Therapy in LA

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January 2012

FOUR KINDS OF WORKERS INTERACT; WHICH ARE YOU?

by Dorothea McArthur, PhD, ABPP

Sometimes, clients come into therapy because they have been laid off, or they are unhappy with the work they have been doing. We start our work together by looking at the different types of workers that have come into my office over the years. We consider which kind of worker they are or would like to become. I work with many artists who need to have two jobs: one as an artist and one to make sure the basic bills are paid.

In the work force, we seem to have four basic types of individuals. We can look at the descriptions of two of the types as representing two ends of a continuum. The first we shall call an Altruistic work personality. These individuals appear dedicated to “making a difference.” They derive their ultimate satisfaction from developing and using a natural talent or interest, and doing something lasting, that may contribute to the lives of other people or the environment. Secondarily, they desire a sustainable income. These individuals traditionally are most often seen in the arts, academic world and service professions, and constitute much of our volunteer force. They view the world as an interdependent community and try to contribute what they can. They donate money and effort to worthy causes. They want their inner life to be rich, and are less concerned about external material possessions. If they acquire wealth, they tend to donate a sizable portion of it to others. These individuals are not easily drawn into conflict or competition. They want to live peacefully and use their particular talent to provide a specific service often within a small business. They are not attracted to large groups and often prefer to work alone or with a small groups of like-minded thinkers. They tend to be naive about the potential for others to be greedy and rip them off.

The second personality type we call a Materialistic work personality. This individual tends to be interested in collecting as much as they can. Perhaps it is wealth, stocks, promotions, land, cars, mansions, antiques, trophies or fame. Materialistic work personalities are highly motivated, and are excellent at creating large successful-for-profit businesses or corporations. They are able to use bureaucracy to their advantage — fast tracking to the top as a leader. They produce fantastic products that we can all use and enjoy. They are able to sell themselves well, and drive a hard bargain and close a deal. Conflict is often a positive challenge; competition attracts them. They have little concern for how others are affected while they obtain their goal. Ethics, and sharing are frequently compromised in the name of “doing business.” Their goal is almost always “to have a little more” of whatever they are collecting, often without the realization that to obtaining this is hurting other people, and doesn’t make the Materialistic work personality happier. They sometimes become carried away in reaching their goal, contributing to the imbalance or displacement of the line workers who serve them, their nation and/or the planet. Materialistic work personality makes up most of our “One Percent.”

The Altruistic work personality often takes too long to get concerned about Materialistic work personality behavior, but eventually steps in to try to “make a difference” by attempting to acknowledge the underdog and restore balance. These two work personalities then butt heads, often competing and devaluing each other. Materialistic work personality tactics often win because an Altruistic work personality may feel intimidated and be unwilling to compromise their ethics. Meanwhile, Materialistic work personality is much more comfortable with competing and winning at any cost. He or she acquires enormous sums of money while Altruistic work personality struggles, too often, with the proceeds from grants, donations, contributions, fund raising, a bake or community rummage sale.

Both Altruistic and Materialistic work personalities are needed to maintain society and each have advantages and disadvantages, strengths and vulnerabilities. How does an Altruistic and Materialistic work personality develop? How can we raise children to have the best qualities of these work personalities, minimizing the vulnerabilities that might ultimately hurt society or the planet?

It is said that the tallest buildings run the culture. In the eighteenth century, it was the churches and in the nineteenth century, it was the universities. More recently it is the corporate world. Unfortunately, the philosophy of the Materialistic personality dominates by telling us that it is somehow all right to put out addictive or defective products, treat corporate workers with blatant disregard, earn absurdly large bonuses, bailouts, lower taxes, golden parachutes, and intimidate each other with lobbyists, law suits and buyouts solely for the purpose of increasing profits. The movie, Insider, is a testament to the degree that such a philosophy can be carried out. When we behave this way, what kind of message do we give to our children? How can we expect our kids to be considerate, ethical and caring in the face of such blatant hurtful ways. We seem to be at a loss as to how to handle this ongoing problem, even in the face of a recession.

The third type is the person who says, “I want this amount of money in my pay check. I don’t care what kind of job I do as long as I reliably get the money. Life, for me, begins after work.” This Routine type of worker can frequently do somewhat repetitive jobs cheerfully and responsibly. After work, they do what they want with their free time utilizing sports, hobbies and parties.

The fourth kind of worker is an Artist type. These individuals seem to have been born with creative genes. Their struggles in life becomes fodder for their creativity and success. They want time to be creative, with or without pay, in whatever form of art they practice. They are persistent in their creative endeavors, although they sometimes have to fight discouragement and frustration in gaining acceptance, and compensation for their work. They need several hours a day to do their creative work. In the remaining time, they may choose to have more routine jobs to cover their basic expenses, and keep them out in the world where they interact with others, generating further creativity.

Artists sometimes have to work with Materialistic work personality in Hollywood’s entertainment industry even when both styles of functioning and overall goals are very different.

Which kind of worker are you? How are you interacting with other kinds of workers? Are you presently the kind of work personality you want to be? With the high unemployment rate, have you given up being the kind of worker you desire?

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Dr. Dorothea McArthur is a Diplomate Clinical Psychologist working in private practice for the past 33 years in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. She can be reached at 323-663-2340.