How to properly explain a profile

What the LUXXprofile reveals about how people shape relationships

By Svenja Klinkenberg, member of the R&D-Team at LUXXprofile.

The art of a good assessment discussion consists of clearly explaining the statements of the individual profile. The distinctive motives of the LUXXprofile provide an excellent basis for this. In my blog series, I am comparing individual motives in order to precisely distinguish their statements. This time: social participation and autonomy.

The LUXXprofile motives social participation and autonomy both make a statement about how we fundamentally shape our relationships with others. However, each motive has its own absolutely individual content.

For example, the motive autonomy shows the need for independence – the individual result in the profile answers the question of how emotional proximity and distance are connected to one’s well-being. In the professional life, the motive can be relevant in teamwork or team sports. On the one hand, there are people with a high need for autonomy, who want to divide tasks and want to be responsible for their goal achievement themselves, and on the other hand people with little need for independence, who like to solve problems together with others.

Then again, the motive social participation refers to a completely different aspect of relationships: the basic need for social contacts. People with a low degree of social participation appreciate privacy. People with a high degree, on the other hand, need the company of others to a great extent and look forward to being with others. A deep or close relationship to the other persons – as in the autonomy motive – is not a necessary condition for satisfaction here.

Extract from a sample profile with a focus on relationship aspects: the person likes to work in a team but does not look for company.

This makes it clear: There are different causes, as to why people are looking for relationships in certain situations or not. Working in a team does not necessarily have to mean that one likes to go out and celebrate together in the evening. Someone who enjoys being in touch with many people can still prefer working independently. The examples show: the motives autonomy and social participation in combination can lead to irritation when looking at the profile. In these cases, the LUXXprofile can contribute to light bulb moments and, as a result, to more understanding and the elimination of rapid judgments.

In short: social participation makes a statement about how much contact someone needs. Autonomy determines how these contacts are designed – close and consensus-oriented or independent.