The items below have been identified as various ways to categorize human differences. The boundaries between the bullet points are not clear cut, and frequently a person will be in between or possess more than one. [where known, sources are listed]
TO USE AS AN EXERCISE: Download and print the PDF.
LOVE
- Gifts
- Touch
- Acts of Service
- Quality Time
- Words of Affirmation
[Chapman: Love Languages]
SPEAKING STYLE
- Symbols and metaphors
- Specific and detailed
[Jung, Myers: N/S]
COMMUNICATION STYLE
- Low Context: Rely heavily on the actual words spoken
- High Context: Actively use non-verbal cues instead
[Hall: High/Low Context]
LIFE GOALS
- Enjoy and have fun; adventure
- Be responsible
- Acquire knowledge and be rational
- Follow personal values and convictions; have a cause
[Keirsey: SP/SJ/NT/NF]
PERSONAL IDENTITY
- Being: Worth is in who a person is
- Doing: Worth is in what a person does
[Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck: Being/Doing]
GROUP IDENTITY
- Individualistic
- Collectivistic
[Hofstede: Group Identity]
HUMAN NATURE
- Man is inherently evil
- Man is inherently good
[Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck: Character of Human Nature]
NATURE
- Man is master of nature
- Man is in harmony with nature
- Man is subject to nature
[Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck: Relationship of Man to Nature]
CONFLICT
- Avoid: run away
- Accommodate: let the other have all
- Compete: take all from the other
- Compromise: split 50/50
- Collaborate: work towards a win-win
[Thomas-Kilman/CPP]
POWER
- High Power Distance: Comfortable with a small group of people having concentrated power
- Low Power Distance: Not comfortable with a small group of people having concentrated power
[Hofstede: Power Distance]
UNCERTAINTY
- Comfortable with uncertainty
- Not comfortable with uncertainty
[Hofstede: Uncertainty Avoidance]
SUCCESS
- Achieving
- Nurturing
[Hofstede: Achieve/Nurture]
HISTORICAL PREFERENCE
- Past-Focused
- Present-Focused
- Future-Focused
[Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck: Time (Past/Present/Future)]
CERTAIN ORDER
- Monochronics: Follow an order; 1,2,3, etc.
- Polychronics: Do not follow any order
[Hall: Monochronic/Polychronic]
POSSESSIONS
- Personally owned
- Available for the common good
SPACE
- Public
- Private
TIME
- Clock-bound: Use clocks and exact “time” to measure the world
- Relative: Understand events to happen when they happen, irrespective of what time a clock shows
STRENGTH OF THE WORLD
- Self is stronger than the world around
- World is stronger than self
[DISC: DI/SC]
FOR OR AGAINST
- World is for self
- World is against self
[DISC: IS/DC]
SURROUNDINGS
- Control surroundings
- Influence and change surroundings
- Support the surroundings status quo and mind one’s own business
- Create and follow rules for the surroundings
[DISC: D/I/S/C]
CLEAN VS. ORGANIZED
- Keep things clean
- Keep things organized
LEARNING
- Words
- Numbers or logic
- Pictures
- Music
- Self-reflection
- Physical experience
- Social experience
- Experience in the natural world
[Gardner, Armstrong]
GATHERING INFORMATION
- Though the five senses
- Through intuition
[Jung, Myers: S/N]
DECISION-MAKING
- Based on logic
- Based on personal values
[Jung, Myers: T/F]
PLANNING
- Make plans in advance
- Keep options open
[Myers: J/P]
DECIDING OR GATHERING
- Make decisions about information known
- Gather more information
[Myers: J/P]
PERSONAL REJUVENATION
- Spending time with others
- Spending time alone
[Jung, Myers: E/I]
VALUE OF EMOTIONS
- Emotions can be trusted
- Emotions are not to be trusted
[Jung, Myers: F/T]
PARENTING CHILDREN
- Use strong boundaries
- Give complete freedom
SHELTER
- Prefer being indoors
- Prefer being outdoors
MONEY
- Better to save money
- Better to spend money
SOCIAL PARADIGMS
- Guilt/Righteousness
- Fear/Power
- Shame/Honor
- Unclean/Clean
[Nabeel Jabbour: Crescent through the Cross]
TO USE AS AN EXERCISE: The PDF is here. Using that printed PDF, for the grey shaded items, circle one or more. For the white items, place an X on the continuum. For more than one person, use different colored ink.
© 2019, Alignment Life
Alignment Life 