The Novelty Seeker we know as independent, creative, attention seeking and exciting. In the brain scan they have more grey matter (nerve cells) in the frontal areas - parts of the brain that scan the veld and motivate for an adventure. Their brain is biased toward exploring boundaries, taking risks and impulsivity.
The Reward Dependent we know as affiliative, sensitive and in tune with others. Their brains are less developed in reward areas and this may express as a need to be recognised, complimented and rewarded. Indeed, generous recognition is the best way to motivate this style.
Persistence we know as the driven, self disciplined goal achiever. They have more grey matter in posterior parietal areas linked to self awareness, restraint and motivation. Thus they drive directly to achieve goals and seem very disciplined - even scary - to the rest of us.
Harm avoidance we recognise as introverted, detail oriented and anxious. Their brains have less volume in areas that calm and motivate for action. Thus they are inclined to anxiety, avoidance of risk and inhibition of action. They are often very effective analysts.
The authors believe that this is likely to be an inherited attribute rather than a function of early experience and nurturing.
Comment: While we vigorously promote the learned attributes and skills of Resilience, it is important to recognise that much of who we are has genetic or inherited elements. To be genuine we must respect these biases. However, self awareness allows us to recognise the bias and to develop complementary behaviours. Empathy allows us to recognise the bias of other and to target our communication with greater skill. In short, play to your natural strengths but develop plan B. Know others well and learn to use plan B.