Myers Briggs Type Indicator

You are currently browsing the archive for the Myers Briggs Type Indicator category.

Sensing vs Intuiting

19 Apr 10 in Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Types | Add your comment

Sensing (S) and Intuiting (N) are the two ends of a scale of preference for how you take in information. (The N is for Intuiting rather than the I, because I is used in the Extravert/Intovert pair)

Information gathering preferences (S vs N)

S: take in information through their 5 senses, the “real world”. Facts, empirical data, what actually exists. Values common sense, practical solutions and past experience. Think: Dr Temperance Brennan on Bones.

N: also uses the 5 senses, but pays more attention to intuition, gut feeling, hunches. Looks for associations, patterns, possibilities, underlying meanings. Think: Agent Seeley Booth on Bones.

S Strengths:

  • prefer factual, concrete information
  • focus on specifics, the present
  • pragmatic (whatever works)
  • realistic
  • practical
  • down-to-earth

N Strengths:

  • inspired and imaginative
  • future focus
  • focus on potential & possibility
  • innovator
  • big picture

Distribution (approximate)

Sensing: 75%
Intuiting: 25%

For a good, accessible, practical (very N!) book, try What Type am I?

Tags: , , ,

Extravert vs Introvert

10 Apr 10 in Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Types, Uncategorized | Add your comment

Extraversion and Introversion are the two ends of a scale of preference for how you renew your energy.

Extraversion does not equal talkative, and Introversion does not equal shy!

Energizing preferences (E vs I)

E: get energy from outside themselves: other people, activities and things.
I: get energy from inside themselves: their own thoughts, ideas, reflections.

E: outgoing, with lots of friends and social activities, they are energized by being with other people, fast paced environments, and experiencing the wider world.
I: reserved, they conserve their energy, think and reflect before acting. Too much socializing is an energy drain. Re-energizing needs quiet time alone.

E Strengths:

  • initiating activities and conversations
  • talking through their thoughts and ideas
  • love to be with other people
  • love to be out doing things

I Strengths:

  • thinking things through on their own
  • keeping private things private
  • thinking before they speak or act

Distribution (approximate)

Extravert: 75%
Introvert: 25%

For a good, accessible, practical (very N!) book, try What Type Am I?

Tags: ,

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

06 Jan 10 in Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Types, Uncategorized | Add your comment

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is probably the most widely known inventory or model of personality type. It describes a person’s preferences in 4 life areas:

  • Extraverting (E) vs Introverting (I) – a continuum that refers to how we focus our attention and how we renew our energy.
  • Sensing (S) vs iNtuiting (N) – how we prefer to take in information
  • Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F) – how we generally evaluate situations and make decisions
  • Judging (J) vs Perceiving (P) - our lifestyle preferences

I’ll cover each of these pairs in detail in later posts.

Your ‘MBTI Type’ will be a four letter code: I’m an INTJ. (Well, mostly I’m an INTJ. I score reliably right in the middle between the T and F. In any given situation I might be INTJ or INFJ.)

Think of these pairs as preferences, sort of like handedness. If you try to use your toothbrush in your non-preferred hand, it’s awkward and difficult, but you can do it. And you can get better with practice.

The MBTI indicates your preference in much the same way. I am highly Introverting, but I definitely can go out to noisy, exciting places with lots of rowdy people and have a good time! But reading a good book is preferable to going clubbing. For me. You might have a different preference.

The MBTI is a registered trademark of Consulting Psychologist Press, Inc. There are many books on MBTI, and one that I really like is What Type Am I? by Renee Baron (ISBN 014026941X).

Tags: , ,