Taking the MBTI

Expert Author
Dr. David J. Koehn Psychologist Fort Myers, Florida

Dr. David Koehn is a psychologist practicing in Fort Myers, FL. Dr. Koehn specializes in the treatment of mental health problems and helps people to cope with their mental illnesses. As a psychologist, Dr. Koehn evaluates and treats patients through a variety of methods, most typically being psychotherapy or talk therapy.... more

Taking the MBTI from D J Koehn Consulting Services Inc.

By

Dr. David J Koehn

 

Please go to the following link to see an excellent general description of the MBTI.

https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1

(See attached visualization)

At D J Koehn Consulting Services, you can request to take the MBTI by emailing me at DrK@koehnconsulting.com. I will send you a specific invitation from my Consulting Psychology Press website (CPP) to take the assessment. The recommended report to receive is the MBTI Form Q Step II. It is a comprehensive review that includes primary and subtype preferences. It reveals how you deal with yourself and others as well as how you adjust to change, deal with conflict and communication, and interact with other preferences. The Step II™ Interpretive Report is a highly personalized narrative and graphical report that helps you understand your MBTI® Step I™ and Step II™ results. The 17-page report then applies those results to four important components of professional development: communication, decision making, change management, and conflict management.

During our MBTI® feedback session, you receive a profile report of your MBTI results. There are many different kinds of profile reports, which vary in size and design, but all give you the basics of your MBTI profile. A sample profile report (.pdf) from CPP, Inc., is available for you to view. In addition to the profile report, you should also receive descriptions of the 16 types so that you may verify your best-fit type.

MBTI reports tell you your preference for each of four pairs:

  • Extraversion or Introversion E or I
  • Sensing or Intuition S or N
  • Thinking or Feeling T or F
  • Judging or Perceiving J or P

The four preferences together make up your whole type. There are 16 possible personality types. Some types are more common than others and studies have been done to determine the breakdown in percentages of the MBTI types in the general population.

When you receive your MBTI profile, you might not agree with it. Only you can decide which personality type fits you best, and there are circumstances that explain why you may decide to choose a different type than your MBTI results. There are some steps that can help you find your best-fit type.

Sometimes circumstances of your life can lead you to answer the questions on the MBTI instrument so that your reported MBTI type does not reflect your true preferences. There are many reasons why your reported type may not be your best-fit type.

Occasionally, even after going through the steps to choose your best-fit type, you may remain uncertain about your MBTI preferences. There are several reasons for uncertainty about your best-fit type.

Knowledge of your personality type preferences can be used in many ways. Only you can decide how to use what you learn. To read about some of the many ways that MBTI results can assist you in understanding yourself and others, please go to Using Type in Everyday Life.

I have used the MBTI to help others see themselves and use it to improve their development. A critical outcome is understanding Type Development. At the most basic level, type development is the process of gaining comfort and command of your preferred way of taking in information, and your preferred way of coming to conclusions. Developing a function involves consciously differentiating it from the others, exercising it, and becoming more skilled with it.

Jung believed that all the functions are largely unconscious and undeveloped in infants. As we grow and develop, the different functions develop. The timing of this development has been the subject of considerable study. It is generally believed that the dominant generally develops up to age 7, the auxiliary up to age 20, the tertiary in the 30's and 40's and the inferior or fourth function at midlife or later.

As you develop your type, the way you see the world and the way you behave tends to change and broaden. Comfort with your dominant and auxiliary functions forms the basis for much of your self-esteem.

If the use of your dominant and auxiliary functions is not supported by your environment, it will still press to reach the surface, like a beach ball held under water. When a function is never allowed to develop naturally, a person can experience stress and frustration.

As you develop your tertiary and least-preferred functions later in life, the range of behaviors available to you opens up even further. But the dominant and auxiliary functions will always be the core functions of your conscious personality.

That said, I have administered the MBTI to both individuals and groups (well over 2000 in my professional career). The insights and guidance has helped immensely people interacting with others effectively. Hopefully you found this article and hyperlinks useful and take advantage of taking the MBTI. While I am very experienced in using other Jungian type assessments, the MBTI is extremely valuable when used for individuals and couples for therapy sessions.