Typology Origins & Our Approach
The Roots
Some may be quick to jump to conclusion that personality assessments are yet another box to be put in, that you’re a color category that acts in x, y, and z and by the way you’re a descendant of Zeus… The truth is YOU’RE NOT WRONG, and some websites (admittedly MBTI “hackers”) do promote a woo-woo category that makes you feel special for being “it”. However, like most discoveries before mass consumer consumption, there is an underlying focal point that can often times be overlooked for its intended purpose.
Personality Strategy uses it’s principal framework under the discoveries of the founder of analytical psychology, Dr. Carl Jung. In the 1920s, Dr. Jung coined the eight cognitive “functions” through his research analyzing patterns in human behavior. The focal point was to create reoccurring distinctions of psychological processes that illustrate how the human brain perceives information and makes decisions. When our brain wants to explore new information, are we going to intuitively imagine the possibilities of “what-ifs” and connections? Or do we naturally seek out new experiences and data in the tangible, sensory world? Perhaps we use those functions as a secondary means to our greater purpose of what is right or true in personal value. Or perhaps your own values are secondary to “the group’s” logic or even statistical, impersonal logic. Is this more balanced or more polar in how you make your decisions? I know what you’re thinking now— THIS IS CONFUSING. This is where, during World War II, both a mother and daughter and fans of Dr. Jung’s work decide to shape the dynamics of Dr. Jungs work into a more digestible format for a greater good.
The Myers-Briggs system was created by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers who developed a “code” for 16 types of personality patterns based on the eight Jungian cognitive functions. Instead of describing a type as dominant extroverted intuition (Ne), auxiliary introverted feeling (Fi), tertiary extroverted thinking (Te), inferior introverted sensing (Si), unconscious shadow functions of Ni-Fe-Ti-Se, while having a perception dominant axis, etc.. they are simply called an ENFP (Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver) for example. Myers and Briggs initially intended this MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) to improve working relationships with women entering the workforce, primarily healthcare. However, its popularity grew to unexpected heights that eventually succeeded as one of the most widely used and recognizable personality tools in the world. The now MBTI® Myers-Briggs Company, has done extensive research on the framework of modern day uses internationally and across many cultures. But is this the best and most accurate way to the heart of Dr. Jung’s creation? How do I digest what this means for me, right now, in my circumstances especially from an online report?
Our Method
We believe that although online variations of the MBTI or online quizzes in general have some degree of accuracy, an online assessment is never 100% accurate in our opinion. We truly value YOU in finding your own self because we were there too, which is why we speak 1:1 to make sure it’s authentically accurate and usable. Not only do we want to help you to find it, but we want to help you understand how your cognition operates to leverage and improve it in your everyday life as a deep strategy. This relates to communication at work, with friends, and family as well as inner struggles and overcoming obstacles in your life. The fact of the matter is that the dynamics of the Jung’s cognitive functions can be linked to every action in our decisions and every method of information we gather that has hidden potential in us that the majority of people don’t even realize.
Below are some of the technical strategies that we use to identify personality preferences during our profiling sessions:
Profiling Strategy:
Patterns of dichotomies in narrowing down criteria. In other words, is there repeated evidence that the client favors “a” compared to its complete total opposite “z”.
Inner processing (introversion) vs outer processing (extroversion) comfortability.
Relations of perception dominance or deciding dominance in their language. Which axis is polar (overused vs underused) vs balanced (dually processed in consideration).
Observations of the client’s dominant function. This will bring upon itself in the user as something that they utilize to deal with problems with the highest degree of comfortability. It can also be observed as something the user gets physically excited about or something involuntarily natural to them.
Observed stressors or signs of difficulty/anxiety in a certain area that sheds light on a specific inferior cognitive function.
Secondary, but non-conclusive evidence of psychological functions found in client’s vultology. In other words, do our findings confirm body language ques and patterns. The reason why this is non-conclusive is that there still needs to be additional studies that properly attach physical ques to cognitive processes, although evidence so far shows a relatively true association.
We assess your personality without any biases towards one type. It is important to understand that each type has EQUAL but DIFFERENT strengths and weaknesses as we see in our findings.
Latest Findings in Community
We consistently aim to improve our approaches and information to give you the best possible experience and knowledge to ultimately strive in life. Besides, it’s fascinating to us anyways. Here are some newly emerging discoveries in the Jungian typology community:
Brain scans by Dr. Dario Nardi linking Dr. Jung’s cognitive functions to brain regions.
Subtypes of personality behavior based on a preference for a neurotransmitter or hormone such as dopamine, testosterone, serotonin, and oxytocin.
The emergence of vultology, or the study of facial analysis and movements joined to spot Jungian cognitive functions.
Dr. John Beebe’s findings on practical applications of Jungian analytical psychology relating to energies and patterns.
Dr. Linda Berens’ findings in organizational development using typology.