Friday, December 28, 2012

Judging: On Making and Keeping Plans


So, a lot of the descriptions of the judging preference describes J as "making and keeping plans." In other words, judging types want closure and so once they make plans they tend to keep them. This seems to distinguish them from Ps who may hesitate to make plans or may make plans but easily change them.

Of course, everyone changes plans occasionally. The take-away seems to be that J-types see changing plans as a bigger deal than P-types, so the J-types may be harder to persuade. Generally, extraverted judging types need to have either their values (ESFJ, ENFJ) or the logic of the decision (ESTJ, ENTJ) appealed to in some way. Introverted judging types, having their dominant function be one of the irrational functions (sensing and intuition) are more naturally oriented to taking in new data, and therefore, new data can influence them. However, it should be noted that this is against the backdrop of a personality that otherwise seems rigid and immune to influence. The MBTI Manual describes the IJ types as "the decisive introverts" and describes them as follows:

IJs are introspective, persevering, hard to convince or change, unless compelling data is provided that override a decision or conclusion...they can therefore appear to others to be adamant and inflexible. However, since their perceiving function is the dominant, most crucial one, they will a relinquish a conclusion if provided with new information that contradicts the conclusion, even when it seems to other people that the IJ's decision is firm and intractable.

Since IJs are called "The Decisive Introverts," and since they do seem inflexible to others at times, we can assume that they tend to stick by decisions most of the time. It can be assumed that the new data would have to be significant, and really would need to contradict the previously considered data to persuade them.

By contrast, introverted types are described as "The Adaptable Introverts" and are known for having many changes in one's life course. New geographic locations, new jobs, new careers, new relationships may all be part of the picture. That's because they are constantly using their auxiliary to take in new information, so a matter is never quite settled. When an IP type is unhappy with a situation, they may start considering other alternatives. However, all four will generally be seen by others as being flexible, while tending to feel a greater sense of resolve internally than they usually show. This is the type that is normally adaptable but really digs in their heels on certain issues, after which they can seem quite stubborn. Much like The Decisive Extraverts, you need to appeal to either their values (INFP, ISFP) or logic (INTP, ISTP) to persuade them. The implication, also, is that while usually seeming adaptable, they will suddenly shift if something either offends their logic or values.

So, what does all of this mean?

In a loose sense, making and sticking to plans may relate to judging, since those with a preference for perceiving may both hesitate to make plans and feel a bit confined by them once they do, wanting to be open to new opportunities. When a perceiving type changes plans, it's usually because some other, more appealing opportunity has presented itself. However, for IJs, they'll normally seem pretty reliable (even predictable) but when they change plans, it's not because some other option is more attractive, but rather, some new bit of data has made them reconsider the soundness of the previous decision.

An interesting aside: I've noticed that a lot of introverted judging types, when struggling with anxiety, will tend to make plans quickly but abandon them just as quickly. I wonder if, when feeling particularly anxious, they still desire closure initially, but have a harder time filtering out extraneous data and so are quicker to determine that the new information has changed the previous decision?

No comments: