Rationalist

Inventive Personality Type

The Compensatory Narcissistic Idealized Image

Idols

Strategy

Strategy: pretension

Goals tagged "invention" on 43 Things

The basic trait of the Inventive personality type is the seeking of social status through achievements of the intellect and imagination. The following ten traits and characteristics are typical.

1. Status. Individuals of the Inventive personality type are highly competitive in pursuit of success and prestige. They want very much to be outstanding in some way (Riso, 103), to gain recognition, even fame and glory.
   
   
2. Idealized self-image. They develop highly idealized images of themselves with which they identify and which they love. The person is his idealized self and seems to adore it (Glad, 494).
   
   
3. Subdued demeanor. Persons of the Inventive type are energetic, but phlegmatic in temperament. "They can be quiet, rather private, subdued in demeanor, and have artistic interests and aesthetic sensibilities (Riso, 102)."
   
   
4. Attention. Individuals of the Inventive type have a tendency to behave in such a way as to attract attention. "They can be subtle show-offs, but show-offs nonetheless (Riso, 103)."
   
   
5. Openness to culture. The Inventive person has unusual thought processes, values intellectual matters, and judges in unconventional terms. He or she is aesthetically reactive and has a wide range of interests (McCrae and John).
   
   
6. Intelligence. "Intelligence will typically be emphasized in their self-images and social dealings." They put great stock in their ideas and demand that others do likewise (Riso, 103).
   
   
7. Competence. The faith of those of the Inventive type is "in their ability to improvise something, and they display an unusual talent for rising to the expediency of a situation (Keirsey, 184)." Their focus is on competent excellence in performance.
   
   
8. Innovation. The Inventive type maintains an independent view and is "the most reluctant of all the types to do things in a particular manner just because that is the way things always have been done (Keirsey, 183)." They are inventors and innovators.
   
   
9. Cleverness. They are mentally bright and quick-witted. For those of the Inventive type "to be taken in, to be manipulated by another, is humiliating; this offends their joy in being masters of the art of oneupmanship (Keirsey, 185)."
   
   
10. Self-consciousness Persons of the Inventive type look to others for approval (Reich, 47). They are very conscious of how others treat them (Riso, 103) and highly sensitive to criticism (Oldham, 89) and negative evaluation.

Sources:

Glad, Betty. Jimmy Carter: in search of the great White House. New York: Norton, 1980.

Keirsey, David, and Marilyn Bates. Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types. 3rd ed. Del Mar: Prometheus Nemesis, 1978.

McCrae, R. R. and O. P. John. An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality 60: 175, 1992.

Oldham, John M., and Lois B. Morris. The New Personality Self-Portrait: Why You Think, Work, Love, and Act the Way You Do. Rev. ed. New York: Bantam, 1995.

Reich, Annie. Pathological forms of self-esteem regulation. In Morrison, A. P., (Ed.), Essential Papers on Narcissism. pp. 44-60, 1986.

Riso, Don Richard. Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-discovery. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.

Idealized Image

I did conceive of "character strengths and virtues" in a positive way as Martin Seligman does in his Positive Psychology, but now see them as images of perfection that inflate the idealized self theorized by Karen Horney.

Character Strengths and Virtues (what the Compensatory Narcissistic type is proud of

1. Originality, Artistry, Culture, Inquisitiveness, Boldness, Spontaneity, Creativity, Humorousness, Wittiness.
2. Refinement, Idealism.
3. Cheerfulness, Confidence, Self-Esteem, Hope, Joyfulness, Sociability, Tactfulness.
4. Discipline, Earnestness.
5. Diligence, Industriousness, Energy, Attentiveness, Persistence, Perseverance, Purposefulness, Enthusiasm.
6. Judiciousness, Alertness, Rationality, Intelligence, Resourcefulness.
7. Firmness, Tenacity, Independence.
8. Tidiness, Cleanness, Orderliness, Meticulousness.
9. Courtesy, politeness, Equitableness.
10. Generosity, Liberality

This profile was derived from Cawley's 23 "Virtue Subclusters" in Michael J. Cawley III, James E. Martin, John A. Johnson (1999), A Virtues Approach to Personality.

Top Strengths*

"Creativity [originality, ingenuity]: Thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it

"Curiosity [interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience]: Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering"

"Love of learning: Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one's own or formally; obviously related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows"

"Bravery [valor]: Not shrinking from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain; speaking up for what is right even if there is opposition; acting on convictions even if unpopular; includes physical bravery but is not limited to it

"Persistence [perseverance, industriousness]: Finishing what one starts; persisting in a course of action in spite of obstacles; "getting it out the door"; taking pleasure in completing tasks"

"Leadership: Encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done and at the same [time maintain] good relations within the group; organizing group activities and seeing that they happen"

"Appreciation of beauty and excellence [awe, wonder, elevation]: Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience"

"Hope [optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation]: Expecting the best in the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought about" (Peterson & Seligman, 29, 30).

* Selected from Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman, (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Inventiveness

1. Inventive: "Adept or skillful at inventing; creative; ingenious." (AHD)

1. Invent: "To fabricate; to make up." (AHD)

Synonyms: "contrive, devise, frame, concoct" (MW, 464)

"contrive, devise, invent, frame, concoct mean to find a way of making or doing something or of achieving an end by the exercise of one's mind. Contrive implies ingenuity or cleverness in planning, designing, or in scheming; it is a matter of indifference whether the end object is good or bad, since the word stresses the manner of making, doing, or achieving rather than the character of the end ... Devise often comes very close to contrive, but in general it throws more stress upon mental effort than upon ingenuity; the term often implies the serious reflection and experimentation that precedes the bringing of something into being, especially something new or quite different ... Invent, though often used interchangeably with devise, commonly retains from its primitive senses some notion of finding, by but the term comes closer in its implication to originating, especially after thought and reflection, but sometimes more quickly, as the result of a happy accident ... Frame ... implies the exact fitting of one thing to another (as in devising or inventing a story, a theory, or a rule); usually the term suggests an exact fitting (as the words to the thought, or of the plot, character, and actions to the story as a whole, or of the expression to the spirit, or of the means to the end) ... Concoct especially suggests a bringing together of ingredients in new or unexpected combinations, arrangements, or order so as to enhance their effectiveness (as in writing, in imagining, or in fashioning) ... " (MW, 188)

Analogous: "fabricate, fashion, form, shape, forge, make: imagine, conceive, envision, ... : design, project, plan, plot, scheme ... : produce, turn out ... " (MW, 464-65)

Antonyms:

Contrasted:

2. Inventive: "Of or characterized by invention." (AHD)

2. Invent: "To conceive of or devise first; originate." (AHD)

Synonyms: "create, discover"

"Invent, create, discover are comparable terms frequently confused in the sense of to bring into being something new. Invent ... may stress fabrication of something new through the exercise of the imagination ... or it may stress the fabrication of something new and often useful as a result of study and thought; the word therefore often presupposed labor and ingenuity rather than inspiration ... However, invent often stresses the finding, as well as the bringing into being, of something new or hitherto unknown as the result of mental effort ... Create stresses a causing of something to exist; it not only implies previous nonexistence but it often suggests an evoking of something into being or of, or as if out of, nothing ... Discover ... presupposes both the existence of and a lack of knowledge about something; the term therefore implies the finding of such a thing, often as the result of mental or physical effort (as by exploration, investigation, or experiment) ... thus, in discriminative use one invents processes or ways of doing something, as well as instruments, tools, implements, or machines, but one discovers things which exist but have not yet been known (as lands, stars, or natural laws ... " (MW, 464-65)

Analogous: "initiate, inaugurate, institute, found, establish" (MW, 464)

Antonyms:

Contrasted:

Ingenious: "1. Marked by inventive skill and imagination. 2. Having or arising from an inventive or cunning mind; clever." (AHD)

Synonyms: "cunning, clever, adroit" (MW, 444)

"2. Clever, adroit, cunning, ingenious are comparable when they mean having or showing a high degree of practical intelligence or of skill in contrivance. Clever often carries an implication of physical dexterity but it usually stresses mental quickness or resourcefulness ... Sometimes it suggests a native aptitude or knack ... Adroit usually suggests greater shrewdness and astuteness than clever and often implies the skillful (sometimes the crafty) use of expedients to attain one's ends in the face of difficulties ... Cunning ... may retain its older implications of learning and expert knowledge and is then chiefly applied to craftsmen or artists whose work exhibits a high degree of constructive or creative skill ... Ingenious stresses inventive power or skill in discovery; sometimes it implies brilliancy of mind, sometimes little more than cleverness ... " (MW, 152)

Analogous: "inventing or inventive, creating or creative, discovering ... : dexterous, handy, deft: skillful, adept, skilled, expert, proficient, masterly" (MW, 444)

Antonyms:

Contrasted:

Meaning

" ... the inventive person figures out how to put things together in a new way so that they will work. Inventiveness is a practical kind of creativity. It calls into play analytical qualities of mind, often in the service of a common-sense idea of what is needed" (Hayakawa, pg. 137).

Invent "may stress the fabrication of something new and often useful as a result of study and thought; the word therefore often presupposes labor and ingenuity rather than inspiration" (MW, pg. 464).

"Ingenious refers to inventive skill; invention, to the act or process of originating; inventiveness, to the ability to invent" (FW, pg. 255).

"Ingenuity is inferior to genius, being rather mechanical than creative, and is shown in devising expedients, overcoming difficulties, inventing appliances, adapting means to ends" (FW, pg. 255).

"Invent is a word much larger in scope than the others here [devise, conceive, contrive, formulate]. It includes the whole planning process -- conceiving, devising, and formulating" (Hayakawa, pg. 160).

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1981, c.1969). William Morris, Ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Fernald, James Champlin (1947). Funk and Wagnalls Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. Revised Edition. New York: Funk and Wagnalls.

Hayakawa, S. I. (1987, c1968). Choose the Right Word: A Modern Guide to Synonyms. New York: Perennial Library.

Merriam-Webster (1984). Webster's New Dictionary of Synonyms: A Dictionary of Discriminated Synonyms with Antonyms and Analogous and Contrasted Words. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Careers and Jobs for Inventive type

Google Answers: selecting the right career for me

This list represents careers and jobs people of the Inventive type tend to enjoy doing.

systems designer
venture capitalist
actor
journalist
investment broker
real estate agent
real estate developer
strategic planner
political manager
politician
special projects developer
literary agent
restaurant/bar owner
technical trainer
diversity manager
art director
personnel systems developer
computer analyst
logistics consultant
outplacement consultant
advertising creative director
radio/TV talk show host

Source: U.S. Department of Interior, Career Manager - ENTP.

Noteworthy examples of the Inventive personality type

Julius Gaius Caesar, Truman Capote, Jimmy Carter, Kate Chopin, Erik H. Erikson, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Christopher Marlowe, W. Somerset Maugham, H. Ross Perot, Edgar Allan Poe, Dan Quayle, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Socrates, Meryl Streep, Barbra Streisand, Harry S Truman, Mark Twain, Andy Warhol, Tom Wolfe.

Compensatory Narcissistic personality disorder is the pathological representation of this category.

Annie Reich's compensatory narcissist, Daniel K.

The psychoanalyst, Annie Reich, was the first to define the compensatory narcissistic type, and her analysand, Daniel K., serves as a good prototype. Reich wrote:

Daniel K. was a very accomplished writer who wrote one book after another, with marked success. But he did not feel gratified by this. Nothing he did was as grandiose as he wanted it to be. He would feel reassured, for a time, when he looked at his book shelf and counted: "Here are seven books I wrote, six volumes I edited; there are twenty-three articles I brought out in other people's publications; I am quoted so and so many times:--There are about two and a half feet of Mr. K. on the shelf." The phallic meaning of this little game was obvious. He had to reassure himself that his phallus was not only there, but of extraordinary size.

Daniel's life consisted to a large extent in behavior of this kind; he was constantly preoccupied with attempts to feel great and important. He was active in innumerable civic and cultural enterprises and had attained a leading position in his community. But neither this nor his prolific literary production nor his erotic successes sufficed to make him happy. He was a man of considerable talent, well informed, and rich in ideas. But frequently his writing was careless and superficial, not up to the level of his capacities, because he was driven to produce too fast. He could not wait for results, could not stand tension and unpleasure, although he knew better. He had an inner standard of quality for his work as well as the gift for it, but was unable to muster enough self-discipline to realize his potentialities. He had to have the immediate gratification of success. This need was so overwhelmingly strong that he had little control over it. He also was touchy, quick to take offense at the slightest provocation. He continually anticipated attack and danger, reacting with anger and fantasies of revenge when he felt frustrated in his need for constant admiration....

The narcissistic goal against which he measured himself was most clearly expressed by his fantasies in puberty: he would see himself successively as the Mayor of New York City, the President of the United States, and as the president of the world, until he had to stop with the painful question: "And then what?" Later, he wanted to be the outstanding genius of his time. Of course, no success in reality could measure up to such limitless inner demands, and his state of dissatisfaction was all the more intensified because he had to sacrifice more mature superego demands in reaching out for his illusory aims.

...Daniel continually felt not only slighted, unloved, unappreciated by others, but also awkward, embarrassed, and "self-conscious." Moreover, he harbored severe anxieties regarding his state of health. He was forever anticipating early death from cancer or heart attack, etc., and anxiously watched himself for signs of disease....(46-47)

Reich uses Edith Jacobson's definition of self-esteem:

[Jacobson] considers self-esteem to be the expression of discrepancy or harmony between self-representation and the wishful concept of the self.

Or, to put it differently: in the course of growing up, we must learn to evaluate our potentialities and accept our limitations, continued hope for the impossible represents an infantile wish, revealing a basic lack of ability to face inner and outer reality. Self-esteem thus depends on the nature of the inner image against which we measure our own self, as well as on the ways and means at our disposal to live up to it. That this inner image is influenced by many factors, especially by the particular form of the superego, is obvious. Living up sufficiently to the demands of one's superego is a mature form of self-esteem regulation (45-46).

This definition is like William James's formula for self-esteem which accompanies his discussion of the problem of self-esteem in The Principles of Psychology.

Reich, Annie, (1986). Pathological forms of self-esteem regulation. In Morrison, A. P., (Ed.), Essential Papers on Narcissism. pp. 44-60. Reprint from (1960) Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. Vol. 15, pp. 205-32.

• Yahoo! Business and Economy > Business to Business > Research and Development > Inventions

• Clusty // Clustering inventiveness
• Invention: Enhancing inventiveness for quality of life, competitiveness, and sustainabilty

  Mapping Invention

  With all that as backdrop, what makes the inventive mind inventive? Studies in cognitive science disclose that highly inventive people consistently display a range of abilities and character traits. While this pattern can be organized in several ways, one way of representing it is as a kind of map (see diagram) with a central region representing the essence of inventive thinking, a surrounding region of characteristics that directly support inventive thinking, and an outer region representing important social aspects of inventive enterprise that the inventor needs to function effectively. In particular, at the core, the inventive mind displays transgressive cognition, meaning a tendency to cross boundaries in various ways, and a practical-technological orientation. Both of these characteristics receive support from technical knowledge, dogged persistence, and a systematic and strategic frame of mind, and further depend on socially oriented capabilities concerning collaboration, leadership and coordination, market sensitivity, and entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship.

• Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind - imagination

  "Traditionally, the mental capacity for experiencing, constructing, or manipulating 'mental imagery' (quasi-perceptual experience). Imagination is also regarded as responsible for fantasy, inventiveness, idiosyncrasy, and creative, original, and insightful thought in general, and, sometimes, for a much wider range of mental activities dealing with the non-actual, such as supposing, pretending, 'seeing as', thinking of possibilities, and even being mistaken."

Egoboo

The Word Spy - egoboo

egoboo (EE.goh.boo) n. Recognition and praise for a task well done, particularly a task that is performed for free. Also: ego-boo.

Example Citation:

"In science-fiction-fan-speak there's a phenomenon called 'egoboo.'...It means a boost in reputation. Hackers operate in a gift economy in which giant-size egos compete with one another for attention and reputation on the Net. If you do something cool, like reduce the length of a subroutine by 50 percent, you score major egoboo." —Mark Frauenfelder, "Man Against the FUD," LA Weekly, May 21, 1999

Traits, characteristics, and keywords for describing the Inventive personality type

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