The “golden” rule of communication is this: treat others as you would like them to treat you. However, the “platinum” rule for successful interpersonal communication is: treat others as they themselves want to be treated. Following this rule creates good opportunities for achieving success in any form of influence: actual management, manipulation, influence and even pressure.
However, to follow this rule, you need to understand what a person wants, what his true motivation is. It's not that simple: people use various means to hide a lot of things. In addition, a person often simply cannot give information about himself because he does not know himself.
Whatever a person is, he hides something about himself, weakens something, strengthens something, denies some information about himself, replaces something (especially with regard to incentives for activity), and simply ascribes something to himself (invents), emphasizes something. Taking advantage of all this, people often show themselves to society as they would like others to see them.
The key to the technology of professional psychological influence is knowledge of the psychology of individual differences. This is a very developed branch of psychological science. Here we will outline only some fundamental approaches to the use of individual differences in management.
In order to streamline the consideration of the possibilities of taking into account individual characteristics in management, it is advisable to return to the typology of value orientations, which was used in the context of assessing the personal potential of management. It should immediately be noted that there are types of individuals who are inclined to manage and who are inclined to be managed, although under certain conditions, as proponents of the theory of situational leadership claim, almost everyone can prove themselves as a leader. Nevertheless, people with greater personal management potential, other characteristics being equal (competence, for example), are more likely to occupy a dominant position in the group.
According to the Spranger-Holland system, several consistently manifested observable qualities of different types of people can be identified. The following analysis of different personality types will help you better understand other people, as well as determine the most effective ways to influence them.
Tables 1-6 present consistently manifested observable qualities of various types of people according to the Spranger-Holland system.
Conventional personality type
Systematic, conscientious and practical people who love to structure work, systematize information, and organize processes. They prefer to work according to instructions, think in stereotypes, and follow traditions. Conservatives can realize themselves in such professions as accountant, secretary, economist.
There are many other theories about personality types in the world where you can learn a lot more about yourself. If you want to delve even further into this topic, check out the free online course “Personality Typology.”
This is a realist
People are accustomed to dividing each other into optimists and pessimists. Therefore, not everyone knows who a realist is. There are several definitions, for example, psychological, philosophical and others. Simple common sense, subjectivity of opinion and a number of other positive and negative qualities determine this phenomenon.
Note! Realism is often compared with idealism, asking which of these human characteristics is better.
However, one cannot compare certain character traits, since they make a personality out of an individual. In any case, a person has his own advantages and disadvantages, regardless of what qualities he possesses.
Philosophy about realism
The definition of realism in philosophy has no clear boundaries:
- According to the direction of scholasticism, this term denotes real-life concepts: man, tree, house.
- Realism is contrasted with mysticism (emotional worldview).
- English philosophy gives this meaning certainty, believing that realistic concepts are the truth, the rest is false metaphysics.
- The philosophy of the 20th century defines this term as the correspondence of theories to facts.
Europeans gave realism an evaluative character, meaning "good", although the rating varied depending on the opinion of the person evaluating it. In addition, “realism” described non-European philosophical concepts, but from a European point of view.
Interpretation in psychology
In psychology, a lot of information is devoted to what a realist means. The term has a clear definition, which states that a realist is a person who evaluates events and phenomena occurring around him subjectively, that is, including personal opinion and attitude. It is believed that a person who has predominant realism as a character trait is better oriented in life situations. Such people do not engage in self-deception, do not harbor illusions, and are accurate in their judgments.
Note! Realism has more or less clear boundaries of character. It is not necessary for a person inclined to realism to be stern and impartial. There are those who rely on facts and logic. There are also representatives who are characterized by skepticism.
There is a fine line with skepticism
Features of communication with a realist
Having discovered that the interlocutor turned out to be a realist, you should not think that there should be a special attitude towards him. There is no point in arguing with such a person; you cannot impose your point of view on him if it does not coincide with the worldview of this realist. The main thing is not to burden him with empty talk. However, in close relationships, realists are trusting and value mutual understanding and comfort.
You should not expect from him all sorts of dramatic scenes with a showdown, as well as pleasant sudden surprises. This is a stable, constant and reliable person.
Is it good or bad to be realistic?
There is no clear answer to this question; we can only highlight the positive and negative qualities of this characteristic. The advantages include a high level of responsibility. A person is capable of leadership because he is not afraid to make decisions. He is able to harmoniously establish life and career.
There are some shortcomings, including down-to-earthness, inability, and reluctance to dream or give free rein to the imagination. Not many people like to communicate with such a laconic interlocutor, from whom they have to forcefully extract information. In addition, realists are considered to be conservative. Abrupt changes are alien to them, incl. openings, relocations. They might be called boring.
The difference between a realist and an idealist
Learned helplessness - what is this condition?
It is worth noting who an idealist is and his differences from a realist. An idealist has a habit of embellishing certain events. Having met a person, he will give him non-existent positive character traits, excessive kindness, care and other qualities. A realist would be more likely to wait for evidence of such positive characteristics of a new acquaintance.
People with such contradictory character traits may have similar concepts, for example, about lying - lying is bad. However, realists understand that sometimes it is impossible to do without deception, when, like idealists, they are confident that lying is always a bad option.
To summarize, the idealist believes in the idea itself. A realist will believe in it only when he sees the results.
Interpersonal (social)
This is a pretty interesting type of thinking. Those with well-developed interpersonal intelligence are able to easily feel other people and have a high degree of empathy. It is typical for them to easily get along with new people, to be able to captivate them literally from the first word. They use different methods of communication: verbal and non-verbal.
They easily sense the mood of the interlocutor, so it is easy and pleasant to communicate with them. They often become leaders in the company, because they can understand those around them, help and always support others.
They like to be around other people, work with them, study, and be in constant contact. They easily understand the mood of the interlocutor, his needs and desires. They can explain the behavior of friends and acquaintances. They have a kind heart and often help others. They know how to control their own emotions.
Suitable professions:
- teacher or educator;
- psychologist;
- artist;
- HR specialist;
- Social worker.
Intelligence - structure
First, let's define what intelligence is? Intelligence is a person’s ability to learn something new, learn and develop by accumulating experience, as well as the ability to achieve goals, solving problems along the way in one way or another. Intelligence combines the following types of cognition:
Types of knowledge
- Perception is a holistic assessment of any manifestations of the surrounding world;
- Memory - remembering, storing and recalling information;
- Thinking - the formation of ideas, concepts and judgments;
- Sensation - analysis and assessment of the impact of stimuli (both positive and negative) on the senses;
- Imagination - creating images, controlling them, forming conclusions.
Qualities of intelligence
Human intelligence has several qualities or components:
- The desire to learn something new (curiosity);
- The ability to sift out the important from the unimportant (depth of mind);
- Ability to use accumulated knowledge and experience (agility of mind);
- The ability to identify relationships, come to various conclusions along a chain of thoughts (logic);
- Ability to argue (evidence);
- The ability to adequately evaluate oneself and the world around us (criticality);
- Ability to assess a problem globally (breadth of thinking).
Distribution of functions between hemispheres
Kinesthetic (bodily)
People with this type of thinking perceive the world through their body and can learn with its help. It helps them express their thoughts or attitude towards a subject. Individuals with kinesthetic intelligence move a lot, play sports, dance, and martial arts. They cannot sit still for a long time; they constantly need to do something.
They perfectly feel the space and objects around them, feel time. They stand out for their excellent physical shape and actively use spatial thinking.
Best professions:
- athlete;
- surgeon;
- choreographer;
- dancer;
- conductor;
- military;
- artist.
Such people were especially valued in Ancient Rome and Greece, where a beautiful athletic body was idolized. It was believed that a healthy body is the key to a healthy mind.
Intelligence.
The human brain is the main organ with the help of which we are aware of the environment around us and interact with this world. All our behavior is determined by processes occurring in our heads. All information received through the senses is also processed and remembered by the brain, and stored in the far corners of our memory. Throughout the history of mankind, it has always been important for people to know how high the intelligence of a particular person is. But methods for assessing intellectual abilities began to appear only in the middle of the 20th century.
Intelligence is the ability of an individual
In an attempt to measure the level of brain development, the German-British psychologist Hans Eysenck came up with the concept of IQ testing and began to apply it in practice. And, we must pay tribute, this method is still popular to this day. However, the essence of Eysenck testing comes down to identifying a person’s logical thinking and analytical abilities. And many scientists did not agree with such a one-sided approach to identifying human intellectual capabilities. One of these scientists was Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University, who proposed not to reduce all people to one standard, but to consider that all people are smart in their own way, and on the basis of this postulate he developed the theory of “multiple intelligences.”
He identified nine types of intelligence that influence how we work with information. His theory explains why everyone performs differently at the same tasks.
One way or another, debates in the global scientific community regarding the study of the functional asymmetry of the human hemispheres of the human brain do not subside to this day, and there is not even a hint of consensus on this issue) Nevertheless, Gardner’s theory looks very impressive, and it has taken its rightful place in in the minds of inquisitive people, without displacing Eysenck’s theory, about which mountains of articles have been said and written, so our article will focus specifically on the “theory of multiple intelligences”
How to recognize a realist
Object of conflict - what is it?
A realist is a person who is confident in himself, has an unshakable opinion, he knows what he wants and how to get it. In the process of communication, he does not use expressions like “maybe”, “probably”, he allows himself to inform others about his capabilities regarding this or that phenomenon, excluding unnecessary fantasies and speculation.
The questions of who a woman realist is and what a man realist is require special attention.
Straightforwardness, rigor, loyalty and responsibility are the traits of a realist. Sometimes she is overly serious, but this makes her an irreplaceable, sympathetic friend. Men of the same character are usually pragmatists, they have developed strategy and practicality. They know the value of actions and things, the main thing is that they are not afraid of responsibility.
Responsibility as a positive quality
How to raise a realistic child
Realists are not born. This quality is acquired over time and with experience. Although this trait can be cultivated from childhood, it should be observed in moderation. It is important for a child to develop harmoniously; fantasy is an integral stage of childhood and subsequent development. Thus, observing excessive idealism, children are gently lowered “from heaven to earth.”
There is a lot of debate about who this realist is, what kind of person he is. Some people consider such people to be boring and cold, unable to show emotions. At the same time, they are worthy leaders who confidently pursue goals. However, one cannot be so critical of realists, since they always have mixed character traits; their shortcomings are usually compensated for by other advantages.
