Myers Briggs Indicator Test Is Term Paper

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scale (along with the other instruments) often carry character traits of: nurturance, affiliation, altruism, tender-minded and social and religious values." (Watkins, 2000, p. 116)

Occupations that are interesting to people in this category include; "social service, counseling, religious activities, teaching, health care and other occupations where one can work with other people." (Watkins, 2000, p. 116)

The remaining categories are reflective of how an individual responds to or reserves from the outside world and the inner world. The "attitudes" that Jung describes, as extroverted (outward-turning) or introverted (inward-turning) are two of the most common observations of personality made in and outside the field of psychology with regard to personality characteristics. "Most other researchers who have tried to describe human personality comprehensively have measured -- or discovered -- extraversion and introversion." (Watkins, 2000, p. 116)

Watkins describes extroversion (E) as having an attitude where energy flows out from the individual into the environment. The environment provides a certain level of stimulation and the extrovert appreciates interaction with this world, which can include other individuals but also the built environment. The theory goes that if one is slanted toward being an extrovert he or she will exhibit; "sociability, action orientation, impulsivity, and ease of communication... dominance, leadership, expressed inclusion, expressed affection, exhibitionism, and being venturesome." (Watkins, 2000, p. 117) High action occupations such as those that are conducted in the outdoors or include travel as well as a great deal of interactions with other people are those that the extrovert gravitates toward and is successful at.

Introverts, on the other end of the balanced scale are more inclined to "draw energy from the environment," to help them build their concepts of the world. (Watkins, 2000, p. 117) Jung believed that all people possess a certain amount of introversion as an important aspect of normal functioning. Introverted people tend to have the characteristics of; "interest in the clarity of concepts and ideas, reliance more on enduring concepts than on transitory external events, a thoughtful, contemplative detachment, and enjoyment of privacy... self-sufficient, reserved, and introspective." (Watkins, 2000, p. 117) Introverts are often drawn to and successful in occupations that involve independence, frequent individual contacts, activities that require significant attention span and frequent work with ideas. "Introverts are in the majority among computer programmers, engineers, statisticians, librarians, accountants, or anesthesiologists." (Watkins, 2000, p. 117)

It is also clear that regardless of the ideal of the scales used in the characterizations of MBIT in the sense of equal but variant characteristics the common line of reasoning is that characteristics of extroversion tend to be valued as greater than those of introversion.

In many correlations with personality measures, extraversion is associated with positive qualities -- ego strength and emotional stability, personal integration, and self-esteem. Introversion is more likely to be associated on other scales with negative qualities -- anxiety, guilt, and neuroticism. (Watkins, 2000, p. 117)

The variation tends to be thought of as applicable due to the fact that extroverts tend to be moor at ease in their environment and more influential as a result of their ability to fully involve themselves and therefore leave an impression on those around them while the introvert, in extreme does not possess these charismatic personality traits. Society in general sees introversion as a weakness or limited in strength because it does not appreciate the strengths that make up their character.

The outward-turning of extraverts can lead them to look more to others and less to themselves as the cause of their problems. Counselors often see extraverts who are astonished to find they are themselves important actors in their own drama, not simply responding to external forces. The inward turning introverts are likely to blame themselves for their difficulties. Counselors often see introverts who are amazed at the counselor's suggestion that perhaps others might also be at fault in their problems. For extraverts, the counselor will try to distinguish the deserved confidence of well-developed extraverts from the overconfidence of the less mature extraverts. (Watkins, 2000, p. 117)

Though Jung was quick to stress that there are no real pure introverts or extroverts, possessing a lack of balance between these two spectrum ends can lead to problems and difficulties that cannot be answered without a reversion to balance. (Watkins, 2000, p. 118)

Extraversion is always associated with one of the four functions. There are extraverted sensing types, extraverted intuitive types, extraverted thinking types, extraverted feeling types, but there are no "extraverts" -- and similarly with introverts.

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" (Watkins, 2000, p. 118)

Jung seems to have been alone in this assertion, as most personality theory does not give credence to the idea of balance and believes that individual personality can be pure extrovert or pure introvert, gleaning all the strengths and weaknesses associated with each from its core. (Watkins, 2000, p. 118)

The final aspects of personality determined by the MBIT are the judging (J) and perceiving (P) and are discussed last because they are also aspects of the individuals' interaction or view toward the external world. (extraverted) world. "The JP scale indicates whether extraverted behaviors are more likely to reflect the perceptive functions (S or N) or the judging functions (T or F)." (Watkins, 2000, p. 118) the JP scale is used in tow varied ways in the MBTI. In the first it helps identify "observable behaviors important in their own right" and secondly, "JP helps identify the dynamic pattern for each type by pointing to the dominant and auxiliary functions." (Watkins, 2000, p. 118) Perception and judgment work together as perception helps the individual see what is around them and then create from this a judgment. "At some point, one has seen enough (P) and is ready to reach a judgment (J)." perceiving characteristic is often thought to be correlated to: "complexity, flexibility, autonomy, change-as-challenge, and happy-go-lucky," while judgment conversely has personality traits such as, "self-control, stronger superego, rule-bound, and dependability." (Watkins, 2000, p. 118) Again in some ways these two measures are described as good and/or bad with (J) being more positive than (P). "For example, P scores are positively correlated with scales named impulsivity, rebellious, procrastinating, changeable, and restless. J-types occur in greater numbers than P-types in the general population, and J-types are clearly in the majority in samples of managers in business, government, and education." (Watkins, 2000, p. 118) the MBTI is slightly different in that it means the term judgment as if the individual is "exercising good judgment." (Watkins, 2000, p. 118) "In MBTI terms, being "judgmental" or "closed-minded" comes from judging without the balance of perceiving." (Watkins, 2000, p. 118)

Each of these four scales of opposite but equal character traits then work together at the end to form a collective four letter designation for the individual taking the test. The scale is based upon the dominant score of the dependant driven answer to the forced questions in the exam, which are each defined by a scale score in the personality scale they are important to. The following figure shows the scale of determining the four letter sequence that is the conclusion of a testing

1. "Priorities and Directions of Functions in Each Type. From Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator by Isabel

Briggs Myers and Mary H. McCaulley (1985). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting

Psychologists Press." (Watkins, 2000, p. 120)

The MBIT itself is exceedingly popular, as a tool used in business, career counseling, education and standard counseling situations, and is said to be one the most commonly utilized tests for "normal" populations of people. The designation can assist the counselor and the individual in determining the leanings of the individual to certain types of employment or affinity for different types of learning. Yet, there are significant questions associated with the tests, validity as some researchers have found that people tested at different times can designate significantly different. Though most evaluations of the MBTI, if used correctly are positive for correlation and validity there are some converse challenges to the test. It is likely that the test will both continue to be used across a broad system and will likely continue to be challenged for validity.

Reliabilities have generally improved (Myers & McCaulley, 1985); however, questions about the stability of the type dimensions have been raised (Pittenger, 1993). Carlson (1985), commenting on the McCarley and Carskadon (1983) study of the reliabilities of the scores from four subscales of the MBTI, stated that a subject typed as an Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judger (ESTJ) on a first testing had only a 50-50 chance of repeating this preference on retesting. Carlson (1989a) concluded that although recent reports have been favorable, very few studies have demonstrated reliability for scores from the MBTI. (Johnson, Mauzey, Johnson, Murphy & Zimmerman, 2001, p. 96)

Other concerns about this type of testing include the development of.....

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