Myers Briggs Personality Types

You might have heard people talking about personality types such as ENFP and wondered what it meant These personality types come from the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory. Knowing your own personality type can be an effective tool for enhancing your relationships and career.

History

• Isabel Briggs Myers, and her mother, Katharine Briggs, developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to make C. J. Jung's theories of psychological types understandable and helpful in people's lives. According to the Myers-Briggs Foundation, the women based their assessment instrument on Jung's theory that behavior is not random but follows patterns.

  Everyone has different ways of viewing the world. You have a preference for how you get your energy, for the way you deal with information, how you make decisions and how you organize your world. Myers-Briggs has divided these four preferences into categories. Each category is represented by a letter.

Energy and Information

• Where you get your source of energy is the first preference. Extroverts (E) get their energy from interacting with other people. Introverts (I) prefer to recharge their batteries by spending time alone.

  The second preference is how you take in information, and what you do with it. Some people rely more on iNtuition (N). They see the big picture and enjoy brainstorming new ideas. Others focus on facts and details, they collect data, and use their Senses (S).

Decision Making and Structure

• How you make decisions is the third preference. Some people tend to go more with their Feelings (F), while others are more rational and Logical (L) when it comes to making choices.

  Finally, how you structure your world is the last preference. If you're always organized, on time and follow a routine, then you have a Judging (J) personality. You are Perceiving (P) if you prefer to be spontaneous, enjoy change and love surprises.

Personality Types

• After answering a series of questions using the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator, your personality type will be determined from a combination of each of the four preferences. Each type is expressed as a sort of code of four letters. For example, an ENFP would be someone who is an Extrovert, who is iNtuitive and solves problems by seeing the big picture and brainstorming ideas. She makes decisions with her Feelings, taking other people into consideration, likes being spontaneous and has an unstructured Perception of the world.

  There are 16 different personality types. The Myers-Briggs Foundation stresses that all types are equal and there's no one best type.

How it Helps

• The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator can give you insights into your personality and how you relate to those around you. According to the Myers-Briggs Foundation, knowing your personality type can be advantageous to career planning. For example, if you're an introvert, doing research work might lead to more happiness than a job in sales. Colleges, corporations and the U.S. Military have used it to recruit and form effective teams. Even knowing your partner's personality type can sometimes help build relationship skills and improve communication.