PROFILE - Part Three: Psychological Profiling
In the previous week you read an introduction on how to study an individual's use of language and micro-expressions to understand what they really think. In this part you will get introduced to profiling an individual's psychology in order to find out their motivations and primal instinct. There are a few things to consider in order to frame our minds for psychological profiling. This is not going to be a compilation of undeniable truths about the human psyche. This article will not tell you how to manipulate your friends (nor does this article condone manipulation). It will, however, give you the information to accurately predict decisions of and understand more deeply the minds of others. Nothing here is a copy and paste diagnosis (nor is anything ever). Psychological profiling takes effort and time to understand the individual at hand. That’s my caveat, now onto the good stuff.
Psychological profiling involves an understanding in 3 areas of the mind: Personality Patterns & Disorders, Mental Functioning, and Symptom Patterns (which we will not be discussing here).
PERSONALITY PATTERNS & DISORDERS
Personality refers to what one is rather than what one has. And what one is made up of 2 angles of observing: Patterns and Disorders. Technically both are the same thing, just different ways of viewing.
Personality patterns refer to temperaments and typing systems. There are a ton of personality systems and quizzes that would group you in any number of ways. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, and each one works in slightly differing capacities. Let’s take a look at the top 3 personality systems:
Meyers Briggs Type Indicator: Types individuals based on semi-binary statuses within 4 spectrums having to do with world view and data processing.
Extroverted vs Introverted - (energy source) High extroversion is often perceived as attention-seeking, and domineering. Low extroversion causes a reserved, reflective personality, which can be perceived as aloof or self-absorbed.
Intuition vs Sensing - (information management) Reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has.
Thinking vs Feeling - (decision making) Tendency to make decisions based on analytical data vs moral data.
Judging vs Perceiving - (planning structure) Tendency to be organised and dependable, show self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behaviour.
OCEAN (aka the Big 5): Types individuals based on high, medium, and low statuses within 5 behavioural spectrums.
Openness to experience - (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has.
Conscientiousness - (efficient/organised vs. easy-going/careless) Tendency to be organised and dependable, show self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behaviour.
Extroversion - (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved) High extroversion is often perceived as attention-seeking, and domineering. Low extroversion causes a reserved, reflective personality, which can be perceived as aloof or self-absorbed.
Agreeableness - (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached) Tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It is also a measure of one's trusting and helpful nature, and whether a person is generally well-tempered or not.
Neuroticism - (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident) The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. Neuroticism also refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control and is sometimes referred to by its low pole, "emotional stability".
Enneagram Type: Types individuals based on healthy and unhealthy behavioural loops originating in basic desire/fear within a world view.
Type 1: Reformer - (The world is an imperfect place. I work toward improvement ) Basic Desire: to be right; Basic Fear: of being condemned.
Type 2: Helper - (People depend on my help. I am needed) Basic Desire: to be loved; Basic Fear: of being unloved
Type 3: Motivator - (The world values a champion. Avoid failure at all costs.) Basic Desire: to be admire ; Basic Fear: of being rejected
Type 4: Romantic - (Something's missing. Others have it. I'm different from them because I don't) Basic Desire: to understand self ; Basic Fear: of being defective
Type 5: Thinker - (The world is invasive and confusing. I need privacy to think) Basic Desire: to understand the world; Basic Fear: of being overwhelmed by the world
Type 6: Sceptic - (The world is a threatening place. I need to look to authority, but I question it.) Basic Desire: to be secure; Basic Fear: of being abandoned
Type 7: Enthusiast - (The world is full of opportunity and options. I look forward to the future.) Basic Desire: to be happy; Basic Fear: of being deprived
Type 8: Leader - (The world is an unjust place. I am strong and I defend the innocent.) Basic Desire: to be self-reliant; Basic Fear: of submitting to others
Type 9: Peace Maker - (My efforts won't matter to the world. It's best to keep the peace.) Basic Desire: to find union and peace; Basic Fear: of separation
Personality disorders have an unfortunate association tied to the overall concept. Yes, high degree and severe personality disorders are potentially harmful and may destroy countless relationships and/or form equally unhealthy coping mechanisms; however, not all occurrences of personality disorders are high degree or severe. In fact, what if I told you that these so called “disorders” help us function in sane and healthy capacities. A disorder is just a way of articulating natural albeit somewhat unhealthy tendencies. All personality disorders are derived from a basic emotional need that hasn’t been met, most commonly love and compassion. So you could call a high-functioning individual, who has slight tendencies of Schizoid Personality Disorder as having a Schizoid type personality. It’s a natural grouping of personality clusters within various range and adequacy of functioning.
Cluster A personality disorders
Cluster A personality disorders are characterised by odd, eccentric thinking or behaviour. They include paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder.
Paranoid personality disorder
Pervasive distrust and suspicion of others and their motives
Unjustified belief that others are trying to harm or deceive you
Unjustified suspicion of the loyalty or trustworthiness of others
Hesitancy to confide in others due to unreasonable fear that others will use the information against you
Perception of innocent remarks or nonthreatening situations as personal insults or attacks
Angry or hostile reaction to perceived slights or insults
Unjustified, recurrent suspicion that spouse or sexual partner is unfaithful
Schizoid personality disorder
Lack of interest in social or personal relationships, preferring to be alone
Limited range of emotional expression
Inability to take pleasure in most activities
Inability to pick up normal social cues
Appearance of being cold or indifferent to others
Little or no interest in having sex with another person
Schizotypal personality disorder
Peculiar dress, thinking, beliefs, speech or behavior
Odd perceptual experiences, such as hearing a voice whisper your name
Flat emotions or inappropriate emotional responses
Social anxiety and a lack of or discomfort with close relationships
Indifferent, inappropriate or suspicious response to others
"Magical thinking" — believing you can influence people and events with your thoughts
Belief that certain casual incidents or events have hidden messages meant only for you
Cluster B personality disorders
Cluster B personality disorders are characterized by dramatic, overly emotional or unpredictable thinking or behavior. They include antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Antisocial personality disorder
Disregard for others' needs or feelings
Persistent lying, stealing, using aliases, conning others
Recurring problems with the law
Repeated violation of the rights of others
Aggressive, often violent behavior
Disregard for the safety of self or others
Consistently irresponsible
Lack of remorse for behavior
Borderline personality disorder
Impulsive and risky behavior, such as having unsafe sex, gambling or binge eating
Unstable or fragile self-image
Unstable and intense relationships
Up and down moods, often as a reaction to interpersonal stress
Suicidal behavior or threats of self-injury
Intense fear of being alone or abandoned
Ongoing feelings of emptiness
Frequent, intense displays of anger
Stress-related paranoia that comes and goes
Histrionic personality disorder
Constantly seeking attention
Excessively emotional, dramatic or sexually provocative to gain attention
Speaks dramatically with strong opinions, but few facts or details to back them up
Easily influenced by others
Shallow, rapidly changing emotions
Excessive concern with physical appearance
Thinks relationships with others are closer than they really are
Narcissistic personality disorder
Belief that you're special and more important than others
Fantasies about power, success and attractiveness
Failure to recognize others' needs and feelings
Exaggeration of achievements or talents
Expectation of constant praise and admiration
Unreasonable expectations of favors and advantages, often taking advantage of others
Envy of others or belief that others envy you
Cluster C personality disorders
Cluster C personality disorders are characterised by anxious, fearful thinking or behaviour. They include avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Avoidant personality disorder
Too sensitive to criticism or rejection
Feeling inadequate, inferior or unattractive
Avoidance of work activities that require interpersonal contact
Socially inhibited, timid and isolated, avoiding new activities or meeting strangers
Extreme shyness in social situations and personal relationships
Fear of disapproval, embarrassment or ridicule
Dependent personality disorder
Excessive dependence on others and feeling the need to be taken care of
Submissive or clingy behavior toward others
Fear of having to provide self-care or fend for yourself if left alone
Lack of self-confidence, requiring excessive advice and reassurance from others to make even small decisions
Difficulty starting or doing projects on your own due to lack of self-confidence
Difficulty disagreeing with others, fearing disapproval
Tolerance of poor or abusive treatment, even when other options are available
Urgent need to start a new relationship when a close one has ended
*Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
Preoccupation with details, orderliness and rules
Extreme perfectionism, resulting in dysfunction and distress when perfection is not achieved, such as feeling unable to finish a project because you don't meet your own strict standards
Desire to be in control of people, tasks and situations, and inability to delegate tasks
Neglect of friends and enjoyable activities because of excessive commitment to work or a project
Inability to discard broken or worthless objects
Inflexible about morality, ethics or values
Tight, miserly control over budgeting and spending money
*Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is not the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder, a type of anxiety disorder.
The following are the various aspects of the mental functioning of the human mind. Two terms to help you get through:
Affect is a concept used in psychology to describe the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect mediates an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behaviour that serves as an indicator of affect”.
Somatic refers to Somatic theory which is a theory of human social behaviour based loosely on the somatic marker hypothesis of António Damásio, which proposes a mechanism by which emotional processes can guide (or bias) behaviour, particularly decision-making.
Capacity for Regulation, Attention, Learning
Underlines fundamental processes that enable human beings to attend to and learn from their experiences.
Consider constitutional and maturational contributions, including:
Auditory processing and language
Visual-spatial processing
Motor planning and sequencing
and related capacities for:
Memory (working, declarative, and non-declarative)
Processing affective and social cues
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Focused, organised, and able to learn most of the time, even under stress.
Focused, organised, calm, and able to learn except when over- or understimulated (e.g., noisy, active, or very dull setting); challenged to use a vulnerable skill (e.g., a person with weak fine motor skills is asked to write rapidly); or ill, anxious, or under stress.
Only when very interested, motivated, or captivated can attend, be calm, and learn for short periods and to limited degree (i.e., has problems with language, motor, or visual-spacial processing).
Attention is fleeting (a few seconds here or there) and/or is very active, agitated, or mostly self-absorbed, and/or lethargic or passive. Learning capacity is severely limited due to multiple “processing” difficulties.
Capacity for Relationships and Intimacy
Including depth, range, and consistency.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Deep, emotionally rich capacity for intimacy, caring, and empathy, even when feelings are strong or under stress in a variety of expectable contexts.
Intimacy, caring, and empathy are present but disrupted by strong emotions and wishes such as anger or separation anxiety (e.g., person withdraws or acts out).
Superficial and need-oriented, lacking intimacy and empathy.
Indifferent to others or aloof and withdrawn.
Quality of Internal Experience (Level of Self-Regard)
Attempts to capture an individuals level of confidence and self-regard that characterises an individual’s relationship to others and the larger world.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Sense of well-being, vitality, and realistic self-esteem. Present even when under stress.
Sense of well-being, vitality, and realistic self-esteem. Disrupted by strong emotions or stress, but with eventual recovery of feelings of well-being.
Feelings of depletion, emptiness, and incompleteness, along with self-involvement unless experiences are nearly “perfect”. Self-esteem is vulnerable.
Depletion, emptiness, incompleteness and self-involvement dominate.
Affective Experience, Expression, & Communication
Individuals ability to express the full range of pre-representational and representational patterns of affects.
Note: The following descriptions combine the individual’s capacity to experience, comprehend, and express affects. Some individuals are relatively stronger or weaker in either affect comprehension or affective expression. Similarly, individuals differ in the way they express or comprehend affects through gestures, such as facial expressions or voice tone, as well as with words. These unique patterns should be captured in the narrative characterising the individual.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Most of the time uses wide range of subtle emotions and wishes in a purposeful manner, even under stress. Reads and responds to most emotional signals flexibly and accurately even when under stress (e.g., comprehends safety vs. danger, approval vs. disapproval, acceptance vs. rejection, respect vs. humiliation, partial anger, etc.).
Often purposeful and organised, but not with a full range of emotional expressions (e.g., seeks out others for closeness and warmth with appropriate glances, body posture, and the like, but becomes chaotic, fragmented, or aimless when very angry). Often accurately reads and responds to a range of emotional signals, except in certain circumstances involving selected emotions and wishes, very strong emotions and wishes, or stress.
Some need-oriented, purposeful islands of behaviour and emotional expressions. No cohesive larger integrated emotional patterns. In selected relationships can read basic intentions of others (such as acceptance or rejection), but unable to read subtle cues (e.g., respect, pride, or partial anger).
Mostly aimless, fragmented, unpurposeful emotional expressions (e.g., no purposeful grins, smiles, or reaching out with body posture for warmth or closeness). Distorts the intentions of others (e.g., misreads cues and therefore feels suspicious, mistreated, unloved, angry, etc.).
Defensive Patterns & Capacities
Highlights the way the individual attempts to cope with and alter wishes, affect, and other experiences, and the degree to which he or she distorts experience in the process.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Demonstrates an optimal capacity to experience a broad range of thoughts, affects, and relationships and handles stresses with minimal use of defences that suppress or alter feelings and ideas.
Tends to use defences and coping strategies that support flexibility and healthy emotional functioning, including sublimations, altruism, humour, etc.
Makes use of defences to keep potentially threatening ideas, feelings, memories, wishes, or fears out of awareness, without significant cant distortion of experiences. May use defences, such as intellectualisation and rationalisation, and, to a limited degree repression, reaction formation, and displacement.
Makes extensive use of defences that distort experience and/or limit the experience of relationships in order to deal with internal and external stressors and to keep feelings and thoughts out of awareness. Uses defences such as disavowal, denial, projection, splitting, and acting out.
Demonstrates a generalised failure of defensive regulation leading to a pronounced break with reality through the use of delusional projection and psychotic distortion.
Capacity to Form Internal Representations
Concerns the individual’s capacity to symbolise affectively meaningful experience (i.e., to organise experience in a mental, rather than somatic or behavioural form). This capacity to represent or mentalise enables the individual to use ideas to experience, describe, and express internal life.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Uses internal representations to experience a sense of self and others and to express the full range of emotions, wishes. Able to use internal representations to regulate impulses and behaviour.
Uses internal representations to experience a sense of self and others and to express a range of emotions, wishes, except when experiencing selected conflicts or difficult emotions and wishes. Able to use internal representations to inhibit impulses.
Uses representations or ideas in a concrete way to convey desire for action or to get basic needs met. Does not elaborate on a feeling in its own right (e.g., “I want to hit but can’t because someone is watching” rather than “I feel mad”). Often puts wishes and feelings into action (i.e., impulsive behaviour) or into somatic states (”my stomach hurts”).
Unable to use internal representations to experience a self and others or to elaborate wishes and feelings (e.g., acts out or demands excessive physical closeness when needy).
Concerns the individual’s ability to observe his or her own internal life.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Can reflect on (i.e., observe and experience at the same time) a full range of own and others’ feelings or experiences (including subtle variations in feelings). Can reflect both in the present and with respect to a longer-term view of self, values, and goals. Can reflect on multiple relationships between feelings and experiences, across the full range of age-expected experiences in the context of new challenges.
Can reflect on feelings or experiences of self and others both in the present and with reference to a longer-term view of a sense of self, values, and goals for some age-expected experiences, but not others. Cannot be reflective in this way when feelings are strong.
Can reflect on moment-to-moment experiences, but not with reference to a longer-term sense of self and experiences, values, and goals.
Unable to reflect genuinely on feelings or experiences, even in the present. Self-awareness consists often of polarised feeling states or simple basic feelings without an appreciation of subtle variations in feelings. Self-awareness is lacking, and there may be a tendency toward fragmentation.
Capacity for Differentiation & Integration
Individuals ability to build logical bridges between internal representations (i.e., to separate fantasy from reality and to construct connections between internal representations of wishes, affects, self and object relationships, and the past, present, and future).
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Is able to connect internal experiences of self and non-self; self and others; fantasy and reality; past, present, and future; and a range of wishes, emotions, and feeling states. Can separate and comprehend differences in these patterns of internal experiences.
Is able to differentiate and integrate experience, but with some constriction. Strong emotions, wishes, and selected specific emotions, wishes, or stresses can lead to the temporary fragmentation or polarisation (all-or-nothing extremes) of internal experience.
The capacities for differentiation and integration are limited to just a few emotional realms (e.g., very superficial relationships). Challenges outside these limited areas often lead to the fragmentation or polarisation (all-or-nothing extremes) of internal experience.
Internal experience is fragmented most of the time. For example, unable to make emotionally meaningful differentiation of experiences of self and non-self, past and present, or different wishes and feelings.
Capacity to Construct or Use Internal Standards and Ideals (Sense of Morality)
An outgrowth of other mental functions and an integration of a number of them, the capacity to formulate internal values and ideals reflects a consideration of one’s self in the context of current and future experiences.
Illustrative Descriptions of the Range and Adequacy of Functioning
Internal standards are flexible and integrated with a realistic sense of one’s capacities and social contexts. They provide opportunities for meaningful striving and feelings of self-esteem. Feelings of guilt are used as a signal for reappraising one’s behaviour.
Internal standards and ideals tend to be rigid. They are not sufficiently sensitive to one’s own capacities and social contexts. Feelings of guilt are experienced more as self-criticism than as a signal for reappraising one’s behaviour.
Internal standards, ideals, and sense of morality are based on harsh, punitive expectations. Feelings of guilt are denied and associated with acting out, depression, or both.
Internal standards, ideals, and sense of morality are, for the most part, absent.
PUTTING TOGETHER THE PROFILE
All of this information is great! How do you use it. Using it involves processing it into an easy to understand format. I like to call this format the profile. A simple page of information organised and laid out for quick understanding. It varies, however, often looks like this:
Name: Last, M. First
Age: x
Sex: x
Personality Patterns: MBTI/OCEAN/Enneagram
P Axis - Personality Disorders: Low/Medium/High functioning within clusters
M Axis - Mental Functioning: Basic description of mental capacities
S Axis - Subjective Experience: Basic descriptions of individual’s experiences
Healthy Loops: x, x, x....
Unhealthy Loops: x, x, x....
Notes: All excess information that has yet to become categorisable
Humans are complex, beautiful, messy creatures. It’s important to revisit my caveat at the beginning of this post. I’ll sum it up: Nothing here is a copy and paste diagnosis (nor is anything ever). Psychological profiling takes effort and time to understand the individual at hand. Use this knowledge with care.
That’s it for the Profile Series. We hope you found it enjoyable and informative. The purpose of this particular series was supposed to be to help you create a loose structure for learning each of these types of profiling more intensely later on. Here at Looking Glass we want you to have as much information for building a potent mental prowess of observation and deduction. It’s important to us that you receive a quality experience. So, if you have questions or concerns, you can send them to us on our blog at the Ask Us Anything page.
