Saturday, August 9, 2008

Four Temperaments and the Land of Oz


In Chapter 2 of Please Understand Me II, David Keirsey compares the four temperaments to the characters in The Wizard of Oz as follows:

Once upon a time, in the land of Oz, four individuals set out on a strange and dangerous journey. Each of them was lacking something vital to his or her nature, and each wanted to find the great Oz and ask him for his help.

Lion was lacking courage. Although a powerful, magnificent beast, he had grown cowardly and lost his self-respect, and he wanted the Wizard to give him back his nerve. "As long as I know myself to be a coward I shall be unhappy," he said.

Dorothy was afraid she had lost her way home. "Toto," she said to her little dog, "I don't think we're in Kansas any more." Though never really lost at all, Dorothy felt stranded and alone, and she wanted Oz to return her to the security of her Aunt and Uncle's farm. "There's no place like home," she said.

Tin Woodman believed he had no heart. As tender and sensitive as he was, he felt stiffened with rust and unable to love, and he wanted Oz to help him feel a warm, loving heart beating in his chest. "No one can love who has no heart," he said.

Scarecrow thought he had no brain. Although the most ingenious of the four, he considered himself witless and worthless, and he wanted Oz to make him smart. "Brains are the only things worth having in this world," he said.

Arm-in-arm, these four very different characters set off to the Emerald City to seek the Wizard's help.

Keirsey divides the 16 MBTI personality types into four temperament groups: NF, NT, SJ, and SP.

Those of you who are familiar with these temperaments, can you tell which character fits in with which temperament?

1 comment:

  1. I would say:
    Lion SP
    Dorothy SJ
    Woodman NF
    Scarecrow NT

    Am I right?

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