Jung Myers-Briggs Personality Test, and beyond.
Remember the ol’ days of psychology class when we used to fill out questionnaires, and we end up being Sanguine, Melancholy, Phlegmatic, and Choleric, or somewhere in the middle? (I still remember my result, mine was Sanguine-Phlegmatic). Here’s the newer and presently popular version of such personality test. It has been used everywhere as a standard personality test (I might have to do a research to back this up, but I was hoping you’ll just buy my impulsive hypothetical crap). It’s Carl Gustav Jung and Isabel Briggs-Myers typological approach to personality, some call it Jung personality type or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for short.
Here’s a summary from HumanMetrics.
According to Carl Jung’s typology all people can be classified using the following three criteria:
Extraversion – Introversion
Sensing – Intuition
Thinking – Feeling
Isabel Briggs-Myers added fourth criterion:
Judging – Perceiving
The first criterion, Extraversion - Introversion defines the source and direction of energy expression for a person. The extravert has a source and direction of energy expression mainly in the external world while the introvert has a source of energy mainly in the internal world.
The second criterion, Sensing - Intuition defines the method of information perception by a person. Sensing means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives directly from the external world. Intuition means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives from the internal or imaginative world.
The third criterion, Thinking - Feeling defines how the person processes information. Thinking means that a person makes a decision mainly through logic. Feeling means that, as a rule, he or she makes a decision based on emotion.
The fourth criterion, Judging - Perceiving defines how a person implements the information he or she has processed. Judging means that a person organizes all his life events and acts strictly according to his plans. Perceiving means that he or she is inclined to improvise and seek alternatives.
The different combinations of the criteria determine a type. There may be sixteen types. Every type has a name (or formula) according to the combination of criteria. For example:
ISTJ
Introvert Sensing Thinking Judging or
ENFP
Extravert INtuitive Feeling Perceiving
By taking the Jung Typology Test, you will discover your type formula along with a quantitative measure of each of the 4 criteria (strengths of the preferences). For more detailed explanation, you can also read MBTI on Wikipedia.
View the historical development of personality typology attached below. Somehow it’s always divided into four slices of personality, so make sure that’s four different sets of table for each party.
| c. 400 BC | Hippocrates’s four humours | blood | yellow bile | black bile | phlegm |
| Organ: | liver | spleen | gall bladder | brain/lungs | |
| Characteristics: | courageous, amorous | easily angered | despondent, sleepless | calm, unemotional | |
| c. 325 BC | Aristotle’s four sources of happiness | hedone (sensuous pleasure) | ethikos (moral virtue) | propraitari (acquiring assets) | dialogike (logical investigation) |
| c. 190 AD | Galen’s four temperaments | sanguine | choleric | melancholic | phlegmatic |
| c. 1550 | Paracelsus’s four totem spirits | changeable salamanders | inspired nymphs | industrious gnomes | curious sylphs |
| c. 1905 | Adicke’s four world views | innovative | doctrinaire | traditional | skeptical |
| c. 1912 | Dreikurs‘ four mistaken goals | Retaliation | Recognition | Service | Power |
| c. 1914 | Spränger’s four value attitudes | artistic | religious | economic | theoretic |
| c. 1920 | Kretchmer’s four character styles | hypomanic | hyperesthetic | depressive | anesthetic |
| c. 1947 | Erich Fromm’s four orientations | exploitative | receptive | hoarding | marketing |
| c. 1958 | Myers’s Jungian aspects of sixteen types | SP – sensory perception | NF – intuitive feeling | SJ – sensory judgement | NT – intuitive thinking |
| c. 1978 | Keirsey/Bates four temperaments (old) | Dionysian | Apollonian | Epimethean | Promethean |
| c. 1998 | Keirsey’s four temperaments | Artisan | Idealist | Guardian | Rational |
But my favourite one is Tim O’Leary’s four: Warriors, Workers, Whiners and Weasels. :D
Care to find out what type of personality you are?
Take this test here on SimilarMinds.
I’m an ESTJ.
organized, group oriented, focused, conventional, leader, emotionally stable, anal, attention seeking, planner, realistic, fearless, responsible, finisher, decisive, norm following, respects authority, punctual, hard working, stiff, self confident, thinks rules and regulations are important, follows the rules, clean, outgoing, social, content, does not like being alone, normal, regular, does not like weird or strange people / things – intolerant of differences, strict, disciplined, aggressive, assertive, content, happy, proper, formal, strict with self, meticulous, strong sense of purpose
favored careers:
executive, ceo, supervisor, business consultant, manager, strategist, financial planner, business person, office manager, public relations manager, international business specialist, business analyst, management consultant, operations manager, loan officer, lawyer, marketing, sports management, government employee, investment bankerdisfavored careers:
poet, artist, songwriter, musician, novelist, art therapist, theatre teacher, art curator, film editor, video game designer, photo journalist, travel writer, actor, record store owner, camera operator, art historian, music teacher
Acceptable. Nice way of reassuring me that I’m yet just another social cannibal.
Hello. You are now reading an article written by Marisa Duma, published on 14Nov07 along with other notes on Articles On The Web, Lifestyle, Personal Note, Psychology.
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I can relate of course to anyone who favors a career as a management ( c.q. business) consultant. However, on the face of it I would have guessed the owner of this site has to be creative and artistic. So, how can it be possible for a blessed person like that to disfavor creative and artistic careers?
The real question is: what about the reliability and validity of the test? Or of any popular psychological test, for that matter.
I am always thinking, and more often than not feeling.
What I am feeling I simply cannot divulge.
Very interesting read, thanks for the great info!
@ colson
Yeah my subliminal psyche had cheated on the test. Given the choice, I’d rather be a travel writer than a CEO. I do find this particular one quite fascinating: international business specialist.
Guess it pays in euros? I could visit the Netherlands then! :)
@ Lord Likely
Indeed, sire. Feelings are such unbearable sight, which even now tighten my throat, this is but one final act of bravery amongst many.
@ Kitty
Thank you. Left a comment on your blog as well.
@marisaduma: You’re welcome. Il gladly will show you around – with the help of my daughters in law, of course.
U summered the matter up in perfectly formed sentences.
I’m very interested in psychology and because of my computer science studies i have no time to read an entire book. So I found your explication quite simple and easy to understand
keep up ur good work
I will be a regular reader of your blog
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Hello, Billigflug. Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll be sure to post some more on pop psychology. :)