Organization Skills and Personality

In my earlier blog post, I have written about the different dimensions of personality based on Myers-Briggs Personality Types. One of these dimensions refer to a person's way to organize his/her environment: Judging and Perceiving.

To summarize, a Judger is highly organized and makes decisions quickly. A Perceiver is spontaneous, disorganized, and always keep options open, making him/her appear to be somewhat indecisive.

Difficult Situations for the Shy Child, and What You Could do as a Mentor

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Being a shy girl myself has made me extra sensitive to those who are also shy. I have a very soft spot for the shy children, knowing that being shy in an extrovert-dominating community is a tough experience. Shy people have their own strengths as well that needed to be recognized. Doing many things that are easy for most people are quite difficult from the shy child's perspective, especially when there is a social aspect in the task.

If you are a parent or teacher, always be supportive of the shy child. They are very sensitive. Any kind of ridicule would force them to shut themselves. Doing things for the first time makes the child feel anxious, that's why a little gentle nudge plus words of encouragements are the ingredients to help the child develop into a healthy and confident person. Take note, don't attempt to take away shyness completely. It is a quality, not an abnormality. Embrace the child for who he/she is, yet help him/her reach out and develop self-confidence. That should be your goal as the child's mentor.

Hindsight Bias: The I-Knew-It-Along Phenomenon

Psychology is a study of human behavior. People often think that it is all common sense. After all, who would have the best knowledge about human behavior other than human beings themselves? When I read online articles about psychological researches or studies, I always see comments of readers stating that those are a waste of time, and that the results are very obvious. Well, although I sometimes feel that way too, but psychology isn't about common sense. It is about understanding people the scientific approach. For instance, if a study reveals that people tend to marry those who are opposite to their personalities, confirming the cliche "opposites attract." People would think, "Ah! I knew it all along. It was very obvious." What if the study reveals otherwise, instead it proves that people tend to marry same-minded partners, confirming the saying about "birds of the same feather flock together?" Then people would jump to this belief, stating that it was what they knew all along.

Are You a Highly Sensitive Person?

There are many ways of categorizing and labeling people based on different variables. Some people might hate the idea of being put inside a box. However, this is being done not to limit each person, but to increase understanding on human behavior.

Psychologists have invented several terms in order to describe us. There is one popular term that describes a certain population with qualities that are often associated with the shy and introverted. These are people who dislike loud noises and get perplexed when exposed to overwhelming stimuli, thus the label HSP or Highly Sensitive Person.