The Myers-Briggs type indicator is a test created by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. Based on the ideas of Carl Jung, the test seeks to analyze how humans perceive and interact with the world using four mental functions: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking. This personality test is something that I have found to be immensely accurate and revealing about the way people approach problems and often shows why and how people developed the way they are.
Individual personality types are comprised of four letters, E or I (Extroverted or Introverted), S or N (Sensing or Intuition), F or T (Feeling or Thinking), and P or J (Perceiving or Judging). Just by analyzing these individual letters and what they mean, you can ascertain how an individual approaches the world around them.
If you are E, Extroverted, you gain your energy through socializing and being around people, and rarely need much alone time away from people to recharge. If you are I, Introverted, you gain your energy by taking a break from social interaction, and prefer some much needed alone time. If you are S, you are rational minded and in the moment, absorbing information in a very concrete fashion, if you are N, you are a more abstract thinker, and tend to see the big picture more clearly. If you are T, you make decisions based on logic and reason, based on pre-defined rules of behavior. If you are an F, you make decisions based on your own individual value system and in a subjective fashion. J wants things to be neat, tidy, and organized, while P's tend to be more improvisational, preferring to go with the flow and be spontaneous.
It is through these letters that we gain the insights into people. With a better understanding of how other people's brain's approach problems and deal with the world, I believe we can have a better understanding of each other's purpose and motivations. With this knowledge, we can have more wholesome interactions with other people and appreciate the differences and similarities we all share.
Not only is it beneficial in understanding others, but in understanding yourself as well! The Myers Briggs reveals our individual strengths and weaknesses. It reveals what comes naturally to our individual brains, and what we struggle the most in. This gives us an opportunity to learn and grow with that knowledge, and truly “max out" our potential in both the professional and personal world.
I highly recommend that you take the Myers Briggs personality test. A fair warning, the test is often noted as being inconsistent, mainly due to the fact that often an individual will score very closely between two letters (for example, if you are 51% P and 49% J, the test will mark you P, but that may not necessarily be your type). I recommend you read between the lines to ascertain which personality type is your own.
Then own it, learn about what your strengths and weaknesses are, and develop them respectively. It's great to be understood, and I have never felt as understood as I have after taking the Myers-Briggs type indicator. Go do it!
