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Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) Overview

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I HAZ PWND YOUR MIRROR TO WONDR HOO IS I, 4 REALZ?!

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What – The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Test was designed to help understand differences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. It is one of the world’s best-known personality assessment tools available, over 2 million formal assessments are administered each year.

Who – The MBTI is based upon Carl Jung’s ‘psychological type’ theories published in 1921. The first version of the test was published by Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers in 1962, from its inception in 1942 partly to support allocation of women into wartime jobs during WWII.

When – Carl Jung’s initial personality typology theories were first published in 1921, this text is available in English as Psychological Types.

Why – By learning more about your personality and those of others, you can better understand each others’ strengths and weaknesses. 

Key Points - * No preference or type is considered better or worse than another. * No-one is obliged to either take the test or share their ‘type’ with others.* Individuals are considered the best judge of their own type.

About the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test

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In developing the MBTI, Briggs and Myers sought to sort personality preferences using the three personality indicators described in Jung’s writing, along with a fourth indicator (Judging/Perceiving) developed by Briggs and Myers. The four MBTI personality indicators are:

What the MBTI describes

Differentiating people who direct

their energy primarily outward

toward other people and events

(E) from people who direct energy primarily inward

toward their inner environment, thoughts, and

experiences (I).

Extraversion (E) vs Introversion (I)

Differentiating people who take in

information primarily through the senses and

immediate experience (S) from those who

take in information via facts, hunches, impressions & are more interested in future possibilities

(N).

Sensing (S) vs Intuition (N)

Differentiating people who make decisions primarily based on logic and objectivity (T) from people who make decisions primarily based on personal

values and the effects their

decisions will have on others (F).

Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F)

Differentiating people who prefer structure, plans, and achieving

closure (J) quickly from those who prefer flexibility, spontaneity, and

keeping their options open (P).

Judging (J) vs Perceiving (P)

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To re-state, no personality preference or type is better or worse than another. The MBTI was not designed to be a predictor of work performance or ability; it simply describes natural personality preferences.

Each person is considered the best judge of their own type. As such, should you take the MBTI test, note for yourself the number values assigned to each letter. Then, if you find the description you read doesn't seem to perfectly match your personality, just swap the letters with low values for their opposite, then look up the new description. You might find that's a better match. For example, if your result is I (for introversion) is 5, then you might find that the description for the same personality typing with an E (for extraversion) might describe you better.

Type fluctuations Interestingly, if you do find you have low values for some of the indicators, you may swap between their opposites throughout your life - even daily between your home and work life. The type that generally best describes you should be your home or as Myers referred to it, your ‘shoes-off’ type.

Type variations

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Test Link - Below is a link to a free-of-charge, 10-15mins version of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test (this version seems to get broadly accurate results, though the formal paid-for versions M or Q of the MBTI test - with item response theory based scoring - would provide a more accurate result and more associated information) –http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp 

About Your Types - In addition to the link you’ll be taken to after completing the above test, you might want to learn more by visiting the following site providing a Personality Type Overview -http://www.personalitypage.com/html/portraits.html(each page links to the 16 personality types with associated career/relationships at the bottom of each page)

Your Personality Type and Personal GrowthAlso visit your personality type's individual link at the base of the following site for more information on how you can understand your strengths and weaknesses - http://www.personalitypage.com/html/personal.html

Taking the MBTI test

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The 16 MBTI personality types are typically referred to by an abbreviation of four letters which collectively describe an individual – these letters are each the initial letters of the type preference (except for intuition, which has the abbreviation N to distinguish it from introversion):

For instance, two polar opposite MBTI personality types are:ESTJ: extraversion (E), sensing (S), thinking (T), judgment (J) INFP: introversion (I), intuition (N), feeling (F), perception (P) and so on, for all 16 possible type combinations.

Underpinning the MBTI is the theory that individuals are predisposed to preferred ways of thinking and acting, due to the joint influence of genetics and their environment. Accordingly, even if an individual becomes more behaviourally flexible with practice and development, they will tend to find using their opposite psychological preferences more difficult than their natural tendency.

Understanding the 16 MBTI personality ‘types’

Letter 1 - Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I) (the attitude type)Letter 2 - Intuition (N) or Sensing (S) (the information-gathering function)Letter 3 - Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) (the decision-making function)Letter 4 - Perception (P) or Judgement (J) (the lifestyle type)

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Letter 1 - Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I) (the attitude type)

Broadly speaking, an extravert's energy flow is actively directed outward towards people and things. The introvert's energy is reflectively directed inward towards concepts and ideas. Generally, extraverts recharge and get their energy from spending time with people, while introverts recharge and get their energy from spending time alone. People who prefer extraversion draw energy from action, tending to act, then reflect, then act further. If they are inactive, their motivation tends to decline. To rebuild their energy, extraverts need breaks from time spent in reflection.

Conversely, those who prefer introversion expend energy through action. They prefer to reflect, then act, then reflect again. To rebuild their energy, introverts need quiet time alone, away from activity.

E or I – Extraversion vs Introversion (attitude)

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Letter 2 - Intuition (N) or Sensing (S) (the information-gathering function)

Sensing and intuition are the information-gathering (otherwise referred to as perceiving) functions. They describe how new information is understood and interpreted by an individual.

Individuals who prefer sensing are more likely to trust information that is in the present, tangible and concrete: that is, information that can be understood by the five senses. They tend to distrust hunches, which seem to come ‘out of nowhere’. They prefer to look for details and facts. For them, the meaning is in the data.

Individuals who prefer intuition tend to trust information that is more abstract or theoretical, that can be associated with other information (either remembered or discovered by seeking a wider context or pattern). They may be more interested in future possibilities. They tend to trust those flashes of insight that seem to bubble up from the unconscious mind. The meaning is in how the data relates to the pattern or theory.

N or S – iNtuition vs Sensing

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Letter 3 - Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) (the decision-making function)

Thinking and feeling are the decision-making (otherwise referred to as judging) functions. The thinking and feeling functions are both used to make rational decisions, based on the data received from their information-gathering functions (sensing or intuition). People who prefer thinking do not necessarily ‘think better’ than their feeling counterparts, the opposite preference is considered an equally rational way of coming to decisions. Similarly, those who prefer feeling do not necessarily have ‘better’ emotional reactions than their thinking counterparts.

Those who prefer thinking tend to decide things from a more detached standpoint, measuring the decision by what seems reasonable, logical, causal, consistent and matching a given set of rules.

Those who prefer feeling tend to come to decisions by associating or empathising with the situation, looking at it 'from the inside' and weighing the situation to achieve, on balance, the greatest harmony, consensus and fit, considering the needs of the people involved.

T or F – Thinking vs Feeling

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Letter 4 - Perception (P) or Judgement (J) (the lifestyle type)

Myers-Briggs included questions in the MBTI designed to indicate whether someone prefers to come to conclusions and ‘have matters settled’ (judgment) or to keep their decisions/options open (perception). This indicator describes the process a person uses primarily to deal with the outer world.

Those with a judging preference prefer structure, plans, and achieving closure.

Those with a perceiving preference prefer flexibility, spontaneity, and keeping their options open.

J or P – Judging vs Perceiving

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Questions?

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