MBTI Part Two: Four Personality Groupings

If you want to test your personality, a free and fast site is HERE

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Most of the information for this post is from David Keirsey's book Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence. Reading the title, I question if intelligence and character go along with personality type, but that's just me. It's an interesting book albeit a little dense.

Keirsey (and others as well) propose four basic personality types based on the MBTI:

Artisan (_S_P)

Guardian (_S_J)

Idealist (_NF_)

Rational (_NT_)

The Artisans (SPs) assess the immediate environment for options and advantages, and tend to act on them quickly. They are extremely practical and like to live in the moment. They are often thought of as easy-going, impetuous, tolerant, adaptable, and artistic.

The Guardians (SJs) are serious, believing that everyone and all things should behave in a well-ordered manner. They are careful, thorough planners, very practical, and insist that things are done the *right* way.

The Idealists (NFs) are like Deanna Troy in Star Trek -- empathetic and caring, focusing on how to complete and nurture the dear ones in their circle. Conflict is deeply personal and upsetting.

The Rationals (NTs) need to find a reason for everything. They think abstractly, and are the ones who come up with stunning breakthroughs of inventions or systems as they are able to find patterns in seemingly unrelated data and ideas.

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It's interesting to calculate the relative incidence of these four personality types within the population. Assume that the following proportions exist:

E:I is approximately 75% to 25%
S:N is approximately 85% to 15%
T:F for males is approximately 67% to 33%
for females is approximately 33% to 67%
J:P is approximately 50% to 50%

Then the SPs are (0.85)(0.50) = 42.5% of the general population
The SJs are (0.85)(0.50) = 42.5% of the general population
The NFs are (0.15)(0.50*) = 7.5% of the general population (approximately 2/3 of these will be women)
The NTs are (0.15)(0.50*) = 7.5% of the general population (approximately 2/3 of these will be men)

* since we're not calculating for male versus female, I'm using an even proportion of T to F that is true over the whole population

So, as you look around your roomful of friends, you've got a much better chance of bumping into an SP artisan (about 2 in 5) or SJ guardian (about 2 in 5) than an NF idealist (less than one in ten) or NT rational (less than one in ten). As someone who measures extremely intuitive, I can emphatically say that it's hard for me to understand how other people think -- I'm able to observe and predict what they will do, but it seems like I'm constantly missing things. My thoughts fly onto tangents all the time, and I often find a solution to a problem by observing something completely different that has an interesting mechanism I can apply. I think in images and ideas, and need to translate to words. However, I don't see things right in front of me; I constantly miss the obvious real-world stuff.

Personality tests try to pigeonhole unique individuals into categories, and there are always inaccuracies and approximations. Still, after some study I've decided (for whatever my opinion is worth) that the MBTI works pretty well. So, what is it like to live in your head?

Personality: Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

If you'd like to analyze your own personality, a free and fast site is HERE

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There are many personality analysing tools in the world. One of the bigger ones is the MBTI that was developed during World War II by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. While no test can completely pigeonhole a unique personality into a cubbyhole, the MBTI is a respected test used to describe individual preferences and tendencies. I've had a lot of fun playing with it as I analyze self, friends, family, and characters for my stories, and find it reasonably accurate (as far as I can tell). If anyone's interested, I'm strongly I, strongly N, and straddle the T-F and the J-P axes (I test INTJ).

MBTI describes four preference-type dichotomies that each person uses. These preferences are similar to left- or right-handedness; the person uses both aspects of each preference, but one is preferred. These preference dichotomies are:

Extroverted (E) versus Introverted (I)

Sensory (S) versus Intuitive (N)

Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F)

Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)

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The terms are technical, and therefore not quite the same as the colloquial meanings.

Extroverted (E) / Introverted (I)

This axis describes the attitudes to outer world (people, objects) or inner world (ideas, reflection). The extroverted prefer to act, whereas the introverted prefer to reflect and withdraw. This axis doesn't reflect how social someone is, or how well they interact with people; more it's whether they'd prefer to be around action, or prefer a quiet place.

Sensory (S) / Intuitive (N)

This axis describes how information is gathered. Sensory people prefer concrete, tangible facts or data that is accessible through the five senses. In contrast, Intuitives prefer abstract or theoretical information, and easily relate it to other information, patterns, or future pathways.

Thinking (T) / Feeling (F)

This axis describes how a decision is made. The thinkers detach and use rational, reasonable, consistent rules to make a decision, whereas the feelers consider the needs of the people involved, attempt to empathize and balance to achive the best harmonic solution. A question that exemplifies this axis is: Do you prefer justice or mercy?

Judging (J) / Perceiving (P)

This axis describes, roughly, how a person relates to the outer world. Judgers tend to use their judging function (T or F), whereas perceivers tend to use their sensing function (S or N). Judgers tend to want to make a decision and move on, whereas perceivers want to keep options open.

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Dominance of these four preferences is not evenly distributed, just as right- or left-handedness is not. Approximate incidence of the characteristics in USA is:

E/I -- approximately three quarters of the population are extroverts

S/N -- approximately 85% of the population are sensors

T/F -- about two-thirds of males are Ts, and about two-thirds of females are Fs

J/P -- about evenly distributed

Tomorrow I'll go over four basic personality types that can be further subdivided. Have a great day everyone!

Myers Briggs Personality Test

The Myers Briggs Personality Test is a well-known device used by many professionals. Not only is it helpful for self-analysis, but also for developing characters for a novel.

For today, analyze your personality! It's a free and quick link HERE. Then, type in your four letters in google and see what comes up.

This is a short entry today -- I'll talk more about this subject tomorrow.