Category: Myers–Briggs

Extraversion/Introversion The extraverted types learn best by talking and interacting with others. By interacting with the physical world, extraverts can process and make sense of new information. The introverted types prefer quiet reflection and privacy. Information processing occurs for introverts as they explore ideas and concepts internally. Sensing/Intuition The second continuum reflects what a person […]

Jung’s typological model regards psychological type as similar to left or right handedness: people are either born with, or develop, certain preferred ways of perceiving and deciding. The MBTI sorts some of these psychological differences into four opposite pairs, or “dichotomies”, with a resulting 16 possible psychological types. None of these types are “better” or […]

Raymond Cattell found personality traits to have a multi-level, hierarchical structure (Cattell, 1946). The first goal of these researchers was to find the most fundamental primary traits of personality. Next they factor-analyzed these numerous primary traits to see if these traits had a structure of their own—i.e. if some of them naturally went together in self-defining, meaningful […]

Introversion/Extraversion Low Anxiety/High Anxiety Receptivity/Tough-Mindedness Accommodation/Independence Lack of Restraint/Self-Control A: Reserved/Warm C: Emotionally Stable/Reactive A: Warm/Reserved E: Deferential/Dominant F: Serious/Lively B: Problem-Solving F: Serious/Lively L: Trusting/Vigilant I: Sensitive/Unsentimental H: Shy/Bold G: Expedient/Rule-Conscious H: Shy/Bold O: Self-Assured/Apprehensive M: Abstracted/Practical L: Trusting/Vigilant M: Abstracted/Practical N: Private/Forthright Q4: Relaxed/Tense Q1: Open-to-Change/Traditional Q1: Traditional/Open-to-Change Q3: Tolerates Disorder/Perfectionistic Q2: Self-Reliant/Group-Oriented

Below is a table outlining the personality traits measured by the 16PF Questionnaire. Descriptors of Low Range Primary Factor Descriptors of High Range Impersonal, distant, cool, reserved, detached, formal, aloof Warmth (A) Warm, outgoing, attentive to others, kindly, easy-going, participating, likes people Concrete thinking, lower general mental capacity, less intelligent, unable to handle abstract problems […]

The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), is a self-report personality test developed over several decades of empirical research by Raymond B. Cattell, Maurice Tatsuoka and Herbert Eber. The 16PF provides a measure of normal personality and can also be used by psychologists, and other mental health professionals, as a clinical instrument to help diagnose psychiatric […]

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking is a 2012 non-fiction book written by Susan Cain. Cain argues that modern Western culture misunderstands and undervalues the traits and capabilities of introverted people, leading to “a colossal waste of talent, energy, and happiness.” The book presents a history of how Western […]

Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type is a book written by Isabel Briggs Myers with Peter B. Myers, which describes the insights into the psychological type model originally developed by C.G. Jung as adapted and embodied in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test. The book explains the many practical applications of this typological model using four […]

Myers and Briggs added another dimension to Jung’s typological model by identifying that people also have a preference for using either the judging function (thinking or feeling) or their perceiving function (sensing or intuition) when relating to the outside world (extraversion). Myers and Briggs held that types with a preference for judging show the world […]