Carl Jung, Personality theories, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator By Christine Kasprzak Approaches to Personality Fall !! Carl Jung made it his life’s work to explore the "inner space# previously known as the unconscious conscious. A younger colleague of Sigmund Freud’s Freud’s with a background in his theory as well as inexhaustible knowledge of mythology religion and philosophy he made it his habit to make sense of the unconscious. Also e$uipped %ith a kno%ledge in the sy&'olis& o( co&ple) &ystical traditions such as *nosticis&, Alche&y, Ka'ala, and si&ilar traditions in +induis& and Buddis&, i( anyone could sense o( the unconscious o(ten reealing itsel( only in sy&'olic sy&'olic (or& Jung could could A(ter graduating and settling on psychiatry as a career Jung took a position at the Burghoeltzli Mental +ospital under .ugene Bleuler, an e)pert on /and the na&er o(0 schizophrenia schizophrenia It %as only a (e% years a(ter that that Jung &et Freud It had 'een said that the day that they &et Freud Freud cancelled all o( his appoint&ents (or the day and they talked (or 12 hours straight Freud later ca&e to see Jung as the t he "cro%n prince o( psychoanalysis# and his heir apparent. apparent. Jung was never completely sold on Freud’s theories however and a nd their relationship began to end when during a trip to America they were analy!ing each other’s dreams and Freud Freud seemed to show a lot of o f resistance to Jung’s e"orts at analysis. Freud #nally told Jung that they would have to stop be cause he %as a(raid that he %ould lose his authority Fro& there, Carl Jung deeloped on o( the &ost interesting theories o( personality the %orld has eer seen $n Carl Jung’s personality theory he divides the psyche into psyche into three parts -The (irst part is the ego, ego, de(ined as the conscious &ind -3econd, is the personal unconscious, unconscious, %hich he says includes anything that is not presently conscious 'ut can 'e It is said to include 'oth 'oth &e&ories that are easily 'rought to &ind and those that hae 'een suppressed (or so&e reason -Finally, Jung adds the part o( the psyche that &ake is theory di((erent (ro& all others, the collective unconscious unconscious Jung says that this is the
reseroir o( our e)periences as a species, a kind o( kno%ledge that %e are all 'orn %ith It in(luences all o( our 'ehaiors and e)periences, especially the e&otional ones, 'ut %e are neer directly conscious o( it, it is only reealed 'y looking at those in(luences The contents o( the collectie unconscious are kno%n as archetypes An archetype is de(ined as an unlearned tendency to e)perience things in a certain %ay It has no (or& o( its o%n, 'ut acts as an "organizing principle# on the things that we see or do. $t works very similar to the way instincts work in Freud’s theory. %ne e)a&ple o( an archetype is the &other All o( our ancestors had &others, and %e hae eoled in an eniron&ent that included a &other or &other-su'stitute As helpless in(ants %e neer %ould hae suried %ithout our connection to a nurturing one There(ore, Jung says that %e are 'uilt in a %ay that re(lects our eolutionary eniron&ent, so %e co&e into this %orld looking (or a &other Another e)a&ple o( an archetype is the persona This is a de(ined as your pu'lic i&age It is said to 'e the &ask that you put on 'e(ore you sho% yoursel( to the outside %orld Although the persona 'egins as an archetype, it is the part o( us that (inds itsel( &ost distant (ro& the collectie unconscious
Included in our persona is the role o( &ale or (e&ale that %e &ust play, %hich is deter&ined (or &ost 'y their physical gender Jung, ho%eer, like Freud, and Adler, and others, 'elieed that %e are all really 'ise)ual in nature Beginning at 'irth %e are under the in(luence o( society that &old us into &ales and (e&ales Jung there(ore 'elieed that all &en hae a (e&ale aspect present in their collectie unconscious, %hich is re(erred to as the anima , and that all (e&ales hae a &ale aspect present in their collectie unconscious, kno%n as the animus They are together re(erred to as syzygy The ani&a or ani&us is the archetype through %hich you co&&unicate %ith the collectie unconscious It is also the archetype, %hich is responsi'le (or &uch o( our loe li(e Jung says that %e are as ancient *reek &yth suggests, constantly searching (or our other hal(, %hich the *ods took a%ay (ro& us in &e&'ers o( the opposite se) There(ore, %hen %e (all in loe at (irst sight , %e hae actually (ound so&eone that (ills our ani&a or ani&us archetype particularly %ell Carl Jung is also responsi'le (or deeloping a personality topology that has 'eco&e so popular that &any people think that this is the only thing he did This topology 'egins %ith the distinction 'et%een introversion and extroversion -Introerts are those people %ho pre(er their internal %orld o( thoughts, (eelings, (antasies, and drea&s, etc -.)troerts, on the other hand pre(er the e)ternal %orld o( things and people and actiities 4e)t, %hether %e are introerts or e)troerts, %e need to deal %ith %orld, inner and outer, and each o( us has our pre(era'le %ay o( doing so Jung says that there are (our 'asic %ays o( doing this, (our (unctions - The (irst is sensing, this &eans 'asically %hat is says getting in(or&ation 'y &eans o( the senses Jung called this one o( the irrational (unction, &eaning that it inoled perception rather than the 5udging o( in(or&ation - The second is thinking, this &eans ealuating ideas or in(or&ation rationally Jung called this a rational (unction 'ecause it inoles decision &aking or 5udging , rather than the si&ple intake o( in(or&ation - Third is intuiting, this is a kind o( perception that %orks outside o( the usual conscious processes It is irrational , 'ut co&e (ro& the integration o( large a&ounts o( in(or&ation
-Finally, is feeling, this is a &atter o( evaluating information by weighing one’s overall emotional response This Jung calls rational Most o( us only deelop one or t%o o( the (unctions, 'ut Jung says that it should 'e our goal to deelop all (our as a %ay to transcend the opposite &ased on Jung’s types and functions 'atharine &riggs and her daughter $sabel &riggs (yers developed a paper)and )pencil test which came to be known as the (yers)&riggs *ype $ndicator. &ased on your ans%ers to appro)i&ately 16 ans%ers, this test places you in one o( si)teen types The results o( this test say $uite a 'it a'out %ho you are, including your likes and dislikes, likely career choices, and co&pati'ility %ith others It is not 5udg&ental and on type is not 'etter than the other there(ore people tend to like it Also, it does not assess ho% crazy you are, 'ut si&ply "opens up your personality (or e)ploration# The test has (our scales The (irst is e)troersionintroersion, the ne)t is sensing-intuiting, the third is thinking-(eeling, and the last is 5udging-perceiing Four letters identi(y each type
As part o( &y research (or this paper I decided to take an online ersion o( the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator %hich can 'e (ound at %%%hu&an&etricsco&7cgi-%in7J types1ht& This test consisted o( 8 yes or no $uestions to assess your personality type A(ter co&pleting the test the results indicated that I had an .3FJ personality type, %hich &eans e)troerted (eeling %ith sensing People %ith this personality type are said to like har&ony They tend to hae strong shoulds and shouldnots They &ay 'e dependent, (irst on parents and later on spouses They %ear their hearts on their sleees and e)cel in serice occupations inoling personal contact A(ter reie%ing the results and thinking a'out ho% I ie% &y personality type I %ould hae to agree %ith the assess&ent Although at (irst glance I %ould like to disagree %ith so&e o( the characteristics, a(ter care(ul thought I %ould say that this is a good indicator o( &y personality I de(initely en5oy %hen things are running s&oothly and li(e see&s to 'e in "har&ony# I hae ery strong 'elie(s and tend to stick to the& een %hen others &ay ie% it as 'eing stu''orn I, regretta'ly so, a& dependent on &y parents and %as also dependent on &y last 'oy(riend (or a (e% years Many ti&es I also let &y (eelings sho% I a& an e&otional person and hae a hard ti&e hiding the %ay I a& (eeling under &any circu&stances Finally, I a& aspiring to hold a position in phar&aceutical sales, %hich is a type o( serice occupation inoling personal contact In conclusion, Carl Jung %as a 'rilliant psychologist %ith ery alid theories on personality +is theories %ill indeed 'e studied (or years to co&e, ho%eer his &ost noted contri'ution, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator %ill long 'e used as an assess&ent o( personality types (or &illions o( people It is a test that should 'e ie%ed as insight into your o%n personality (or (urther e)ploration and deelop&ent As stated earlier, our goal should 'e to deelop all (our personality (unctions, 'ecause as Jung says, the transcendence o( opposites is the ideal The following article by Australian Peter Geyer provides a nice introduction to MBT concepts and applications! Peter "#TP$ is a consultant% researcher and writer in the field of & G 'ung(s theory of psychological types! )e conducts MBT Accreditation and *ualifying programs and presents internationally on a regular basis! Many more articles can be found on Peter(s website !
&ontents +hat is the MBT, About the MBT® Peter *eyer, I4TP -
+hat are Type Preferences,
MBT Preferences% The Myers-Briggs Type (orced-choice personality -kills% .evelopment% C*Jung;s theory o( &ulture purpose is to &ake this personality practical and MBT and /rganisations! Isa'el Myers %orked on Practicality of the years, until her death in MBT continually researched +hy use the %ith the pu'lication o( MBT and not The MBTI is an e)tre&ely some other instrument or $uestionnaire ?n process, MBTI report the sa&e
9arrna&'ool, Australia
9hat is the MBTI:
%ith clear pre(erence =6@
Indicator+ /MBTI+0 is a inentory 'ased on Psychological Types Its co&prehensie theory o( use(ul in people;s lies the MBTI (or nearly ! The MBTI has 'een and %as recently reised, For& M in 1==> relia'le personality aerage, 86@ %ho take the result on retake For those results, this can go up to
The MBTI and psychological type ena'les you to use a non-5udge&ental language to talk a'out so&e serious issues, 'oth %ithin an organisation and in counselling and helping people Type theory is co&prehensie, inoling 'oth nature and nurture it is a syste&s theory and a stage theory, a dyna&ic %ay o( representing %ho and %hat people are, and &ay 'eco&e People %ho co&plete the MBTI are gien a (our letter code /eg I3TJ .4FP etc0 as their results %hich, %hen eri(ied, indicates their personality pre(erences as one o( 1 Types The di((erent type pre(erences lead to di((erent %ays o( liing and %orking, taking in in(or&ation and &aking decisions They descri'e di((erent, e((ectie approaches to %orking and learning styles and ðods, &anaging, leading, coaching and teaching as %ell as general co&&unication, tea&%ork, relationships, counselling etc
Because the MBTI is 'ased on a co&prehensie and coherent theory o( personality, applications can 'e (ound in al&ost anything %hich inoles people eg co&&unication, leadership, change &anage&ent, tea& 'uilding, planning, &arketing, %riting, counselling, personal deelop&ent, career planning, teaching and learning and so on The MBTI is not designed as a clinical inentory All 1 types are considered alua'le and nor&al, each %ith their o%n strengths and %eaknesses and contri'utions to &ake to society and the %orkplace 9hat are Type Pre(erences: Type pre(erences are easy to understand, 'ut also contain a lot o( depth C*Jung, one o( the pioneers o( psychology, deeloped his theory o( types as a &eans o( accounting (or di((erences in the %ay people take in in(or&ation and &ake decisions The theory re&ained a cornerstone o( his thought and practice oer &any decades +is %ork %as studied 'y Briggs and Myers %ho produced, the MBTI They considered, 'roadly in line %ith Jung, that people had innate pre(erences (or either •
0xtraversion or ntroversion ie %hether people gained their personal energy (ro& the outer %orld o( people, things and action, or the inner %orld o( thoughts, ideas and concepts As an e)a&ple, people pre(erring .)traersion tend to en5oy 'eing %ith large groups o( people and pre(er to act rather than re(lect, %hile people pre(erring Introersion tend to en5oy $uieter actiities and to re(lect 'e(ore acting These concepts are &uch &ore co&ple) than this si&ple e)a&ple It see&s that there are &ore .)traerts than Introerts in Australian society, 'ut the di((erence is not great .)traerts tend to predo&inate in &arketing and entrepreneurial spheres, %hile Introerts predo&inate in pro(essions such as &edicine and la%, also politics The MBTI identi(ies .)traersion %ith ., Introersion %ith I
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-ensing or ntuition ie %hether people pay attention to their 6 senses, seeing the %orld as it is, (ro& the standpoint o( (acts, or %hether they are &ore interested in interpreting or applying &eaning to %hat they see 'e(ore the& As an e)a&ple, people pre(erring 3ensing can 'e seen as practical and do%n to earth, relying on either past e)perience or %hat they see in the &o&ent, %hile people pre(erring Intuition can 'e seen as isionaries or idealists, &ore interested in the (uture, or so&e ti&eless principle These concepts are &uch &ore co&ple) than this si&ple e)a&ple There are considered to 'e three ti&es as &any people pre(erring 3ensing than those pre(erring Intuition in Australian society Intuities outnu&'er 3ensing people $uite co&(orta'ly in acade&ic institutions, particularly in post-graduate %ork, as %ell as in the arts in general, counselling and consulting 3ensing people predo&inate in teaching, s&all 'usiness, 'anking, la% en(orce&ent, sports etc, and are o(ten attracted to %ork in large organisations The MBTI identi(ies 3ensing 3, Intuition %ith 4
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Thinking or 1eeling ie %hether a person pre(ers to &ake decisions 'ased on an o'5ectie non-personal assess&ent, or 'ased on su'5ectie personal alues Both these processes are considered rational ie there;s an order to either process Thinking 5udge&ent can 'e incorrectly associated %ith the intellect, or intelligence, %hile Feeling 5udge&ent can o(ten 'e incorrectly con(used %ith e&otion, %hich is not an ordered process As an e)a&ple, people pre(erring Thinking 5udge&ent &ay seek conceptual or (actual clarity in a dispute, seeking to identi(y o'5ectie principles, %hereas a person pre(erring Feeling &ay seek
har&ony or colla'oration in the sa&e dispute, seeking to 'ring the principals in the dispute together according to their personal alues These concepts are &uch &ore co&ple) than this si&ple e)a&ple There are considered to 'e roughly e$ual nu&'ers o( each pre(erence in Australian society, %ith the di((erence 'eing that &ore &ales than (e&ales pre(er Thinking 5udge&ent and &ore (e&ales than &ales pre(er Feeling 5udge&ent People pre(erring Thinking predo&inate in &anage&ent, &edicine and &ost aspects o( the la%, %hile people pre(erring Feeling predo&inate in counselling and &any o( the helping pro(essions The &anage&ent areas o( corporate and goern&ent %orlds, irrespectie o( gender, are oer%hel&ingly co&prised o( people pre(erring Thinking 5udge&ent 9hen a plan goes a%ry, it can o(ten 'e 'ecause the su'5ectie, personal ele&ent o( decision &aking has not 'een (actored in su((iciently The MBTI identi(ies Thinking 5udge&ent %ith T, Feeling 5udge&ent %ith F •
'udgement or Perceiving ie ho% a person pre(ers to run their li(e A person pre(erring Judging likes to &ake decisions and &ay %ant to 'e scheduled and ordered, drien 'y lists and ti&e(ra&es and e)pecting the sa&e o( others, %hereas a person pre(erring Perceiing &ay not &ake a decision until the last possi'le &o&ent, pre(erring a &ore spontaneous approach to li(e and %ork and resisting closure until it;s ti&e These concepts are &uch &ore co&ple) than this si&ple e)a&ple There are considered to 'e slightly &ore people pre(erring Judging than Perceiing in Australian society People pre(erring Judge&ent generally predo&inate in
&anage&ent positions /%hateer the organisation0, teaching, 'anking and la% en(orce&ent, %hereas people pre(erring Perceiing predo&inate in &arketing, entrepreneurial actiities and counselling The MBTI identi(ies Judge&ent %ith J, Perceiing %ith P About the MBT®2 Page 3 Peter *eyer, I4TP - 9arrna&'ool, Australia MBT Preferences% -kills% .evelopment% &ulture! A type pre(erence doesn;t necessarily translate into skill For e)a&ple, a person &ay pre(er &aking decisions, 'ut it doesn;t (ollo% that they are good ones and a person interested in possi'ilities a'out the (uture &ay not identi(y the &ost %orth%hile and appropriate ision As these are pre(erences, people can and do deelop skill in their nonpre(erred areas, 'ut they do not change their core pre(erences These skills, %hen deeloped appropriately, are si&ply support their original pre(erences A person pre(erring Perceiing can 'e &ost ti&ely %ith all their %ork and attend to their diary, i( it &akes sense to the& and a person pre(erring Thinking 5udge&ent can 'e interested in people and personal issues i( they can see the logic in it 4ot spending su((icient ti&e in your pre(erred &odes can result in stress and lack o( e((ectieness in the %orkplace and at ho&e Mid-li(e is o(ten a ti&e (or the recognition o( non-pre(erences ie the use(ulness o( (uture possi'ilities (or the person %ith their (eet on the ground, or (le)i'ility (or the scheduled Jung considered it %as i&portant to ackno%ledge the alue o( the opposite pre(erences and to deelop so&e (a&iliarity and e)pertise %ith the& 9hile 'ehaiour can 'e a predictor o( type pre(erences to a certain e)tent, type theory recognises that there is &ore to personality than %hat you see
Type is not si&ply 'ehaiour, 'ecause people can per(or& the sa&e task in the sa&e %ay (or di((erent reasons Types can also 'e identi(ied crossculturally /the MBTI is translated into a'out
principles as haing soðing to do %ith the& in their daily lies It;s also a positie (ra&e%ork It;s good to 'e you, %hoeer that is, and there are lots o( practical things you can do %ith type eg Population4 There;s su((icient data around to &ake so&e assertions a'out the percentages o( the arious types in Australia I( you;re an .3TJ, (or instance, you can e)pect that around 11@ o( the population %ill share your pre(erences i( you;re an I4FJ, it;s pro'a'ly a'out @ *ien this, you %ould e)pect that the (irst type %ould 'e &ore likely to hae their %ay o( looking at the %orld supported 'y &any &ore people than the second, and that the (irst type %ould e)pect &ore people to 'e like the& This has conse$uences (or sel(estee&, &otiation, peer group pressure etc although population statistics are only a s&all part o( the i&pact o( type in these areas &areers5Personal .evelopment4 The MBTI helps people identi(y career and 7or li(e paths There;s lots o( literature on this our type pre(erences indicate the skills you;re &ost likely to 'e a'le to pick up easily, as %ell as the occupations that you &ight 'e interested in or ho% you operate %ithin your chosen occupation For e)a&ple, an I4FP la%yer, drien 'y internal personal alues and ne% interpretations o( the la%, %ill operate di((erently (ro& an I3TJ one, drien 'y precedent and tradition 9hile people %hose pre(erences are consistent %ith large nu&'ers o( those in a particular pro(ession or occupation &ay (eel &ore co&(orta'le operating in that (ield, those %ho hae di((erent pre(erences can add to the perspectie and approaches si&ply through seeing things di((erently 4o organisation 'ene(its (ro& people 'eing &uch the sa&e, particularly in senior positions Type is also use(ul in strategising interie%s and helping
people appreciate that eeryone is not like the& and so %ork, career e)pectations can 'e di((erent 6earning -tyles4 Di((erent Types learn &ore e((ectiely in di((erent %ays 3o&e like and learn through group %ork, others don;t 3o&e like to get their hands on %hat;s to 'e learnt, others don;t so&e learn through discussion, others reading so&e are interested in theory, others practice The practical .3TJ &anager &ay participate actiely in a residential course designed to deelop a &ission and ision (or his co&pany, 'ut &ay not apply the principles discussed %hen they return to the o((ice unless there is so&e practical reason or role-&odelling 'y other &anagers that can conince the& to change their approach to &anage&ent This approach &ay stun (ello% &anagers pre(erring Intuition %hose &ode o( thought co&&only includes appreciation o( ne% ideas (irst, 'e(ore testing out their practicality Teambuilding4 Type is particularly e((ectie in 'uilding and &aintaining tea&s 'ecause it identi(ies si&ilarities and di((erences in co&&unication styles and ho% people pre(er to %ork eg •
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3o&e types %ant to %ork s&arter /E4TEs0, not harder /E3EJs0 3o&e types %ant to put in &ini&u& input (or re$uired output /E3EPs0 3o&e types think i( they 5ust %ork harder, things %ill %ork out /E3EJs0 3o&e types %ant to 'e liked, in order to do their 'est %ork /E4FEs0 3o&e di((erent tea& approaches can 'e e)plained $uite si&ply
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.)traerts /.0 need actiity to participate, learn and understand
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Introerts /I0 need ti&e to re(lect, o(ten 'y reading, to interact 3ensers /30 need hard, tangi'le data, o(ten isually presented
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Intuitie /40 need to kno% the ision, the 'ig picture
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Thinking 5udgers /T0 need to see the logic
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Feeling 5udgers /F0 need har&ony in the tea&
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Judging Types /J0 need to (ollo% the plan, the order
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Perceiing Types /P0 need in(or&ation in adance, to decide &ommunication4 The types co&&unicate in di((erent %ays 'ig picture/40 7(acts /30 alues/F07o'5ectiity/T0 talking/.07 %riting etc/I0 Making sure you;re understood in the %ay you %ant &eans using type 'ased strategies to deal %ith others &ore e((ectiely Many adult training ðods presu&e the desire (or group %ork and actie discussion (or all adults For &any types eg, I3TJ, I4TP this is not a productie %ay to learn unless there;s a releant conte)t 6eadership4 This oerused ter& &eans di((erent things (or di((erent people For so&e types, &ostly Introerts, leadership &eans leaing the& alone to do their 5o' 3o&e, usually E4TEs, don;t %ant to (ollo% leaders at all People that pre(er 3ensing generally %ant so&eone to &odel the 'ehaiors re$uired, (or so&e /E3EJs0 in a traditional, authority laden role, (or others /E3EPs0 as the leader o( action 3o&e, usually E4FEs, look (or a charis&atic leader Type theory contends that all types can lead in a alua'le %ay Most senior e)ecuties, ho%eer, pre(er EETJ, thus li&iting the possi'le roles and so also guaranteeing particular pit(alls and the inaria'le need (or da&age control %hen soðing goes %rong and a((ects people;s lies and lielihoods
&ounseling4 Di((erent types get stressed or sti&ulated in di((erent %ays Counseling strategies are &ore e((ectie taking type into account, particularly in relationship counseling Cognitie dissonance o(ten takes &any types outside their co&(ort zone and so they are less e((ectie +hy use the MBT and not some other instrument or process, The &ain 'ene(it in using the MBTI is its 'readth o( application ou can use it in al&ost any situation and it;s 'uttressed 'y a co&prehensie and ro'ust theory o( personality In one sense, then, there is no co&petition to the MBTI in %orkplace use as there is no co¶'le theory o( personality associated %ith other ðods The state&ents a'oe on the MBTI co&e (ro& su'stantial research and o'seration In using the MBTI, you hae to 'e a%are that the %ay it descri'es the %orld is at ti&es $uite di((erent to the %ay personality is conentionally seen 3o you need to see i( the ie% the MBTI represents is one you and your clients consider use(ul It;s inappropriate to use the MBTI %hen a %ork(orce or person is under stress or there is a lack o( trust, as you;re unlikely to get accurate ans%ers to the $uestions People don;t need to kno% type to 'e a%are o( the hidden re$uire&ents (or succeeding in an organization that literally clones its senior e)ecutie, (or instance ?ther processes also hae their use and application
