Myers-Briggs Typology (MBTI)
Types • Functions • Characters • Tests
MBTI (Myers–Briggs Type Indicator) is a personality type indicator that evaluates how people perceive their environment and make decisions.
The first classification of personality types was made by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in his work "Psychological Types," published in 1921. American psychologists Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers expanded it, leading to the first version of the test for determining one of 16 personality types in the 1940s.
It is now known as the MBTI test.
The personality type according to MBTI is designated by the first letters of the qualities that define human behavior:
- E — Extraversion
- I — Introversion
- S — Sensation
- N — iNntuition
- J — Judging
- P — Perceiving .
For example, the literal translation of INTJ would be: “Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging”.
All possible combinations from these four groups yield 16 personality types. Below are their abbreviations and corresponding characteristic nicknames, as simple letter combinations are harder to remember.
If you don’t know your personality type — take the test to determine it.
You can see all personality types here.
The Myers-Briggs Typology is recognized by the American Psychological Association. Today, in the USA, up to 70% of high school graduates take the personality type assessment for the purposes of choosing a future profession. The MBTI questionnaire is considered a standard, translated into 30 languages, and used worldwide.
It is possible to quite fully represent the character of a person or a character in a work by their personality type. (Examples can be found in our database — MBTI database ).
Main Areas of Application of MBTI Typology
MBTI can be helpful for individuals in understanding their personality as well as for personal and professional development for several reasons:
- Understanding personal preferences: by taking the MBTI assessment, people can gain insight into their personal preferences and how they process information and respond to different situations. This can help them better understand their strengths and weaknesses, as well as how they work best.
- Personal growth: understanding one's personality type can also help people develop their strengths and work on areas where they may struggle. This can provide a sense of self-awareness and enable them to make more informed decisions about their career and personal life.
- Improving communication: knowing the personality type of colleagues or loved ones can help people communicate better with them and understand their perspectives. This can lead to more effective collaboration and reduce conflicts in both professional and personal settings.
This typology is widely used in practice in the following areas:
- family counseling;
- organizational development;
- management and leadership training;
- interpersonal training;
- character typing in works.
At the end of the 20th century, a similar personality typology “Socionics” spread in the CIS, which also classifies compatibility of personality types, as MBTI does not initially consider relationships between types.
More about MBTI typology can be found in Wikipedia.
MBTI Cognitive Functions
The theory of types defines personality as a set of cognitive functions (from Latin cognitiо “knowledge”). People are divided into different personality categories according to their natural inclinations.
Without cognition, we would not have ideas, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or values, and our behavior would be governed by our autonomous “animal” brain, adapted for physical survival. It is through cognition that we develop a sense of self, give meaning to life events, evaluate situations, and make decisions, as well as envision what awaits us in the future — cognition makes us human.
According to MBTI typology, there are 8 cognitive functions:
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