Each of the personality types under stress reacts completely differently. It’s important to know and understand this to be able to head off trouble at the pass and know how to deal with each one if you’ve missed the signs.
PERSUADER PERSONALITY TYPES UNDER STRESS
The most happy-go-lucky, fun and easy-going persuader can become the most sarcastic, cruel and cutting bully when under fire. Persuaders use their humor to hurt when they feel attacked and will pull out every piece of gossip, hearsay and nasty story against those they feel are attacking them, if they think they can get away with it. Alternatively if someone in authority is calling them on something they may try and make light of it, blame someone else or revert to sullen teenager “I’m not listening” behavior in order to protect themselves from being embarrassed.
Persuaders do not like to share the limelight and if someone else is stealing their thunder you can either have a battle of verbal wits, or one will slink off to lick his wounds.
The good news about persuaders is that they tend to have very short memories and unless you do something really dreadful to them in public (in which case they will spend hours devising childish ways of getting you back) they are like the proverbial goldfish and will forget about it pretty quickly.
If a fire alarm goes off the persuader will be telling off-color jokes, yelling “Fire!” and be very excited at the prospect of a break from work.
UNIFIER PERSONALITY TYPES UNDER STRESS
Unifiers are the ticking time bombs of the personality types under stress – they will take it and take it and take it until eventually a seemingly benign remark will result in a “lighting of the blue touch paper” and they will explode like volcanoes, spewing forth stored-up vitriol, sometimes the accumulation of weeks or months (or even years) of “incidents” that have led them inexorably to this startling display of rage. Things you weren’t aware of doing, don’t remember doing or didn’t know were “hurtful” will be brought up and thrown at you, first with screaming and then even with crying. And then they sulk. Sometimes for days.
You can try heading this off at the pass by noticing when unifiers aren’t happy about something – they tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves and aren’t usually backward in coming forward when it comes to showing you how hurt they are. However, if you ask them if they’re alright, the typical unifier answer is, “Fine, fine. No, I’m fine. Really, I’m fine.” If you’re persistent enough you may get to the bottom of it – otherwise it’s like trying to get blood out of a stone.
Unifiers are like elephants – they might forgive, but they will never, ever forget.
If a fire alarm goes off the unifier will be making sure everyone is accounted for and no one is left behind. They will be worrying about others before themselves.
RULER PERSONALITY TYPES UNDER STRESS
Firey while it’s happening and then it’s gone in a trice – that pretty much sums up the ruler under stress. Their controlling tendancies become even more pronounced and their intolerance levels go through the roof. Renowned for their hot tempers, rulers‘ barks are actually worse than their bites – they’re not vindictive like persuaders and they don’t hold grudges like unifiers.
In an emergency-type stressful situation, rulers really rise to the challenge. Whether the decisions they make are right or wrong, rulers don’t overthink like examiners and they don’t worry about hurting other people’s feelings like unifiers – they get on with dealing with the issue and worry about the consequences later.
If a fire alarm goes off the ruler will take charge and get everyone out of the building quickly.
EXAMINER PERSONALITY TYPES UNDER STRESS
Examiners are similar to rulers in that they like to be in control, but what they like to be in control of is quite different. In the examiner‘s case it’s being in control of the finer details that’s important. They tend to become stressed when they are not allowed to express themselves fully, are being talked over when they have an important point to make or are forced into changing a process without sufficient notice or reason behind it.
The examiners’ “go-to” position in times of stress can be entrenched stubbornness. Pushed into a corner they will dig in and fold their arms. It takes patient reasoning to talk them down and real informed arguments to win over the examiner who does not choose his or her opinions willy-nilly.
If a fire alarm goes off the examiner will be holding a clip-board with a list of correct procedures and will tick people off as they leave the building. In a domestic situation examiners are the only ones who will actually have previously formed an escape plan in case of fire.
