The Myers Briggs Type Indicator

4. Describe the eight preferences of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.   How does this instrument measure Carl Jung‘s ideas?

Throughout the beginning of this semester I have looked at how individuals behave within business organizations. Through various exercises and results, I have found a number of patterns within my behavior and interests. I have become aware to what interests me, and a number of skills/abilities I was oblivious I had. This reflection and in class exercises have allowed me to expand my skills, abilities, and behaviors, well fitting them into prospective future employment.

Psychology has aims to define, explain, and predict behavior. The field of Psychology has seen the many remarkable theoretician and practitioners. Carl Jung developed the theory on personality types. Meyers Briggs expanded those theories into an assessment known as the he Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). MBTI consists of four dichotomies that include Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuitive, Thinking/Feeling, and Judgment/Perception.

Identifying personality types can prove to be a useful tool in organizations because personality is “considered a determinant of preferences in decision-making” (Ahmed, A., Hasnain, N., Venkatesan, M, 2012). By using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), one can gain a better understanding of the cognitive functions of themselves and/or others. This paper examines a learner’s experience with the Myers-Briggs personality test.

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) “is to make the theory of psychological types understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is most people do have consistent behavioral patterns” (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2015). The theory was introduced in the 1920’s by Carl G. Jung and the MBTI tool was developed in the 1940’s by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Briggs.

The Myers and Briggs Analysis is a series of questions that when answered are examined and grouped together in order to determine the personalities of those taking this test. This particular test can result in sixteen different outcomes or types of personalities, which is determined by four different categories that judge if you are introverted or extroverted, use your senses or your intuition, your choice to think or use your feelings, and finally if you are judgmental or perceptive. These series of questions are designed to judge our personalities and help us to determine which career pathways we will be most suited for based on our personality traits and abilities to work well with others, which is important

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.

A person’s personality is his or her essence. It is what guides decisions, emotions, and even thoughts. Some may wonder if it is possible to explore every nuance of such a complex part of a being, but there are ways to determine what type of personality a person has, and then branch off into a more detailed examination of that person specifically. Combined with other factors, such as personality disorders and the environment that someone has grown up in, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, test (Enrichment 1) and analysis can determine an accurate portrayal of a personality. Created in 1943 by Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, it is a system made up of four basic functions and sub functions that combine to make a personality type. The mother and daughter team constructed it off of Jung’s theories (History 2). Based on this system, one of the most common personality types in the US population is called an ESTJ, and one of the least common personality types is called an INFJ. There are many differences and similarities between these two types. An ESTJ personality, overall, is practical, fact-based, and outgoing, whereas an INFJ personality is more private and makes decisions based on feelings; however, both are organized people who make good leaders and are capable of great success in roles that involve helping others.

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).

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment. In developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, their aim was to make the insights of type theory accessible to individuals and groups.

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.

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..

Myers-Briggs is a method used like a compass, which can give you some sense of direction as to the type of personality traits you contain within yourself. Plus, gives you an idea as to what career is most suitable or at best a profession that may be a desirable choice you may find happiness in. Giving that Carl Jung a psychiatrist, partial credit for identifying some personality types as to why individuals choose to do things in a particular manner. It’s has been recognized that Mr. Jung established the theory of the extroverted and introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious.

The Myer Briggs follow Jung's terms for extraversion and introversion. The Myers- Brigs Type Indicator will be taken online instead of paper. The Myers- Briggs

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).