Personality Type and Stress

By Shawn Bakker

Personality type provides another way to prepare for and alleviate stress. Of course type cannot account or help us manage all of the stressful situations we encounter, but it can provide some basic guidance on dealing with many of the everyday activities that can wear us down.

Knowing the kinds of activities that run counter to your natural preferences can help you prepare yourself and recognize when you need a break. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Below are common activities that are stressful for people with one preference and energizing for those with the opposite preference.

Extraversion – Introversion
- Time alone with no distractions (Stresses E’s but energizes I’s)
- Time with others and frequent interruptions (Stresses I’s but energizes E’s)

Sensing – Intuition
- Generating ideas, theorizing, analyzing abstract information (Stresses S’s but energizes N’s)
- Collecting specific data, focusing on details, implementing practical tasks (Stresses N’s but energizes S’s)

Thinking – Feeling
- Making personal connections, focusing on people (Stresses T’s but energizes F’s)
- Critiquing ideas and projects and finding flaws (Stresses F’s but energizes T’s)

Judging – Perceiving
- Surprises, flexible schedules, and reevaluation of tasks (Stresses J’s but energizes P’s)
- Structures, inflexible schedules and firm timelines (Stresses P’s but energizes J’s)

One natural solution is to avoid tasks and situations that create stress. However, given the many demands we face in our work and personal lives, this is simply not possible. When this is the case an adaptive approach is to recognize stressful activities, anticipate the difficulties that come with them, and arrange some time for tasks that can replenish your energy. For example, an Introvert who faces a week filled with meetings and telephone conversations might have his/her lunch alone.

 

Read our other Holiday Stress article: Enjoying the Holidays