I’ve recently taken an interest in personality typology. I’ve been wanting to write an article about it and now that about twenty of my friends have taken the test (there’s a link to it on my Facebook wall) I thought it might be a good time for it.
On my Facebook account, I had preciously written a blog (note) on personality temperaments, using the four-quadrant model (Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, and Melancholy). The model I’m about to discuss is more recent and is the product of Yungian psychology (Carl Yung). Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers developed Yung’s theory into what is now known as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This format identifies sixteen different personalities based on a more scientific approach than the more generalized four-quadrant method.
I do not want to bore everyone, so I’ll try to get right to it. According to this scheme, there are four processes each person uses in order to perceive life and make decisions based upon what is observed. Two processes are for observing (perceiving) the world, and two processes are for decision making or judging. The two processes for perceiving are 1) Sensing 2) Intuition. The two processes for judging are 1) Thinking 2) Feeling. Every individual uses all four of these processes to some extent, but everyone also prefers, and therefore better develops, one perceiving process over the other, as well as preferring one judging process over the other.
The first perceiving process, which is Sensing, uses the five senses to collect information about the world. Therefore, Sensing pays attention to what a thing looks like, tastes like, smells like, feels like, and sounds like. Sensing then concerns itself with facts and tangible realities. Sensing makes lists and moves forward step by step.
The second perceiving process, Intuition, gathers information from the subconscious mind in a rapid and random manner. Therefore, Intuition will attempt to get right to the heart of a matter without waiting for the senses to gather information in a step-by-step manner. Intuition then concerns itself not with what’s there but what’s missing - what should or could be. While Sensing focuses on realities, Intuition focuses on possibilities. As a result, Intuition prefers to employ the imagination where Sensing would employ common sense.
A person who prefers to perceive the world using Sensing over Intuition is an “S” type of personality. A person who prefers to use Intuition to perceive their world is an “N” personality type. In the next article, I will describe the two processes used for Judging or making decisions, as well as the differences between Introversion and Extroversion. Stay tuned...
P.S. The ideas in this blog have come mainly from Gifts Differing, a book written by Isabel Briggs Myers with Peter B. Myers.
