5.3

Reliability and Validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument

Lawyers’ Personality and Its Implications for Conflict Resolution and Mediation: Empirical Research of the MBTI Inventory Test among Law Students.


Cybulko, A., Gmurzynska, E., & Winiarska, A. (2025).
Lawyers’ Personality and Its Implications for Conflict Resolution and Mediation: Empirical Research of the MBTI Inventory Test among Law Students.
Studia Iuridica Lublinensia, 34(2), 133–159.

This paper examines the MBTI® personality type predispositions of law students in Poland through a comprehensive analysis comparing the Polish sample to U.S. samples of lawyers. The authors note that in published American samples of type distribution of attorneys, the four types most highly represented are: ISTJ, ESTJ, INTJ, and ENTP. In the study sample of 121 Polish law students, 60% of the sample were represented by five types: ISTJ, INTJ, ESTJ, ENTP, and INTP. The analysis then takes a deep dive into comparisons of type distribution across Poland and the U.S. including gender analyses and contrasts with other professions.

A preponderance of a preference for Thinking in the legal profession aligns with the leading skills attorneys use, such as a focus on facts, objective analysis, theoretical orientations, and trust in logic and reason. The authors note, however, that the growing use of methods in mediation emphasize cooperation, empathy, understanding the broader interests of the parties, and interpersonal relationships. They then ask, “to what extent do ‘legal personalities’ pose a challenge to, or complement, the competencies required for effective dispute resolution?”

This is an excellent analysis to read for people in or interested in the legal profession and for anyone who finds value in a great example of a personality type analysis of a profession.


ARTICLE PERMALINK: https://www.myersbriggs.org/research-and-library/journal-psychological-type/lawyers-personality-and-its-implications-for-conflict-resolution-and-mediation/

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