文章|16人格

在本系列文章的第六部分中，我们讨论了如何让小说作品更广泛地吸引不同性格类型的读者。在本期中，我们将从学术和技术的角度来探讨读者的性格特征与他们对所读小说的偏好之间的关联。

在我们继续之前，重要的是要承认，没有任何东西可以保证吸引每个具有特定性格类型的人——无论是小说还是其他什么。有些人的偏好超出了他们类型的常态，所以假设绝对的是不明智的。

但好消息是，我们已经进行了几项信息丰富的调查，了解不同性格的人对小说的看法。这些调查旨在启发而不是限制作家利用自己的才华和想象力创作出作品。我们将分享一些事实数据——但如何处理这些数据则由每位作家自行决定。

方法与偏好

性格类型方法论与该类型个人的偏好之间存在差异。同类型的人可能有不同的偏好，而不同类型的人可能以不同的方式对待共同的偏好。

将读者的性格驱动方法分为不同类型群体比猜测他们潜在的个人偏好更能增加小说作品的吸引力。让我们考虑一下不同性格类型的人在实现同一目标时可能会有何不同。

示例：建筑师 (INTJ) 和艺人 (ESFP) 都关心濒危蜜蜂的困境。他们想要针对他们认为的关键问题采取一些措施，但他们的方法不同。

这位建筑师在社会上保持保守和知识分子，拥抱研究和事实，撰写关于栖息地恢复的有说服力的博客，谴责有害产品和做法。它们提供与其他活动团体和蜜蜂友好企业的链接，通过令人信服的逻辑论据在社交媒体上吸引人们，激发人们采取行动。

艺人性格外向、注重行动，喜欢与人接触。他们找到了一家非营利组织，负责举办当地筹款活动、进行栖息地恢复并提供教育实地考察。他们以超凡的魅力和亲身实践的能量激励他人，维持持续的合作行动。

假设一位作者构思了一个故事，其背后的信息是鼓励积极的行动主义，背景是一家环境慈善机构。为了扩大其吸引力，作者选择了不同的角色——建筑师和艺人。我们例子中的活动家可能都与这个故事有关，因为它包含了他们的个性特征和偏好。

然而，由于特定的读者偏好，仅仅改变一个主观的、个人的元素就会缩小故事的吸引力。让我们探讨一下故事中的环境慈善背景可能会如何失去原本“以个性为目标”的观众：

考虑到人们所持有的各种截然不同的信念，这个例子并非不现实。通过强调符合特定偏好的设置，作者可能会绕过偏好不同的读者，即使他们的性格类型与故事和人物高度兼容。

好吧，让我们停下来指出，作者不应该审查自己、他们的想法或他们希望包含在作品中的元素。这将是一种倒退，因为作家的独特视野是小说中最有价值的组成部分。

然而，强调与人格类型相关的方法、行为和其他元素，而不是仅与特定信仰相关的元素，可以使作品具有更广泛的相关性。找到平衡点是明智的。一个讲述特定性格类型的思考、感受和做事方式的故事可能会非常吸引人，即使故事的某些其他方面不那么吸引人。

示例：作者选择强调故事中人物的慈善工作方式（他们与类型相关的方法和行为）以及他们如何互动（人格特质的相互作用）。角色的信仰（个人主观偏好）和背景构成了故事的背景，但不是故事的基础。

这就产生了一个生动的“奇怪的夫妇”故事，讲述了建筑师和艺人之间的非营利环境商业伙伴关系，探索他们深刻的人类品质和冲突，而不是他们所选择的信仰。准确地描绘这种截然不同的性格类型可以吸引许多读者，因为许多性格特征及其相关的优点和缺点都是故事的一部分。

When writers choose to highlight characters’ personality-driven approaches to living, the appeal of a work is less limited by specific beliefs, subjects, or settings. Personality type can be a commonality that readers relate to beyond individual preferences, and an author can tap into this by focusing on what makes each character type “tick” – not just what they do, but the ways they go about doing it.

Survey Results Relating to Fiction

The infinite possibilities of readers’ preferences, interests, and values give authors a lot of freedom to explore their own inspiration. And when they want to connect the products of that inspiration to certain reader personality types, our research data can offer helpful perspective.

Intuitive and Observant Personality Traits

Let’s start with some good news. Overall, most people seem to get into a good story. Responses to one of our research statements, “When you read a story, you feel like you are transported into it,” are a source of hope for fiction authors. 79% of all respondents agreed, with Intuitive personality types (88% agreeing) apparently escaping into a story most readily. This relates to the Intuitive tendency to connect with speculative realms of possibility – they love to imagine what might be and appreciate authors’ imaginations as well.

This might seem to indicate that Intuitive personalities are the most likely audience for fiction, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that a writer should focus exclusively on these types. Instead, our results might be seen as an invitation to find ways to draw Observant types, who were 18% less likely to agree (72%), into a story.

Let’s look at things from an opposing angle with the responses to another research statement, “You are not too interested in works of fiction.” While a minority of respondents (30%) agreed overall, Observant types (38%) were notably more likely to agree than Intuitive types (20%). But perhaps it’s not as simple as Observant types being less interested in fiction; rather, they may have different preferences as to what kind of fiction they like.

When we asked, “Which of the following literature genres do you enjoy most?” we offered two main fiction options – fantasy/sci-fi and mystery/thrillers – in addition to three other genres (classic literature, poetry, and technical/educational). Both Intuitive and Observant personality types demonstrated a greater preference for the two main fiction options (a combined 73% and 67%, respectively).

So when offered options that included multiple genres of fiction, Observant types’ reported fondness for fiction was about 5% higher compared to the previous statement, “You are not too interested in works of fiction.” This diminished the gap between the agreement rates of Intuitive and Observant types to about 6%, instead of 18%, when it comes to liking fiction.

To go into more detail, out of the five genre options, we saw a greater preference for mystery/thrillers among Observant types (27%) than among Intuitive types (15%). This relationship inverted when it came to preferring fantasy/sci-fi, with Intuitive types (57%) being more likely to choose this category than Observant types (40%). Overall, both groups showed a stronger preference for fantasy/sci-fi than any other genre.

That’s a lot of statistics to take in, so let’s step back and think simply about what these numbers might mean to a writer.

The Intuitive and Observant personality traits are the most relevant to readers’ preferences for fictional stories.
While Intuitive types generally show a greater interest in fiction, a majority of Observant types also enjoy fiction.
Compared to Intuitive types, Observant types tend to be more interested in mystery/thrillers but less interested in fantasy/sci-fi.
Intuitive and Observant types alike were most likely to choose fantasy/sci-fi as their favorite genre (among the five options given in our survey).

So an audience may have a subtly different makeup, depending on the genre. By honoring that makeup in the writing, an author can help readers connect with the work.

Responses to Realism and Symbolism

It may be useful for authors to consider not just which genres specific personality types are likely to prefer, but why. Understanding why Observant types may feel a greater connection to mysteries or thrillers – and why Intuitive types connect more with fantasies or sci-fi – can help writers reach an audience. Let’s look at a few more numbers that might shed some light on these preferences.

The difference between Intuitive and Observant personalities seems clear in their responses to the research statement, “You like to read poems and books with obscure or hidden symbolic meanings.” Intuitive types (69%) agreed at a higher rate than Observant types (41%). This difference is important for fiction authors to consider. Intuitive types love to interpret things in their own way, searching for underlying messages and applying their own perspective to an author’s intention. For them, symbolism is an invitation to fire up their own imagination and help define a story – what’s on the page is just a starting point.

But for Observant types, what’s on the page can be very important, often honored as significant in its literal form. These personalities may be more interested in discovering the details, twists, and turns of an author’s creation than in deciding the meaning of what’s been written.

This manner of consumption might be both more flattering and more difficult for a writer to appeal to: Observant types are less likely to enjoy filling in the blanks themselves and thus may be more attentive to where an author leads them.

In another survey, we offered the research statement, “You prefer movies and books with a realistic, contemporary setting to science fiction or fantasy.” There, we saw roughly neutral agreement from Intuitive types (51%), but agreement from Observant types was higher (63%). That’s not a huge gap, but it’s still notable.

Let’s think briefly about why readers with the Observant trait lean toward realistic, contemporary fiction, while Intuitive personalities seem equally open to different genres.

In their day-to-day actions and interests, Observant types tend to focus on the here and now, concerned more with what is than what could be. This natural tendency may continue even when they’re escaping into a realm of fiction – they may relate better to stories with elements that are somewhat familiar to their own lives. They connect well to things that seem real, even when written on a page. Fantastical subjects and settings may simply feel too distant for many of these personalities.

Conversely, Intuitive types can easily project themselves into the fantastical, their minds equally willing to entertain fancifully unrealistic settings and contemporary ones. Not only are they able to visualize the unlikely, but they also enjoy exploring it. A good example of this is our survey on daydreaming, where in response to the research statement, “You spend a lot of time daydreaming,” 85% of Intuitive types agreed, compared to only 36% of Observant types. Fanciful, indeed.

Empathy for the Imagined

The Intuitive and Observant personality traits aren’t the only ones that affect readers’ responses to a fictional work. There’s a difference between deeply visualizing a character and relating to that character’s feelings – and some types are more likely to empathize than others.

A core precept in our theory is that Feeling personality types more easily and readily empathize with other people. The power and truth of emotion is often a key element in their interactions. This doesn’t necessarily stop at the doorstep of fiction.

When asked the survey question, “Do you often feel strong empathy for fictional characters?” Feeling types (87%) were notably more likely to agree than Thinking types (65%). The Intuitive and Observant traits affect this tendency as well – in response to the same question, Intuitive types (81%) were more likely to agree than Observant types (60%).

Based on this data, Feeling and Intuitive personalities seem very likely to be drawn into a fictional story through characters’ humanity and emotions – potentially as much as any other elements. Thinking and Observant types empathize with characters as well, but their lower agreement rates suggest that their focus is more divided between other aspects of a work of fiction.

This underscores the diverse elements that make fiction appeal to different personality types. When writing with empathetic connection in mind, using personality type theory can make characters compelling. And, to catch the interest of types less likely to empathize with characters, even the plot itself can be guided by interactions between contrasting personality types.

Crucible of Creativity: The Mind of the Writer

We hope this article provides useful insight into how certain groups of readers perceive fiction. We also hope it shows how the classic goals of good fiction apply regardless of reader personality type. Whether writing realistic, procedural fiction in a modern setting or exploring the furthest reaches of possibility in futuristic science fiction, there’s no substitute for an exciting plot, good writing, and rich characters.

It isn’t necessary to write to reader personality types, but it’s yet another exciting way that personality type theory can be helpful. Seeing things from the reader’s perspective opens possibilities. It can be very useful to keep the personality-driven tendencies of readers in mind, but this technique should never restrain imagination, vision, or any deeper message an author wishes to convey.

In most cases, an author hopes that everyone, regardless of personality type, will enjoy their work based on its merits. In some rarer cases, an author also wants to reach certain people with a special message. An understanding of people based on personality type – and how they may react to a story – can help achieve any writing goal.

We hope our continuing look at using personality theory in fiction writing has been inspiring. Please let us know what you think about this article series in the comments below.

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小说写作中的人格理论 VII：人格类型的小说偏好