How to Use Myers-Briggs to Cure “Hoof in Mouth Disease”



By Kenneth L. Meyer

How may of you have put your foot in your mouth at some point recently?

How many of you know you hurt someone by the words you said?

All of our hand should go up on this one. So many times we will say something that we have not given much thought to. Perhaps the words we spoke were motivated from stress, perhaps from anger, perhaps the pressure of a work related situation. Perhaps you have been afraid of something and in that key moment of impact you said something that hurt. We all do it. We get jealous, angry, irritated, prideful, envious and other feelings and emotions that may motivate us to say words that really hurt and do damage to others.

Please know that knowledge of Myers-Briggs personality can help all of us to put our foot in our moth less, the MBTI can help us to reduce the hurtful words we say from time to time.

That’s right as we understand a few simple personality realities, specifically who are the Extroverts and Introverts and who are the Feelers, we can make great strides in saying the right thing which may mean many times under stress and emotional upset/anger…. not saying anything at all!!

If one is an Extravert that person is so used to needing the energy given off by others that the Extravert will say whatever they want to say just because they have something to say. If you are familiar with the saying “ready, aim, fire!” the extraverted version would be “ready, fire, aim!” So, if we add stress, perhaps emotion, fatigue or illness to a situation all of us but particularly the Extravert will say something that can hurt, they are used to talking more anyway so they just say it! As soon as it is said, the damage is done.

Once the words are out there have you noticed that you cannot take the back?

If one is also a “Feeler” then there is an added “emotional” piece to consider. The “Feeler” is highly attuned to how others “feel” feelings, emotions, empathy, compassion, etc. So, the Feeler will be more prone to an emotional statement regretting it later than other non-feelers might. They are so used to speaking in that “Feeling” genre that out it comes.

Don’t forget the Introverts; these are folks who typically keep things in more than some. Ruminating internally about things is natural because all Introverts are energized from within. They are more naturally reflective, quiet, less social, etc. So when things build they are likely to explode into loud hurtful statements.

So, if we have some knowledge of who are the extraverts, introverts, and feelers in our families, work environments, social settings and other places where we live we can use that knowledge to reduce hurtful words. If we know even a little bit the “natural” tendencies we have because of these personality dynamics we can train ourselves to say less, perhaps train ourselves in certain situations to say nothing at all. In so doing we avoid needlessly hurting others and save ourselves the anguish of trying to take back things we have said.