About the MBTI® Instrument

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Isabel Briggs Myers
Creator of the 16 Types

What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) Instrument?

The MBTI® assessment is a self-report questionnaire created by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers to make Carl Jung’s complex theory of psychological types useful and understandable in our everyday life.

“Without a model of some kind, we are simply adrift in a morass of individual opinions, lost in a jungle without a compass.”Daryl Sharp, Personality Types, Jung’s Model of Typology

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MBTI® results identify valuable differences between normal, healthy people; differences that can be the source of much misunderstanding and miscommunication.

The MBTI® personality assessment is the most widely used personality instrument in history. Based on 70 years of research and development, the MBTI® tool has a sound and proven record as a successful instrument in the field of human psychology and development. As such, it has worldwide acceptance as the gold standard of personality assessments. The MBTI® has been translated into 23 different languages and is the most widely used instrument in the world for understanding differences, with well over 1 million yearly global administrations.

In essence, the MBTI® instrument is:

  • An assessment that gives people access to their psychological type, or they way in which they process information
  • A self-report questionnaire, the results of which are validated by the person taking the instrument
  • A non-judgmental assessment that has no right or wrong answers
  • Constructed using questions that have been researched and tested to accurately indicate innate preferences or mental patterns on four dichotomies resulting in 16 different personality types

Why is the MBTI® Instrument so Popular?

“The merit of the theory presented here is that it enables us to expect specific personality differences in particular people and to cope with the people and the differences in a constructive way. Briefly, the theory is that much seemingly chance variation in human behavior is not due to chance; it is in fact the logical result of a few basic, observable differences in mental functioning.”Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing

The Jung/Myers model is The Psychology That Works™; it provides a framework, or model for how people are hardwired to be who they are; it gets to the root of behaviors – to the way we think – helping individuals come to a deeper understanding of themselves and an appreciation for differences in others.

The MBTI® Type Indicator maintains its commanding popularity among psychological instruments because it has a strong theoretical foundation — Jung’s psychological type — and is a sound and researched model.

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The MBTI® questionnaire and psychological type are valuable tools in any human situation or interaction. Millions of people worldwide who have taken the assessment have not only had the “aha” experience of validating who they really are, but have come to a profound understanding of the why behind their behavior. The MBTI® inventory and knowledge of ones’ type:

  • Promotes self-awareness and personal choice
  • Helps to identify differences between normal healthy individuals
  • Fosters appreciation for differences between people
  • Assists in identifying unique gifts and areas for growth and development
  • Promotes understanding and effective cooperation between people
  • Facilitates individuals and groups to make constructive use of these differences
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Tom Carskadon, Editor of the Journal of Psychological Type and Professor of Psychology at Mississippi State University, said it best when he coined his phrase, “The Psychology That Works™.” in the early 80′s. Here are his thoughts on his winning phrase:

I call psychological type as measured by the MBTI® inventory “the psychology that works” because it is the most humane and satisfying system I have ever encountered for describing personality and behavior, and it has immediate and practical impact on people’s lives. The insights of psychological type lead not only to “aha!” experiences, but also to “ahow!” experiences. Knowledge of psychological type helps people choose and excel in careers; value and maintain friendships; guide and enjoy children; and understand and grow in marriage and love. It is positive, upbeat, and free of pejoratives, speaking of gifts and strengths. All individuals can feel that their types are good and valid and right, yet they can use their newfound knowledge to enhance their appreciation and effectiveness with people of other types, that can now be understood as equally natural, healthy, and valuable. At the initial level, psychological type is a simple and straightforward system, democratic in its ease of measurement and explanation; yet it leads to levels of depth, subtlety, and complexity that will maintain interest and value for a lifetime. Thus, psychological type and the MBTI® inventory truly are a “psychology that works.”

How the MBTI Indicator® Instrument Can Help You

“I dream that long after I am gone, my work will go on helping people.”Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing

The MBTI® inventory is unique among psychological instruments in its ability to offer self-awareness and appreciation of differences, through its breadth and its depth.

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The MBTI® tool is the foundation for a breadth of applications and has the power to help us in:
  • Education through an understanding of teaching and learning styles
  • Career counseling by helping people to find job fulfillment and satisfaction
  • Organizational development through building high performing teams, developing leaders, managing professional development and performance improvement, boosting retention, implementing change, developing sales forces and improving customer service
  • Personal and spiritual growth and development by following personal paths for improvement
  • Family relationships between couples, parents and children
  • Health care delivery by providing healthcare customized to patient needs

The depth of the MBTI® Indicator lies in its foundational theory. It is a doorway into our understanding of the nuances of our own psychological type – the compass, or map, for the journey of lifelong development – what Jung termed, “individuation.”

A Mini-History of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument

An intriguing story of what a brilliant, creative mother-daughter team with a passionate sense of mission and awesome determination can accomplish.

Click here for an Extended History of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument (PDF)

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Creation of the 16 MBTI® Types

Myers and Briggs created the 16 MBTI® types so that people could understand themselves and others
better, and come to appreciate differences, according to C. J. Jung’s model of psychological types.

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Exploring Type beyond the Four Letters

MBTI® type is much more than the simple addition of the 4 letters in the type code. It is the interaction
of the MBTI® preferences – the attitudes and the functions – that create 16 unique systems or patterns of
mental functioning.

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Qualifications for Use of the MBTI® Instrument

In order to purchase, administer and interpret the MBTI® assessment you must meet the qualifications outlined by the
publisher, CPP, Inc.

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CPP, Inc., the publisher of the instrument, offers four levels of Certification for use of the MBTI® personality assessment:
  • Educationally qualified practitioner [https://www.cpp.com/certification/educationaleligibility.aspx]
    • Check the qualifications page from CPP for eligible Master’s programs and Licensures
    • It is extremely helpful for educationally eligible practitioners to take the CPP approved Certification course as the MBTI® is a type instrument and has different psychometric properties than personality trait instruments.
  • Certified Practitioner [https://www.cpp.com/qual/index.aspx]
    • One must successfully complete CPP’s MBTI® Certification Course or have the CPP required educational requirements. CPP offers MBTI® Certification through CPP, the Center for Applications of Psychological Type www.CAPT.org and the American Management Association www.amanet.org/training/seminars/Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator-MBTI-Certification-Program.aspx
    • Allows you to use the MBTI® inventory & Step II™
  • Master Practitioner [www.mbtimasterpractitioner.org]
    • Indicates a commitment to continuing education and a higher level of skill with interpretation and application of the instrument
    • Requires completion of continuing education credits and a specified number of hours of practical application
    • Master Practitioners are eligible to have individual train-the-trainer programs for Certified Practitioners, approved for CE credits toward Master Practitioner status
  • MBTI ® Step III™ Certified Practitioner: www.capt.org/training-workshops/MBTI-Training-step3.htm
    • In order to be Certified to use the MBTI® Step III™ tool, you must have an advanced degree in psychology, psychotherapy, or some other area that provides training and experience in “interviewing” or talking with individuals about sensitive areas in their personal lives, and successfully complete the MBTI® Step III™ Certification program from CAPT.

Ethical Guidelines for Using the MBTI® Instrument

The MBTI® assessment has a strong tradition of ethical guidelines that follow in the tradition of the impeccable and
tireless work of Isabel Myers in her creation of the indicator.

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Other instruments might use the structure and names for the sixteen types but if anything other than the authentic MBTI® instrument was used the results are not MBTI® types or preferences and should not be presented as such. In addition, a person-to-person feedback between practitioner and client is important and the interpretation session should be scheduled before the client receives the results.
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