“What personality type are you?” is a typical question you’ll probably receive from your average psychology student. But what does that even mean? Most people either have no clue or say some string of letters. If you’re someone who has no clue what that means, they’re usually referring to the Meyers-Briggs personality test. So feel free to take that much-needed study break to learn something that might be new and hopefully interesting to you!
Where did this test come from anyway? Well, Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Meyers created an MBTI personality questionnaire that was first published by the Educational Testing Service in 1943. Eventually, the Consulting Psychologists Press took over. Even today, the CPP is publishing this personality test because it has high validity in the psychological world. It is used for many counseling purposes, such as marital counseling, life counseling, work counseling, and even executive development. It is the world’s most popular personality instrument.
So what does the MBTI or Meyers-Briggs test tell you? It will ask you to evaluate how you feel about a situation (from strongly disagree to strongly agree) and give you a four letter result, for example INFJ, ESFP, ISTP, and so on.
What do the letters stand for? The first letter you get is I or E, meaning Introverted or Extroverted. This refers to how you view the world. Extroverted people look more at the outer world of people and things. Introverted people, on the other hand, focus more on ideas and impressions. It can also refer to how you recover from social interaction. Extroverted people are energized by social interaction, Introverted people need to “recharge” on their own, away from other people. It doesn’t mean that Introverted people are asocial or shy, they just need time to recover and revitalize themselves after social interaction.
The second letter is S or N, meaning Sensing or Intuitive. Sensing people concentrate on the present and information gained from the senses while Intuitive people look more at the future with patterns and possibilities
The third letter is T or F, meaning Thinking or Feeling. People who lean towards Thinking use more logic and objective analysis of cause and effect when making decisions. People who lean towards Feeling primarily use values and subjective evaluation of person-centered concerns to make decisions.
The fourth letter is J or P, meaning Judgment or Perception. Judgment people prefer planned and organized approaches to life and are usually more scheduled with their activities. They prefer “the destination” over “the journey.” On the other hand, Perception people are more flexible and spontaneous, less scheduled with their activities to keep their options open. They prefer “the journey” over “the destination.”
So reading this, you might be thinking “I feel like I’m ESFJ/INTP or whatever. But how do I know for sure?” There are many websites online for you to take this test, however a great one to use is the 16 Personalities website (16personalities.com). The test is very thorough with diverse questions and, after you take the test for yourself, it provides you with an in-depth analysis of your personality type, even giving it a name (for example, mine is INFJ which is The Advocate). It goes through how your personality type’s strengths and weaknesses, how your personality type is in romantic relationships, friendships, parenthood, the workplace and even gives career advice based on how your personality type thinks and behaves.
This test, and this website in particular, can be used to help understand yourself a little better and can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Being aware of these things can help a great deal in life, whether it’s in school, at home, or at work.
Now, I’m not saying to completely trust this website and follow every single piece of advice it spits out (and I’m definitely not recommending you pay for a premium profile). But it can be very useful, and, at the very least, fun to read about. If you’ve ever taken this test before, you probably know that feeling of “Wow! That’s so me!” while you’re reading your personality profile. It’s a fun study break among all the craziness of midterms. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re bored or want a quick break.
Hopefully, the take away from this article is that you have a better understanding of what the Meyers-Briggs personality test is and you might be able to answer the question “What personality type are you?” the next time someone asks. Plus, you have a fun thing to share and talk about with your friends!
Written by Shelby Rogers
References:
“The History of the MBTI® Assessment.” The History of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
“Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.” – What Do the Letters Mean? N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
“”It’s so Incredible to Finally Be Understood.”” Free Personality Test, Type Descriptions, Relationship and Career Advice. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.