MBTI Descriptions Born From Observation | Generated by AI
Question: Even though MBTI personality types might be nonsense, by assigning people to these types, observers can identify specific aspects of their personality and detailed behavior descriptions, right? How did they create such detailed descriptions for each type?
Answer:
Yes, that’s a fair point—even if the MBTI system lacks strong scientific support as a rigorous psychological model (it’s often criticized for poor reliability, binary categories, and limited predictive power), it does provide a framework that groups people into categories. Once someone is typed (or self-identifies), the detailed profiles allow quick pattern-matching to observed behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, communication styles, etc. This can feel useful for shorthand understanding, team-building, or self-reflection, regardless of the system’s validity.
The detailed descriptions for each of the 16 types come primarily from Isabel Briggs Myers (with influence from her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs). Here’s how they developed them historically:
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Foundation in Carl Jung’s theory — The core ideas stem from Jung’s 1921 book Psychological Types, where he described eight types based on dominant cognitive functions (e.g., introverted thinking, extraverted intuition) and attitudes (introversion/extraversion). Jung’s work was based on clinical observations, but his descriptions were abstract and not as fleshed-out for everyday use.
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Katharine Briggs’ early work — Before Jung, Briggs had already been observing people (starting with her own children in what she called a “cosmic laboratory of baby training”) and reading biographies to categorize temperaments. After reading Jung’s book in 1923, she aligned her ideas with his and expanded them through personal observations and correspondence with Jung himself.
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Isabel Briggs Myers’ key contribution — During and after World War II, Myers took the lead in developing the MBTI instrument (a questionnaire to sort people into the 16 types by adding the Judging-Perceiving dimension). Over decades (1940s–1960s), she refined the system through:
- “Type watching”: Long-term observation of people in real life, noting consistent patterns in behavior, preferences, and interactions.
- Testing and iteration: Administering early versions of the indicator to friends, family, students, and others, then refining based on how well responses matched expected type behaviors.
- Theoretical extrapolation: Combining Jung’s cognitive functions with her own insights to describe how the four preferences interact dynamically in each type (e.g., how dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior functions shape a type’s overall personality).
- Writing comprehensive profiles: Myers authored detailed type descriptions herself, published in her book Gifts Differing (1980, completed with her son). These profiles emphasize holistic type dynamics rather than isolated traits, explaining motivations, strengths, blind spots, growth paths, and typical behaviors.
In short, the rich, narrative descriptions aren’t purely from large-scale empirical data (like modern factor analysis in Big Five models). Instead, they blend:
- Jung’s original theoretical observations.
- Briggs and Myers’ lifelong personal and informal observations of people.
- Iterative refinement through questionnaire testing and feedback.
Later publishers (like CPP/The Myers-Briggs Company) and sites (e.g., 16personalities.com) have expanded or rephrased these, often making them more engaging or positive, but the foundational detailed portraits trace back to Myers’ synthesis of theory and observation.
References:
- Myers–Briggs Type Indicator - Wikipedia
- The history of the MBTI® assessment - The Myers-Briggs Company
- How The Myers-Briggs Personality Test Began In A Mother’s Living Room Lab - NPR
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[Myers & Briggs’ Personality Typing, Explained True You Journal - Truity](https://www.truity.com/blog/myers-briggs/about-myers-briggs-personality-typing) - Evolving the MBTI Legacy - Myers & Briggs Foundation