The 4 Unproductive Personality Types According To Erich Fromm
Since psychology began, a multitude of proposals have appeared to classify personality types.
Some with more scientific endorsement, others that have more creative work behind them that contrasts with reality, the criteria used to find different types of people vary so much that personality systems can be created designed to cover practically any need.
An example of this is the theory of The 4 types of unproductive personality devised by Erich Fromm
We recommend: “Erich Fromm: biography of a humanist psychoanalyst”
As one of the pioneers of humanistic philosophy applied to psychology, Erich Fromm believed that personal development consists of fighting to gain one’s autonomy while creating bonds of unity with others and their life projects. So, True productivity only appears when we relate the tasks we perform with the conquest of our own freedom
That is, it is born from the moment in which we adopt a sincere commitment to the objectives to be achieved, a fact that only happens when this goal has a meaning that we relate to our own growth.
This implies, for example, that productivity is for Fromm much more than the simple performance of the greatest amount of work in the minimum possible time, but rather that It has rather to do with the way in which we embrace certain tasks to incorporate them into our own philosophy of life
Starting from this conception of productivity, Erich Fromm described some personality types that he called unproductive He gave them this name because, as personality types, they pigeonhole human beings in a comfortable situation in which it is very easy to avoid responsibilities and delay indefinitely the achievement of objectives related to personal development and the conquest of one’s own autonomy.
These personality types present characteristics that are valued as positive, but, nevertheless, They are not characterized simply by being undesirable Erich Fromm did not shy away from expressing the contradictions embodied in different ways of life, and that is why he also identified some positive characteristics in each of these aspects of personality.
Therefore, if these forms of personality deserve to be labeled as “unproductive” it is because some of their negative characteristics make us prone to falling into undesirable work dynamics.
Related article: “10 excuses that unproductive people always use”
Unproductive personality types are as follows
1. The merchant
Mercantile people turn their philosophy of life into selling their own image They aim to climb socially thanks to their aesthetics and the social level reflected in their way of speaking, dressing, walking, etc. They turn themselves into a brand to sell through a lifelong self-promotion campaign.
This personality type is unproductive because much of their work is simply focused on speculate on the value associated with your image
However, these types of people also have desirable characteristics, such as their motivation and their ability to direct their efforts toward long-term projects.
People defined by this type of personality have, according to Fromm, a propensity to use a good part of the things they find for their own benefit , regardless of who produced them or to whom they belong. That is, they do not see much importance in earning what helps them achieve their short-term goals.
Although this characteristic is negative, they also show desirable properties, such as self-confidence, judgment, and initiative.
3. The receptive
People who show the receptive personality type would be characterized, according to Erich Fromm, by have a good capacity for acceptance and tend to dedicate themselves selflessly to their tasks However, they also tend to be passive and conformist, in addition to preferring to flee from conflicts and the confrontation of ideas.
They show ease in legitimizing the current state of things, no matter how harmful and unfair it may be, and they can also transform work teams into a sounding board in which the leader’s ideas are always received with approval, even if they are tremendously bad.
4. The accumulator
Hoarders are prone to a materialistic mentality. in which even the people around us (friends, family, etc.) are seen as resources in themselves. That is why individuals defined by this personality type highly value the “possession” of socially and economically well-off friends, and accumulate these types of assets to make their value become their own.
The positive aspect of this type of people is that they are very oriented towards achieving goals and obtaining clear results, in addition to avoiding unnecessary expenditure of resources.
This part of Erich Fromm’s theory can be applied to a large number of organizations and work teams, since refers to aspects of personality that may be present in professionals in any field
However, to fully understand the way in which Fromm understood the nature of these traits, it is good to delve into the work of this author, since the philosophical and psychoanalytic background of this author makes it difficult to separate this part of his ideas from all his theoretical legacy.
