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Greens

If you identified with the Green description words in part 4 of the free personality quiz, your type is also known as the Idealist or NF (iNtuiting, Feeling) temperament. These temperaments are based on two of your preferences – they way you collect information and your primary consideration in making decisions. Greens collect information through understanding a concept or theory in the abstract and how the information fits into the bigger picture. They make decisions or take action based on how it will affect others or how it fits in with their personal values.

Many people think of Greens as softies, but actually there are many Greens who are crusaders – people who believe passionately in doing things for the good of the people or for the “right” reasons. Just because they think it’s right doesn’t mean it always is, but the point is that Greens take a stand according to their personal beliefs. The character Jerry on the TV series Raising the Bar is a good example of a Green – passionate, caring, willing to fight to the death for what he sees as THE right outcome.

While I’m on the subject of male Green temperaments, let me also take a minute to speak about gender in the context of preference. The Thinking and Feeling preferences are the only two that seem to split along gender lines. About 65% of females identify with Feeling (vs. only 35% of males), and about the same amount of males identify with Thinking (vs. 35% of females). It’s becoming less so, but our culture still prizes Feeling traits in women – careful of the feelings of others, nurturing, supportive, mediating. Our culture also prizes Thinking qualities in men – acting based on what makes logical sense, skeptical of new information until it’s proven, saying what’s true even if it hurts. Therefore, women who prefer Thinking and men who prefer Feeling often carry an extra burden of either hiding or defending their gender-opposed differences.

Greens come in many varieties – after all, there are four full personality types for each of the four temperaments. There are Introverted and Extraverted Greens, Greens that prefer having things settled and decided (Judging) and those that prefer leaving their options open (Perceiving). The four types of Greens are:

  • Green Lions: Extraverted and Judging (ENFJ)
  • Green Beavers: Introverted and Judging (INFJ)
  • Green Otters: Extraverted and Perceiving (ENFP)
  • Green Retrievers: Introverted and Judging (INFP)

I hope this article has helped you to understand the Green temperament better, whether this described you or someone you know.