“When people differ, a knowledge of type lessens friction and eases strain. In addition it reveals the value of differences. No one has to be good at everything.” Isabel Briggs Myers
Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that is estimated to have been taken by over fifty million people worldwide.
This article will explain how one of the most popular self-assessment instruments in history was created by these two women. I will then demonstrate why taking that instrument has had such a positive impact on individuals from all over the world.
Katherine C. Briggs became interested in type differences beginning in 1917 and created her own typology based on reading biographies and autobiographies. When Carl Jung’s book “Psychological Types” was published in 1921 she realized that his writings were similar to hers but more advanced. She put her typology model aside and engaged her daughter Isabel in her Type related efforts. After making this decision, Katherine wrote two articles for The New Republic that discussed Jung’s theory on type. The first, Meet Yourself Using the Personality Paint Box was published in 1926 and the second published in 1928 was titled Up From Barbarism.
The Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT) publication “Jung’s Theory and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator” written by Mary McCaulley explains the evolution of Katherine and Isabel’s efforts, “For over twenty years, Briggs and Myers used Jung’s theory as the basis for an informal kind of “type watching,” gaining ever greater respect for the power of Jung’s theory to make behavior understandable and predictable.
World War II made it dramatically clear to Isabel Myers that human misunderstandings can threaten civilization. Nearer to home, she was struck by the unhappiness of persons working for patriotic reasons at jobs that went ‘against their grain.’ She decided to create an instrument that would bring Jung’s theory into practical application.”
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was published by ETS in 1962. Consulting Psychologists Press, now the Myers-Briggs Company took over the publication of the indicator in 1975, the same year that the nonprofit Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT) was established to provide education, research, and services to MBTI users.
In the introduction to the first manual published about the MBTI, Isabel Myers wrote, “The purpose of the indicator is to implement Jung’s theory of type. The gist of the theory is that much apparently random variation in human behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to certain basic differences in the way people prefer to use perception and judgment.”
The Model
Mary McCaulley wrote in the booklet mentioned previously, “There are four dichotomous preferences that are measured by the MBTI. Three of these variables- extroversion-introversion (EI), sensing-intuition (SN), and thinking-feeling (TF) are explicit in Jung’s theory as outlined in his book Psychological Type. The judgment-perception (JP) dimension is implicit in his theory and was made explicit by Myers in order to permit the identification of the dominant preference between the two preferences most favored.”
I have stressed in previous articles on Peak Performance, Emotional Intelligence, The Road to Character and others the importance of self-awareness for anybody who is looking to have a positive impact or a successful life. The four dichotomous preferences mentioned above in combination suggest multiple ways of acting that promote success and positive impact.
The first index as mentioned above is Extraversion-Introversion (E-I). According to the Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT) which is a primary resource along with the Myers & Briggs Foundation for gaining a complete understanding of the MBTI, “Extraverts are oriented primarily toward the outer world; thus, they tend to focus their perception and judgment on people and objects. Introverts are oriented primarily toward the inner world and they tend to focus their perception and judgment upon concepts and ideas… This affects choices as to whether to direct perception judgment mainly on the outer world (E) or mainly on the inner world of ideas (I).”
Understanding where your energy tends to go most naturally allows one to flex behavior in different situations that involve people, objects, concepts and ideas regarding the positive impact or more general result one is attempting to have.
The second index is Sensing-Intuition (S-N). According to CAPT, “One may rely primarily upon the process of sensing (S), which reports observable facts or happenings through one or more of the five senses (taste, sight, touch, smell and hearing.); for those people who rely on the less obvious process of intuition (N), they focus first on meanings, relationships and/or possibilities that have been worked out beyond the reach of the conscious mind…This affects choices as to which kind of perception is preferred when one needs or wishes to take in or absorb information.”
Understanding how one prefers to take in information is critical regarding having a positive impact or obtaining desired results because the information needs in different situations change regularly and one needs to be ready to address situations that are not necessarily one’s preference for gathering information. If you cannot focus your attention on both observable facts and meanings and relationships you will be limited regarding connecting positively with different people and situations.
The third index is Thinking-Feeling (T-F). According to CAPT, “A person may rely primarily through thinking (T) to decide impersonally on the basis of logical consequences, as opposed to another who may rely primarily on feelings (F) to decide primarily on the basis of personal or social values…This affects choices as to which kind of judgment to trust when one needs or wishes to make a decision.”
How we make decisions is obviously a major factor regarding having a positive impact and living our lives in general. Understanding that you and those with whom you are interacting make decisions based on some combination of thinking and feeling provides a very actionable framework from which to improve one’s ability to make the right decision in different situations with different people possessing differing decision-making preferences.
The fourth index is Judgment-Perception (J-P). CAPT states, “The J–P index is designed to describe the process used primarily in dealing with the outer world, that is, with the “extraverted” part of life. A person who prefers judgment (J) has reported a preference for using a judgment process (either thinking or feeling) for dealing with the outer world. A person who prefers perception (P) has reported a preference for using a perceptive process (either sensing or intuition) for dealing with the outer world…This affects choices as to whether to deal with the outer world using a judging (J) attitude (T or F) or in the perceptive (P) attitude (using S or N).”
Obviously, again, how we prefer to deal with the outer world is crucial to success in any situation since even if we live in isolation our attempt to have a positive impact is going to involve the outer world.
The MBTI is not some mystical construct that requires an advanced consciousness to understand and use. As you just saw, the areas it covers – where you prefer to focus your energy, how you prefer to take in information, how you prefer to make decisions and how you deal with the outer world – are preference areas one deals with every day.
When one has a clear idea of how these four dimensions combine the picture that is created is dynamic and actionable regarding any situation one might encounter when trying to have a positive impact or in leading a successful life. The library of materials that CAPT makes available to individuals who have taken the MBTI is thorough and very well researched. I have never been in a situation in the past when I used to coach individuals using the MBTI where I was unable to find appropriate resources through CAPT regarding a client’s developmental and professional needs.
In Conclusion
It is important to take a measured and informed approach regarding possible interest you may have regarding taking the MBTI and/or regarding the usefulness of the results you might already have received. Since an estimated fifty million or more people have taken it there are many reasons for individuals and organizations to come down on either side of the debate about the reliability, validity, and effectiveness of this extremely popular instrument.
Both Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers dealt with powerful resistance to their work. Two of the reasons were their gender and the fact that they were working from their home and not in a university.
Chapter Two of my book “Have a Positive Impact During Uncertain Times” – https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732793808 – outlines a Positive Impact process that relies on receiving data about yourself that will allow you to have the most positive impact on our world. The MBTI is one of the multiple self-assessment instruments highlighted in that section of the book.