Least and Most Common Myers-Briggs Types

C.G. Jung developed the theory of personality types in the 1920s. Since then, people have sought to use information about personalities to improve their lives and businesses have done the same to increase performance. Of the many "personality tests" available, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is considered one of the most valid and reliable.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personal inventory instrument that measures the personality types described in the theory of C. G. Jung. The MBTI allows individuals to gauge which of the 16 personality categories fits them best and use this insight in their everyday lives.

Personality Types

• There are 16 personality types identified by the MBTI, with each being a combination of preferences in four categories: favorite world, information, decisions, and structure.

Type Categories.

• The MBTI uses a battery of questions to find a person's preferences. In the favorite world category, a person is identified either as preferring either extraversion (E) or introversion (I). The information category has sensing (S) or intuition (N), the decisions category includes thinking (T) or feeling (F), and the structure category includes judging (J) or perceiving (P). The four identifiers create the whole personality type.

Most Common Types

• Based on data collected between 1972 and 2002, the Myers-Brigg Foundation estimates that the most common personality types in the United States, in no particular order, are ESTP, ESFP, ESTJ and ESFJ.

Least Common Types

• The Myers-Brigg foundation also estimates that the least common personality types in the United States are INFJ, INTJ, INFP, and INTP, also in no particular order.