, Secondary: Driver
AE - Analytical Expressive - Primary: Analytical, Secondary: Expressive (a difficult combination to explain because it is conflicting personality types)

What does this all mean?
There is a reason that it is arranged in a chart like above. Each personality type has an antithesis to themselves. These are shown at opposite corners to each other.
The Analytical confounds the Expressive, and vice versa, while the Amiable confounds the Driver and likewise vice versa.
You want to have one character rub another the wrong way, then, for example, have an Amiable treat a Driver like they were an Amiable. You want two characters to be fast friends, either have similar traits (for instance, both are Expressive), or have where an Amiable respects the differences of the Driver.

Example:
I have a character Vinnie, who is a Bouncer at a bar. He is primarily a Driver personality type. He likes to schmooze with other characters so his secondary is Expressive.
Another character I have is Jessica. She is a dancer at the bar and she hates everything about Vinnie. Her primary is Amiable and her secondary is Expressive.
because they are both Extroverts (Jessica latently so), they get charged by being in the spotlight, which means they have no problem getting in each other's face.
Because their characters are polar opposites (Driver to Amiable) they are natural combatants.

BUT, let's say I instead had made Jessica an Amiable Analytical. That Jessica gets into a fight with Vinnie is really against her personality type. As a double introverted personality type, she loses energy by being forward and would more likely be the type of character who would stick to the corner until a fight is over then go to her friend and list reasons why her friend shouldn't feel bad.

****​

In the end, a writer who is Driver personality type or an Expressive is not going to find this useful, while the Amiable and Analytical will find this immensely handy.

 

[KlaytonFrost]

I think I must be the wrong personality type for this. In life and in stories people are unpredictable and nuanced. I don't agree with the idea that you can boil people down to a personality type and from that type determine how they would act in any given situation.

It's interesting as a guide though - as a way of thinking about how different people in different moods might deal with different situations.

 

[EbonyBelle]

Read James Randi's 'Flim-Flam' to see how all this works.

 

[LWulf]

I think I must be the wrong personality type for this. In life and in stories people are unpredictable and nuanced. I don't agree with the idea that you can boil people down to a personality type and from that type determine how they would act in any given situation.

It's interesting as a guide though - as a way of thinking about how different people in different moods might deal with different situations.

Read James Randi's 'Flim-Flam' to see how all this works.

Did I say this was THE answer to life, the universe and everything? No. It's a tool. A simple tool. A simple tool that anybody can use and you don't need a college degree to use it.

Does having a tool suddenly make a carpenter into a master tradesman? No. Yet A tool is better than NO tool, right?

You are right though, this IS flim-flam because I am trying to sum up in a 2 minute brief reading what I learned from a 60 hour lecture.

Is there something much easier posted here that helps novice writers develop answers to character development questions? If so, please share, I'd love to have a better working SIMPLE tool that helps me develop characters.

Please share, I'll wait...
...still waiting.
Yup, still waiting.

 

[NightL]

In life and in stories people are unpredictable and nuanced. I don't agree with the idea that you can boil people down to a personality type and from that type determine how they would act in any given situation.

Marketing research would say otherwise - identifying and categorising personality traits is basic sales and management training. You will have already been profiled a multitude of times in your life. Talking to sales reps, job interviews, even answering a few simple automated questions when making a phone enquiry. Happens all around you all the time.

Obviously accurate enough for the practice to be well entrenched.

 

[Hypoxia]

Is there something much easier posted here that helps novice writers develop answers to character development questions? If so, please share, I'd love to have a better working SIMPLE tool that helps me develop characters.

Just follow a time-honored practice: Steal. Plagiarize. Copy. For characters, that means, don't invent / develop them -- model them. Base characters on people you've known. Plug-in real personalities. Change their names to protect the guilty, but otherwise, bare their souls. Of course, for this to work, one must actually have met and known living people.

 

[LadyVer]

FWIW, I've seen articles where writers recommend different personality charts to help in developing their characters. If I wrote though, I don't know if I could use the charts much because it's the kind of info and planning that my ADD kind of goes, whuuut?

 

[LWulf]

Just follow a time-honored practice: Steal. Plagiarize. Copy. For characters, that means, don't invent / develop them -- model them. Base characters on people you've known. Plug-in real personalities. Change their names to protect the guilty, but otherwise, bare their souls. Of course, for this to work, one must actually have met and known living people.

Hmm. Steal/copy/plagiarize and use friends and changes names (like it's easy coming up with names) OR use this chart and feel guilt-free? Call me funny, but I'll say the chart still sounds easier.

 

[Hypoxia]

Hmm. Steal/copy/plagiarize and use friends and changes names (like it's easy coming up with names) OR use this chart and feel guilt-free? Call me funny, but I'll say the chart still sounds easier.

I guess that depends on whether you prefer real or abstract characters. And I should have said "people you've known OR KNOWN OF". Copy their personalities and invent needed details.

They needn't even be human people. I should write a story or series populated by anthropomorphized pets I have had. Athena (runt doberman) was always nervous and insecure. Val (prime doberman) was crafty and elusive. Jake (golden mix) was laid-back and easy-going -- unless you pissed him off -- and a very caring big brother. Patty (tabby) was polite, intensely sensuous, and loved to crash parties, moving from lap to lap. Nastasha (calico) was quiet, reclusive, and slept a lot. Fred (tabby) just had to stick his paws into trouble, to see if a flame or soldering iron were hot, or if gravity still worked at the edge of a table. They're all easy to invent voices for.

 

[LWulf]

...Athena (runt doberman) was always nervous and insecure. Val (prime doberman) was crafty and elusive. Jake (golden mix) was laid-back and easy-going -- unless you pissed him off -- and a very caring big brother. Patty (tabby) was polite, intensely sensuous, and loved to crash parties, moving from lap to lap. Nastasha (calico) was quiet, reclusive, and slept a lot. Fred (tabby) just had to stick his paws into trouble, to see if a flame or soldering iron were hot, or if gravity still worked at the edge of a table. They're all easy to invent voices for.

What you are talking about is idiosyncrasies. Affectations that people adopt. In relation to what I was talking about, you're talking about higher code opposed to base code. Your's are elective, while mine are instinctual.

Anybody can be cranky because they haven't gotten sleep, eaten recently or gotten laid in years.

However, the Driver is naturally cranky. The Amiable and Analytical would rather bite off their arm than be extroverted, however, that just means they have more endurance to stave off being cranky, but cranky they will become too at some point (unless a Driver is their secondary characteristic). Of the two, the Analytical would give in first, and the Amiable would give in last.

After they are cranky and if it is pointed out to them they are acting cranky, the Amiable is more likely to apologize and explain they are stressed (because the Amiable is everybody's fast friend. they don't like being unfriendly in the least), while the Analytical, because they are anti-social like the Driver, is less likely to apologize. The Driver and Expressive are more likely to go on a tirade and not stop at that because they are fueled by being in the spotlight.

However there again, the Expressive is likewise friendly. They are also likely to apologize or try to make nothing of it. Much like your favorite aunt or uncle. They will probably announce their mistake big time, not make little of it, but end up trying to make a joke of it or express that everybody blows up every now and then, to stave off any unfriendly feelings they created.

An expressive because they are extroverted will fight being anti-social by being cranky, but once their cork is popped, they will feed off the extroversion of being in the spot light. Then after they have vented, they would likely do something like "Hey, You know what? I'm really sorry. That was the really unkind of me. Not the worst, Hey! remember that one time we tied on that binger and drove all over town making fools of ourselves? Well, it was mostly me, but you were there too! hah! No, really I'm sorry for blowing up at you, Here! Let me make it up to you! Tell me what you want and I'll make it yours. No, I'm serious. Who's your favorite uncle, eh?"

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Did I say this was THE answer to life, the universe and everything? No.

And that's 42. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I think it's a great, handy little guide that could be very useful for novice and experienced writers alike. Is it accurate? Who cares?! The important part is knowing your character(s).

I've co-authored with some who need to know too much about their characters. Personally, part of the writing process is learning about the characters, too. That said, I do have a firm grasp on the person before I start writing.

I often will consult body language charts for little gestures my characters can make that might reinforce how they feel.

All kidding aside, thanks LWulf!

 

[LWulf]

And that's 42. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I think it's a great, handy little guide that could be very useful for novice and experienced writers alike. Is it accurate? Who cares?! The important part is knowing your character(s).

I've co-authored with some who need to know too much about their characters. Personally, part of the writing process is learning about the characters, too. That said, I do have a firm grasp on the person before I start writing.

I often will consult body language charts for little gestures my characters can make that might reinforce how they feel.

All kidding aside, thanks LWulf!

You're welcome Expressive.

It's like you and someone else said, it's just a guide. A compass to give a general direction what each character is most likely to take. I'm a double analytical. To me, something like this is a godsend.
Knowing my character is an Expressive, for instance, are they likely to be "anti-social"? No, because they are social, but if that's what I want them to do, now I understand that I have to make their character stressed out, which helps with my story development.

The Driver personality is most likely to know what they want. As a writer, the Driver isn't likely to need this. "I don't want help, I don't need help."

Likewise, the Expressive, likewise being an extrovert, is less likely to need something like this. They would rather 'wing it and see how it unfolds.' "Life is full of chances. Live a little!"

 

[BuckyDuckman]

I could see something this being helpful when a character doesn't "want" to do the right thing, like follow my plot. That doesn't happen often, but sometimes, I know I haven't pushed a character's buttons in the right way. Usually, that means I need to back up and re-write part of the character. But sometimes, it means I need to alter their motivation. They're willing, just not under the circumstances I've outlined.

I bet your post would get better replies in the Author's Hangout forum instead of the "How to" forum.

 

[pplwatching]

I remember taking a version of this test in a group. We were each to get up and tell the room what our type was, and whether or not we agreed. The third person stood up said, "I'm a DD". She then proceeded to push her chest out and say, "Right on the money." It took us a while to get to the fourth person. True story.

 

[LWulf]

...I bet your post would get better replies in the Author's Hangout forum instead of the "How to" forum.

The thing to remember is that relatively speaking, I am still a rank rookie around these parts. I look at "how to" and it says "If you want to know how, ask here. If you already know how, post here."

So I figure this is where to post something like this. I might post a link to this thread in AH, or develop the same thread there... Still thinking about that one.

I remember taking a version of this test in a group. We were each to get up and tell the room what our type was, and whether or not we agreed. The third person stood up said, "I'm a DD". She then proceeded to push her chest out and say, "Right on the money." It took us a while to get to the fourth person. True story.

Yup, that sounds like what I had to do too, sans a woman pushing out her chest. I take it that wood was the reason it took to get to the fourth person?

 

[BuckyDuckman]

The thing to remember is that relatively speaking, I am still a rank rookie around these parts. I look at "how to" and it says "If you want to know how, ask here. If you already know how, post here."

I have found, in general, something about the art of writing, including "How to" gets better comments inside the AH thread. An idea about a story? the Story Ideas thread, of course.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[_Apocalypse_]

Try palmistry - it's been working reliably for me for decades.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Marketing research would say otherwise - identifying and categorising personality traits is basic sales and management training. You will have already been profiled a multitude of times in your life. Talking to sales reps, job interviews, even answering a few simple automated questions when making a phone enquiry. Happens all around you all the time.

Obviously accurate enough for the practice to be well entrenched.

People and companies routinely throw away money on bullshit. The fact that personality testing is entrenched in many corporate cultures doesn't speak to its accuracy, only to the marketers' desire to keep selling something and the human fondness for stereotypes. Every time my employer brings in a different training company, they have a different personality test method, be it DISC or Myers-Brigg or one of countless others.

See also: astrology, blood type personality theories, etc etc.

I think these can be useful as a writing tool, in the same sort of way that I've occasionally used a Tarot deck for story ideas. But last I looked, they weren't great at predicting future behaviour of real people.

 

[patientlee]

And that's 42. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I think it's a great, handy little guide that could be very useful for novice and experienced writers alike. Is it accurate? Who cares?! The important part is knowing your character(s).

I've co-authored with some who need to know too much about their characters. Personally, part of the writing process is learning about the characters, too. That said, I do have a firm grasp on the person before I start writing.

I often will consult body language charts for little gestures my characters can make that might reinforce how they feel.

All kidding aside, thanks LWulf!

Why 42? Must you rub my age in my face??