The History of the MBTI

After taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for class, I was interested in learning a little bit more about how it was developed and when.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a tool that helps individuals identify their basic personality type preferences. The 16 type preferences are based on four dimensions:

• Extroversion (E) -- Introversion (I)



• Sensing (S) -- Intuition (N)



• Thinking (T) -- Feeling (F)



• Judging (J) -- Perceiving (P)

All types are considered equal and there are no "right" or "wrong" types. The MBTI is based on the work of Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung and his book, Psychological Types, published in 1921. Jung was a disciple of Freud's but he ultimately distanced himself from some of Freud's theories.

More on Jung: http://www.carl-jung.net/biography.html

Extensive follow-on research to Jung's work was conducted by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Briggs. Briggs had been intrigued since her youth with the differences in personality that people exhibit. She was determined to understand the differences and health people value the differences in order to improve or enhance relationships among people. By the 1940's Myers and Briggs had developed the MBTI tool, expanding on Jung's concept of psychological types and translating the work into something more understandable to the layperson.

Decades of data collection and analysis have validated the MBTI tool. The tool was administered to family members, employees of a company the Myers worked for and to an entire class of Swarthmore College. Many of the original research notes of Myers are housed at the University of Florida. Today the instrument is used throughout the world and it has been translated into many different languages. It is used in business settings, marriage counseling, individual counseling among its applications. Others have built upon the work of Myers and Briggs. An example is Please Understand Me by Keirsey and Bates.

I am an ISFJ - I took the MBTI about 15 years ago and my recent taking re-validated my type preference. I am thinking about sharing my type with the employees who work for me directly and am also thinking about suggesting to my boss that the leadership team all take the MBTI if they haven't done so recently.

The MBTI is a fascinating tool that I personally think is very valid and useful. For those in leadership positions, it is important to understand yourself intimately in order to be a good leader as Kouzes and Posner have pointed out. The MBTI provides valuable insights and can help a leader understand his/her preferences. Ideally, the information can help individuals in the workplace understand differences and look for ways to complement the differences. For example, different types will have different approaches to solving a problem. Different perspectives can be a powerful way to collectively solve a problem. Differences should be viewed as a strength and not a weakness.

More on MBTI:

http://www.myersbriggs.org/

http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/mbti-overview.htm