„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Shifting Styles Under Stress
Our society tends to overtrain and overuse the thinking style and underpromote and
underuse the feeling one. Similarly, the doing style is much appreciated and used, the
intuiting style somewhat less so. Usually we are not very conscious of these preferences.
If we think about these things at all, we are most conscious of the styles that are
dominant when we are really ourselves—when we are under nonstress conditions.
Usually, however, our strong-suit styles drops back when we come under stress; and
often our nonstress backup styles come to the fore. Generally, under stress, our doing
and feeling styles seem to come to the fore, and our thinking and especially intuiting
styles tend to recede. This shift can make us seem, to associates, “different people”
under extreme stress.
Some people are much more self-aware than others in these matters. The thinker—
that is, the person for whom thinking constitutes the dominant style in the foursome—
tends to be most aware of his or her communication styles. But the thinker does not
necessarily handle stress best. Knowing about one’s inner tendencies and being able to
handle those tendencies are two different things. It is the feeler who seems to handle
stress best. Feelers are more at home with their emotions—even though feelers
sometimes do not appear very conscious of their dominant styles. Because doers
generally cannot be bothered with introspection, they are not overly aware of their style
mixes and can shift a great deal under stress, precisely because they tend to undervalue
feelings. Intuitors, who are often surprisingly unaware of their style mix, seem to be the
least stable under stress.
Figure 2 diagrams some examples of the style shifts that can result from stress,
showing how extensive these shifts can sometimes be. A style’s position (or several
styles’ positions) in a person’s order of preference can change—and the emphasis given
to a style can change too.
Figure 2. Style Shifts Under Stress
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 83