“MBTI Step II is the result of many years of research and observation that began with Isabel Myers’ development of the MBTI personality inventory in the 1940s (see Myers and McCaulley, 1985; Myers et al., 1988). The basic versions of the Indicator (Form M and the earlier Form G) yield type descriptions distinguishing the sixteen types from one another but offer relatively few clues as to how people of the same type may differ. In adding items that were not scored for four-letter type, Myers’ intent was to enable exploration and identification of individuality within each of the sixteen types. She was in the process of developing this aspect of her work more fully at the time of her death in 1980.”

Excerpted from MBTI® Step II Manual:
Exploring the Next Level of Type Within the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Form Q

The MBTI Step II personality inventory provides respondents with a four-page Step II Profile and/or an eighteen-page Step II Interpretive Report. The details of Step II results show respondents their preferences further detailed into five components, called facets, for each dichotomy. The results come from responses on Form Q of the MBTI instrument, a longer version of the questionnaire used for Step I. The Step II report breaks down each preference into facets, which allow deeper analysis of type. “For example,” according to the MBTI® Step II Manual, “Extraversion-Introversion encompasses such facets as sociability, activity level, and expressiveness. A different measurement approach to Extraversion–Introversion might focus on a single facet, for example, sociability. In such an approach, the items making up that measure would ask only about the respondent’s attitudes or behaviors regarding sociability.”

Step II results help define the differences with the 16 types and also provide assistance to people who are having trouble identifying their best-fit type. For example, a person who prefers Perceiving might be confused because she does not take a Perceiving approach to due dates for tasks. She is more comfortable finishing work well ahead of time, which is more typical of people who prefer Judging. Her Step II results would indicate a preference for Judging on that facet, explaining why she may have had doubts about her preference for Perceiving. Her overall preference would remain Perceiving, even though some of the five facets under Perceiving may indicate her preference for decisiveness and closure.

When Step II is given alone, it provides results for both a person’s four-letter type but includes the more detailed information on the facets. Step II can also be administered to people who already know their four-letter type. In either case, the MBTI practitioner has the choice of providing respondents with a four-page profile or an eighteen-page report.

Form Q is the questionnaire used to determine Step II results, and it can only be scored by computer through the publisher of the instrument, CPP, Inc. Step II scoring is also available through qualified users of the SkillsOne® program.

The same qualifications that apply to the administration of the MBTI instrument apply to administration of the MBTI Step II instrument. For more information about becoming qualified, please go to How to Become an MBTI Qualified Practitioner.