# Pyschological Orientation & Social Roles



## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

Just some random musings....which I have considered before, but failed to jot down.

After reading this thread, I was thinking again about the differences between thought processes & psychological orientation & how that relates to personality (ie. Jungian theory) versus social roles & how thought processes may make one drawn to a certain role so that is becomes synonymous with a personality type (ie. Keirsian theory). 

For example, obviously, not all artists are SPs, not all scientists are NTs, not all humanitarians are NFs, and not all SJs are, er, whatever boring role they're assigned :tongue:. There are a variety of personalities to be found amongst these different avenues. So why are there these strong associations with type & skills?

Well, the idea is very simple. If a person prefers a certain thought process then...
- they may be drawn to areas in life that allow them to use it & be rewarded for it more than other areas
- because they seek out these areas more, they may develop skills associated with them, and since "practice makes perfect", they may become good at it, or better than average, or at least it becomes their best personal talent.

So what really sets people up to fall into their personality's common social role is the existing structure of society. Certain roles allow certain personality types to, well, be themselves. These areas nurture certain forms of thinking more, maybe because they do tend to thrive there, but possibly because its simply what has been expected. From a young age, a person finds themselves most comfortable in the roles that cater to their preferred manner of thinking, and from there, you find people perpetuating these social archetypes, maintaining the link between them and the psychological archetypes.


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## Empurple (May 20, 2010)

Well put. It brings up thoughts about why society is structured the way it is...and wondering to what extent any societal structure is the product of the personalities which make it up...or else how much the structure determines the environment in which certain personalities cannot help but become typical to that structure. But then what determines the structure to begin with? Hmm...matter? Spirit? Uh oh, I hear a can o' worms opening...better stop.


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