About the MBTI® Instrument
Creation of the 16 MBTI® Types
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Sensing |
Intuition |
Introversion |
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Extraversion |
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To read about all 16 types, click here.
ISTJ
Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability. Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized–their work, their home, their life. Value traditions and loyalty.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ISFJ (Introverted Sensing with Extraverted Feeling)
Quiet, friendly, responsible, and conscientious. Committed and steady in meeting their obligations. Thorough, painstaking, and accurate. Loyal, considerate, notice and remember specifics about people who are important to them, concerned with how others feel. Strive to create an orderly and harmonious environment at work and at home.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ISTP (Introverted Thinking with Extraverted Sensing)
Tolerant and flexible, quiet observers until a problem appears, then act quickly to find workable solutions. Analyze what makes things work and readily get through large amounts of data to isolate the core of practical problems. Interested in cause and effect, organize facts using logical principles, value efficiency.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ISFP (Introverted Feeling with Extraverted Sensing)
Quiet, friendly, sensitive, and kind. Enjoy the present moment, what’s going on around them. Like to have their own space and to work within their own time frame. Loyal and committed to their values and to people who are important to them. Dislike disagreements and conflicts, do not force their opinions or values on others.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ESTP (Extraverted Sensing with Introverted Thinking)
Flexible and tolerant, they take a pragmatic approach focused on immediate results. Theories and conceptual explanations bore them–they want to act energetically to solve the problem. Focus on the here-and-now, spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they can be active with others. Enjoy material comforts and style. Learn best through doing.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ESFP (Extraverted Sensing with Introverted Feeling)
Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant lovers of life, people, and material comforts. Enjoy working with others to make things happen. Bring common sense and a realistic approach to their work, and make work fun. Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ESTJ (Extraverted Thinking with Introverted Sensing)
Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions. Organize projects and people to get things done, focus on getting results in the most efficient way possible. Take care of routine details. Have a clear set of logical standards, systematically follow them and want others to also. Forceful in implementing their plans.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ESFJ (Extraverted Feeling with Introverted Sensing)
Warmhearted, conscientious, and cooperative. Want harmony in their environment, work with determination to establish it. Like to work with others to complete tasks accurately and on time. Loyal, follow through even in small matters. Notice what others need in their day-by-day lives and try to provide it. Want to be appreciated for who they are and for what they contribute.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
INFJ (Introverted INtuition with Extraverted Feeling)
Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
INTJ (Introverted INutition with Extraverted Thinking)
Have original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas and achieving their goals. Quickly see patterns in external events and develop long-range explanatory perspectives. When committed, organize a job and carry it through. Skeptical and independent, have high standards of competence and performance–for themselves and others.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
INFP (Introverted Feeling with Extraverted INtuition)
Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. Want an external life that is congruent with their values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
INTP (Introverted Thinking with Extraverted INtuition)
Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. Have unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ENFP (Extraverted INtuition with Introverted Feeling)
Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life as full of possibilities. Make connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability to improvise and their verbal fluency.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ENTP (Extraverted INtuition with Introverted Thinking)
Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ENFJ (Extraverted Feeling with Introverted INtuition)
Warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find potential in everyone, want to help others fulfill their potential. May act as catalysts for individual and group growth. Loyal, responsive to praise and criticism. Sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
ENTJ (Extraverted Thinking with Introverted INtuition)
Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in presenting their ideas.
(© Copyright, 1998 by CPP, Inc., Used with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.)
The Foundation for the 16 Types
“To be useful, a personality theory must portray and explain people as they are.”Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing
Myers and Briggs found to be such an important theory for human understanding, that they created the MBTI® instrument to help people identify their type.
In essence, Jung’s theory is that we have a predisposition to use our energy in certain ways and to process information, or think, in certain ways. Our energy preference (Jung’s attitudes) in combination with the way we think (Jung’s functions) yields eight different patterns, or “psychological types” (also known as the eight Jungian mental processes).
The Four MBTI® Dichotomies – An Extension of Jung’s Theory
Myers and Briggs considered their work to be an extension of Jung’s theory. Based on their study and knowledge of the theory, and the extensive testing of questions on friends and family, the mother-daughter team created a self-report instrument with questions on four separate dichotomies. The questions were constructed to require a person to select from opposite poles on these dichotomies (forced choice questions) to mirror Jung’s opposites. A person’s preferences on each of the dichotomies are scored and reported in the form of a four-letter type code.
The first three dichotomies (thus the first three letters of the type code) came directly from Jung’s theory:
- Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I) – How our energy most naturally flows
- Sensing (S) or INtuition (N) – How we Perceive, or take in information
- Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) – How we Judge, or evaluate information
The fourth dichotomy (and letter of the type code) was added to incorporate what Jung had only mentioned in a brief paragraph in Psychological Types; a secondary or auxiliary function. Jung had created his descriptions of the eight psychological types by writing only about a “superior function” (the dominant function) to the exclusion of the other seven functions. Myers and Briggs saw these descriptions as limiting; not comprehensive enough to account for how we operate in everyday life.
This dichotomy, called the J-P dichotomy ((J) for Judging or (P), for Perceiving) provided a formula for the identification of a dominant function, as well as auxiliary function – turning Jung’s eight types into the well-known four-letter 16 MBTI® types. The dichotomy is an indicator to which kind of function we extravert or show the world:
- Judging Function (J) — We show the world our Thinking (T) or our Feeling (F) function
- Perceiving Function (P) — We show the world our Sensing (S) or our INtuition (N) function
The Importance of the MBTI® Structure and 16 Type Codes
With the creation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument and the resultant 16 MBTI® types, Katharine and Isabel paved the way for the layperson to gain an understanding of their personality type. Equally as important was the resultant opportunity for those interested in human behavior to learn, study, research and create applications for the MBTI and Jung’s theory of typology, in order to help people in many different settings. The popularity of the MBTI® has brought Jungian typology into the mainstream of society and has led to widespread acceptance of Jungian theory in general; it has led to the study and defining / re-defining, of Jung’s eight mental processes, and thus a better understanding of Jung’s typology, than we would ever have hoped to achieve without the indicator.
The creation of the MBTI® personality assessment and the 16 types also led to:
- A personality classification system that takes into account the whole person – not just traits or behaviors; also known as “whole type” (download Importance of Whole Type PDF)
- A fuller, more positive, practical and usable lens for understanding self and others, than what Jung had written in Psychological Types
- 16 type descriptions that people readily relate to, which take into account the interaction of the dominant and auxiliary functions
- “16 paths to excellence”(Myers) or 16 different approaches to achieving, developing and lifelong learning, honoring the uniqueness of all individuals and their different approaches
- A naming convention, or common language, which helps us to better describe our styles and behaviors – a way to have a conversation about human thought processes and resultant behavioral patterns
- A neutral and non-threatening way to look at strengths and weaknesses
- A personality system that is open and dynamic, and easily recognizable
- A doorway into Jung’s theory of the psyche and individuation
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.