Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) Personality Types

Carl Gustav Jung and MBTI

• Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, developed a theory of personality, suggesting that differences between people form patterns or types.
• Jung's book "Psychological Types" was published in 1921 and translated into English in 1923.

Katharine C. Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers

• Katharine C. Briggs, an American, read Jung's "Psychological Types" in 1923 and spent 20 years studying, developing, and applying Jung's theory.
• Isabel Briggs Myers developed Jung's theory in partnership with Briggs, creating questions that became the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument.

Jung's Personality Theory

• Every person carries out two kinds of mental processes: taking in information and making decisions about the information.
• Each person has preferred ways of using these mental processes.
• Jung observed that we all live in two worlds: the outer world of things, people, and events, and the inner world of our own thoughts, feelings, and reflections.
• Each person has a preference for either the outer world or the inner world.
• Jung believed that preferences are innate, but also shaped by environmental influences, such as family, culture, and education.

MBTI Instrument and Dichotomies

• The MBTI instrument indicates preferences on four pairs of opposites, called dichotomies: Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I), Sensing (S) or Intuition (N), Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), and Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).
• The MBTI instrument is designed to indicate inborn preferences, not skills or effects of environment.

Extraversion (E) and Introversion (I)

• People who prefer Extraversion: direct their energy and attention outward, focus on the outer world of people and activity.
• People who prefer Introversion: direct their energy and attention inward, focus on their inner world of ideas and experiences.

Judging (J) and Perceiving (P)

• People who prefer Judging: like to have things decided, resist reopening decisions, and try to avoid last-minute stresses.
• People who prefer Perceiving: like to explore options, resist cutting off options, and feel energized by last-minute pressures.

Personality Type and Distribution

• When combined, the four preferences indicate a personality type, with 16 possible types.
• The MBTI type distribution varies by population, with some types being more common than others.