Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Is One Term Paper

(Reachout Trust, para. 12)

Over the past six decades, the MBTI has become very successful worldwide. It is used by a number of educational concerns, non-profit organizations and corporations for a variety of reasons. These include:

Careers/Personal Development: The MBTI helps people identify career and/or life paths. A person's type preferences indicates skills they are most likely to pick up easily, as well as occupations they might be interested in or know how to perform within a specific occupation. For instance, an INFP teacher, driven by internal personal values and new approaches to education, will operate differently from an ISTJ one, or a person driven by precedent and tradition.

While people whose preferences are consistent with large numbers of those in a particular employment field may feel more comfortable operating in that field, those who have different preferences can add to the perspective and approaches simply through seeing things differently.

Learning Styles: Different types learn more effectively in different ways. Some like to learn through group work, others do not. Some like to learn hands on, while others like acquire knowledge through discussion or reading. The practical ESTJ supervisor might be thoroughly involved with a course designed to develop a new policy booklet for the company, but may end up following traditional rules. This approach may surprise other supervisors who prefer intuition and whose mode of thought commonly includes appreciation of new ideas first, before testing out practicality.

Teambuilding: Defining personality type is especially effective in building and maintaining teams because it identifies similarities and differences in communication styles and how people prefer to work together. Some types want to work smarter, not harder; put in minimum input for required output; work harder so things will work out; or be liked, to be motivated to do their best work

Communication: Different personality types communicate in varying ways. Making sure that one is understood in the way he/she wants means using type-based strategies to deal with others more effectively. Although many adult training methods presume that all adults have the desire for group work and active discussions, it depends on personality factors.

Leadership: For some types, mostly introverts, leadership means leaving them alone to do their job. Other people are very independent and do not follow others at all. People that prefer sensing generally want someone to model the necessary behaviors either in a traditional, authority-driven manner or as the leader of action.

Counseling: Different types get stressed or motivated in different ways. Counseling strategies are more effective taking personalities into account. Cognitive dissonance often takes many types outside their comfort zone and so counseling is less effective.

Over the decades, a large number of researchers, including those in the fields of psychology and social psychology, have used the Myers Briggs assessment tool as a means of studying a specific hypothesis. Below are some of the more recent studies and the results derived pro/con using Myers-Briggs.

1) Time sensitivity and purpose in life: Contrasting theoretical perspectives of Myers-Briggs and Victor Frankl.

A study of 100 college students was conducted to test the hypothesis from Myers and Briggs and Viktor Frankl. Myers and Briggs stated that judging vs. perceiving according to MBTI did not affect levels of purpose in life. On the other hand, Frankl believed that individuals who are more time sensitive would accomplish more and therefore have a higher level of meaning and purpose in their lives. Students were given the MBTI and the Crumbaugh and Maholick Purpose in Life Test. They were also asked if they were habitual watch wearers. A lack of correlation in judging/perceiving category of MBTI and Purpose in Life scores indicated that Myers and Briggs were correct. However a correlation between watch wearers and high scores on the Purpose in Life test indicted that Frankl was also correct. The results were thus inconclusive.

2) Color and type: Myth or reality?

This is a study of college students' preferences for color as related to psychological type. Results seem to contradict colors that Jung associated with type: sensing -- green, intuition -- yellow, thinking -- blue, and feeling -- red based on stated color preferences. Instead, results seem to indicate an overall preference for green and blue.

3) Communicator image and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator extraversion- introversion.

This research examined the relationship between communicator image and MBTI dimensions of extraversion-introversion. The authors found that individuals who prefer extraversion tend to have a more positive communicator image than those who prefer introversion. The results of this study supported other research concluding that personality preferences differ in communication behaviors and traits, which could have implications for the individual's comfort and success in society. Results of this research also supported the contention that communication behavior has biological aspects.

4) Piloting the rocket of radical innovation: selecting the right people for the right roles dramatically improves the effectiveness of new business development.

The personalities of individuals involved in the early stages of new business development (NBD) have been found to be as important as the process itself. NBD analysts with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator[R] (MBTI)-based preferences for intuition ("N") and thinking ("T") score highest on a Rainmaker-Index[SM]. Those in the top third of the Index generated 95 times more profit than those in the bottom third, when rigorously coached in the same NBD staged-gate process. Further, 32 of the 33 NBD recommendations from the opportunity analysts made money. This represents a success rate of 97% vs. 11% when moving from Stage 4 to Stage 7 on the "universal success curve." Fixing the NBD processes in this way has led to increases in NBD speed and effectiveness of more than 900%, by achieving near-perfection in commercialization rates.

5) Personality profiles of today's - and tomorrow's - successful bankers.

A study was conducted on the personality styles of successful bankers within various functional areas in the industry using a shortened version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Typical bankers were found to have a dominant sensing-thinking-judging profile. Strong sensing features were found among bankers engaged in operations. Moreover, over 70% of the bankers surveyed in the study were characterized as thinking types rather than feeling types. Research showed that the quality of decisions in the banking industry is correlated with personality types, perspectives and experiences.

6) Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to study managers: a literature review and research agenda.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is increasingly being used to study the relationships between psychological types and managerial attributes, behaviors and effectiveness. A review of literature indicates that the MBTI is reliable and valid enough to be used as a tool for examining the relationships between manager personality and attributes. Nevertheless, it should be acknowledged that refinements of the type construct and its measures are still needed because there remain rational worries about type theory and its operationalization. In view of this, this study makes recommendations regarding the exploration of potential psychometric refinements of the MBTI, more rigorous research designs, and a wider scope of manager research on psychology types.

7) Myers-Briggs Personality Profiles of Prospective Educators.

This study gave the Myers-Briggs test to 866 students who were interested in going into education and becoming teachers. They authors wanted to determine the personality types of students who, after exposure to an early teaching experience program, decided either to (a) continue their preparation to teach, as evidenced by receiving a bachelor's degree from the College of Education at The Ohio State University (OSU), or (b) abandon their efforts to obtain a degree from the College of Education. Results indicated that the S-F-J (Sensing-Feeling-Judging) profile on the MBTI described a significant number of students who continued in education after being exposed. Also identified were several types and antitypes linked to areas of teacher certification. The authors believed, based on the findings, that SFJ teachers who wanted to go into elementary schools would be "warm, sociable, responsible, and caring about people," but they would "comfortable with the disorder, ambiguity, and confusion that inevitably accompanies change" and "conjecture that elementary teachers with an SFJ profile will not be leaders in the educational reform that many believe is needed to improve today's schools." However, those with N-F-J (Intuitive-Thinking-Judging) personality types who go into secondary schools would be desirous of reform and "appear to be the best source of leadership among practicing teachers."

8) Does personality influence brand image?

Consumer psychologists have attempted to relate purchase behavior, media choice, innovation, segmentation, and a wide variety of other marketing variables to consumer personality. Results have been mixed with most studies demonstrating a weak relationship between consumer personality and market behavior. The purpose of this present study was to explore the connection between human personality using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and product personality. To date, the MBTI has not been applied in the marketing/consumer behavior discipline. The results of this study provided minimal support for using information on consumer personality as a strategic marketing tool.

9) An Alternative Application of Holland's Theory and It's Implications…