Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that is estimated to have been taken by over 50 million people worldwide.
This article will explain how one of the most popular self-assessment instruments in history was created by these two women. Since I do all my writing, teaching and consulting regarding how people can have a positive impact, 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- extraversion-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-Introversion (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.
Ethics for Administering the MBTI Instrument
This outline regarding the ethical use of the MBTI is found on the Myers & Briggs Foundation website.
1. Tell respondents that taking the Indicator is always voluntary and offer the opportunity not to participate.
2. Insist that Indicator results never be used to label, evaluate, or limit the respondent in any way.
3. Ensure that type results are confidential and not given to anyone besides the respondent without permission.
4. Inform respondents of the purpose of taking the instrument and how results will be used.
5. Tell respondents the Indicator is not a test, since there are no right or wrong answers.
6. If the instrument is given for research purposes, sharing the results with respondents is not required but highly recommended.
7. Do not take specific questions from the Indicator to get a “quick reading” on a particular preference pair.
8. Administer and score the Indicator in accordance with the guidelines in the most current edition of the MBTI® Manual.
The following statement is made in the 3rd edition of the MBTI manual. “As a self-reported indicator of complex underlying psychological processes, preference clarity indexes associated with MBTI type categories are properly viewed as trustworthy indications of the accuracy of an individual’s results. However, the focus of the MBTI is on its usefulness to respondents. Therefore, verification of the accuracy of the indicated type by the respondent is essential. MBTI results do not “tell” a person who he or she is. Rather, individual respondents are viewed as experts who are best qualified to judge the accuracy of the type descriptions that result from their self-report.”
Therefore, effective training and understanding of the instrument is needed by the professionals who help individuals understand their results. The Myers & Briggs Foundation explains that, “The MBTI is a restricted assessment tool and requires specific qualifications in order to administer it to others. All practitioner must be trained in the use and interpretation of the instrument either through previous academic study or by taking courses designed specifically to meet MBTI certification guidelines. In addition to ensuring the ethical and accurate use of the Indicator, such training also provides the practitioner with methods and knowledge for assisting clients in understanding MBTI results and for using that information in various aspects of the client’s lives…
Several options are available for those who want to take the MBTI instrument:
· Online: The publisher of the MBTI® instrument, The Myers-Briggs Company, has developed an online process where participants verify their type preferences while answering questions. Because of the interactive nature of the system, person-to-person feedback from a certified MBTI practitioner is not required. However, individuals who take the MBTI assessment in this way may want to have a follow-up discussion with an MBTI professional. This can help them gain a better understanding of their best-fit type, while providing them with greater insight into the meaning of their preferences.
· Personal Feedback: You can take the MBTI with personal feedback, provided by the Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT®), the non-profit organization cofounded by Isabel Briggs Myers. This service begins with online administration of the MBTI instrument, and includes a highly experienced, certified professional who assists with the interpretation of the results via an hour-long personalized phone consultation. Not available in Asia or Australia.”
I was fortunate to be certified in the instrument decades ago by Mary McCaulley at CAPT in Gainesville Florida and her assistance significantly improved my understanding of my own results and how to use the instrument professionally. Her knowledge of the instrument also helped me see how I, as a strongly differentiated Extravert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceptive (ENFP) needed to be especially planful and organized in my use of the instrument. I needed to be mindful of the fact that creative ideas I might bring into the conversation might be lost because I preferred to be more energetic, spontaneous and conceptual than would be useful in many situations regarding meeting professional time requirements and restrictions while really hearing what the person I was trying to help was saying. She had a significant positive impact on my career with that MBTI feedback.
I want to be clear, I am not writing this article to get business and I no longer do 1:1 coaching using the MBTI and so do not have an affiliation with CAPT. All my work focuses on having a positive impact and is done through teaching, group program design and facilitation and my writing.
My bias is very clear based on my background as a manager of career coaches, a practitioner myself and a consultant who has seen the MBTI administered in dozens of organizations. I strongly believe that one who takes the instrument should receive at least an hour of time with a practitioner who possesses the requisite background outlined earlier.
Whichever way one decides to take the MBTI, it is critical to gain a clear understanding of your type preferences. Since it is a self-assessment the questions can be answered in a way that skews the result toward the way one wants to be seen. This becomes a significant issue when someone is taking it as an employee in an organization that does not provide the support necessary from trained professionals to best understand how to use the MBTI information that is provided. I have unfortunately been in many organizations where the MBTI was not used ethically or appropriately, particularly when it was used for staffing and promotion purposes. This is an issue regarding the use of the MBTI and any other psychological instruments in organizations where individuals career possibilities could be negatively impacted by inappropriate use of a psychological assessment.
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 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. The following quote describes the latter bias and is one of many examples one will find online when researching the MBTI. “Jung’s theory of psychological types was not based on controlled scientific studies, but instead on clinical observation, introspection, and anecdote – methods regarded as inconclusive in the modern field of scientific psychology.”
And you will find dozens of articles like the following as you do your research. “Measuring the MBTI…And Coming Up Short” and “The Mysterious Popularity of the Meaningless Myers-Briggs (MBTI).” Is there helpful information in these articles? Of course, and both articles have information that might help one decide on whether or how to use the MBTI. If you are interested in taking the MBTI it is your job to sort through the extremes that exist regarding the instrument and deciding how to move ahead in a way that meets your needs.
I have stated my biases and hope what I have written has been helpful regarding any interest you might have in taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator self-assessment.
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.
One of the reasons some individuals have purchased the book is because of the link that is included in it that allows readers to send in their positive impact stories for possible inclusion online or in a follow-up book. I hope to hear from you regarding your positive impact story.
Peter