The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Life

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Life Sumitro Basak (artist)- Kolkata, India Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katherine Briggs created the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality assessment test in 1962 (The Myers and Briggs Foundation). It is based on 20th century psychologist Carl Jung’s theory of personality types. Everything we do in the world is based on how we use our energy and how we make judgments. A more intuitive person would be more interested in relations between objects and their meanings, while a sensing person would focus on concrete detail. These small variations in “type” could make a huge difference in a person’s professional life. An intuitive person’s nature would make her more successful in work that involved studying patterns, like a systems analyst. A sensing person’s nature makes her a better technician. My naïve hope was that my MBTI results would help me in my formidable job search. Results in hand, I felt I had a formal personality report to guide me. But my relief also came from the fact that my results did not surprise me. My type, the suggested career paths and recommendations for further exploration of my “goals” all made sense to me. Yes, this is how I was. According to the report, one of the challenges for an INTP is that we get distracted too easily, plan to take on too many projects at the same time and can’t finish them. This too was true of me. So the MBTI must be popular because it gives logical form to things about oneself that one already knows, including one’s fundamental drawbacks. Seeing these ‘reported’ gives them all legitimacy and (most of the time) makes them easier to acknowledge. It is tempting for young job-hunters to get carried away with quick assessments of who they are and what they can do. It is true that the MBTI does in a way encapsulate how we have formed over the years, but it is also like a standardized test: easy, intelligible, and also kind of fun. It is a multiple-choice survey of oneself. This makes it attractive. It is undoubtedly illuminating and useful. But no one should have the naïve hopes that I did when I took the test and attended the workshop. MBTI results should serve only as a small confidence booster and a reminder of the many ways a person can function. Like its name suggests, it should be an indicator but not a guide. Bibliography The Myers and Briggs Foundation. Myers and Briggs Foundation Home. 11 October 2012 http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/.