What Is Your MBTI?

By Althea Abique

What is an MBTI? Well, it stands for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It is a personality inventory that uses the theory of psychological types described by C.G. Jung. MBTI provides an understanding and valuable purpose in people's lives. The essence of the idea is that seemingly random variation in behavior is orderly and consistent due to fundamental differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.

In developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, aimed to make the insights of type theory accessible to individuals and groups.

They addressed the two related goals in developing and applying the MBTI instrument.

One is the identification of basic preferences for each of the four dichotomies (contrasting things) specified or implicit in Jung's theory.

The four dichotomies are:

1. Favorite World - Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or your inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).

2. Information - Do you prefer to focus on the essential information you take in, or do you like to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).

3. Decisions - When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or look at the people and exceptional circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).

4. Structure - In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided, or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

When you decide your preference in each category, you have found your personality type! Which can be expressed with a four-letter code, ex. ESFP, INTJ, etc.

Another was identifying and describing the 16 distinctive personality types that resulted from interactions among the preferences. The 16 distinctive personality types are the most used among people.

Several websites provide an extended test based on an inaccurate to accurate formula and background on your type, celebrities with the same type, and your title.