Jung: What Does your Myer-Briggs Type Indicator Mean?
Carl Jung psychological type model is a measure of an individual's preferences, not aptitude in the orientation and application of cognitive functions, which he categorized into dichotomous pairs.
The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator uses Jung's attitude/orientation dichotomy of extraversion/introversion, the cognitive function dichotomies of sensation/intuition and thinking/feeling, plus adds one other "lifestyle" preference (how you deal with the outside/objective world) dichotomy of judging/perception.
Extraverts (E) are orientated outwardly, and gains energy by interacting with others. Introverts (I) are orientated inwardly, and gain energy though quiet reflection alone. Extraverts are action orientated and prefer frequent (quantity) interaction, while introverts are thought orientated and prefer substantial (quality) interaction.
An individual's superior function is how Jung originally described his psychological types. He organized these four cognitive functions into two dichotomies:
These four cognitive functions are then ranked in order of preference:
Extraverted P functions: Sensing/Intuition
The individual's perceiving functions are preferred to be shown to the world, so
Extraverted J functions: Thinking/Feeling
The individual's judging functions are preferred to be shown to the world, so
For extraverts, the above is a case of what-you-see-is-what-you-get--their Superior function, with some tertiary thrown in. For introverts, what you see is their Auxiliary function, with some of their Inferior (shadow) function thrown in.
Carl Jung psychological type model is a measure of an individual's preferences, not aptitude in the orientation and application of cognitive functions, which he categorized into dichotomous pairs.
The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator uses Jung's attitude/orientation dichotomy of extraversion/introversion, the cognitive function dichotomies of sensation/intuition and thinking/feeling, plus adds one other "lifestyle" preference (how you deal with the outside/objective world) dichotomy of judging/perception.
The Attitudes: 1st Letter Indicator
Extraverts (E) are orientated outwardly, and gains energy by interacting with others. Introverts (I) are orientated inwardly, and gain energy though quiet reflection alone. Extraverts are action orientated and prefer frequent (quantity) interaction, while introverts are thought orientated and prefer substantial (quality) interaction.
The Cognitive Functions: 2nd & 3rd Letter Indicator
An individual's superior function is how Jung originally described his psychological types. He organized these four cognitive functions into two dichotomies:
- 2nd Letter Indicator:The two perceiving (irrational) functions of sensing (S) and intuition (N) to gather information
{Sensing means tangible information gathered from the conscious senses, and intuition means abstract information gathered from the unconscious--i.e., pattern recognition} - 3rd Letter IndicatorThe two judging (rational) functions of thinking (T) and feeling (F) to make decisions
{Thinking means to structure information by means of conceptual generalizations. Feeling is the function that determines value.}
These four cognitive functions are then ranked in order of preference:
- Superior
- Auxiliary
- Tertiary
- Inferior--which is the opposite or shadow of the Superior function
Lifestyle: judging/perception: 4th Letter Indicator
Myers and Briggs added another dimension to indicate which cognitive function people prefer to use when dealing with the outside (extravert) world, the information gathering-perceiving (P) function, or the decision-making-judging (J) function. For extraverts, this will be the Superior function, while for introverts, this would be the Auxiliary function (since the Superior function would be introverted, not extraverted.)Extraverted P functions: Sensing/Intuition
The individual's perceiving functions are preferred to be shown to the world, so
- SP Types would appear to the world as concrete,
- NP types would appear to the world as abstract.
Extraverted J functions: Thinking/Feeling
The individual's judging functions are preferred to be shown to the world, so
- TJ individuals would appear to the world as logical
- FJ individuals would appear to the world as empathetic
For extraverts, the above is a case of what-you-see-is-what-you-get--their Superior function, with some tertiary thrown in. For introverts, what you see is their Auxiliary function, with some of their Inferior (shadow) function thrown in.
