Myers- Briggs Scale

Myers- Briggs Scale

The Myers- Briggs Scale or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test designed to assist a person in identifying some significant personal preferences. MBTI is primarily based on research developed by Carl G Jung. Jung developed the theory that people fall under different psychological types. He believed that there were two basic functions of a person's personality:

1. How we take in information (or perceive things)

2. How we make decisions.

From that Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs, elaborated on Jung's idea and developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The Indicator is broken down into four areas of function:

1. Extraversion/Introversion

2. Sensing / Intuition

3. Thinking/Feeling

4. Judging/Perceiving

The Extroverted and Introverted scale is where people's energy comes from. Extroverted types get their energy from the outer world of people, where the introvert receives their energy from their inner self. The all around personality of the Extrovert are social spontaneous people. They learn better by hands-on activity, they tend to be faster, and dislike complicated procedures; they also have interpersonal skills, write without using an outline, and can't stand not knowing what's going on. The Introvert is just the opposite. They are normally hesitant, and they think before they speak, they're not always confident, and unlike the Extrovert they have fewer relationships but tend to have closer bonds. They like lectures, tend to be careful with details, are below average in public speaking, and enjoy doing things in small groups.

The Sensors and the Initiators are the areas in which people gather information. The sensors gather their information from facts, proven experiences, and the things that are based on the five senses. When learning, the sensing types dislike new problems unless there are standard ways to solve them. They like an established way of doing things. The Initiators base their information on possible hunches, past experiences and futuristic speculation. They like assignments open to interpretation; they are impatient to routine details but patient with change.

Thinking and Feeling is the next scale on the Indicator, and this section is based on how people make decisions. The thinkers make decisions based on objectivity, laws, evidence, logic, rules, principles, and honesty, they learn by challenge, debate, and critique .They may hurt people's feeling without knowing it, and they tend to be firm-minded. The feelers tend to be sympathetic. They tend to be aware of other people and their feelings. They show sympathy and mercy and their feelings aren't usually hurt easily. They learn by being supported and appreciated, they base problems on what would be best for everyone, and they are less efficient in work situations where there is animosity.

The final division of the Indicator is Judging and Perceiving. This is the area in which it describes the type of lifestyle people lead. The Judgers are the type of people who work best when they can plan their work and follow the plan. They may not notice new things that need to be done, or even decide things to quickly. When writing they are decisive and their only down-fall is that they sometimes plan things to far in advance. The Perceivers on the other hand are open ended, lead easygoing lifestyles, are in no hurry, procrastinate, adapt as they go, and have trouble making decisions. A good motto for their life could be, "why work when you can play first." They normally will have more than one-project overlapping, and they tend to postpone the dreadful jobs.

The Indicator is generally reported with letters, these letters represent the 16 personality types and the four temperament preferences and possible career objectives:

1. Artisan

Ð'* PERFORMER

(ESFP)

Ð'* COMPOSER

(ISFP)

Ð'* PROMOTER

(ESTP)

Ð'* CRAFTER

(ISTP)

2. Guardian

Ð'* SUPERVISOR

(ESTJ)

Ð'* INSPECTOR

(ISTJ)

Ð'* PROVIDER

(ESFJ)

Ð'* PROTECTOR