Your Answer To This Simple Question Reveals Very Specific Details About How You Interact With The World
One question can reveal so much.
Juan Martin Lopez | Pexels As any psychologist will tell you, we all have different approaches to the world based on our personalities, and it often seems like it's the smallest subtleties that are the most revealing.
Take, for instance, the "judging" versus "perceiving" personality type, part of the famous Myers-Briggs personality profile. Some of the ways these types manifest might seem petty and not particularly meaningful, but they speak volumes about the different ways we all approach the big and small parts of our lives.
The one question that reveals if you're a 'judging' or 'perceiving' personality type.
Dr. Gordon is a licensed psychologist and psychology professor who also makes online content about mental health and the brain. He recently shared an intriguing part of our personalities: Most of us take either a judging or perceiving approach to tasks and situations.
Judging or perceiving is part of the famous Myers-Briggs personality profile, and they're very distinct approaches. Judging personality types favor order, decisiveness, and "getting it done." They like structure and tend to be more goal-oriented.
Perceiving personalities, however, prefer to feel things out, as the name suggests. They're more relaxed about things like deadlines, for example, and are more open-minded, adaptable, and tend toward more creative approaches.
So how can you tell which one fits you? Dr. Gordon gave a simple test: "You just got home from vacation, you've got bags that you need to unpack. How long does it take you to unpack those bags?" If you're like most people, you know the answer immediately.
If you’re a judging personality type:
Timur Weber | Pexels
If you're like a lot of people, you've probably had this debate with friends or online: You're either the type who unpacks immediately upon getting home, or that suitcase is gonna sit there for a week, minimum.
"If you're a judging type, you probably unpack those bags almost as soon as you can, if not immediately, when you walk in the door," Dr. Gordon explained. "Judging types, they see a thing, they need to do a thing." For them, getting that suitcase unpacked and everything put away is part of how they feel relaxed and back at home. The vacation, with all its airport inconveniences or go-go-go itineraries, is now officially over, and they can settle in.
In a piece for Thrillest, travel writer and self-proclaimed immediate unpacker Jessica Sulima wrote, "If you extend your adventurous spirit for just one hour (I recommend setting a timer and turning it into a challenge), you can prevent a week’s worth of slow, unpacking agony. The way I see it, you’re coming back covered in the dreaded airplane smell, so you might as well break the sweat while you’re still smelly. The fruit of your labor? A sound sleep, knowing that when you wake up the next day, all your things will be in all the right places, both literally and — I’m convinced — spiritually."
If you’re a perceiving personality type:
Then there's the perceiving personality types, like Dr. Gordon himself and this writer, for whom that suitcase will sit on the floor and act as a second dresser or laundry hamper for at least two weeks or until I next have guests over, whichever comes first.
I am the worst form of this type, however, because I will also be annoyed by the suitcase's presence the entire time, like a judging type, not that it will motivate me to put it away any sooner, of course.
Anyway, "perceiving types are more likely to just see a thing and wonder about it, ask questions about it, want to get to know it, want to interact with it," Dr. Gordon explained, which is certainly one way to describe my habit of spending two weeks tripping over the suitcase while yelling expletives but absolutely not putting it away until I'm good and ready.
But how else am I supposed to spend time gazing at the souvenirs I bought while lost in thought about their deeper meaning about not just the trip I just went on, but my past and future and the human condition in general, huh? Did you ever think about that?
Of course not. You're a judging type who lives in a world of order and actually gets things done. (Please teach me how to be like you; these suitcases are driving me crazy, and my brain is a prison!)
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
