The Start
I know a good bit about MBTI. I have spent most of summer 2015 reading books about psychology which lead me to MBTI. Myers-Briggs originally started with Carl Jung. He was a Swiss psychiatrist and was seen as one of the founding fathers of modern-day psychology. Carl Jung originally started with eight different cognitive functions. Four which were introverted functions and four which were extroverted functions. Each function had it's own purpose.
1)Show how we view the world
2)Show how we absorb information
3)Show how we make decisions
Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers (Myers-Briggs came from the last name mother and daughter) published their first personality questionnaire in 1943. Katharine Briggs was originally inspired when she met her daughter's future husband, Clarence Myers. Katharine saw that Clarence was an eligible match for Isabel. However, she noticed that he viewed the world on a completely different level from the two of them. It was from that point on when Katharine started to do EXTENSIVE research until she found Carl Jung's Psychological Types.
Myers-Briggs made the process of understanding personality types a lot easier. The whole idea about MBTI was never to categorize people. It was to help us have a better understanding of the people around us and form deeper connections with them. Although MBTI failed in this sense because all it did was categorize them, I personally prefer this type of categorizing over categorizing people by calling them a Slow Learner or a Book Worm. Instead of insults, they're praises! The difference between the two is that MBTI was never a completed research and name calling does not need any factual evidence.
Although many argue that MBTI is just another stupid test with little to no truth behind it. It's obvious the complainers are just upset that their unique personalities can be categorized.
Another reason people do not like MBTI is because it doesn't explain the cognitive functions nor does it explain the shadow functions. Because there is not much information given about the cognitive functions and shadow functions from Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, people turn away from it. The Jungian personality type does explain the functions and also shadow functions.
** Carl Jung stated that everyone is both an introvert and an extrovert. However, each person prefers one over the other. A great example is how people write. People will almost always, if not always write with their dominant hand.
** Next, people will either absorb information via sensing or intuition. (Although everyone can absorb information with both, that's a bit advanced and I'd like to stick to the basics for now.)
** Finally, people will make judgments and decisions based on feeling or thinking. Yes, people can make decisions by listening to their emotions and also reasoning it out - That's a bit complex because each person has their own way to doing that. Also, on a general basis people will use their dominant or auxiliary function. (Meaning - whichever is more developed)
The Cognitive Functions
Now, each function has both an introverted side to it and an extroverted side to it. The eight functions are as follows:
Introverted Thinking & Extroverted Thinking
Introverted Feeling & Extroverted Feeling
Introverted Intuition & Extroverted Intuition
Introverted Sensing & Extroverted Sensing
Carl Jung explains that each person can be any type depending on a given situation. However, they will usually act like a certain type -- just like how someone writes with their dominant hand whenever possible. The introverted side is considered subjected while the extroverted side is considered objective. Although feeling and intuition technically cannot be objective. It's more about how you view the world. Do you view it with a subjective lenses (introversion) or do you view the world as is (extroversion).
Introverted Thinking (Ti) cares about making a logical system inside their head; the more developed the function is, the more advanced and amazing Ti becomes. The best way to explain introverted thinking is to think about how a car is made. Imagine taking every piece of the car out and just laying it on the floor, just like a blueprint. Now understanding where each piece of the car belongs and how each piece is used in order for the car to move is how introverted thinking works. Introverted thinking cares about understanding everything for knowledge or for the sake of understanding it. Ti users don't care about putting their newly acquired knowledge to accomplish something. Ti users enjoy learning for the satisfaction that learning provides.
Extroverted Thinking (Te) cares about putting everything into reality. Extroverted thinking cares less about understanding everything (although they might care about understanding everything depending on the situation) but more about trying things and seeing what works. Think of Te as a bulldozer. A bulldozer will crush everything in its way in order to achieve the end result. For a bulldozer, it's clearing the path. For a Te user it might be something as simple as learning how to cook a few delicious meals. Once the Te user learns how to make those few meals, they might continue learning other dishes assuming they want to become a chef or be satisfied with what they accomplished and make those same few meals for the rest of their lives. Yes, this might be a bit extreme, and in reality it probably won't work out this way, but I know of a few Te users that learned how to make 5-10 dishes and eat those same few meals 6 days a week. The last day of the week, Saturday they go out and eat whatever their heart desires. Heck, even I make the same few meals unless someone else in my house is cooking. I usually eat those same few meals everyday.
Extroverted Feeling (Fe) is an emotional function. Fe cares about harmony. A great quote that I hear every time I read up about or ask about extroverted feeling is: "If everyone is happy then I am happy because everyone includes me." Fe users care about the needs of others before their own needs. Think of a nurse, a nurse cares about everyone else's needs before he/she has time to take a break and eat her lunch or take a sip of water. The situation could also be as simple say agreeing with someone so the two don't enter into an argument. Of course, sometimes a Te users might do the same, but generally it's easy to tell if the situation is based on Fe or Te.
Introverted Feeling (Fi) is about individualism. Introverted feeling cares about it's own feelings before the feelings of others. Fi cares about standing out, not for the sake of being different but because Fi wants to express itself. Introverted feeling is hard to explain, but think of meeting new people at a business meeting -- a Fi user will hide part of itself, because Fi users don't always feel comfortable expressing themselves to people they just met. Also, Fi users don't always care about status.
Introverted Intuition (Ni) is the rarest of all the functions. According to some studies and surveys it represents less than 10% of the human population. The only way to understand Introverted Intuition if you aren't a Ni user, is to think of introverted intuition as a Shaman or a third eye. Ni users ask a lot of what if questions that MIGHT not make any sense. BUT the Ni user might have a rational explanation for their strange questions.Ni users are also known for accurately predicting the future. Of course, no human can actually predict the future. A future predicted by someone who has fully developed Ni is going to be more accurate than any other type trying to predict the future. That's one of the reasons why Shamans were viewed so highly.
Extroverted Intuition (Ne) cares about ENDLESS possibilities. Ne users will question everything. From "why do we think the way we think" to "why do we walk on two legs instead of four legs." Some people believe Ne users ask stupid questions. Personally, I think they ask the best questions. Extroverted Intuition is also known to be the best at thinking outside of the box. Also, extroverted intuitive users have the hardest time focusing on one thing -- which makes sense because of the amount of questions they have. And after x amount of questions, they get ideas which leads to experimentation and so forth.
| The Intuitive Thinkers | The Intuitive Feelers | The Sentinels | The (Orb)Servationists |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENTJ | ENFJ | ESTJ | ESTP |
| ENTP | ENFP | ESFJ | ESFP |
| INTP | INFP | ISFJ | ISFP |
| INTJ | INFJ | ISTJ | ISTP |
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