Around GMA

Article Inside Page

Have you ever browsed through the internet and came across the terms "MBTI" or the "16 Personalities?" Have you ever seen acronyms such as "ENFP," "ISTJ," or "ESFJ" and wonder what it meant?

These terms, words, and letters are all under the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI, a useful tool that can help us make decisions in our personal and professional lives.

The Myers & Briggs Foundation describes the MBTI as the personality inventory devised by American author Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, which is based on the psychological types theory by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.

One's MBTI type is determined by four "Preferences" and these preferences combined form a person's own personality type.

According to The Myers & Briggs Foundation, these four preferences are:

Favorite World

Extraverted (E) or Introverted (I) - Do you prefer to focus on the outer world (E) or your inner world (I)?

Information

Sensing (S) or Intuition (N) - Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in (S) or to interpret and add meaning (N)?

Decision

Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) - When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency (J) or first look at the people and special circumstances (P)?

Structure

Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) - In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided (J), or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options (P)?

Determining your personality type can help you understand yourself better, assess your relationship with the people around you, and find out which careers suit you.

To determine your own MBTI type, one way is to consult a counselor or therapist with training in psychology or human development that can help verify your MBTI typing.

There are also free MBTI tests available online which presents users with a series of questions to figure out what their "Preferences" are.

The Myers & Briggs Foundation says that the goal of the MBTI is to know about personality types and "to understand and appreciate differences between people. As all types are equal, there is no best type."

By knowing your own MBTI type, you can be more secure with your identity and sense of self as you go about life.