The main stereotypes about schizoids in one picture
Synopsis : schizoid is not a diagnosis, it is a type of character. There are schizoids with mental illnesses (as there are hysterics, epileptoids, welders, men and women, children and accountants who have psychiatric diagnoses), but not every schizoid (man, accountant, welder, etc.) is ill.
This character itself is rather difficult to describe at the same time briefly and correctly. Some call them " geeks ", " introverts ", " cranks ", " nerds ", " hikkans ", " eccentric ", " nerds ", " computer geniuses.”[1, p. 231], and all these characteristics to one degree or another are related to, in fact, schizoids, but none of them is defining.
The easiest way to describe a schizoid is through the dynamics of his internal processes, but such a description will take up too much space, so we restrict ourselves to a simple (and imprecise definition): for the purposes of this article, a schizoid is a person who has an internal conflict about the desire for intimacy and the need to maintain his independence, and deciding this conflict through the refusal of contacts with the outside world in favor of immersion in the world of their own fantasies and abstract constructions.
Most of the literature on schizoids is clinical and describes rather severe cases of schizoidization, and within the framework of this text I would like to talk about healthy schizoids, of whom there are enough among us to make their features matter in the context of labor relations, management and marketing.
Theory
I will try to make this article not too psychological and move on to the practical part as early as possible, but nevertheless, it is necessary to provide some theoretical information.
Schizoid is not a diagnosis, it is a type of character
Let's start with a simple one: in psychiatry and psychology there is some confusion with the term " schizoid " itself. Usually psychiatrists speaking of "schizoids" mean people with a diagnosis of " Schizoid personality disorder ", or people with severe schizoid accentuation (see below), which leads to maladjustment (ie, at the everyday level, to " inadequacy " , “ Inability to function normally in society ”).
Psychologists, in turn, often speak of " characterological schizoids ".
And none of the experts equates schizoids (in any sense of the term) and a " schizophrenic " (a person who has one of the schizophrenic spectrum disorders).
The schizoid is not a schizophrenic . You should not use these words as synonyms, they have completely different meanings.
In general, it is more correct to speak only about characterological schizoids (people with certain character traits), "schizoid" in relation to a person with schizoid personality disorder is not entirely correct jargon.
There are more schizoids in the world than is customary to think, and among them there are people who are deeply disturbed, on the verge of "madness" (or even beyond it), but there are also those who have enviably reliable mental stability [2].
However, to many non-professionals, " otherness " and " strangenessSchizoid individuals seem incomprehensible, and they can classify these manifestations as abnormalities. However, experts also sin with this [2].
In fairness, it should be said that some specialists (especially those related to the psychoanalytic tradition) believe that “ characterological schizoidness ” has the same (or similar) nature as schizophrenia [3], and the difference is not qualitative, but quantitative:
However, this opinion is not generally accepted [4, b-005].
Summary : the use of the word " schizoid " as a synonym for " crazy"- terminologically incorrect. A schizoid is a person who has certain character traits, who can either be mentally healthy or have any mental disorders.
What is a schizoid character
To begin with, I will allow myself a quote that demonstrates a standard, I would even say, "bureaucratic and bureaucratic" approach to schizoids:
“Detached, avoiding social interaction, with a limited range of emotional expression. These are people who do not need other people, and who feel great on their own. They do not tend to form close relationships with colleagues. Decompensated by stress, they are more likely to behave strangely than to use violence. ”[1, p. 231]
In the literature, schizoids are usually described either as helpless, but harmless eccentrics, incapable of interaction (see example above), or as geniuses hovering in their " high empyrean ", incomprehensible to us, " mere mortals ."
In my opinion, this is not a problem of schizoids, but of authors who are trying to describe them. Schizoids are basically the same people as everyone else.
But schizoids, of course, have some features that distinguish them (and, in fact, make it possible to unite these people into a cluster).
The National Psychiatric Guidelines describe them in the same bureaucratic, impersonal style:
« (), , , .I can't say that the authors are radically wrong, no, it's just that, in my opinion, they place emphasis incorrectly.
, , , . , . ».[10, . 1172]
According to this opinion, it is not so easy to find allies in the academic community, so I will refer mainly to McWilliams (if only because there is no normal research on characterological schizoids, and in any case we are talking about a dispute with references to authorities at all the incorrectness of this polemical technique).
I also note that in the scientific and clinical literature in the description and understanding of the essence of schizoid personality traits, there are serious discrepancies, disagreements, obvious contradictions [5, p64; 3].
In my attempt to briefly describe the essence of the schizoid character, I will begin with the fact that I will note an important, in my opinion, fact: for some reasons, which will be discussed below, people tend to pathologize (that is, consider them more " sick " than they are on in fact) schizoids [3].
For this reason, one should not take descriptions like the ones above, too literally: no, schizoids communicate with other people, they have a need for education and maintaining close relationships (almost more than any other type of character), their actions are logical and this logic is comprehensible.
Moreover, I am ready to submit to the reader's judgment the thesis that this logic itself is no different from the " generally accepted”, The differences are only in the premises, but they are so fundamental that sometimes it is difficult for a non-schizoid to understand a schizoid.
One of these differences is that for the schizoid, the unconditional priority is internal. The external has an extremely low degree of significance [6, p. 180]. They are indifferent enough to make a conventional impression [3].
Where a person with a different type of character passes his thoughts, words, feelings and actions through many corrective filters in order to “ not seem abnormal, ” the schizoid can give out a clean and unclouded primary reaction [3].
Is it crazy?To answer positively to this question means to show considerable hypocrisy: after all, other people will have similar "primary reactions", the difference is not in them, but in the fact that schizoids are not ashamed of them and do not suppress these impulses to the extent that they do other people (although schizoids have their own filtering system, they are not " noble savages " in any sense).
But why do they behave this way? Where does the phenomenon that Sass calls counter-label comes from? [7]
Allow me one more quote:
« , . . , . , , »[3]Thus, in the direction of the external world (including in the aspect of connections with other people and behavior in contact with them), there is no unity familiar to many people inside the schizoid psyche: on the one hand, the schizoid really wants contact, deep and genuine, on the other, he is afraid him.
As a way out, he builds two strategies: the strategy of " naive honesty " ("I want to be loved / appreciated / noticed just me, and not my social roles") - hence some disregard for conventional norms and ideas, and the strategy of demonstration yourself.
In general, there will be some speculation here, but, in my opinion, based on working with a sufficiently large number of schizoids, demonstrativeness is a rather characteristic feature of this type of people.
She brings them closer to hysterics (perhaps I will write a similar thing about them if the material "comes in"), but the nature of the demonstration is fundamentally different: the hysteroid will demonstrate success in the triad " sex, sex, power ", and the schizoid needs to be seen originality and the ability to operate with abstractions.
The second strategy - in fact, originality and abstraction - for the schizoid is a means of not seeing his primary conflict, and the one who can appreciate the beauty and grace of the painstaking and scrupulous work of the schizoid to hide this conflict from himself will give him the desired feeling " comprehensibility ".
And it is here that the non-conventionality of the schizoid's behavior takes its roots: after all, if he behaves / thinks / acts and dreams like everyone else, then who will notice him ?
It seems to him (although he does not always realize this) that common behavior deprives him of his individuality (and even identity, if you dig very deeply).
To be like everyone else means to be one of all, means not to be at all .
At the same time, we are talking about authentic otherness, otherness for the sake of otherness itself, not for the sake of outside recognition, more precisely, for the sake of it too, but it is not the main thing: desperate (as a rule, still in childhood) to find authentic understanding in others, the schizoid builds “ originality for yourself ”, so that, leaning on it, you can feel your existence in general.
On the other hand, schizoids are keenly aware of their difference from others, and this feeling is one of the reasons pushing them to aloofness: being capable of observing and establishing patterns, schizoids know that in everyday life, " normal " is the usual, characteristic of the majority, and otherwise, it is perceived as a sign of pathology [3], and sometimes even causes aggression.
And this causes a secondary (but not the last) wave of conflict between desire and fear of intimacy.
It would seem, what relation do these parapsychological constructions have to the topic of the site? In the practical section, I will try to explain how all of these internal mechanisms affect the specific behavior of schizoid employees, managers and contractors.
Summary: to an external observer who is not too interested in exploring the intricacies of the inner mental life, schizoids can appear as eccentrics [2], [excessively] immersed in their own thoughts, solving a problem, fenced off from the outside world, having difficulties in establishing informal contacts, closed [8], incomprehensible, strange [9], dispassionate, sarcastic [3], emotionally cold [10, p. 1172].
At the same time, if we consider the dynamics of their mental processes, it becomes clear that these are extremely sensitive people who hide their sensitivity behind strategies of avoidance [2].
Moreover, they run not only literally, limiting themselves in the number of contacts, but also psychologically - preferring the world of fantasies and abstractions, in which they feel safe, to the world of real interactions, in relation to which they do not have a definite position that does not cause internal conflict.
Addition : my little personal cockroach - I consider it necessary to invite everyone who reads the description of a certain "personality model" / "generalized character traits", etc., to familiarize themselves with the Barnum effect (at least through an article on Wikipedia ), if he or she not yet.
Ok, what kind of accentuation?
We have more or less decided on the character, now let's talk about accentuations. Everything is much simpler here: accentuation is an extreme variant of the norm of the manifestation of characterological traits that do not reach the degree of pathology (usually we mean “ personality disorder ”) [11, p. 490].
Those. this is to some extent synonymous with the well-known concept of " difficult character ".
The difference between accentuation and characterological features is, according to Leonhard's apt remark in "[tendencies] to a transition to a pathological state" [12, p. sixteen].
And another similar definition:
« – , , »[13, . 7].Those. in favorable conditions for the individual, accentuation does not manifest itself in any way, but represents a potential factor of vulnerability to specific stresses.
Where a person with “ nominally normal ” personality traits is likely to cope with stress, the accentuation bearer is very likely to decompensate (fail, begin to behave illogically and destructively, while experiencing a fairly high level of suffering).
Summary : in this text we are talking about characterological and accentuated schizoids (i.e., individuals who are healthy from the point of view of psychiatry), since it is with such individuals that most people who do not work in the field of mental health and related fields face.
Practice
As mentioned above, there is practically no good literature on "characterological schizoids" (ie, people with schizoid traits that do not reach the level of pathology).
Moreover, most of the small number of publications that exist on this topic at all have a " clinical focus ", i.e. suggests that in the pair " reader - schizoid " the first takes a kind of " healing ", " helping " position and directs his efforts to help the second to gain health / adaptation.
In most real-life cases, this, of course, is not the case: not all of us work in the mental health industry and receive money to help schizoids adapt to themselves and the world.
However, sliding into the opposite model “ I get money at work for writing code / cleaning the premises / delivering food / compiling reports, what difference does it make to me what these others think and feel ” (a typical schizoid position, by the way) would be a mistake: accounting for personal The characteristics of subordinates, colleagues and leaders can both help a career and increase personal / general productivity.
Where do schizoids work
There is practically no actual data on the demography of characterological schizoids (especially for Russia).
Therefore, to answer the question put forward in the title of the section, you will have to use, perhaps, not the most high-quality (in terms of evidence) literature (everything is better than passing off your own fantasies as truth).
There is an analysis of the distribution of students by specialty depending on the psychotype, based on the results of which you can try to draw some cautious conclusions:
“In the group of physical and mathematical specialties, the second and final courses (mainly mathematics) were examined. In the second year, students most often had character traits of the schizoid psychotype, in second place in frequency was the labile psychotype. A similar picture is observed at the graduation course ”[8].
Source: [8]
In a rather old book devoted to characterological schizoidness, the following statistics are given for the distribution of schizoids by industry:
Source: [14, p. 28]
This ends the specifics. According to some authors,
“Among persons with traits of schizoid accentuation, inventors and innovators are statistically more common. <…> Some persons with schizoid accentuation traits are clearly creative. ”[5, p. 111]
“Statistically, more often persons with schizoid traits are engaged in creative performing activities. And when there is a choice - to be a leader or simply to create - they more often choose creativity ”[5, p. 116].Sobchik in the interpreter for the SMIL test writes that:
"They are characterized by professional tropism towards activities of a free, creative style, they strive to avoid any formal framework, regime types of labor." [15, p. 71]Two things should be noted here:
1 . Sobchik is not talking about schizoids, but “ persons with a characterologically pronounced rise on the eighth scale of the SMIL ”, however, within the framework of Russian psychology / characterology, schizoids are often defined this way (although I do not agree with this);
2 . Despite the enormous prevalence and popularity among specialists, the SMIL test does not have sufficient evidence of validity and reliability , and the theoretical provisions underlying it (namely SMIL, and not the original MMPI) seem to me at least controversial.
Summary: There is no reliable data on the distribution of schizoids by industry / field of activity. From general considerations, it can be assumed that it will be determined by two principles: a tendency to abstraction (mathematicians, programmers, theologians) and the need for sufficient distance from others ("field professions" - surveyors, wildlife photographers, etc.).
Schizoid interface in general
Since relations in most companies and organizations, especially those with a flexible management structure with developed formal and informal horizontal ties, usually do not fit well into the “ bosses - subordinates - colleagues ” paradigm , I think it expedient to put some common, intersecting points into a separate subsection.
It is clear that schizoids are different, and the situations in which they find themselves can be significantly different, which results in very dissimilar reactions (of both schizoids and their environment), but some repetitive patterns can and should be tried to be identified.
Below I will try to describe a certain " schizoid interface of interaction with the outside world " in its most general form, but with an emphasis on professional relations.
Correctness and rationality
To my surprise, the clinical literature mentions the difficulty of characterological differential diagnosis between schizoid and obsessive-compulsive personalities.
The rationale is the tendency of both to declare the importance of such a concept as "correctness". But the content is different: for obsessive-compulsive individuals (very simplifying, almost losing the essence, but saving many pages of text) " correctness " is " orderliness ", and for schizoids it is " rationality ".
" What is unreasonable is wrong ."
It should only be remembered that the idea of this very " rationality " in a schizoid may differ from yours personally, and from "generally accepted ”(not to mention the fact that they are likely to be different for two different schizoids).
Even the most mature and " socially pumped " schizoids, who understand the limitations of this principle, still continue to use it. Many of them, in the process of working on themselves, are able to accept the importance of the irrational in a person's life only after they become familiar with the extremely rational arguments on this topic.
Honesty
Schizoids are usually honest with themselves and the world. First of all, I mean honesty about actions and their motivation. Many typically " neurotic " (in quotation marks - due to the ambiguity of the term) conflicts of the form " I want X, but this is unacceptable from the point of view of socio-cultural requirements " are incomprehensible to the schizoid, since the very value of observing socio-cultural rules and customs, especially not formalized in the form laws.
Often, the honesty of schizoids is discouraging: here there is criticism to the subordinates of their leader (including in the presence of third parties), and inappropriate signs of erotic attention, and an openly sarcastic attitude to rituals and procedures sacred to others.
Schizoids are not noble (more precisely, not all of them, this quality is not determined by schizoidism as such), here we are talking about a different type of honesty: this is not the honesty that will save you from betrayal, rather, it is the honesty that will make you blush.
Motivation
The motivation of the schizoid is built around three basic concepts: play , interest and correctness . Words, as is often the case, do not convey all the complexity of the phenomena behind them.
" Game " is a metaphor for security, in which the schizoid can actualize his own individualism. There is a conflict within the schizoid psyche, which is well supported by his individual experience of unconventional behavior.
On the one hand, he sees and feels his mental processes, which in subjective perception have the properties of authenticity and reality, on the other hand, he receives signals from the schizoid environment that the manifestations of these processes are strange, eccentric, eccentric, and even generally socially unacceptable.
" Game " process is the most natural and healthy way out of this conflict. And I'm not talking about gami cation as such, here an analogy with an experiment is probably better suited: the subject does something, this is something, perhaps no one has done it before ( not in general, but in the foreseeable surroundings ), respectively, no strict requirements for how this should happen (after all, nobody knows), and this makes spontaneous internal reactions legitimate.
That is why schizoids often love RnD (R&D) in all its forms and manifestations. In addition, the very aspect “ nobody did it”"Is important. But it is important not from the point of view of the narcissistic idea of one's own coolness and necessity, no, here is another thing: the exclusivity of a task can be an indirect indicator of its “ interestingness ”.
" Interesting ", as a rule, is not the task that gives the maximum profit with minimum effort (to the organization, the leader or the schizoid personally). An interesting problem is where the schizoid can legalize his penchant for " games with abstractions ."
Having a conflict around proximity and distance, the schizoid learns throughout his life intellectualization and rationalization - ways to set up many layers of reasoning, behind which, it seems, it will be possible to hide the original conflict.
Since the schizoid (long before getting his first job) has extensive experience in this matter, and this experience is often colored positively (abstractions make experiences less painful), he will have a natural and sincere desire to work with them.
Therefore, if you want to “ interest the schizoid in solving the problem ”, you need to appeal not to the profit, not to the company's mission, but to the internal properties of the problem, to its “ interestingness ” - as an opportunity in the process of solving “to combine the incompatible and implement the unrealizable ”.
Schizoids, in my opinion, are best amenable to methods of non-material incentives. But they are the people who will constantly say: “ why go to a corporate party, it would be better if they gave money"," What for this pool is in the office, it would be better if the salary was raised ", etc.
Of course, not all, but only those for whom the measures of non-material incentives adopted in the company do not coincide with the subjective idea of " correctness ".
However, if you find individually significant non-financial factors for this particular schizoid (two large monitors, N cores with M performance at a workstation, a helmet of a special shape and properties, a protective suit of at least X protection class, the ability to come to work half an hour or an hour later than everyone), then you can save a lot on the " schizoid payroll ".
« « » . , , , , , ».[1, . 231]
There is an opinion (supported, including by many schizoids) that the difficulties of schizoids motivate. This is not true. Although from the outside it looks exactly like that. It is necessary to solve a very difficult task, everyone refuses it in one way or another, and then there is a schizoid who not only does not sabotage, but actively asks for an opportunity to participate.
But this is not because schizoids are not afraid of difficulties (they are even more frightened than others), they just have their own scale for determining what is a difficulty and what is not. And not a " general schizoid scale ", but its own, individual for each schizoid.
Perhaps he is not afraid of writing a driver in perl, selling tampons to a male ITU or building a wooden skyscraper. After all, these are “ interesting tasks". But, behold, adhering to the dress code, reporting regularly, or wearing a badge can be overwhelming.
And not because it requires discipline (it is difficult to find a person more disciplined than an interested schizoid in his " sandbox "), as leaders and authors of books on characterology often assess this behavior.
The thing is that [in the subjective perception of a schizoid] these tasks are neither interesting nor " correct " (rational, but schizoid rationality needs to be discussed separately).
And if the difficulty in the " uninteresting and wrong " task somehow prevents the schizoid from realizing what he assesses as "interesting and / or correct ”, and at the same time external pressure is exerted on him, then here he is not far from decompensation.
Conflicts
Schizoids have two interesting properties: they do not like conflicts (as a rule, they are not afraid, namely, they do not like ) and they behave in them quite constructively (of course, if we evaluate them from the point of view of their own ideas about constructive behavior).
You rarely see a truly impulsive schizoid. As a rule, they try to " resolve the situation rationally ", which causes many problems, because among non-schizoids, conflicts are often a means of emotional release, getting emotional satisfaction, unraveling a tangle of incomprehensible emotions, a way to express their feelings.
In general, people often conflict on an emotional level (even if the reason is rational enough), and schizoids do not go to this level.
They do not understand such concepts as “loss of face "(in front of the manager, customers)," subordination in the conflict "," resentment "(more precisely, they are quite offended to themselves, but the content of their offense is different)," insult "and so on.
To call the leader / founder an " incompetent idiot " - for a spherical schizoid in a vacuum - is not an act of disobedience, this is an informational message, in response to which he expects not " who are you to talk to me like that ", but " ok, you say that I don’t understand something, give me a link to the documentation, I’ll figure it out ”and are very surprised when (almost always) they do not get such a reaction.
In general, schizoids have tasks / messagesdo not pass attribution by source (with the rare exception of messages from people whom schizoids consider deservedly authoritative, experts, so they are ready to forgive a lot): it does not matter who said , “ what is said ” is important .
Non-schizoid (especially antisocial, narcissistic and hysterical - and these are the ones who have a great chance of being in a leading position) personalities such a disregard for " source attribution " is perceived as a challenge and a signal to start a struggle for status, but the schizoid does not need this.
The schizoid needs to be " correct " and " reasonable". In this place, misunderstandings often arise and conflicts intensify. It is difficult for him to understand why he should give up his opinion or the form in which he wants to express it only because the interlocutor occupies a different position in the social hierarchy (after all, the thought is correct !).
Disadaptation / decompensation
A typical form of decompensation and subsequent maladjustment is an increase in the schizoid nature of the schizoid: he becomes more withdrawn, more and more oriented towards intrapsychic life, and not towards the outside world with its events and obligations.
Although, of course, this is not the only option. It is possible to add significant elements from maladjustment schemes for depressive, anxious, and, frankly, any other.
Broken plans, even if they seem quite insignificant to an outside observer, can cause a sufficiently serious " drawdown " of the schizoid, incl. and in terms of productivity at work.
If, when moving to a new office, the schizoid was promised blue curtains, but in fact they turned out to be green, this may already be enough to " break " him for a long enough period.
I will try to explain the logic, it is here: as I mentioned earlier, the entire personality of the schizoid is built around an internal conflict, which is hidden from him by the thickest blanket of psychic defenses, among which there is omnipotent control, and intellectualization connected with it is very interesting.
If we simplify everything to the level of an exaggerated description, the schizoid for normal functioning must believe that he will cope with his conflict, but he cannot believe (“ to believe ” is to a large extent to overcome the conflict), so he seeksnot to believe, but to know .
Know, incl. by planning and trying to calculate all possible options. Including the color of the curtains in the new workplace. And the unexpected curtains here are not just another piece of furniture, they are evidence of one's own inability to control (even such trifles), from which the feeling of openness from one's own conflict grows, and this is a chthonic horror that is difficult to cope with.
From this, by the way, another feature follows: most schizoids have extremely high overhead costs for switching between tasks .
Even if the very nature of the schizoid's duties involves working " in server mode"With the answers to incoming requests, you will most likely notice that, left to himself, the schizoid will try to build it into some more regular structure and will react extremely painfully when his abstract superstructure, for one reason or another, misses the chaos of the underlying system and make you touch it.
Ability to sabotage
Schizoids are capable of Italian strike, half-hearted work, and other forms of sabotage. But they do not like such forms of work: it is “ wrong ” and “ uninteresting ” (in general, in some cases, of course, the assessments may differ).
This is convenient because simplifies to some extent the solution of industrial conflicts with the participation of schizoids, but this is also dangerous, because there is a nonzero probability that the schizoid will perceive as one of the forms of protest the completely legitimate work of other employees.
In this case, he can begin to look for the reason for such behavior and, very likely, will find it.
Irrational rationality
Many schizoids like to emphasize that they are " reasonable ", " rational ", " use the scientific method " and in general in every possible way to demonstrate the presumption of the superiority of reason over emotions , rational over irrational and symbolic.
Often they have a good command of the techniques and templates of discussions on this topic, and can give the impression of people who have quite consciously chosen the " side of reason " and methodically adhere to it.
But there are few less rational people than low-awareness schizoids. These are exactly the people who " believe in science ." They are no less (if not more) superstitious, just their superstitions are shrouded in thick layers of rationalization.
"Let's restart the server, suddenly it will help "- in some cases this act is completely" magical "in its essence, but the schizoid who proposed this is very rarely recognized outside the very close circle of the same schizoids in the irrational nature of this act.
“ To the outside world ” will go lengthy, replete with technical details (often, the less the communication counterparty knows about the servers, the more low-level information he will receive) stories about how it was necessary. And not a word about the fact that it was an impulsive act, acting out aimed at dealing with anxiety for a while.
Often making fun of the superstitions generally accepted in this culture, schizoids create their own, not always recognizing them as such. The brightest example, known to everyone who has been using the Internet for a long time, is the famous Tambourine of the Admin . Served to society as a sign of metairony, he actually has a certain sacredness for the schizoid, although he is not ready to admit it.
But it is not only in the IT sphere that he works, wherever the schizoid is, he will gradually set up a certain amount of semi-magical semi-ritual actions.
Repetitions and rituals
And here we again return to the beginning and to the conversation that schizoids are sometimes confused with obsessive-compulsive personalities.
But, I repeat, these are different dynamics: for the schizoid, repetitions are like rocking for autists (at least, “ typical, cinema autists ”), like lulling for a child - a way to cope with disorganizing anxiety.
There is another typically schizoid trait: the desire to make the most of re-developed products / decisions made, etc.
Outwardly, it looks like a rigidity of thinking, but “ inside»Often has a different nature: many products of the schizoid's professional activity (or any other things / processes / symbols in which the schizoid invested a lot of work and intellectual resources) are of great value to him.
It can be difficult for him to live through the procedure of alienating the results of his labor to the end, and he wants them to be used again and again: on the one hand, for him it is a victory over the chaos of the outside world (through the creation of something permanent, applicable in variable circumstances), with the other is an external recognition of the value of his intellectual operations (playing with abstractions).
Schizoids and specifics
Getting a specific answer to a specific question from a schizoid can be very difficult. Acutely feeling all the fragility of human judgments, the limits of applicability of reasoning and their conventionality, as well as having a powerful charge of internal anxiety, schizoids tend to give out rather lengthy arguments of the form “ neither yes nor no, but under certain conditions - instead of" yes "or" no " be, and even then not a fact . "
Often they see contradictions in the very formulation of the questions [5, p. 115] (from myself I will add that often they do not think, and these contradictions really exist).
This property of schizoids can be both useful (catching a problem at the level of setting a task without spending a large amount on the implementation of obviously contradictory requirements is a valuable quality), and harmful to work (the knowledge of a schizoid expert can be difficult to transfer to other participants in the production process, incl. h. due to the tendency of schizoids to avoid specifics and certainty).
Risks in working with schizoids
To start with, here's a quote from the National Guide to Psychiatry:
“The social value of the schizoid personality is ambiguous: for some, all the forces, thoughts and energy are directed towards achieving goals that are alienated from reality (scholastics, impractical and unsociable armchair scientists), while others show remarkable energy and perseverance aimed at the revolutionary transformation of society (idealists, fanatics, despots), the third - collectors, art workers with an abstract orientation of creativity, engaged in the search for new forms. ”[10, p. 1173]
It can be difficult and incomprehensible for non-schizoid individuals to behave in a conflict: schizoids unambiguously declare their focus on a constructive solution to the issue:
"In conflict situations, they often behave rudely, cynically, sarcastic, aggressive, which easily makes them unpopular." [16, p. 414]Another feature of schizoids is a different from the " generally accepted " system of assessing the importance of work. The schizoid will greatly value the work that allows him to fulfill his " schizoid needs ", but exactly as long as this condition is met:
“[Schizoids can] suddenly quit because“ the job is no longer suitable for them. ”[1, p. 231]According to some authors,
"A schizoid can be unusually talented and he can bring considerable problems to teams, pulling on himself, on his ideas, concepts of several normally working workers." [14, p. 3]In general, there is some skepticism in the literature regarding the ability of schizoids to lead:
“Persons with a schizoid accentuation on organizational work can bring tension, nervousness into the system of interpersonal relations.” [14, p. 16]
Another opinion on the same topic:
“Consequences for the organization: the team seethes with ideas, various projects, but cyclically performed operations are overwhelmed; it becomes very difficult to lead, transmit orders vertically; the control loop for cyclically repeating operations is gradually destroyed. " [17]I myself do not agree with this assessment, and, without denying the possibility (and even high probability) of such a development of events, I would like to emphasize that it is not a consequence of schizoidism as such: an individual with any psychotype, being placed in suboptimal for conditions, will demonstrate, at best, low productivity, and at worst - to commit destructive actions.
It's just that the classical (especially in our country) management paradigm, based on the vertical of subordination and a large number of attribution signals (“the opinion of a manager is more valuable by default than an ordinary employee ”) is not suitable for schizoids.
« , , . , , , . , , ».[14, . 12]Carriers of other psychotypes feel more natural in a typical control structure, and that is why schizoids often look less advantageous against their background. However, if you place the schizoid in a suitable control system, he may well compete with any other characterological type.
The expediency of " building a system for schizoids " is a separate issue, the consideration of which is already beyond the scope of the topic of this text.
The value of the schizoid in labor relations
And again, as is often the case in the literature on schizoids, we can encounter a certain contradiction to the above:
“Among schizoids there are many independently and originally thinking scientists, philosophers, authors of sometimes talented and valuable scientific theories, who establish unexpected patterns.” [10, p. 1173]Some authors emphasize the ability of schizoids to work with people:
"Moderately schizoid individuals, in the presence of other professionally important qualities, are able to understand the client, show empathy, sincere interest, work, not particularly considering low earnings." [5]I believe that this ability is largely based on the experience of contact with what psychologists of psychodynamic schools call the " primary process " (a kind of equivalent to what is commonly known in our culture as the " unconscious ").
Not understanding people, schizoids sometimes understand them better than anyone else. And again, there is no paradox: it is enough just to define the term " understanding " - the schizoid sees deep processes in a person, which he himself may not notice, he (the schizoid) is to some extent able to predict the development of these processes and notice their origins.
What he does not understand is how psychic defenses work, and why the communication counterpart himself does not notice what seems obvious to the schizoid.
In almost any source devoted to the schizoid character, you can find a mention of creativity. In this sense, I like McWilliams' wording:
“The most adaptive and exciting ability of schizoid individuals is their creativity. Most truly original artists have a strong schizoid radical, almost by definition, as they have to resist and reinvigorate the routine. A healthier schizoid will direct his valuable qualities into art, scientific research, theoretical development, spiritual research. The more disturbed individuals of this category are in their personal hell, where their potential abilities are absorbed by fear and detachment. ”[3]In general, the strengths of schizoids lie in their high ability to observe and objective critical thinking, deep focus on the task [16, p. 413], predisposition to talents [18], intangible motivation for activity [17], the ability to effectively use in their activities and in thinking, relatively opposite metaprograms [17].
Schizoids in labor and commercial relations
Having considered the main features of schizoids in the framework of labor interactions, I propose to move on to separate cases.
Schizoid as a colleague
With an inner conflict over proximity and distance, the schizoid counterpart is very likely to keep aloof. Some will use overcompensation and formally participate in kitchen get-togethers and corporate parties, but they are fairly easy to distinguish by their " strange " and confusing / Spanish shame behavior (not an exceptional trait, but common).
The good thing about the schizoid colleague is that it can be used as a layer of abstraction over complex problems. Especially if you add a little not too obvious manipulations, indicating to him that this is the part of the work he will do best, because it is complex and unusual.
Need to write a server for Android on Powershell? Perhaps the most schizoid member of your team will take on this task.
It is required to organize an advertising campaign for the sale of snow to the Eskimos, everyone understands the absurdity of the task, but it came from a person who cannot be denied?
Explain to the schizoid all the complexity, uniqueness and unusualness of the task, tell him that no one has done anything like this before, and after a while you will have several prototypes on hand.
The schizoid can really dive deep enough into the issue and give out a very original (and not always impossible / unacceptable) solution to the problem. At the same time, you do not even have to be its leader - neither direct, nor operational, nor in general somehow be " higher " in the corporate hierarchy.
In this sense, the schizoid colleague somewhat resembles a child: he needs to be interested in a suitable “ toy". If this can be done, the motivation will be much stronger than that which a direct order or order can provide.
Its second advantage for the team is some disregard (for different schizoids it will be in varying degrees and in different spheres) the accepted unwritten rules, and therefore it can be effectively used with its hands in implementing changes that are not the most pleasant for the team.
If you need to implement ACS or DLP, schizoids are great as performers. They will effectively resist the general resistance that often arises when implementing such projects.
If the leader wants to show some degree of Machiavellianism and bring down the dissatisfaction of the team with this project, the schizoid is a suitable candidate for this role. There is only one problem: the schizoid must have some kind of intrinsic motivation, why does he personally need it (for example, "it is interesting to deal with a new technically complex system " is a very good example of this).
It is important for a schizoid employee to have his own " sandbox " within a division / unit / department / squad, etc. at your level. Even when it comes to teamwork, the schizoid will try to single out a separate subtask for himself, which he will consider “ truly his own ” [16, p. 413].
He has a need for autonomy, and if he is even slightly interested in the work he does, this need can be realized in the most natural way for a schizoid by giving him the opportunity to deal with the most unusual / difficult / atypical / original tasks. He considers
such a " sandbox " to be his " fiefdom " - on the one hand, he jealously guards against interference, on the other, he proudly demonstrates to those who are really interested in understanding how everything works there (as a rule, to the same schizoids). He is ready to invest a truly inhuman effort to ensure that everything is “ right ” in this sandbox (in his subjective opinion, of course).
Leaders do not always provide a sandbox"For a schizoid, and here colleagues can help him (at the same time saving himself from unnecessary difficulties). You should not think that he will take on " all the unpleasant work ", but it is reasonable to expect that part of the work that you find difficult, disturbing, incomprehensible, etc. will be really interesting to a schizoid colleague.
The very nature of the operations does not matter, what matters is that the performance of this work gives the schizoid (at least in his own eyes, this is enough) a certain sense of " specialty ". And the possibility of " playing " - the use of original and non-standard (to the point of absurdity) solutions.
Schizoids do not tolerate participation in informal activities if they do not see the meaning in them. Throw in a gift to the manager? Go to a cleanup? In general, you are likely to encounter serious resistance if you offer something like a schizoid colleague.
But the point here is not that “ he does not feel, such a bastard , that he is a part of the team ” (although, perhaps, this is so), but that for the schizoid, motivation is built to a high degree through the realization of the “ meaningfulness ” of operations / goals ...
The problem will arise where you try to explain this meaningfulness from the point of view of your (or public, corporate) values: for him such words are an empty phrase, buzzwords, or even bullshit in general.
Here we begin to get a little closer to the next section on managing schizoids, but something can be done at the level of horizontal connections: try to explain how targeted (for you) activity will positively affect the schizoid 's sandbox .
Schizoid as a subordinate
Schizoids have a reputation for being difficult to manage, causing problems for employees. Part of the reason is that the usual system of orders and orders is not fully available for their comprehension.
From the inside, an order that does not like (more precisely, is " absurd ", " stupid ", " wrong " or simply " insufficiently aesthetic " from his point of view) to a schizoid looks something like this: " some stupid person with big stars / letters wants to break my beautiful world in which everything is harmonious. He is either an enemy or a fool (which is more often) who does not understand anything . "
It is quite difficult to convey to the schizoid the idea that from the position of leadership (especially top management) the situation may look completely different from how he sees it, and that from a " higher-level point of view " his " sandbox " is what interferes solve business problems (in cases where this is the case).
Business education is of little help. Such " pumped-up " schizoids often use the knowledge gained not to look at their actions and decisions in a broader context, but to " fit " their own desire to " play in the sandbox " in this broader context.
Such a person will insist that in a new Java project, it is imperative to use assembler inserts, and competitive analysis, of course, cannot be built without using a dozen neural network models.
However, I do not want the reader to get a false impression of schizoids as uncontrollable selfish infantile scumbags. They are highly negotiable, just remember that they are using "a different system of values, conclusions and signals ."
Your " opexes with capexes " may not mean anything to a schizoid, but if you translate them into understandable and interesting formulations (" as a result of this, we will pay you three hundred TPU rent "), he will become quite accommodating.
By the way, in some situations, translation is required the other way around - when tensor accelerators will be an empty sound for a schizoid (not all schizoids are “computer geeks”), and at the level of “ opex-capex ” everything will become simple and clear.
It is quite useless to appeal both to the values and tasks of the department / company, and to the mercantile interests of the schizoid subordinate. Neither the phrase that “ this is a new era for all of us ”, nor the sentence “ let us raise you personally if you do this and that ” may not have any effect.
The schizoid has a certain autonomous scale of " correctness - incorrectness " of actions, and the easiest way to really convey something to him is to show " correctness»This something within the given scale.
“ Why such difficulties? - the reader will ask me a logical question - there are a lot of them behind the fence, both schizoid and non-schizoid. "
And to the fact that in schizoids with sufficient intellectual development (but for them, if you do not take clinical cases, this is usually not very bad with this) and you can get an employee who works with motivation and interest, which is not observed by every owner.
If the schizoid really does a certain area of work as his " sandbox ", " strange things " may begin to happen there , but rest assured, he will do everything to make the system (technical, managerial) work and work " correctly ." Absolutely "not sparing his belly, ”honestly and [often] almost disinterestedly.
Schizoids literally die like professionals under the influence of toxic rays of micromanagement and actively progress not in courses and seminars, but in a combat situation, when they are entrusted with complex tasks.
They may be afraid of responsibility, but they usually do it well, and the environment that gives them both “ interesting and right ” challenges allows them to show wonders of the speed of development in the profession.
If you need to " close the schizoid " block of " boring routine ", you can do it. And get a large number of errors, low motivation, and even sabotage.
But you can do a little more cunning: to set the schizoid task is notto clean up the stables ", but" to make sure that they are not polluted, and if they are, they would be cleaned by themselves, by the forces of some magic . " Don't forget to explicitly state the safety of the horses as a boundary condition.
And, without moving on to frank micromanagement, sometimes (sincerely, if possible) take an interest in what is happening with the schizoid in his sandbox:
"To compensate for the tendency of" falling out "periodically conduct unobtrusive support and guidance sessions." [1, p. 231]
Schizoid as a leader
In general, since external attribution, including insignia and job titles, is not as important to schizoids as it is to some other personality types (antisocial, epileptoid, hysterical), they rarely engage in a full-fledged career race.
However, a schizoid may well become the leader of a group of specialists or some kind of department in which those " interesting and correct " tasks are being solved. Simply because he will be motivated not so much by the salary and the inscription on the office door, but by this office itself (open spaces are not for schizoids, it is difficult to be with oneself there) and respect from the same schizoid colleagues.
Schizoid leaders have one significant drawback arising from the very property of schizoid conflict: being afraid of intimacy and avoiding communication, as well as having a successful experience of avoiding all this through the construction of additional layers of abstractions, such a leader is likely to generate a " high-tech bureaucracy " [19] ...
Declaring a dislike for bureaucracy as such, a schizoid will most likely try to " build processes ." If he has the appropriate skills and experience, a fairly productive and intelligent structure can be obtained. But if they are not there, the resulting system will serve, basically, one purpose - to protect the schizoid leader from contact with subordinates.
On the other hand, if most of the subordinates are also quite pronounced schizoids, such a system will be effective within the department / division, since it will create comfortable conditions for everyone.
In addition, it is the schizoid leader who can obtain high enough informal authority to motivate other schizoids.
Schizoid as a partner in business
The schizoid as a partner can be valuable in that he is able to find very non-standard solutions and bypass the boundary conditions of the problems that arise before the business. His main danger is that he can start " building a space starship " where it is enough to simply rent a minibus.
The desire to " do it once and for all " can harm the project, and it can be difficult for a schizoid to realize this for the reasons stated above.
On the other hand, sufficiently mature schizoids can be useful in that they have overcome their focus on technical excellence of the solutions being developed, and if your business is sufficiently knowledge-intensive (or is simply largely tied to complex technical solutions and systems), the schizoid founder can effectively conduct schizoid team through her pursuit of " art for art " to the process of making money.
Schizoid as a freelancer / outsourcer
It would seem that freelancing / outsourcing / consulting is an ideal environment for a schizoid: in these areas it is easier to become an abstract function for other people - no one looks at the schizoid himself, everyone looks at what result he gives out for his hourly (for example) rate.
This situation is convenient for many schizoids, and those of them who were able to realize themselves in one of the above areas, as a rule, are quite effective, and they feel quite well.
However, there is a second, unpleasant and difficult side for the schizoid in this configuration of labor relations: the need to compete and sell... The schizoid is not afraid of competition and does not suffer from it by itself. The problem is different: the way a schizoid considers it necessary to show himself to the market does not always correspond to the expectations of this very market.
Selling is, among other things, the transmission of specially designed signals. You can treat all these differently " not cheap, but profitable ", " not budget, but economical " and other examples of " smoothing signals " (he specially took the most exaggerated ones), but for a schizoid they are not always clear, and he simply does not uses.
Here, honesty"Schizoids, and their desire to do everything in their own way (" and I say: let's say frankly that our product is cheap for the poor, even if they buy it, there are a lot of them "), and the lack of recognition of authorities (sometimes even supported by experience, and sometimes direct rejection of the results of correctly conducted research).
The schizoid may have a high value as a professional, but very often he needs an agent / manager for this value to be reflected in the amounts of fees.
Schizoid as a target audience
Here I would like to emphasize one interesting and contradictory (like the schizoids themselves) feature of the schizoid target audience: you will not find people more skeptical, aggressive, rigid and reluctant to accept your product / service than schizoids to whom you will try to aggressively sell him / her.
But there is no one more loyal, no one who is more willing to forgive the flaws of production / distribution / marketing, than schizoids who, for some reason, recognized your product as valuable.
Sometimes it is the result of spontaneous psychological and social processes, less often it is the result of skillful positioning.
The schizoid is not a very simple object for marketing research: he will demonstrate skepticism and non-conformism even in relation to those phenomena and characteristics that he would like.
Here the system works the other way around: here attribution to the source does not work insufficiently, but excessively: “it does not matter what they offer me, it is important that they offer me something that I didn’t ask for, that means something is bad ”.
Schizoids are very sensitive to intrusion into their personal space, and a special enmity (sometimes reaching outright hatred) is caused by an attempt to " sell them something gradually ."
Although correct guerrilla marketing works great for them. That's why they don't like him.
Denying the influence of authorities, schizoids listen quite strongly to their opinion. And again, the solution is simple: usually we are talking about different authorities.
But if you understand the schizoid dynamics and can predict who exactly and why can promote your product in schizoid circles (I think all sorts of IT evangelists went from here), you can reasonably count on success.
conclusions
Schizoids can be quite a valuable resource for solving many production and management problems. The most important thing is to remember that their view of the world can be very different from yours personally, as well as from the " generally accepted " one. " Everyone knows that ", " obviously " and other similar categories do not work with schizoids.
However, the ability to understand that Others are different, some experts even include in the list of criteria for mental health .
It can be difficult with schizoids, but this complexity, it is mutual: a situation that may look like "a schizoid generates difficulties from scratch " is usually more complex and is more accurately described by the phrase "there is no communication between two (or more) individuals . "
Their actions, thoughts and feelings have their own internal logic, which is quite understandable for understanding, and in some cases, studying it may well pay off: you will get a motivated and loyal employee, your brand ambassador in the target group, etc. benefits.
Literature
1. Miller, L. (2006). Practical police psychology: stress management and crisis intervention for law enforcement. Springfield, Ill: Charles C Thomas.
2. Mcwilliams, Nancy. (2006). Some Thoughts about Schizoid Dynamics. Psychoanalytic review. 93.1-24. 10.1521 / prev.2006.93.1.1.
3. McWilliams N. Psychoanalytic diagnostics. Understanding the structure of personality in the clinical process. / Per. from English - M .: Independent firm "Class", 2001. - 480 p. - (Library of Psychology and Psychotherapy, issue 49)
4. Tirapu Ustárroz J, Pérez Sayes A, Calvo R, Mata I. Proposal of a dimensional model of personality disorders. Actas Espanolas de Psiquiatria. 2005 Jul-Aug; 33 (4): 254-262.
5. Filippova G. P. Improving the professionalism of social workers, taking into account their personal characteristics. - M .: RAGS, 1998 .-- 169 p.
6.V.T. FARITOV. PERSONAL PSYCHOTYPES AND ACCENTUATION OF CHARACTER IN PHILOSOPHY. Collection IN MEMORIAM: GEORGY FEDOROVICH MIRONOV: collection in memory of G.F. Mironov - Ulyanovsk: UlSTU, 2019 .-- 283 p. ISBN 978-5-9795-1920-3 7. Sass, LA (1992). Madness and modernism: Insanity in the light of modern art, literature, and thought. Basic Books.
8. Distribution of types of students' character accentuations by specialties of training. A.V. Nekhoroshkov In the collection: Almanac of the Kazan Federal University. 2016.S. 146-151.
9. Kopteva N.V. Three images of the non-incarnate Self // Psychology. Historical and critical reviews and modern research. 2020.Vol. 9.No. 2A. S. 118-126. DOI: 10.34670 / AR.2020.60.24.013
10. Ed. Yu.A. Alexandrovsky, N.G. Neznanova. Psychiatry. National leadership. 2018. ISBN: 978-5-9704-4462-7
11. Stoimenov Y. A., Stoimenova M. Y., Koeva P. Y. et al. Psychiatric Encyclopedic Dictionary. - K .: "MAUP", 2003. - 1200 p. - ISBN 966-608-306-X.
12. Leonhard Karl. Accentuated personalities .- Kiev: Vishcha school, 1981 .- 392s.
13. Lichko A.E. Accentuation of character as a concept in psychiatry and medical psychology. // Review of psychiatry and medical psychology named after VM Bekhterev. - SPb .: 1993, No. 1
14. Konyukhov, N. I. Schizoid:?! Publishing house: DeLi plus .; 2011; 352 s. ISBN: 978-5-905170-03-4
15.L.N. Sobchik. A standardized multifactorial personality research method. - SPb .: Speech. 2003 .-- 219 p. ISBN: 5-9268-0033-1
16. (2018). Advances in human factors, business management and leadership: proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conferences on Human Factors in Business Management and Leadership, and Business Management and Society, July 17-21, 2017, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los angeles, California, USA ... Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
17. Konyukhov Nikolai Ignatievich. Psychoeconomics. 2014.760 pp. 58 illustrations. Electronic version.
18. Zakirova, AG & Perepelicyn, AP ... (2019). MODERNIZATION OF THE SYSTEM TALENT MANAGEMENT AND IMPACT ON THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT. THE KAZAN SOCIALLY-HUMANITARIAN BULLETIN. 10.26-30. 10.24153 / 2079-5912-2019-10-1-26-30.
19. De Vries, MFRK, & Miller, D. (1986). Personality, Culture, and Organization. The Academy of Management Review, 11 (2), 266.doi: 10.2307 / 258459