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driven. Now, let's look at a more recent example of types. Then we will
discuss "parts" of our personality and more about motives.
In the last ten years, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® has
become very popular within industry and schools. These personality
types deal with normal people, not psychopathology, so you don't
need to be a clinical psychologist to use the instrument (but you need
training in the use of psychological tests). But the four dimensions on
the Myers-Briggs, all originally described by Carl Jung in the early
1900's, seem (intuitively) to reflect personality characteristics of a
fundamental nature:
1.
Where do you live mentally? Do you attend mostly to the
external world of events and people (you need people) or to the
internal world of your thoughts and reactions (you need
privacy)?
Extroversion or Introversion
2.
How do you take in information? Do you attend to your senses
telling you what is happening and useful right now (likes detail
and routines) or do you tune into the pattern of what is
happening so you can anticipate possibilities for the future
(likes imagination and change)?
Sensing or iNtuition
3.
How do you make decisions? Do you use your head--objective
data, logic, justice, and reason to analyze causes and effects or
do you rely more on your heart--feelings, values, relationships,
and vague, subjective reactions?
Thinking or Feeling
4.
What is your lifestyle? Your way of dealing with the world? Do
you have clear ideas about what "should be done" and carefully
plan and organize for each anticipated event (seem rigid and
stuffy to P's) or do you prefer to wait and see what develops,
remaining open to new or different options that you can select
spontaneously (seems loose and messy to J's)?
Judging or Perceiving
Thus, depending on your score on these four scales, you fall into
one of sixteen personality types, e.g. INTJ, ESFJ, ENFP, etc. Even
though there are only four scales, a great deal can be told about each
of the 16 personality types. The Myers-Briggs types are reported to be
quite useful in understanding managers and subordinates, teachers
and students, marriage partners, and many others. I'll give you two
brief sample descriptions of these types. This is the INTJ type, which is
my type:
