The Myers-Briggs Indicator

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an evaluative personality tool that is widely used throughout the world today. It is important for a tool that is popularly utilized in a variety of fields and at numerous professional institutions worldwide to be a credible one. So, is the MBTI really the valid reliable personality inventory instrument it claims to be? Evaluating this tool will show that empirically sound evidence does not exist to support the MBTI as an accurate, reliable, or valid instrument for profiling one’s personality type.

During the month of January, the Mktg 3100 class that I took part in, was given a Myers-Briggs characterization form to fill out. Because the Myers-Briggs results place me into two categories, I shall discuss this response to both ISFJ and ISFP character trait types. This paper will discuss my viewpoints, others viewpoints, and the characteristics on how it might affect the decisions I make with my activities, social, vocational life. The results of this examination were two because of how closely related my answers were to both types. Though this is a good ball-park estimate on what kinds of traits I may have, it is not perfect.

If you’re a human who’s ever been bored, you’ve probably taken a Buzzfeed quiz. If not, you’re not missing much. Buzzfeed is well-known for its strange personality quizzes that range from “Which Disney princess are you?” to “Will your choice of bread reveal how lonely you are?” But let’s be real. Do these tests actually tell you anything? Most likely, the results are similar to a weekly horoscope--just vague enough to apply to almost anyone. However, if there was a quiz that could analyze your personality and make well-researched predictions about your future, would you take it?

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) enables an individual to gain a deeper insight into their inherent personality traits. For some people, they have had prior knowledge or underlying assumptions about their personality, but this test provides clearer information about each of their identifiable traits. According to the MBTI in Human-metric personality test, my scores were 22% (E) extroverted thinking more than introverted, 9% (N) intuitive as oppose to sensing, 16% (T) thinking more than feeling, and 12% (J) judging as compared to perceiving. Thus, my personality type is ENFJ. The ENFJ personality group is described as a minority group that consists of natural-born leaders, and people filled with passion, and charisma for example, Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey; they are notable members of this group, also known as the protagonists (16personalities, 2016). The protagonists apprehend pride in providing guidance for others to improve individually and to improve the community at large (16personalities, 2016). The protagonists find it naturally easy to communicate with others and excel at communicating with other people in person (16personalities, 2016).

John Adams once said, “Thanks be to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right”. John Adams, like myself was introverted, intellectual, thinking, and judging, or an INTJ on the Myers Briggs personality test. Like all INTJs, Adams was stubborn and flouted the ideas of others that he did not agree with. By using my results from the Meyers Briggs personality test, I can examine how I react to certain things and use this to improve my Spirituality, my relationship with God, and ultimately my relationship with others through Christ.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) “is an introspective self-report questionnaire designed to indicate psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions” (13). It is one of several personality assessments that is popular among modern mental health experts throughout the world. Currently, it is estimated that the MBTI is “taken by more than two million people per year and is translated into 16 languages (10). “The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people 's lives” (4).

Why do NFL teams conduct training camps annually? Fundamentally, they are testing each player’s level of knowledge of the team’s playbook. This assists the coaches in deciding who to keep or cut, but more importantly, it allows the executives to assess each athlete’s character. Likewise, the Myers-Briggs Test has everyone answer a myriad of questions to figure out their specific personality. I received the designation of introverted, sensing, feeling, and judging or “ISFJ.” Simply, I am someone who avoids receiving attention, builds deep, personal friendships, and judges people harshly for their mistakes. Additionally, this test was extremely informative because it helped me identify possible future jobs and explained how I can further excel within social relationships.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality (MBTI) was developed by Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Cook Briggs in 1943 during the onset of World War II (Ham, 2016). Briggs recognized the need for psychological instruments that would value human differences and utilized the C G Jungs theory in creating the MBTI (The Story of Isabel Briggs Myers, n.d). According to The Myers & Briggs Foundation (2014) Myers and Briggs initially tested a group of 20 relatives and friends. They utilized such sample, because they thought they could predict their personality solemnly on observation which by observation. The initial random sample did not truly represent a whole population, but merely were used due to availability.

Who are you? Many fortune cookies, horoscopes, and other whimsical devices attempt to tell us our personalities, or our combination of traits and behaviors that make up who we are. However, psychologists today deviate from those unsubstantiated methods and have concocted various personality tests that give us a better understanding of who we are. One such test is called the Myers-Briggs personality test. Based on theories by Carl Jung, but primarily created by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, the test gives people a standardized survey of questions to answer. Standardized, meaning the test is given and scored in the exact same way every time to give unbiased and accurate results. It scores people in four pairs of characteristics, so there is a total of 16 possible personality types. Each pair of characteristics are opposites and a person can fall anywhere between the extreme end of one opposite to the extreme end of the other. The pairs are extroverted and introverted, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, finally judging and perceiving. A person can have strong, moderate or weak tendencies towards a preference. (Rathus, 2010, p. 420) There is some criticism of the Myers-Briggs test however, not everyone fits into the categories. People may answer according to socially acceptable norms instead of their honest answers. Not all of the theories were proven, Carl Jung made many observations and deductions but they weren’t formally

Learning how to socialize in big groups and thinking before acting can take you further in life rather than the other way around.The purpose of the Myers-Briggs test is to indicate your personality type by using four scales. The four scales are 1. extroversion/introversion 2.sensate/intuitive, 3. thinking/feeling 4. judging/ perceiving. According to the test, I scored higher of extroversion like than introversion. I also I scored higher in thinking rather than feeling. In other words, using my head other than my heart. Being an extrovert comes with having high energy and the love of being around large crowds. Which I can say fits my personality perfectly. Also, I think about situations in the long run before automatically acting off my immediate

Our counselors need to attend the program because this is part of their profession to work with clients and focus in depth on their unique needs. The Myers-Briggs assessment helps our clients gain self-understanding and a healthy psychological development (MBTI Training Institute, 2016). According to the MBTI Training Institute 2016, this program can enrich the work life as a counselor, career counselor, guidance counselor, therapist, or psychologist: improve the communication style in order to clarify the recommendations to clients, enhance your versatility and effectiveness with clients and coworkers, recognize individual communication preferences in order to help clients and families focus on positive steps for improvement, and resolves

Having worked in corporate, I have completed a vast number of professional assessments over the years, including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Strong Interest Inventory Assessments, DISC Profile Assessment, Gallup Strengths Finder and even the more comprehensive executive leadership assessments. In corporate, these are generally performed prior to a promotion or during integration of a merger or acquisition. Initially, my thinking was, these were worthless time wasters; so I put very little stock in any of the broad array of assessments, to which I felt subjected. Surely, proper evaluation had to be more than a game of twenty questions. Across the years, I have saved my results in a small moving box as we have relocated nationally and internationally. I gained a deeper understanding of, belief in and reliance upon the power of assessments. In the last three years, I have sifted through my individual results with a fine toothed comb looking for similarities, consistencies and an underlying foundation on which to strategize the next phase of my life based upon my foundational principles. Interestingly enough, my results across the board, have not changed throughout more than 20 years of completing these assessments. As a result, there were no surprises seeing the result of the MindTools (2015) Leadership Skills Assessment..

Managers should encourage teamwork and reward the team for their accomplishments. Also, they should remove any inter-departmental barriers.

The results of my Myers-Briggs Personality type test were as follows: extrovert, intuition, thinking and judging. As I read what each category meant, I could see those characteristics within myself. I love to be around people, socializing or just people watching. I prefer things to be planned and to think of solutions outside the box. I also look at the big picture of things before making a plan of action. The following two stories display my thought process in different areas and the affects it had in my life or how I dealt with the situations.

An effective manager should focus on the overall objective and prepare for the future. They also need to consider any minor issues that arise because the little things could help the overall objective. An effective manager cannot sit back and manage employees from an office.