Capacity for Appreciating the

Opposites in Ourselves and Others:

Type and Ego Development

Dr Angelina Bennet (C.Psychol)

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 Myers-Briggs & Coaching
• MBTI is the tool most used by coaches
(McDowell & Smewing, 2009)
• Use of type in coaching tends to be limited
– Get to best fit type
– Try to develop your non-preferred sides
– The grip experience
• What is missing?
– Neuroticism?
– Development / Effectiveness?
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 Type & Neuroticism

NEO-PI Scale - MBTI Scale Correlation Coefficient

Extraversion – Extraversion/Introversion -.70 ***

Openness – Sensing/Intuition .70 ***
Agreeableness – Thinking/Feeling .45 ***
Conscientiousness – Judging/Perceiving -.47***
Neuroticism ns

Correlation between NEO-PI and MBTI (N=468) (Costa & McCrae, 1989)

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 Type Development
• Jung
– Differentiation & Individuation
• Mental Process
• Preference Pair
• Internal differentiation
• Loevinger/Cook-Greuter
– Stages of Ego Development
• Horizontal & Vertical development

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 Type Development (2)

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 Thematic Analysis Study
• Focus group interview
• Use and limitations of MBTI in coaching
• N=8 experienced MBTI practitioner coaches
• Template analysis followed by Thematic analysis
• Results:
– Over-simplification of type theory
• Practitioner knowledge limited – no Jungian context
• Myers-Briggs over-emphasises positives
• No accounting for effectiveness
• Development tends to focus on non-preferred sides
• No mention of Neuroticism
• (Rare use of type dynamics or whole type)
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 What  is  ‘Effectiveness’?
• Rep Grid Study
• Definition of effective use of type
• N=7 experienced MBTI practitioner coaches
• Cluster analysis using WebGrid 5 followed by content
analysis
• Results:
– Definitions of effective and ineffective type use
– Most  aspects  of  definition  corresponded  with  Jung/Myers’  
definitions of good type development
• Conclusion: Effectiveness is linked to type development
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 Neuroticism or Ego Development?

• Quantitative questionnaire study

• Perceptions of effective use of type
– Rate 2 people, one effective, one ineffective
– Items relating to Neuroticism and Ego Development
• Factor Analysis, MANOVA & Logistic Regression
– ‘Anger’  from  Neuroticism  scale  loaded  onto  the  Ego  
Development Factor
• Overall Result:
– Effectiveness was related to Ego Development, not
Neuroticism

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 Conclusions from My Research

• Type could be used more in coaching if there was a measure

or indication of effectiveness
• Effectiveness appears to be related to type development
• Type development theory has similarities to ego development
theory
• Perceived effectiveness is related to ego development

Combine type theory with ego development theory to

obtain a model that will be more useful to coaches

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 Connecting Type & Ego Development

• Aim
– To integrate stage theory of ego development with type
– To create developmental stage type descriptions
• Issues
– Some ego development stages can sound like expressions
of type
• Theoretical approach

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 Points About Developmental Stage

• Individuals often experience a period of fluctuation and

confusion when in transition from one stage to another.
• Some adults get stuck at certain earlier stages of development
• All individuals can fluctuate through several stages per day,
however  each  person  has  a  ‘centre  of  gravity’.  
• Individuals may not constantly operate out of the stage that they
have developed to – situations and pressure can cause them to
revert to lower stages

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 Points About Developmental Stage (2)

• Neuroticism can exist at any stage of development

• Progress through the stages comes via experience
• Effectiveness comes from operating at a stage
appropriate to your situation – it is NOT about trying
to get to the top!
• All stages (except Power & Control) can demonstrate
effectiveness depending on environment

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 Cook-Greuter/Bennet Levels

• Opportunist/Power & Control – Need to win

• Diplomat/Social Identification – Need to fit in
• Expert/Personal Identity – ‘Know  themselves’
• Achiever/Determined Action – Need to find the answers
• Individualist/Considerate Individualism – Multiple perspectives &
inner conflict
• Strategist/Integration & Authenticity – Systems view
• Magician/Magician – Integrated perspective

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 Ego Development
Developmental Level % of Adult Population

Magician 2.0
Integration & Authenticity 4.9
Considerate Individualism 11.3
Determined Action 29.7
Personal Identity 36.5
Social Identification 11.3
Power & Control 4.3
Cook-Greuter 2002

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 Exercise – Working with Opposites

Power & Unaware that there is any other valid way of operating than their own
Control
Social Aware that there are different groups of people, and some groups are
Identification ‘better’  than  others
Personal Some awareness of different/opposite styles, but little appreciation for
Identity opposites
Determined Aware of difference/opposites and some appreciation for how
Action diversity can add value
Considerate Experience tension and inner conflict between the opposites within
Individualism themselves
Integration & Able to access the energy of the opposite preference and use it
Authenticity appropriately
Magician Opposites can work together in synergy. May frequently experience
the  ‘transcendent  function’

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 Applications for Coaching

• Use  type  appropriately  to  client’s  developmental  stage

• Match  coaching  style  to  client’s  developmental  stage
• Provides  a  ‘developmental  map’
• More information about being under pressure than
current  ‘grip’  theory  provides
• Can set appropriate developmental goals or exercises

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 Power & Control

Unlikely to coach many people here unless you work with particular
groups. (e.g. prison populations, survivors, mental health)

Very little self-awareness.

High ego defensiveness.
May feel threatened by the process.
‘Black  &  white’  thinking.
Very egocentric
Likely to have lack of differentiation

Get across the fact that there are opposites

Let them express their views
Do not expect any appreciation for opposites

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 Social Identification

Young adults, students, adults with limited life experience or

appropriate  ‘comfort  zone’

Some awareness, but guided by peer pressure

Likely to be judgemental of certain others
Lack of preference pair differentiation
Likely to have very different situational personas

Look  for  ‘shoulds’,  ‘musts’  and  ‘oughts’

May have differences between reported and best fit
Try to tease out what is learned, expected and natural
Discuss their views of the opposites
May reach awareness that opposites can be valid, but not real
appreciation of opposites

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 Personal Identity

Typical  stage  of  development.    ‘Expert’  workers,  supervisors.

Likely to use type in a one-sided way

Likely to have lack of preference pair and internal
differentiation
May understand that there are opposites but have little
appreciation for their value

Try to promote an understanding of the value of opposites

Gently begin to explore the impact of the over-use of their own
type on others
Explore when it might be appropriate to use a different
behaviour

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 Determined Action

Typical stage of development. Managerial level.

Likely to use own type fairly effectively

Likely to have lack of internal differentiation
Likely to understand and have appreciation for opposites
(provided that their views are not contradictory)
Some awareness of their impact on others
Some flexibility of behaviour (channelled through own
preference)

Start  to  explore  the  ‘shadow  side’  of  their  own  preferences
Discuss experiences of accessing the opposite energy (e.g. grip,
challenging situations, relaxed states)
Exercises to actually harness the opposite energy
Push the comfort zone

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 Considerate Individualism

‘Post-Conventional’  stage  of  development.    Desired  stage  for  leadership.

Type is likely to be used effectively

Type is fairly well differentiated
Inner conflict from seeing multiple perspectives
Inner conflict from awareness of opposite preference energies
Some capacity to engage with opposite preference energy
Good appreciation of people with opposite styles

Continue exploration of the shadow sides

Transforming preference styles into qualities
Hold the tension between inner conflicts
Move away from thinking in opposites and look for a synergy
Exercises to evoke the transcendent function

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 Integration and Authenticity

Unlikely  to  be  encountered  often.    Watch  out  for  ‘ego-driven  spirituality’.

Good awareness of shadow sides

Inner conflicts are often resolved
May experience frustration and anger with the world
Can  fall  victim  of  ‘hubris’

Type work has less value here

Open-coaching – let them use the space to reflect and
challenge themselves
Explore frustrations – frustration may lead to regression to
earlier stages
Meditation

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 Relevant Publications

• The Shadows of Type-

Psychological Type Through
Seven Levels of Development

• Using the Jung-Myers Model of Psychological Type in Systems-

Psychodynamic Coaching: A Case Study
http://typeindepth.com/2011/03/psychodynamic-coaching-and-type/

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