Jungian personality type, or psychological type, was characterized in the theory of personality described by C.G. Jung in his work Psychological Types (1921). This section offers a brief introduction to the model of psychological type.

Type is about psychological preferences that represent consistent patterns of how we use our minds. It is the exercise of these psychological preferences – these habits of mind – that leads to many differences among individuals. From a type perspective, there are no good or bad preferences. Having different preferences simply leads to having different interests, different ways of behaving and different ways of viewing the world - i.e., different personalities.

People who have different type preferences also tend to have different strengths, potential blind spots and areas of needed growth. Knowing this can help us appreciate the unique contributions each of us brings to the world. From the perspective of personal and professional mastery, knowing our type gives us clues to habits of perceiving, deciding and behaving.

The preferences can be understood as opposite but related ways of using our minds, with the opposites being two halves that make up a whole. In the type system, you report preferences on four bipolar scales – or four dichotomies. To read descriptions of each preference and/or to do an informal self-assessment of your preferences, click on each preference pair below.

Everyone uses both sides of any given preference pair (e.g., sensing and intuition), but people tend to rely on one side more than the other. Since we don't use both preferences of a pair at the same time, we get in the habit of using one more often and are usually much better at one than the other. As a result, our non-preferences tend to be less developed and less trusted, although we still have and use them.

When people engage in everyday behaviors that call on their type preferences, they tend to feel natural, comfortable, confident and competent. In contrast, when people engage in behaviors that call on their non-preferences, they tend to feel unnatural, uncomfortable, less confident and less competent. Often people will try to find ways around or avoid doing things that call on their non-preferences.

The preferences you have on each of the four dichotomies combine to yield a four-letter type pattern, which is your psychological type. For example, preferences for Extraversion (E), Intuition (N), Thinking (T) and Perceiving (P) combine to yield the four-letter type pattern: ENTP. There are sixteen different ways the preferences on the four scales can go together (e.g., ISFJ, ESTJ, INFP). These four preferences interact in dynamic and complex ways that can tell you much about who you are and how you approach the world.

To learn more about each psychological type, click on a type in the table below.

There are a number of instruments that can provide direction into which type might be your best fit - the most popular being the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI is one of a number of instruments that attempt to measure psychological type. Not all of the instruments make the same assumptions in instrument construction. Many have indeed undergone reliability and validity testing while others are simply questionnaires.

Ultimately you want to know your type, not what a testing instrument tells you. The instrument is simply a shortcut to descriptions to try on for size.You discover your best-fit personality style by reading type descriptions and trying on which one fits best. Thus, the final assessment of your best-fit type lies in your own hands - where it should be.

For an introduction to the concepts of type, including full-length personality type descriptions, read the booklet that has been called “the best introductory type booklet available in the world today” by Peter Geyer in the Australian Journal of Psychological Type - Looking at Type: The Fundamentals. To learn more about applying personality type to Career Mastery, see my book on personality type and career mastery - Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types and Career Mastery: Living with Purpose and Working Effectively. To learn more about applying personality type to understanding your habits of organizational behavior, see this book on personality type and organizations. - Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types in Organizations.

 

Charles Martin, Ph.D. is a recognized expert in the field of psychological type. He is the author of Looking at Type and Careers, Looking at Type: The Fundamentals, A Quick Guide to the 16 Types and Career Mastery: Living on Purpose and Working Effectively, and co-author of A Quick Guide to the Sixteen Personality Type in Organizations; Building People, Building Programs: A Practitioner's Guide to Introducing the MBTI to Individuals and Organizations, and Out of the Box: Exercises for Mastering the Power of Type to Build Effective Teams. He is a past Vice President of Research and Development for the Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT), and was the architect of CAPT’s MBTI Qualifying Program as well as the Executive Coaching program and the Career Development program. He has trained hundreds of professionals in the uses of psychological type for personal and professional mastery. You won’t find more expert knowledge and delivery in the applications of psychological type for your program on personal development, leadership development, career mastery, communication, and relationship-building. See what participants in Dr. Martin's trainings have to say. For more information on personality type training, contact Dr. Martin through www.drcharlesmartin.com or by calling 352.375.7756.

 

 

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