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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.
"Perception involves all the ways of becoming aware of things,
people, happenings, or ideas. Judgment involves all the ways of
coming to conclusions about what has been perceived. If people
differ systematically in what they perceive and in how they reach
conclusions, then it is only reasonable for them to differ correspondingly
in their interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills."
In developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator [instrument], the
aim of Isabel Briggs Myers, and her mother, Katharine Briggs,
was to make the insights of type theory accessible to individuals
and groups. They addressed the two related goals in the developments
and application of the MBTI instrument:
The identification of basic preferences of each of the four dichotomies
specified or implicit in Jung’s theory.
The identification and description of the 16 distinctive personality
types that result from the interactions among the preferences.”
Excerpted with permission from the MBTI® Manual:
A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator®
Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world
or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion
(E) or Introversion (I).
Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information
you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This
is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).
Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first
look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and
special circumstances? This is called Thinking
(T) or Feeling (F).
Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer
to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information
and options? This is called Judging (J)
or Perceiving (P).
Your Personality Type: When you decide on your preference
in each category, you have your own personality
type, which can be expressed as a code with four letters.
The 16 personality types of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®
instrument are listed here as they are often shown in what is
called a “type table.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Flexible and tolerant, they take a pragmatic approach
focused immediate results. Theories and conceptual
explanations bore them – they want to act energetically
to solve the problem. Focus o n the here-and-now,
spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they can be
active with others. Enjoy material comforts and
style. Learn best through doing.
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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.
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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 spanport. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely
on their ability to improvise and their verbal fluency.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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For a description of your MBTI type, place your cursor over the
box containing your four-letter type code. You may also wish to
browse through all of the 16 type descriptions.
If you do not know your MBTI type, you may wish to take
the instrument.
Type tables can also be used to
gather and facilitate analysis of information about teams or specific
groups of people.
All types are equal:
The goal of knowing about personality type is to understand and
appreciate differences between people. As all types are equal,
there is no best type.
The MBTI instrument sorts for preferences and does not measure
trait, ability, or character. The MBTI tool is different from
many other psychological instruments
and also different from other personality
tests.
The best reason to choose the MBTI instrument to discover your
personality type is that hundreds of studies over the past 40
years have proven the instrument to be both valid
and reliable. In other words, it measures what it says it
does (validity) and produces the same results when given more
than once (reliability). When you want an accurate profile of
your personality type, ask if the instrument you plan to use has
been validated.
The theory of psychological type was introduced in the 1920s
by Carl G. Jung. The MBTI tool was
developed in the 1940s by Isabel Briggs
Myers and the original research
was done in the 1940s and '50s. This research is ongoing, providing
users with updated and new information about psychological type
and its applications. Today, more than two million people worldwide
take the Indicator each year.
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