B. Lorenzo Buckinchere
Sep 22, 2024
In the complex sphere of human diversity, there is a need for smoother and more fulfilling interaction. Everyone has navigated the social scene at some point or other in hopes of meeting someone of like mind. But doing so can be quite the daunting task, as not everyone is sincere.
However, personality compatibility is necessary to allow for a more seamless existence. That is where the Myers-Briggs Personality assessment comes into play.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was developed by American writer Isabel Briggs Myers, along with the help of her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, during the second world war. It was later adapted into a personality test by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), who published it in 1962.
The MBTI is based on Carl Jung’s “Dictionary of Analytical Psychology,” where he discussed his theory on psychological types and individual preferences.
MBTI determines an individual’s personality type, based on a dichotomy between four different psychological processes and responses, that includes the following.
- Introvert vs. Extravert
- iNtuitive vs. Sensing
- Thinking vs. Feeling
- Judging vs. Perceiving
Whenever one mixes and matches each of the four dichotomies, it results in a total of sixteen Myers Briggs types.
Introverts:
- Introvert, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging (INTJ)
- Introvert, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving (INTP)
- Introvert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving (INFP)
- Introvert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging (INFJ)
- Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving (ISTP)
- Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ISTJ)
- Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving (ISFP)
- Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, Judging (ISFJ)
Extraverts:
- Extravert, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving (ESTP)
- Extravert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ESTJ)
- Extravert, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving (ESFP)
- Extravert, Sensing, Feeling, Judging (ESFJ)
- Extravert, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving (ENTP)
- Extravert, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging (ENTJ)
- Extravert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving (ENFP)
- Extravert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging (ENFJ)
Everyone has found themselves perpetuating both ends of the dichotomy at some point or other, but the type in which you are more dominant is determined by how you answer each of the following four questions:
- Who are you based on what energizes you?
- (a) Self validating
- (b) Seeking validation from others
- Where do you get your ideas?
- (a) My imagination
- (b) The world around me
- How do you decide what to do with your ideas?
- (a) With what I think
- (b) How I feel
- How do you act upon your ideas?
- (a) Things must go according to plan
- (b) I am more flexible to changes and prospects
If you prefer self validation over external social validation, you are an introvert. If you get your ideas from your imagination versus the world around you, you are intuitive.
If you decide what to do based on how you feel, rather than what you think, you are feeling. And if you are rigid with your plans, you are judging. That would make you an INFJ, the rarest of the Myers-Briggs types.
INFJs are the empaths of the personalities, thus more prone to being targeted by predators. Introverts in general should carefully consider with whom they would rather share their limited social energy, but INFJs particularly have an extra responsibility to guard their energy, and save it only for themselves or those who are willing to reciprocate.
The MBTI was a marvelous invention, and can be used to determine compatibility in platonic, romantic and professional situations. However, it is not foolproof, as there are those who have been known to use the MBTI to abuse those who are unsuspecting.
Join me again next week, as I discuss a very common abusive hiring practice.
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