This document discusses the temperament dimensions of judging and perceiving. It defines judging as preferring order, structure and planning ahead, while perceiving involves flexibility, spontaneity and adapting as situations change. The document provides examples of how differences in these temperaments can cause conflicts in relationships, recovery work, and jobs. It suggests interventions like perceivers setting deadlines and judgers leaving room for spontaneity to help people with opposing temperaments collaborate effectively.

1. Relationships
Judging and Perceiving
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes PhD, LPC-MHSM, LMHC, NCC
Executive Director, AllCEUs
Host, Counselor Toolbox
President, Recovery and Resilience International

2.  Define temperament
 Examine how knowing your temperament and
the temperament of those around you can
 Improve communication
 Enhance relationships
 Reduce stress
 Explore in-depth the Judging/Perceiving dimension
 Identify potential conflicts
 Examine potential ways to help people on opposite
ends of the spectrum collaborate.
Objectives

3. Temperament
 A relatively stable set of traits referring to
 Preferred environments
 Learning and problem solving styles and methods
 Ways of conceptualizing and approaching the world
 Philosophical approach to the world
 Time management
 Temperament occurs along a complementary
continuum
 Neither end of the continuum is better or worse
 Most people are somewhere in between each point

4. Temperament
 When identifying preferences a Likert scale is used.
 Being extreme (a 1 or a 5) on any dimension indicates a lack
of flexibility on that dimension
 ACT can be very useful at helping people manage their stress
and become more psychologically flexible
 As stress increases, people gravitate toward their preferred
temperament dimensions
 Additional stress and vulnerabilities can be through
 Awareness of personal preferences (Prevent your stress)
 Awareness of the preferences of those around you
 Knowledge of how to create an environment supportive of individual
preferences

5. Temperament
Judging Perceiving
 Plan ahead
 Thrive on order
 Adapt as they go
 Thrive on spontaneity
 Potential Problems
 Relationships
 Recovery
 Work

6. Interventions
 Plan spontaneous days
 Try to make your work environment as conducive to your
temperament as possible
 Encourage the Perceiver to create “To-Do” lists for chores,
work goals, treatment plans
 Encourage the Judger to not get so caught up in planning that
they miss opportunities to live
 Perceivers are good to have on your team when things don’t go
as planned because they can punt (car breaks down)
 Judgers need to have a plan B & C for important things
 Perceivers handle new situations well, judgers need to plan for
the stress

7. Temperament
Judging Perceiving
 Self disciplined and purposeful
 Get things done early. Plan ahead
& work steadily.
 Time and deadline oriented
 Flexible and tolerant
 Get things done at the last minute
depending on spurt of energy
 Always think there’s plenty of
time (Deadlines are a suggestion)
 Potential Problems
 Relationships
 Recovery
 Work

8. Interventions
 Judger’s may need to be aware that sometimes deadlines don’t
get met when juggling multiple balls
 Perceivers need to remember that at a certain point, things
need to be done because you cannot always count on that spurt
of energy.
 Judgers can “hack” a perceivers time schedule by asking for
something important to be done early (Note: This can be
habituated)
 If things start to get oppressively structured for the perceiver
he/she needs to speak up.
 Judgers need tools to handle stress when things don’t go as
planned
 Perceivers need to schedule in spontaneity if the situation is
too structured (i.e. treatment, work)

9. Temperament
Judging Perceiving
 Define and work within limits  Want more information
 Potential Problems
 Relationships (Example: Vacations)
 Recovery (Example: Working on their treatment plan)
 Work (Example: Getting a project or report done)

10. Interventions
 Judgers may get hemmed in by their own limits.
Encourage them to be open to new information
within a time frame.
 What I planned to do…
 The way we have always done it…
 Perceivers may have difficulty getting started.
Encourage them to set a deadline.
 Presents, vacations, home improvement
 Beginning treatment, choosing a sponsor/coach, starting
back to work

11. Temperament
Judging Perceiving
 Thinks those preferring
spontaneity are too
unpredictable
 Think that those who are not
spontaneous are too rigid
 Potential Problems
 Relationships
 Recovery
 Work

12. Interventions
 Encourage each person to embrace but respect
the strengths of the other one’s temperament.
 Remember that as stress increases, people
become more entrenched in their temperament.
 Spontaneity totally overwhelms the Judger (“I need it
by Friday 2pm”)
 Planning and getting organized overwhelms the
Perceiver (“I’ll get to it as soon as I can”)

13. Temperament
Judging Perceiving
 Excellent planners. May not
appreciate or make use of things
which are not planned or
expected
 Maybe hasty in making decisions
 Good at handling unplanned
events, but may not make
effective choices among the
possibilities.
 May fail to make decisions
 Potential Problems
 Relationships
 Recovery
 Work

14. Interventions
 In recovery failure to make decisions is a quick
road to relapse
 Judgers generally have a very thorough relapse
prevention plan but need skills to handle
unplanned events. (Sponsor relapses)
 In relationships perceivers need to be given
deadlines to make decisions and can present the
possibilities to the Judger to make the final
decision (Example: Vacations)
 Perceivers are excellent brainstormers

15.  Judging and perceiving refers to how people manage
their time and arrange their daily lives
 As with all temperament dimensions, being somewhere
in the middle often means the person is more
adaptable.
 Judgers are very dependable and structured but can
seem boring or rigid to perceivers
 Perceivers are very creative and adaptable but may
have a harder time at behavior change because they
resist structure.
 Perceivers
Summary

16.  Each person is often a combination of some Judging and
some Perceiving characteristics
 Knowing your own preferences can help you reduce
your own vulnerabilities and stress
 Knowing the preferences of your friends, family,
coworkers can help you understand more about how to
interact in harmony with them
 Just like two people with depression may have different
“symptoms,” two Judgers may have different Judging
traits.
Summary

17. Summary
 Quick Assessment
 Do you need to plan most things?
 Which stresses you more spontaneity or routine?
 Do you make decisions easily or always wonder what
other information is out there?