Myers-Briggs Indicator Types were not developed until World War II when the mother-daughter team attempted to differentiate personality types for women who were reentering the workforce, in order that they find positions which would be best suited to their specific talents. Their work was based on a 1921 publication by Carl Jung which outlines specific personality types based on temperaments. (4)
In 1971, Block identified five different personality types among men in a study, but only three of the five held up in further studies in the 1990s. These personality types included a well-adjusted or resilient person who was adaptable and flexible; an individual who was over controlling and maladjusted, uptight; or an individual who was under controlling and impulsive, risky, delinquent or even had criminal behavior.
In theory, personality typing is useful for corporate agencies, career counselors and government agencies who would like to have a way of predicting the success rate of individuals who take on specific types of jobs. However, it is an incredibly over simplistic view of a multidimensional human behavior which has continuous personality types and traits. These individual differences are usually qualitative and not quantitative, which makes them more difficult to qualify and categorize. It is important therefore, that personality type testing is used for specific purposes and not generalized for use in a person’s entire life.
References:
(1) Center for applications of Pyschological Type: The Story of Isabel Briggs Myers
http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/isabel-myers.htm
(2) Psychology Today: Working With a Type A Personality
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/digital-leaders/201201/working-type-personality
(3) British Journal of Sports Medicine: Anthropometric characteristics, Body Composition and Somatotype of Elite Junior Tennis Players
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17957016
(4) Myers Briggs Foundation
Leave a Reply