Introduction to Psychological Type

Psychological Type is a term most commonly associated with the model of personality development created by Isabel Briggs Myers, the author of the world's most widely used personality inventory, the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). Myers' model and her inventory is largely based on the writings and theories of Carl Jung, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and a leading exponent of Gestalt personality theory.

Beginning in the early 1940's, Myers extended Jung's model with the initial development of the MBTI. Through her extensive research refining the MBTI and collaboration with many colleagues, Jung's concepts were put into language that could be understood and used by the average person. Myers' book "Gifts Differing", published posthumously in 1980, provided a comprehensive introduction into the Jung/Myers theory. Myers book and her philosophy of celebrating human diversity anticipated the workplace diversity movement.

The MBTI is now a registered trademark of Consulting Psychologist Press, Inc. (CPP) who also publishes and distributes the Inventory. The MBTI is available from CPP and its' licensees in approximately 20 foreign languages. In addition, alternate versions of the inventory have been scientifically customized and validated for other languages and cultures for which a straight translation of English language terms would yield inaccurate results. The other major distributor of the MBTI is the Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT), a non-profit educational organization founded by Myers and psychologist Mary McCaulley to promote continued research into psychological type and application of psychological type to foster enhanced personal development, increased human understanding, and improved management of human conflict.

Another non-profit organization, The Association for Psychological Type (APT) is an international member education and certifying organization for professionals who use type in their occupations and professional practices. Membership is also open to lay persons who want to enrich their understanding and application of type.

The Basic Model

In her studies of people and extensive reading of Jung's theories, Myers concluded there were four primary ways people differed from one another. She labeled these differences "preferences" - drawing a similarity to "hand preferences" to illustrate that although we all use both of our hands, most of us have a preference for one over the other and "it" takes the lead in many of the activities in which we use our hands.  The first set of mental preferences relates to how people "Perceive" or take in information.

Those who prefer the Sensing Perception favor concrete, tangible, data and details from their direct here-and-now experience.

In contrast, those who prefer the Intuition Preference are drawn to information that is more abstract, conceptual, big-picture, and represents imaginative possibilities for the future.

The second set of mental preferences identifies how people form "Judgments" or make decisions.

Those who prefer Thinking Judgment have an inborn preference for making decisions in an objective, logical, and analytical manner with an emphasis on tasks and results to be accomplished.

Those whose preference is for Feeling Judgment make their decisions in a somewhat global, visceral, harmony and value-oriented way, paying particular attention to the impact of decisions and actions on other people.

One of the practical applications of the MBTI and understanding these preferences is in supporting better Teamwork. Inborn differences in these mental preferences lead to quite different value structures and communication styles, which can hamper mutual understanding and cooperation.

For example, people who share Sensing and Thinking preferences find they are naturally on the same wavelength; they easily understand one another, making good teammates and partners. Likewise, people who share Intuition and Feeling have a similar kinship among them. However, in the "real" world, it is more likely that you'll find a mixed bag of people, a variety of types, in the same work group. While this diversity can be a useful strength, contributing to greater depth and breadth of team competence, there will be natural communication barriers within the team due to their inborn mental language differences.

Such differences can be overcome, and the communication gap bridged, with mutual respect and practice learning to "talk" and "think" in a second or third language. A MBTI workshop can be seen as an introduction to learning the language, habits and culture of other types.

There are two other two kinds of mental preferences that are part of the Myers-Briggs model. One pertains to Energy Consciousness (Extraversion versus Introversion) and the other is Life Management Orientation (Judging versus Perceiving). The permutations of these four preferences result in the 16 personality types that form the basis of Myers' model and the MBTI inventory.

For a more complete discussion of the MBTI model, see some of the recommended Web Sites in This Way to Other Type Sites. For some good books on "Type" see Pierre Ferrand's article on his favorite books of the Millennium.

To discover your type and learn about strengths and weaknesses you never knew you had, use the Kiersey Temperament Sorter and answer sheet and follow the instructions.  Then check out the four-letter identifier that corresponds to your type.  Be sure to read the article MBTI which contains the "Constructive Use of Differences".