Thinking vs.
Feeling
I will admit, of all the dimensions, thinking/feeling is
one of my favorite, but not for the reasons you might think (pardon the pun.)
Thinking/feeling as a dimension gets at how we make decisions and come to
conclusions.
Thinkers are people who prefer to make decisions
logically, or that make sense, at least to them. Thinkers pride themselves in
their ability to be analytical and objective in deciding things. They make
decisions by analyzing and weighting evidence, even if that means coming to
unpleasant conclusions.
Feelers, on the other hand make decisions based on how
much they care or what they feel is right. They pride themselves on their
ability to be empathic and compassionate. A feeler will weigh the evidence of a
situation and make the choice that is best for the person or people involved,
even when the evidence leads them to think another option might be better. They
strive for harmony in their decisions.
The best way to illustrate the differences between
thinkers and feelers in an organization is to pull an example of each from Star
Trek. I’m hardly a Star Trek expert, but it does provide us archetypal examples
of the dichotomy between thinkers and feelers. Star Trek fans already know where
I’m going with this. Which Star Trek character was known for being logical, cold,
aloof? The character of Spock was a thinker, making decisions based on weighing
the evidence and making decisions even when that decision was uncomfortable.
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, right? Which character was
the opposite of Spock? Which character was known for his compassion? McCoy was
constantly at odds with Spock over making decisions using logic over feelings.
That is why they were so much fun to watch together – they were on opposite
ends of the personality spectrum and that dichotomy is the gold mine of
character development. But, that comparison isn’t what makes this dimension so
interesting to me.
Let me set a scenario for you. Have you ever had a
difference of opinion with your partner, husband, wife, girl/boyfriend? Have
you ever had an argument where you were arguing to make a decision based on
what it best for the person, while your significant other is arguing that your decision
isn’t fair? At the end of that argument, your partner is in angry or in tears
and you are wondering exactly what you said that was wrong? One of you is a
feeler and the other is a thinker. The best example of this is arguments that
occur between men and women. Research can tell us in scenarios such as this
which of you is a feeler and which of you is the thinker. This dimension is fun
for me because it is the only one that breaks along gender lines. Studies tell
us that if you are a female, you tend to be a feeler, while if you are a male,
you tend to be a thinker. Now, that is not an always, automatic thing. If you
are a male and also a feeler, there’s nothing unusual about that, and
conversely, if you’re a woman and a thinker, that’s not out of the ordinary.
Remember, these are preferences, not absolutes.
Where am I on aligned along this dimension? I’m on the
thinker side of things. When I was growing up as a child, I remember debates with my parents over something not being fair
to me, in particular, and I was always convinced my sisters were getting away
with something because I was also an intuiter. Why was it not fair? Because my
parents didn’t weigh the evidence the same as I did and (most likely) acted
with compassion to one of my siblings. And that still kind of burns me up.
Haha.
|
Thinking
|
Feeling
|
|
|
Librarians (N=1600)
|
Men: 69%
Women: 58%
|
Men: 31%
Women: 42%
|
|
Library Assistants (N=84)
|
34.52%
|
65.48%
|
|
University Faculty (N=2282)
|
53.37%
|
46.63%
|
|
University Students (N=4035)
|
32.91%
|
67.09%
|
|
Females (N=32731)
|
34.60%
|
65.40%
|
|
Males (N=23240)
|
63.55%
|
36.45%
|
With respect to the table above:
·
I did flesh out librarians a little more with
respect to differences between genders. You’ll notice that librarians tend to
be thinkers, and even female librarians tend to be thinkers, but you will
notice that male librarians are more decidedly thinkers than woman librarians.
·
You’ll notice that among men and women, they are
almost the exact mirror of the other.
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