APT Canada Article by Jack Falt
Since psychological type is a way of explaining how our brain takes in and processes information, I have wondered if specific parts of the brain perform these functions. Is there a map of where these parts of our personality are located?
Actually this topic was addressed by Walter Lowen, a physicist who became interested in brain mapping as it related to personality. His book Dichotomies of the Mind (Wiley, 1982) presented these concepts in great scientific detail. With the use of various brain scanning devices he was able to identify specific parts of the brain with various types. Fortunately for us Susan Scanlon was able to present these ideas in a more readable form in a series of articles in The Type Reporter (Vol. 3 No. 1 to No. 6, Summer 1987. www.typereporter.com) newsletter.
Very generally, the front part of the brain (cerebral cortex) relates to extraversion and the back part to introversion. The right side relates to perceiving and the left side to judging. Of course it is much more complicated than that. Lowen also was able to associate the mental and physical development of the child with the sixteen types. He found that each type was associated with a specific capacity and one by one these were developed in the child. In the first year the child develops the gross motor skills such as moving the body, kicking and flailing about. These correspond to the SF types. Then between one and two years of age the child develops the fine motor skills such as hand-eye coordination. These correspond to ST types. Next, from the age of two to eight, the child develops verbal skills. These correspond to NF types. Finally, after the age of eight, the child develops intellectual skills. These correspond to NT types.
This means that each individual has the ability to use the capacity of each type. As the child goes through these sixteen capacities, one of them stands out as the one that feels the most comfortable. The comfortable one becomes the one most used and becomes the preference or type of the individual.
Another researcher was also interested in this topic as it related to sports. John Niednagel related personality types to the way players in various sports used their minds and their bodies. He was the one who coined the word BrainTypes in his book How to Choose the Sport Best for You (Laguna Press, 1992, www.braintypes.com. The web site has some excellent diagrams of the brain that will make these concepts clearer). He based his work on Lowen as well as Scanlon’s interpretation of Lowen. He then went on to do his own research. He claims that by watching a person walk and listening to his or her speech pattern he can identify a person’s personality type. Of course to be a professional athlete, the individual must have athletic potential in the first place.
Niednagel used this information to help people look at what sports they might excel in and what position they might be best at playing. The SFs were best at gross motor skills. The STs were best at hand-eye coordination. The NFs were best at verbal skills. The NTs were best at logical skills. Now, as in other situations, you will find a cross section of all types in all sports. Niednagel saw that certain positions within a team sport could use these various skills to the team’s advantage. For example in basketball, the ST players are excellent at scoring baskets, SFs can achieve excellent vertical jumps, NTs play a very logical game using their wits to out-manoeuver the opposition, and NFs play with harmony and finesse. Niednagel has acted as a consultant to a number of teams with impressive results, utilising players’ talents to the team’s best advantage.
The only other reference relating the brain to type I have found is by Marti Olsen Laney in her book The Introvert Advantage (Workman Pub., 2002, www.theintrovertadvantage.com). She claims that, when introverts go inside to process information, it actually takes longer for them to respond as the neurotransmitter signal travels a longer distance in the brain. Now an introvert can tell people, “Just give me a bit of time here so I can work this out in my head. It takes longer for my thought processes to work, but I’ll be able to give you a better answer with more depth.” The boss might just be willing to wait for the answer rather than accepting what blurted out of an extravert’s mouth. [Oops! That might be considered type bashing. :-)]
Although understanding the process of what is happening in the brain isn’t really necessary for those taking the Jung-Myers theory to understand its meaning, it is useful for the presenter to have this information on hand to answer questions as they come up, or to use in a counselling situation. Understanding how the capacities are developed one by one gives a certain logic to the development of mental faculties.
It also helps us understand why certain people seem to have greater ability in certain areas. As an NF I never have had much athletic potential. I suppose I could have developed what potential I had. Being brought up in a rural school where there was no physical education instruction, I was the one picked last and just accepted my fate. Not having an affinity for sports I never was much interested in them. If I had had some coaching I would undoubtedly have been better and perhaps would not have had such a poor self-image in relation to my athletic ability. Although I was not destined to be an athlete, I might have been able to get some pleasure from some physical activities and not find exercise such a chore.
The more we understand about personality and braintypes, the more we can use this knowledge to help people develop their potential. This is an area where more research is needed and made available to the general public. The more we know about ourselves and how we are alike and different from other people, the more tolerant we become. For some people, having hard evidence such as brain scans may seem to be more real to them and, therefore, more valid. Then we can learn to appreciate our differences rather than use our differences as a means to feel superior or inferior to others. We can learn that in a community all of these sixteen skills are important and are needed to live together successfully. We are interdependent creatures and the more we are aware of that fact, the more likely we can get along in our personal relationships, our communities, our nations and in the world.