What is psychological compatibility?

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

It happens that with some people we feel comfortable and confident, while with others we are constantly on the verge of conflict. We quickly get close to the first, we can’t find a common language with the second. What is the reason?

We are so different…

The ability to understand a partner (in communication, teamwork) and interact with him is influenced by many factors: education, age, circle of acquaintances and even cultural level. If any of the above is fundamentally different for people, disagreements and misunderstandings often arise between them, up to complete rejection. In this case, they speak of psychological incompatibility.

What is psychological compatibility? Is it possible to determine it in advance, without bringing the matter to conflicts? What does the term "psychological compatibility" mean?

Levels of psychological compatibility

Psychological compatibility is a rather multifaceted and multilevel concept.

It is of great importancepsychophysiological compatibility of temperaments. Socio-psychological compatibility depends on the social status of partners, their professions, level of education. However, education usually does not have a significant impact on the compatibility of people, but the level of a common culture for mutual understanding is very important, as is the level of general development of the individual. Psychologically compatible are people whose ideas about the organization of their joint activities to solve common problems are sufficiently coordinated. That is, the psychological compatibility of people largely depends on their functional and role expectations.

Psychological compatibility in the team

We spend most of our time at work. Therefore, the desire of each person to feel easily and confidently among colleagues is quite understandable. Often people between a high salary among hated colleagues and a lower one in a friendly team choose the latter option. Calmness and positive emotional contacts turn out to be more important for many than money and a career. After all, tensions in the workplace can poison our lives. And there are quite a lot of such “poisoned” misunderstandings at work. To avoid this, when recruiting each team, the leader musttake into account not only the professional qualities of the applicant, but also provide for the results of joint activities with other members of the team. In other words, take into account the psychological compatibility of employees. But what does the term "psychological compatibility of team members" mean?

This is a manifestation of certain psychological properties of its individual members, on which the success of group activities largely depends. Simply put, the term "psychological compatibility of team members" is defined as the ability or impossibility of its members to work productively together, while feeling comfortable and secure.

When compatibility matters most

Now that it has become clear what the term "psychological compatibility of the team" means, it can be argued that the possibility of fruitful cooperation between colleagues is determined by several decisive factors. Psychologists are sure that personal compatibility becomes more important for psychological comfort in a team, the longer people work together.

The importance of compatibility also depends on the size of the team. In groups with a large number of employees, psychological compatibility factors are less important.

But in small - from 3 to 7 people - teams of great importance for creating a normal psychological microclimate is the maximum similarity of the natural properties of colleagues, the compatibility of their characters, types of nervoussystem, levels of physical endurance, performance, emotional stability.

In small groups, the psychological compatibility of team members is often even more important than their professional skills. The latter can be taught, but is it possible to overcome psychological incompatibility?

Types of psychological incompatibility

Psychological incompatibility of members of the same team is manifested in the inability to understand each other in critical situations, the asynchrony of mental reactions, differences in thinking, attention, value attitudes. Such people do not enter into friendly relations, do not respect each other, and sometimes even feel hostility towards colleagues. Psychological incompatibility not only poisons people's lives, but also negatively affects the quality of work.

This incompatibility manifests itself in different ways:

• Psychophysiological incompatibility manifests itself as intolerance to the habits of another person, and sometimes even to his smell.
• Socio-psychological incompatibility manifests itself most often if the "roles" in the team are distributed incorrectly, unfairly.
• Socio-ideological incompatibility is the incompatibility of worldviews and beliefs. It could lead to civil strife.

Is it possible to deal with psychological incompatibility?

It often happens that partners in critical situations do not understand each other at all, “do not hear” their counterpart, cannot accept a commonsolutions in the current situation. After such psychological friction, everything just falls out of hand, efficiency decreases, and the quality of life drops sharply. In this case, the task of the leader is to try to bring the team closer together, to create a friendly atmosphere of trust in it.

But how to do it? And is it possible in principle to create a comfortable working atmosphere in a team that brings together people of completely different psychological types, often incompatible with each other?

Three ways to resolve disagreements in the team

If the psychological compatibility of team members leaves much to be desired, you can use one of the following methods:

1. Try to avoid conflict. To do this, avoid situations that provoke disagreements and disputes.
2. Timely remind the most conflicting colleagues of professional solidarity, that we are all one team. In this way, it is possible to smooth out the emerging conflict and prevent team members from becoming aggressive.
3. An effective way is to find a compromise, accepting the opponent's point of view not completely, but to such an extent that it will stop the conflict.

But all these are only external methods that do not eliminate the root of the problems - the psychological incompatibility of workers. Therefore, the best solution is to conduct a psychological test for compatibility with existing employees with each new member of the team. And even better in advance, even at the stageteam formation, take into account the social and psychological criteria for the compatibility of its members.

Take into account the psychological types of people

The successful solution of the task of forming a psychologically compatible team largely depends on whether the leader who forms the team knows the psychological types of people. Two psychological types are known: introverts and extroverts.

Introverts are more restrained, indecisive, more likely to be contemplative than active, they are socially passive. An introvert is a cautious, secretive, pedantic person, he usually prefers monotonous work. Extroverts, on the contrary, are people of an open nature, responsive, helpful, easily adapt to new conditions. The extrovert is sociable, charming, straightforward in judgments. Unlike an introvert, he is quite proactive. Such people are focused on external evaluation of their activities. Extroverts are good at jobs that require quick decision making.

Pure introverts and extroverts are rare. Each person has features of both psychological types. But they need to be able to identify and take into account when forming a team.

Psychological compatibility of spouses

Compatibility in the family is also the most important condition for the stability of the couple. Understanding marital compatibility is close to the satisfaction of a husband and wife with marriage. The compatibility of loving people who have created a family is manifested in the consistency of attitudes, the similarity of spiritual structures, in accordance with the characters. An important component of marital compatibilitycan be called the consistency of both ideas about the functions of the family.

Speaking about the psychological compatibility of spouses, one cannot ignore domestic compatibility, the nationalities of the spouses, their religion. Equally important for compatibility are the relationship of spouses to relatives, the unity of the principles of raising children, and the distribution of household duties. And even a different sense of humor can cause incompatibility between loving people.

How temperament affects compatibility

Combinations of types of temperaments and characters are important for the compatibility of people in groups, whether it be a work team or a family. If a person's character is formed on the basis of experience and can change throughout life, then temperament is given from birth, it is impossible to change it. But it is imperative to take into account to determine psychological compatibility.

Of course, you can hardly meet choleric, sanguine, melancholic or phlegmatic people in their pure form, but one of the types of temperament still prevails in every person. How do they differ and what exactly needs to be considered?

People with the same temperaments react to what is happening around them in approximately the same way, while both their feelings and behavioral reactions are similar. Therefore, it is easy for such people to understand a friend, to predict the course of thoughts and actions.

But here's the paradox: the closer the relationship between people, the more compatible are just opposite temperaments that perfectly complement each other.

Features of people with different temperaments

Choleric people have a strong nervous system, they change activities without any problems. But the nervous system of people of this type is somewhat unbalanced, which is often the reason for their quarrelsomeness with other people. In choleric people, mood can change dramatically for no apparent reason. They are quick-tempered, impatient, prone to emotional breakdowns.

Sanguine people also have a strong nervous system, they are distinguished by excellent performance, they easily switch to other activities, communicate with all people without problems. Sanguine people are almost always in a good mood, they are looking for new experiences, quickly respond to what is happening around them, and experience failure relatively easily.

Phlegmatic people also have a strong nervous system, they are quite efficient, but they are hardly involved in new activities. It is difficult for phlegmatic people to adapt to a new environment. The mood of the phlegmatic is usually even, he is always calm and self-confident. People of this temperament are also characterized by constancy in relationships.

Melancholic people are people of a weak type of nervous system, they have a low level of mental activity, they get tired quickly. Melancholics are characterized by great emotional sensitivity, a sensitive attitude towards others. Thanks to these qualities, melancholic people are easy to get along with. But they themselves, experiencing problems within themselves, are most often in a bad mood, they are suspicious and tearful.

Pledge of compatibility - the best combinationvalue orientations, genotype and… altruism

Summing up, it should be noted that psychological compatibility is defined as the mutual acceptance of each other by people, which is based on the similarity or mutual complementation of their value orientations and personal characteristics.

Perfectly compatible would be people of approximately the same age, temperament, biological rhythms, he alth status, activity in sexual life, the same level of education, and who, moreover, have the same goals, and the ways to achieve them also do not differ. And also ideally compatible people are ready to take responsibility for each other and joint decisions. But in real life such coincidences are almost impossible.

But nevertheless we have psychological compatibility with people who differ from us in many ways. And to achieve compatibility in our own lives with loved ones and colleagues, perhaps, it will help not to conduct a psychological compatibility test on time, but the desire to make others feel good with us. Maybe this is the key to psychological compatibility?