Essay About Briggs Personality Test And Group Setting

When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide
Susan Anthony
ENGL 1010-19
23 November 2005
Essay 5
When Worlds Collide : The Difference Between Mattie and Dawn
The Myers – Briggs personality test consists of a large series of questions pertaining
to a person’s ethics, habits, and reactions to different situations. Based on the Myers – Briggs
personality assessment it can be assumed that Mattie is an INTJ, which stands for “Introverted –
Intuitive – Thinking – Judging”. This assessment dictates Mattie’s probable behavior for how she
deals with stress, her role in a group setting, and her personal growth. These probable behaviors
are presented in several scenarios throughout Kent Nelson’s novel, Land that Moves, Land that
Stands Still. Furthermore, the Myers – Briggs personality assessment provides information on
how Mattie’s personality type, INTJ, relates to Dawn’s personality type. The two personalities
work together in a “tribesman relationship”, which means that, although similar in common
goals, the two personalities compliment each other in a conflicting manner (Heiss par. 13).
As an INTJ Mattie copes with situations and works through them differently from Dawn.
Upon discovering Haney’s past and the fact that he was a homosexual man, Mattie retires to
solitude at the picnic table to mentally dwell on the stressful information rather than talking
about it (Nelson, 104). Despite her solitary self- consolation, Mattie, true to INTJ nature, acts
as a leader for the makeshift family that forms on the ranch. While acting as a leader to the
others on the ranch Mattie is given the opportunity for healing and personal growth after the loss
of her husband. In that time of personal growth she allows others to participate in her
development, giving them the opportunity to shape her healing. According to the Myers – Briggs
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personality assessment, this is common for an INTJ personality type (“What Makes an INTJ
Tick?” par 5). Mattie, the Introverted – Intuitive – Thinking – Judging personality, both
compliments and differs from her cohort, Dawn, in her ways of coping with stress, her role in the
group setting, and dealing with personal growth.
Dawn represents the ENFJ personality in Kent Nelson’s novel, which stands for
“Extroverted – Intuitive – Feeling – Judging”. With Mattie she shares some common personality
traits, as well as common goals for her immediate future. Dawn, however, acts as the extrovert in
the group on the ranch. With Dawn as an ENFJ type personality, her actions and motivations can
be predicted based on the Myers – Briggs personality assessment. Like Mattie, Dawn is forced to
deal with stress on the ranch and in her past life, exercise her role in a group setting, and grow
personally.
Unlike her “tribesman” counterpart, Mattie, Dawn copes with tension and stress
outwardly. By organizing the group to reconstruct Mattie’s kitchen after the fire, Dawn revealed
a true characteristic of an ENFJ personality, which is getting a group organized in a time of stress
(“What Makes an ENFJ Tick?” par 6).But also like an ENFJ, Dawn fails to consider
consequences