What is Personality Type?

*Content is adapted from the MBTI Practitioner Learning Module.

Personality can be described as the habitual ways in which people think, feel, and act on most occasions, or all the qualities and characteristics a person exhibits. A person's behaviour can be described as actual acts, observable, and the result of a complex mix of factors.

Psychological type is the term used to describe the 16 personalities in the Myers-Briggs system, based on the work of mother and daughter team Katherine C. Briggs and Isabel B. Myers. Briggs and Myers studied the theory of personality presented by Carl G. Jung in his seminal work ‘Psychological Types’, (1921). They applied his ideas to family and friends and furthered their understanding, developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument to help make Jung’s theory understandable and useful in people’s lives.

Drawing on her mother’s research, Myers began writing items and testing them using a small criterion group whose types she was confident of. Through this process, she developed increasingly robust forms of the MBTI instrument. Importantly, the Myers-Briggs system describes healthy, normal, and natural differences between people and provides a positive language to discuss and respect them. The terms ‘psychological type’ and ‘personality type’ are used interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Psychological type is one feature of Jung's broad understanding of psychological functioning. Jung observed that normal, healthy people had opposite ways of dealing with the world and processing and evaluating what happened around them. Based on both his observations and extensive clinical experience, he concluded that people tended to use their mind in opposite ways in several areas.

Jung's Psychological Type Theory

The Mental Processes

Jung observed that individuals tended to have opposite ways of perceiving (taking in information) and judging (coming to conclusions or making judgements about what they have perceived). He called the two opposite ways of perceiving Sensation (sensing in MBTI usage) and Intuition. The opposite ways of judging he termed Thinking and Feeling. Sensation, Intuition, Thinking and Feeling are referred to as the mental processes.

Jung stated that people use all four of these mental processes in daily life but tend to be naturally drawn to just one of the oppositive ways of perceiving and one of the opposite ways of judging. These two preferred mental processes are central to Jung's theory of psychological types.

Opposite Orientations

Jung had earlier observed that individuals tended to focus their attention and energy on, and to be more energised by, one or two opposite orientations:

Extraversion: Orientation toward the outer world of people, objects, and activities.
Introversion: Orientation toward the inner world of ideas, memories, thought, reflection and experiences.

Everyone typically prefers one of these opposites over the other and uses it most comfortably and automatically.

Development of the Types
These three opposite ways of using one's mind (Extraversion or Introversion, Sensing or Intuition, and Thinking or Feeling) are the essence of Jung's type theory and subsequently of the MBTI instrument. Jung, Myers, and Briggs all believed that each individual has an innate disposition to develop a preference for one or the other side of each pair of opposites, to use their preferences more comfortably and more often that their opposites, and to develop personality characteristics that result from exercising their preferences. Further, they stated that their interactions among these personality preferences form distinct personality types.

The Role of the Environment

It can be inferred from Jung's writings that he saw the environment as influencing personality development. Family, cultural norms, education, training, and other environmental factors may support, suppress, or modify the ways people use and express their innate preferences. Both nature and nurture play a role in individual development. The MBTI assessment is designed to assist respondents in identifying the nature part of their personality - their innate dispositions.

The characteristics associated with the mental processes and orientations

Where you focus your energy and attention

Directing energy mainly toward the outer world of people, objects, activities, and action.

People who prefer Extraversion like to focus on the outside world. They direct their energy and attention outward and are energised by interacting with people and taking action.

Directing energy mainly toward the inner world of thoughts, impressions, and ideas.

People who prefer Introversion like to focus on their own inner world. They direct their energy and attention inward and are energised by reflecting on their own and others' ideas, memories, and experiences.

Extraversion (E)

Focus attention outwards
Trust and are most comfortable in the outside world
Energised by interacting with others and from taking action
Ideas develop by talking them out with others
Works things out by talking
Have a broad range of interests and friends
Expressive
Do not like to spend much time in own company
Like to interact with large groups and many people
Learns best by talking things through
Are comfortable taking the initiative at work and in social situations

Introversion (I)

Focus attention inwards
Observe before deciding whether or not to interct
Trust and most comfortable in their inner world
Learn best by observing, reading, writing, reflecting
Works things out internally
Energised by thoughts and taking in experiences
Think through ideas before discussing them
Have a deeper and smaller range of interests and friends
Contained
Content to spend a considerable amount of time in own company
Like to interact with small groups
Tend to focus in depth on a few interests
Take the initiative when required by the situation or when the issue is important

Watch our animation video 'Extraversion v Introversion'

What type of information you prefer to use & trust

Focusing mainly on what can be perceived by the five senses.

People who prefer Sensing like to take information that is real and tangible - what they perceive using the five senses. They pay close attention to what is going on around them and are especially attuned to practical realities.

Focusing mainly on perceiving patterns and interrelationships

People who prefer Intuition like to take in information by seeing the bigger picture, focusing on the relationships and connections between facts. They look for patterns and are especially attuned to seeing new possibilities.

Sensing (S)

Focus on what can be experienced and verified
Observe and remember specific facts and details
Trust experience
Prefer to attend to and trust tangible and real information
Like to have the details
Want to see a practical use
Are focused on the present
Like to verify information
Tend to remember details and facts
Observant
Realistic
Build carefully and thoroughly toward conclusions
Understand ideas and theoeries through practical applications

Intuition (N)

Focus on patterns, meanings, and interconnections
Observe and remember relationships among ideas and events
Trust inspiration
Move quickly to conclusions, follow hunches
Want to clarify ideas and theories before putting them into practice
Prefer to attend to and trust ideas and inspiration
Like theories and ideas
Are focused on the future
Trust inspiration and vision
Like to try out ideas
Tend to see the big picture
Enjoy using imagination

Watch our animation video 'Sensation v Intuition'

How you make decisions or evaluate things

Basing conclusions on logical analysis with a goal of accuracy and impartial truth.

People who prefer Thinking like to decide things by looking at the logical consequences of their choice or action. They want to mentally remove themselves from the situation so they can examine the pros and cons objectively. They enjoy analysing what's wrong with something so they can solve the problem. Their goal is to find a standard or principle that will apply in all similar situations.

Basing conclusions on values-centred criteria with a goal of personal and social harmony.

People who prefer to use Feeling like to decide things by considering what's important to them and to others involved. They mentally insert themselves into the situation to identify with everyone so they can make decisions that honour people. They enjoy appreciating and supporting others, and look for qualities to praise. Their goal is to create harmony and treat each person as a unique individual.

Thinking (T)

Step back from the situation to get an objective view
Consider universal principles when deciding
Use logic: cause and effect reasoning, pros and cons
Analytical
Reasonable
Fair - want everyone treated equally
Can be 'tough-minded'
Tend to step out of a situation and look at it objectively
Find that empathising interferes with satisfactory decision making
Strive for a clear, objective standard of truth
See log and reason as the best criteria for decision making
Like their decisions to be implemented once the decision is made
Have difficulty accepting the validity of a Feeling approach

Feeling (F)

Step into the situation to connect with those involved
Use empathy to understand everyone's point of view
Are guided by personal and social values
Find that using impersonal principles ignores individual differences
Use values: what is important to them and to others
Tend to step into a situation and identify with it
Strive for understanding, harmony and positive outcomes for all
See every person and situation as unique, use empathy to make decisions
May delay implementing a decision by looking for a win-win solution
See the Thinking approach as cold and unfeeling
May appear 'tender hearted'
Fair - want everyone treated as an individual

How you deal with the world around you

Preferring the decisiveness and closure that result from dealing with the outside world using one of the judging processes (T or F).

People who prefer Judging like to live in a planned, orderly way. They tend to make decisions based on the current available information, come to closure, and move on. Their lives tend to be structured and organised, and they like to have things settled. Sticking to a plan and schedule is very important to them, and they enjoy getting things done.

Preferring the flexibility and spontaneity that result from dealing with the outside world using one of the perceiving processes (S or N).

People who prefer Perceiving like to live in a flexible, spontaneous way, and want to experience and understand life rather than control it. Detailed plans and final decisions feel confining to them, they prefer to stay open to new information and last-minute options. They enjoy being resourceful in adapting to the opportunities and demands of the moment.

Judging (J)

Like to plan in advance
Scheduled
Like to organise their lives
Want to arrive at closure quickly
Tend to try and organise and structure the outer world
Are energised & satisfied by getting closure
Like to be organised and planned
Make short and long term plans
Can be seen as decisive
Stressed by last minute rushes
Tend to compartmentalise and order things
Methodical
Plan in advance to ensure that they achieve their goals
Want to adhere to plans once they are made
Plan so as to avoid last-minute pressure and stress

Perceiving (P)

Like to go with the flow
Tend to be flexible and spontaneous
Prefer to continue to gather information rather than come to closure
Tend to want to experience life as it comes
Prefer to leave options open
Feel constrained by plans and structure
Adapt, change course
Can be seen as casual or laid back
Energised by last minute rushes
Tend to see things as open ended
Appear spontaneous
Dislike being locked in by too much advance planning
Want freedom to change plans when new options arise
Often find approaching deadlines energising and motivating

You are the best judge of your type, so it’s up to you to make the final decision about your type. Your MBTI type preference is just an indicator of your possible type.

Also, remember, whilst learning about your own type is very useful for personal development, it is also important to learn about the other types so that you can relate to them better.

Once you have decided which of the two attitudes and four functions are your likely preferences, read the description about it. If you have still not decided which four letters best suit you, read a few descriptions and see which one best describes you.

Explore your type

The 16 Types in Brief

The four letters of your MBTI type combine and interact with each other to give your whole psychological type. There are 16 possible combinations that result when one preference from each of the four pairs of opposites (E-I, S-N, T-F, and J-P) combine.

These combinations are called personality types, or psychological types, and are designated by the four letters representing their four component preferences.

Each type is greater than the sum of its parts, the preferences interact dynamically to create a hierarchy of preference within the processes (S, N, T, and F), from most to least preferred. The specific ways in which the preferences in each type interact were identified by Jung and expanded on by Myers and Briggs. The dynamic nature of personality type is the essence of the Jung psychological theory and the MBTI framework.

Here are short descriptions of each of the 16 Personality Types in Brief. Each type will have things in common with adjacent types, with types in the same half of the table and in the same column or row. You may see aspects of yourself in several of the descriptions, however there should be one that describes you at your most comfortable.