Believers (27 percent) tend to think of themselves as relatively happy people who find solace by trusting in the stabilizing, civilizing power of larger principles and the greater good – their faiths, their organizations, their ideals, their country – and feel unhappy when those values are compromised. Being appreciated for their work and staying true to their mission and their principles are central. Believers possess high degrees of fortitude, deriving their most important sense of inner strength from external sources, such as religious belief or commitment to causes. Most Believers don’t consider themselves natural leaders, but they are by and large satisfied with their lives. This group skews slightly female.
Believers have a solid sense of self. They’re less comfortable as a group than Solvers or Spouters with their own expressions of emotion, but they are comfortable with others expressing emotion in the workplace. Unlike Spouters, these people listen more than they speak, and prefer to tell the truth, but don’t tend to go out on a limb to make a point. They fall back on the foundations of their social networks to find personal resiliency. Believers can be helpful in emotionally charged situations: During stressful times at work, they can help lift others out of the immediacy of a single moment and help the organization focus on the larger mission.