Personality Types

For some reason I've always found the concept of "Personality Types" very interesting.

Of course like most people I grew up with the concept of Introvert and Extrovert as a way of explaining peoples preference towards social interaction.

In High School I came across The Color Code by Dr. Taylor Hartman. The Color Code divides personalities into four "colors"

• Red (motivated by power)
• Blue (motivated by intimacy)
• White (motivated by peace)
• Yellow (motivated by fun)

I'm a natural White but through experience have some shadings of Blue and even a little Red and Yellow depending on the situation I'm imagining myself in when I take the test (such as being out with friends).

You can learn more about the Color Code and to test to find your color type go to http://www.colorcode.com/


In College I came across the works of Carl Jung, including his theory that personality is a function of whether people look inward or outward (introverted or extroverted) and two dichotomous pairs of methods by which people experience and make decisions about the world around them:

• Two ways of perception:
• Sensing
• Intuition
• Two ways of evaluating: 
• Feeling
• Thinking

Jung's theory became the basis for Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myer's famous personality test, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment (MBTI). The MBTI is probably the leading personality test in the western world now. The MBTI is based on Jungian principles and adds a new element for lifestyle (judging or perceptive). The MBTI assessment asks a series of questions to how people fall into the four categories, resulting in 16 possible personality types

The four categories and their possible results are:
          Extraversion (E) or (I) Introversion
                  Sensing (S) or (N) Intuition
                Thinking (T) or (F) Feeling
                   Judging (J) or (P) Perception

E or I reflects what generally energizes you as a person... Extroverts are stimulated by talking and interaction and process information through interacting with it. Introverts are stimulated by quiet reflection and privacy and process information internally

S or N reflects what you focus your attention on. Sensors prefer detailed and organized information and attach their attention on what is occurring at the moment. Intuitivists observe the meanings and associations between things, value insight over observation, and are very good at pattern recognition.  

T or F reflects on how you make decisions. Thinkers want objective truth, logical principles, and are excellent at deductive reasoning. Feelers want issues and causes that can be personalized and are excellent at understanding other people's motives.

J or P reflects how you regard complexity. Judges are better when information is organized and structured and want closures. Perceivers are better in flexible environments and when confronted with new ideas

The sixteen possible results then are:
      ISTJ; ISFJ; INFJ; INTJ; ISTP; ISFP; INFP; INTP; ESTP;
      ESFP; ENFP; ENTP; ESTJ; ESFJ; ENFJ; and ENTJ

What is often not discusses by people when talking about the MBTI is that it is also possible to determine the relative strength or dominance of one element over the other in each of the four categories. For example: When I do MBTI assessments I always end up with almost all of the Extraversion verse Introversion questions answered indicating Introversion... But I have a fairly even split between how I answer questions seeking to determine if I'm Judging or Perceptive. In fact, if I imagine myself in one situation, such as work I'll score a ISTJ while if I'm imagining myself out with friends I'll score a ISTP or even INTP instead. I think the best MBTI assessments take this into consideration and not only tell you what your personality type is but how strongly you fall to either side in each of the four categories. I generally rate very strongly Introverted and a strong Thinker but only moderately a Sensor and borderline between being either a Judger or Perceiver

If you would like to find your MBTI personality type I'd recommend http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm

For more detailed descriptions of the 16 personality types see http://typelogic.com/intj.html