About the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) ®

"Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgement sounder, and your life closer to your heart's desire"  

Isabel Briggs Myer

After more than 60 years of research and development, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used instrument in the world for understanding normal personality differences. 

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-report personality inventory that can help people understand their own as well as others' preferences and behaviours. It can be used to understand one's own motivations, strengths and potential areas for growth as well as understand, appreciate and accommodate those who differ from them.

Based on Jung's theory of psychological types, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) sorts individual preferences along four scales each of which defines opposing ways of being:

• Extraversion-Introversion - where we focus our energy and attention - internally or externally;
• Sensing-Intuition - how we take in information, relying more on the five senses vs. a sixth sense;
• Thinking-Feeling - how we process that information to reach conclusions, objective and impersonal vs. subjective and personal; and

• Judging-Perceiving - how we tend to deal with the outside world, organized and decisive vs. going-with-the-flow and adaptive.

Combined, these four dimensions yield 16 personality types, each with distinctive characteristics that can play out significantly in every aspect of both our personal and professional life.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is used for:

• Self Understanding and Personal Development
• Relationship and Communication Development
• Team Building and team functioning
• Problem solving
• Career Development and exploration
• Organisational Development
• Conflict Resolution
• Management and leadership development and training
• Counselling

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in Depth - STEP II

The MBTI Step II questionnaire breaks down each of the four Myers Briggs Type (MBTI) preferences into a further five facets to provide a more in-depth interpretation. It provides more information on the differences between individuals with the same type preferences and the similarities between those with different type preferences.

Step II is used:

• To validate individual differences within each type
• To clarify an unclear type preference
• To support individual development in career counselling
• To provide insight and direction in executive coaching
• To promote team building
• To promote personal development and understanding

The Step II Interpretive Report is an 18-page colour report is an in-depth, personalized description of your personality preferences, that contains:

• Step I Results
• Step II Facets
• Applying Step II to Communicating
• Applying Step II to Making Decisions
• Applying Step II to Managing Change
• Applying Step II to Managing Conflict
• How the Parts of Your Personality Work Together
• Integrating Step I and Step II
• Using Type to Gain Understanding
• Overview of Your Results
• Further Reading

 Benefits to individuals

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) offers people a straightforward and affirmative way to look at themselves.  For many people self-awareness does not come easily and is often threatening.  The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) gives a clear road map to self-understanding.

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can

• bring objectivity and reason to emotional issues
• show the different ways people prefer to communicate which allows them to be more effective in getting their ideas heard and implemented
• be used successfully in relationships between boss and employees, husband and wife, and many others
• in strained relationships, it can help each person analyse the source of the conflict and build a strategy to reduce it

Many people take their gifts for granted or under-estimate them because these gifts come so easily.  The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) helps people to value their strengths.   It gives people more awareness for areas that may need development.

Isabel Myers said there are 16 paths to excellence.  Finding the pathway that has the rewards a particular person values, leads to motivated and committed behaviour.

Benefits to organisations

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has been used successfully by many different organisations to examine decision making, problem solving, communication patterns and team building. It can bring objectivity and rationality to work related conflict.  It allows people to look at their different ways of meeting an objective or doing a job.

My personal experience of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was so profound that it altered my self perception and also how I perceive and interact in relationships both personally and professionally.

Marilyn Andrew