Because they hide their personalities and shun publicity, we know relatively little about them. You’ve probably met a few highly analytic accountants, scientists and engineers, but they don’t reveal much of themselves, and hardly any of them are famous. People magazine doesn’t write about them (and they’d be horrified if it did).
Two primarily, but not extremely, analytic people were history’s greatest physicists, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. They were both socially inept loners who paid little attention to anything except theories and ideas. Einstein was also warm and friendly, while Newton was aggressive and nasty. Einstein married, but Newton never married, avoided women, and may have died a virgin. There is even a debate about whether one or both had Asberger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.
Three more extreme examples are fictional characters, and two of them are from another planet, Spock and Data of “Star Trek.” Both had no emotions. The other is Joe Friday of “Dragnet.” He would listen with a bored, cynical look on his face while people talked about feelings and told personal stories; then he would say, “Just give me the facts.”
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
They are more comfortable with ideas, facts, numbers or things, than they are with people. They don’t understand or like emotions and try to avoid them. They suppress their own emotions and ignore or minimize other people’s. They are shy, aloof, impersonal, and uncommunicative.
They avoid personal conflicts and may even neglect important problems if they believe that trying to solve them could create personal conflicts. However, they are often very good at resolving impersonal conflicts. Instead of reacting emotionally by fighting or yielding, they objectively analyze the situation. If the facts disagree with their position, they don’t feel hurt or threatened. They just change their position.
They tend to be observers rather than doers.
They like order and predictability. Their desks, homes, offices and checkbooks are neatly arranged, and they often have tightly controlled routines and schedules. This need for order is a major reason for avoiding people. People aren’t as orderly and predictable as theories, numbers or machines.
They dislike and ignore emotions, partly because they are too “messy.” Their lack of emotions turns off most people. They are seen as cold and uncaring, a justified perception.
They often enter fields that require objective, impersonal analysis, such as chemistry, physics, engineering, mechanics, mathematics, accounting, statistics, and computer science. They enjoy this work and relate best to the analytic people who choose those careers.
They are independent, but in a different way from aggressives. Instead of rebelling against authority, they accept the impersonal authority of rules and procedures (at least those that make sense to them). But they dislike and avoid anyone who tries to control them directly.
They tend to be quiet, and many of them are low-reactors. They don’t say much, nor do they communicate their thoughts and feelings by their voice, gestures, and facial expressions. Some people are so disturbed by their lack of reactions that they talk too much or take extreme positions trying to force a reaction.
I learned that lesson the hard way. When I was a professor, I lectured to some Swiss bankers. Previous audiences had reacted well to this lecture, laughing, smiling, and nodding their heads, but this group just sat there, frozen-faced, arms and legs crossed, revealing nothing.
I started to perspire. My voice got louder, my delivery faster, my hand gestures more extreme. I ad-libbed, told exaggerated stories, and threw in every joke I could think of.
Nothing! They sat there like a bunch of statues.
As I was packing up my things, wondering what I had done wrong, a man came up and said, “Professor Schoonmaker, you were so funny we could hardly keep from laughing.”
I stared at him, absolutely flabbergasted. “Then why didn’t you laugh?” He replied, “Swiss bankers would never laugh at a professor’s lecture; it just isn’t done.”
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THEM
They can be hard to recognize because they give so little information. You must often infer that they are analytics from what you don’t see or hear. If you don’t see any reactions, they are probably analytic.
You may feel that they aren’t really there because they don’t want to impress you, defeat you, or become your friend. Their clothes, words, and body language say, “Leave me alone.”
Their offices, desks, and homes are often extremely neat. There may be nothing personal on their walls, no pictures, no awards, nothing. It’s as if you’re in a hotel room or a temporary office.
When shaking hands, they stay far away and minimize contact. Instead of squeezing to show their power or holding closely to be friendly, they barely touch your hand before pulling theirs away.
HOW OTHERS SEE THEM
Because they frustrate most people’s needs for reactions, they are often seen as cold, uncaring, and, of course, unresponsive.
HOW THEY SEE THEMSELVES
They don’t see themselves as cold. They believe that they are logical, analytic, objective, realistic, and reasonable. They regard their lack of responsiveness as a virtue; instead of reacting quickly and emotionally as others do, they have self-control.
FEARS
Extremely analytic people are afraid of intimacy, personal conflict, emotions, and unpredictability. When people push too hard, get too close, or make personal demands, they may become desperate to get away. They just want to be left alone.
Their fears of unpredictability and becoming friendly or aggressive are closely linked. If someone is friendly or aggressive, they can’t predict what will happen, which can really scare them.
HIDDEN QUESTION
Are you logical and rational? (Or are you one of those emotional people?) Aggressives’ tough emotions and friendlies’ tender ones disturb them. They would much rather relate as computer to computer than as person to person.
ATTITUDES TOWARD PEOPLE
They generally avoid relationships, especially with friendly or aggressive people. They don’t want anyone to get close to them or try to control them. They regard aggressive people as “bullies” and friendly ones as “clingers.” They are most comfortable with analytic people because they make so few demands upon each other.
Of course, even extremely analytic people need some affection, but their coldness generally prevents them from getting it. Most people don’t like them, even if they respect their intellects or other qualities. Even the few who do like them may be reluctant to show it because they are afraid of rejection. Who wants to be affectionate to someone who gives back so little? When analytic people don’t get affection, they usually pretend and may even believe that they don’t want it.
They dislike conflicts, but – unlike friendlies – they don’t deny them. Nor do they mimic aggressive people and create or personalize conflicts. They see themselves as realists and accept that conflicts are inevitable. But they minimize the personal elements and focus on the facts. They try to resolve conflicts, not with friendliness or power tactics, but with facts and objective analysis. For example, instead of face-to-face bargaining about a car’s price, they would rather conduct careful research and buy it online.
STRENGTHS
Objectivity and analytical ability are their greatest strengths. They can be cool and analytic, even when others become emotionally irrational.
Their attention to detail is a huge asset. They rarely make careless mistakes.
They prepare thoroughly for almost everything, presentations, sales calls, serious negotiations, restaurant choices, even sex. I’m not kidding. Some of them prepare for sex the way you and I would plan a barbeque.
WEAKNESSES
Their greatest weakness is their discomfort and insensitivity about people. They are so aloof and insensitive that many people regard them as cold and uncaring, almost inhuman.
They often ignore essential, but “irrational” aspects of relationships such as small talk and hospitality.
They are insensitive about people’s motives and emotions. They often miss signals, including quite obvious ones, because they really don’t care what you want or feel. They care only about objective facts and figures.
Although thorough preparation is valuable, it has negative effects. They may refuse to consider alternatives that they haven’t thoroughly researched. Their thorough preparation also makes them predictable, which can enable manipulative people to exploit them.
Their excessive need for predictability has another negative effect. Planning everything can turn people off. Most of us want some spontaneity, especially about personal issues such as sex.
Dr. Al Schoonmaker
Would you like to read more of my blogs? Just click HERE.
Please share this blog with your contacts by clicking on the appropriate icon.
Do you have a question or comment about this blog, poker psychology, oR other psychological subjects? Just click HERE.
Your family and friends have relationship problems. Help them by forwarding this blog or clicking on an icon.
