Andika Putra Pratama, Adita Pritasari, and Nur Budi Mulyo write about “Personality types and managerial styles: a phenomenological approach” in Journal of Management Development. The study is also involved Nurfaisa Hidayanti, Marina Natalia Tampubolon as co-authors.
The study aims not only to provide evidence of the Jungian personality theory in the context of management through managers’ lived experience, but also to ask a deeper question of what this theory and practice coherence entails. They use a phenomenological approach to detail managerial accounts across four managers in an Indonesian higher education institution. A survey of personality types using an online Jungian-based personality assessment tool was conducted, followed by an in-depth interview with selected managers.
From the study, they find evidence that there is a coherence between the perceived managerial practices and the theorized cognitive processes of each personality type. There is also cohorance between the way the instrument measures personality types and the theorized cognitive processes.
While the study faces an issue of data saturation, given the sample size, the study has conducted the process of triangulation by sampling managers with resembling cognitive processes as theorized (INTJ, with ENTJ; ISFJ with ESFJ). A broader implication is around the use of qualitative, phenomenological approach to the study of personality types and cognitive processes.
This paper includes implications specifically for developing managers in charge of core business processes in terms of flexibility when managing and leading a team. From this paper, people can learn a value that personality types (through their dominant cognitive functions) resonate with real-life managerial practices, connecting the descriptive nature of personality types and the normative nature of management.
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