Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

December 27th, 2007 · No Comments

I know some people think MBTI is about as scientific as astrology. But hey, like astrology, many people believe in it. And so, I believe in MBTI.

What in the world is MBTI? It’s some sort of a system that tells you what your temperaments are. What type of work you will like, your mode of work, what is meaningful to you, how you communicate, how you like to complete tasks, how you view the world, and the list goes on and on. But you get the picture right? It describes how you operate.

Personally, I wish I’d known about MBTI when I was still in middle school. Maybe that would help me in answering so many of my questions about life. So yes, I think this system works. I learn so much about myself when I discovered my type (INFP).

This method was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers, she was somewhat a Jungian psychologist. It works like this. The system assigns 4 letter word to describe your type.

I (introvert) - E (extrovert)

N (intuitive) - S (sensory)

F (feeling) - T (thinking)

P (perceiving) - J (judging)

So in total, that makes for 16 possible combinations. Many people criticize this groupings to be severely inaccurate, for how could you explain the complexity of human personality with just 16 different types? Yes, impossible, I agree. But MBTI is doing a fairly good job in providing a tool for understanding people around you. Plus, in addition to the 16 types, this system also takes into account how much of an I, or N, or T and so forth you are. For example, even though I’m an INFP, obviously my personality is not exactly the same as the next person who is also an INFP. Why so? Because my ‘intensity’ of I is, lets say, at 30%, and the next person’s I is at 10% (let us ignore other factors, like genes, environment, diet, religion etc). Apply this to the other 3 letters, and now wouldn’t you agree that that would make for an unlimited number of possible combinations?? Yes! So, even though MBTI doesn’t explain you completely, it does give a pretty good job trying to.

The letters themselves are kind of straight forward, right? Though they don’t really mean introvert, or judging, or feeling in the strictest sense, they are sort of self-explanatory. You’re an Introvert is you are more in your element when you spend quiet times alone or with few friends, or if you seek within alot. You’re a Feeler if you make decisions based more on your feeling than your thinking. And so forth.

Here are two links where you can take a test to determine your type, for ’sure’ =)

http://www.advisorteam.com/temperament_sorter/register.asp?partid=1
(they will ask for your email)

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
(no email required)

Now, some people think that there is a perfect type to be. A type that would succeed in the world that we live now. And yes, I think I read somewhere that an ESTJ or ENTJ make the most amount of money compared to other types. But that’s not even the point of MBTI. For one, you can’t even change your type. It doesn’t change with time, it doesn’t change with experience, it doesn’t change, period. Let me give you an example that I read somewhere. Have you ever met someone that was your elementary classmate, and you haven’t seen him for the longest time, but when you do, you realize that he’s still the same. Why is that? That, is, because, you, don’t, change. And I don’t mean it in the external way, because you can change your habits, your job, your thinking, your life. But see, deep inside, that small “I” of you, remains the same no matter what. You, are still you.

So the point of MBTI is not to change yourself. In fact, it’s quite the reverse. It is to accept yourself, to know yourself, to understand yourself even more. None of us need to be different than what we already are. We just need to know the ‘I’ better, so we can work with it correctly. Knowing your type, and understanding it, could probably make your life even ‘better’.

That said, I think knowing MBTI is very helpful for anyone who’s looking to find out what kind of jobs, what kind of relationships, what kind of environment that would work best for them. MBTI, is just amazing. Check it out yourself. Here are some books and links to more of MBTI info.

Books:

Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence

Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type

Just Your Type: Create the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted Using the Secrets of Personality Type