So now we have come down to the fourth and final type preference that you’ll be looking for when determining someones personality type. This, as I mentioned briefly in my last article, means determining whether the person is a perceiver, or a judger. This aspect of their personality has a great deal to do with the way they live their life. Are they more neat, formal and organized, or do they tend to be a bit messy and go with the flow? These are the type of questions you should be asking yourself to determine which side of the fence the other person is usually on.

Personal appearance can be a big clue for you when figuring them out. Perceivers generally dress more for themselves rather than for others, appearing more casual and relaxed when given the option. Judgers on the other hand tend to be a bit more formal and dress for others more than themselves, giving themselves a nice finished look most of the time. While appearance can be a big clue in terms of the decision you reach, you must keep the circumstances in mind as well. For instance, if your out at a park with someone on a hot summer day, casual vs formal is probably not going to be a very accurate indicator of their type preference given the fact that it’s hot outside and most people are going to pick comfort over style in that situation. However, you might be able to get an accurate clue based on a different aspect of their appearance, like their color coordination. Even though they’re going to dress for comfort since it’s hot, the judging type has the tendency to still make sure that their “comfort” entire still matches and goes together nicely.

What does their home/office/car look like in relation to organization? The answer to this question can also reveal a wealth of information that leads to their personality preference. If the person is a perceiver, chances are these places will appear quite messy. They’re usually a little bit low on the organization scale in most peoples opinion. They like to be involved in several tasks all at once, and are easier to distract than judgers are. Walking into a judgers office looks a lot different. Judgers like everything neat and orderly and prefer to focus on one thing at a time. That’s why they generally have cleaner desks, because they have fewer things that they are actively working on. Due to the opposite preferences these types have in this area, it’s something you should definitely look for when labeling someone a perceiver or judger.

The last thing I’ll mention to keep an eye out for relates to their organization as well. What does their schedules look like. Do they leave the door open for other opportunities or tasks that pop up during the day, or do they like a strong “to do list” type day. For perceivers, spontaneity is very important, so they’ll generally be very open to and maybe even set aside time for anything that may come up unexpectedly. The judging type usually doesn’t like deviating from their plan and typically won’t unless something of great importance comes up. For this reason, perceivers have a tendency to be slow decision maker’s leaving their options open until the last minute just incase anything more attractive or more important comes along, while judgers are usually quick to come to a decision and be done with it.

Read these four articles multiple times and do some extra research on these types so you can get real familiar with them. The more familiar you are with them, the easier and more natural it will be to identify personality types and use your knowledge of the other persons type to your advantage.

Okay so last time we talked about figuring out how other people take in information, based on whether they were a sensor or a intuitive person. Now the next part in learning how to read people deals with how they communicate with other people. This is where you determine whether they’re a thinker or feeler. This aspect of reading people is extremely important especially when it comes to influencing someones decision making. People are going to either make their decisions in a logical, analytical way, or an emotional value driven manner. Your job is to figure out which method they’ll use in order to be as effective as possible when influencing them.

One useful thing to remember when labeling someone a thinker or feeler is that men tend to be thinkers (65%) and women have a tendency to be feelers (65% as well). When you’re talking to people, notice how they react to the things that you say, and how they speak. Do they seem kind of insensitive and distant, or warm and friendly? If they seem to relate to others well and effectively empathize with people, then chances are they’re feelers. On the other hand, If they seem rather impersonal and most of what they say is based on logic rather than ethics and values, they’re probably more of a thinker.

When speaking with the thinking type, often times they’ll come across as a no BS right to the point type of person. They’re typically not too fond of small talk either, which is one thing feelers usually like to engage in . When feelers are speaking, they’ll usually talk about things in terms of how they feel about them. They tend to be better at and enjoy discussing personal matters on a deeper level. They’re good at putting themselves in the other persons situation and understanding what they’re going through. However, sometimes the feeler ends up taking certain things like business decisions personal, when they really aren’t a personal issue. This is the thinkers strong point. They usually have the ability to detach themselves from things like that, and for that very reason are often the people that make those type of business decisions that feelers can’t seem to bring themselves to make.

Another aspect of communication to look at when reading people is frequently they touch the person they’re talking to. Often times, feelers will touch the other persons hand, shoulder, arm, back and knee (if sitting down) to emphasize their concern or emotion they’re feeling at the moment. Sometimes thinkers do this too if they’re a strong extravert, but typically they engage in this type of behavior far less than feelers do.

Although these are all things that are very useful when learning how to read people and determine their personality type, you should never completely determine their type preference based on one clue. The more clues you gather and tells you pick up from the other person, the more accurate your conclusion will be. There is one more type preference you will have to determine in order to perform an accurate read on someone, and that’s what we’ll discuss next time. In the mean time practice what you’ve learned. The more people you analyze, the better you’ll get.