Katherine Myers was developing a theory of personality of her own when she read Jung. She found what he was suggesting clarified her thinking, so she adopted his theories into her framework. During the 1940's, she and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, set out to design a rigorous and reliable instrument that would test Jung's theory. They developed a tool to identify an individual's preferences; this was aimed towards greater understanding and constructive use of the differences between people.

C.G. Jung's theory of psychological types suggests that human behaviour is not random, but is the result of a few basic, observable differences in mental functioning. These differences are centred on how people prefer to use their minds, specifically how they choose to perceive and make judgements. He identified four functions at work: perception via sensation or intuition, judgement via thinking or feeling.

The MBTI includes four types of distinct preferences:
Index Preferences between Affects choices as to
EI (E) Extraversion or
    (I) Introversion
Whether to direct perception judgement mainly on the outer world (E) or mainly on the world of ideas (I)
SN (S) Sensing perception
    (N) Intuitive perception
Which kind of perception is preferred when one needs or wishes to perceive
TF (T) Thinking judgement
    (F) Feeling judgement
Which kind of judgement to trust when one needs or wishes to make a decision
JP (J) Judgement
    (P) Perception
Whether to deal with the outer world in the judging (J) attitude using (T or F) or in the perceptive attitude (P) (using S or N)
Know Your Type at KnowYourType.com personality testing
Understanding your MBTI at PersonalityPathways.com
Suggested Careers for Myers-Briggs Types

Results Analysis:
Summary Here
Characteristics Frequently Associated with each MBTI Type at AnalyticTech.com
The 16 MBTI® Types at MyersBriggs.org
Robert Munafo's MBTI Proximity Chart - A Karnaugh map of the Myers-Briggs personality types
MyPersonality.info
keirsey.com


Books:
"Introduction to Type", Isaabel Briggs Myers
Return to mental health - Relationships

last updated 4 July 2005