Understanding Personality Types 

Personality Assessments
One of the most well known personality tests is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which is based on the research of Carl Jung.  Jung developed the theory that people fall under different psychological types.  He believed that there were two basic functions of people's personalities:  how we take in information or perceive things and how we make decisions.  Katherine Briggs expounded on Carl Jung's work and further developed his theories on personality types.  Katherine's daughter, Isabel Briggs-Myers developed the Myers-Briggs as we know it today,  contending that:

• An individual is either primarily Extraverted or Introverted (where we find energy)
• An individual is either primarily Sensing or INtuitive (how we take in information)
• An individual is either primarily Thinking or Feeling (how we make decisions)
• An individual is either primarily Judging or Perceiving (how we function in everyday life)

The MBTI is available only through Consulting Psychologists Press, which owns the rights to the instrument.  Shorter modified versions of the assessment are available online, including the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and a modified version of the MBTI provided by Humanmetrics. 

Taking the Tests
The online version of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter is available at www.advisorteam.com/user/ktsintro.asp --once you complete the assessment, the site will return a description of your temperament and give you the option of purchasing a full report.  To find out additional information about the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and Keirsey's four temperaments, visit  www.advisorteam.com .  Humanmetrics also offers a free online modified version of the Myers-Briggs at www.humanmetrics.com .  The online version of the test offered by Humanmetrics will assess your personality type using the Jung- Myers-Briggs typology, and will provide you with a description of your specific personality type and preferences.

Possible Personality Types
The following table represents the 4 temperament preferences and the 16 possible personality types according to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter.  You may read about any of the personality types by clicking on the four letter codes.

Personality Types Today
The following Information is excerpted from www.personalitypage.com/info.html
The possible combinations of the basic preferences form 16 different Personality Types. This does not mean that all (or even most) individuals will fall strictly into one category or another. If we learn by applying this tool that we are primarily Extraverted, that does not mean that we don't also perform Introverted activities. We all function in all of these realms on a daily basis. As we grow and learn, most of us develop the ability to function well in realms which are not native to our basic personalities. In the trials and tribulations of life, we develop some areas of ourselves more thoroughly than other areas. With this in mind, it becomes clear that we cannot box individuals into prescribed formulas for behavior. However, we can identify our natural preferences, and learn about our natural strengths and weaknesses within that context.

The theory of Personality Types contends that each of us has a natural preference which falls into one category or the other in each of these four areas, and that our native Personality Type indicates how we are likely to deal with different situations that life presents, and in which environments we are most comfortable.

Learning about our Personality Type helps us to understand why certain areas in life come easily to us, and others are more of a struggle. Learning about other people's Personality Types help us to understand the most effective way to communicate with them, and how they function best.