The 16 personality types (and their characteristics)

The Myers-Briggs indicator It is one of the most popular personality tests today, among other things, due to the ambitious nature of its proposal.

Unlike what happens with other personality measurement instruments, which measure very specific aspects about our behavior and thought patterns, the The Myers-Briggs indicator was developed to explore the most important and unique aspects that would serve to describe the way of being of each individual through 16 types of personality.

The latter means that the Myers-Briggs Indicator was made with the intention of describing the personality of global way, instead of making measurements on very specific aspects of the way of being of the people. This idea, based on what is usually known as "holistic" approaches, is very attractive to many people who see in this personality test a way of knowing what is most essential about people, what defines them in a more complete sense.

However, today the Myers-Briggs Indicator has critics who point to the validity and usefulness of the test and, consequently, of the 16 personality types it proposes. Let's see what the defense and negative criticism of this personality classification system is based on.

What is the Myers-Briggs Indicator?

The MBTI, as it is known in English, is a personality test based on the works of Carl Gustav Jung and the personality types that he proposed.

The Myers-Briggs Indicator borrows 8 of the psychological functions Jung used to theorize about different personality types and he proposes a system of questions that serve to study the way in which the preferences and the way of being of the people conform to these categories.

If you want to know more about these ideas from Carl Jung, you can read this article:

• The 8 personality types according to Carl Gustav Jung

How does the MBTI work?

The Myers-Briggs Indicator uses four dichotomies with two extremes each to study personality. These factors are as follows:

• Extraversion (E) or Intraversion (I)
• Intuition (N) or Sensation (S)
• Thought (T) or Feeling (F)
• Judgment (J) or Perception (P)

Each person responds to the questions that are posed in the test reflecting on their own way of being, thinking and feeling, which makes this a measurement tool based on introspection. From these answers, the data obtained are grouped and in this way it is established which of the 16 personality types it serves to better describe the way of being and the preferences of oneself.

The 16 personality types

From the crossing of data of these 8 variables established in the 4 dichotomies, the 16 personality types of the Myers-Briggs Indicator are formulated. They are as follows.

1. ESTJ (Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging)

People who like to be in control of what happens around them, they always look for a way for everything to work as it should and, if necessary, implement it themselves.

2. ESTP ((Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving)

People who belong to this category are spontaneous, cheerful and active, but like what happens with ESTJs, they tend to dominate others, in this case through their observation skills and charisma.

3. ESFJ (Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging)

These are people who are very focused on attending to the needs of others., especially if they are part of your close circle: family and friends. That is why whenever they can, they lend their help and ensure that their close social circles always remain stable and in good health. That is why they tend to avoid strong conflicts and are diplomatic when there are clashes of interests.

4. ESFP (Extraverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving)

They are cheerful and spontaneous people who enjoy entertaining themselves and entertaining others.. Fun is one of the most important pillars of their lives, and they are close and friendly. temperament warm. They love novelty and talk about personal experiences.

5. ISTJ (Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving)

A personality type defined by your strong sense of morality and duty. They like to plan and implement systems of rules that allow teams and organizations to function with clear logic and order. They place great value on rules and the need for reality to correspond to how things should be. Although they are introverts, they do not shy away from interaction with others.

6. ISTP (Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving)

They are reserved people, oriented to action and practical solutions to day-to-day problems.. They are also defined by their tendency toward logical thinking and their spontaneity and autonomy. They like to explore environments and discover ways in which they can be interacted with.

7. ISFJ (Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging)

They are people defined mainly by their desire to protect and help others and, ultimately, to be reliable for others. They strive to do everything that is expected of them, but they don't have high aspirations or are very ambitious. They tend to think that it is bad to ask for compensation or raises in exchange for the sacrifices they make at the time of work, since this should be a goal in itself.

8. ISFP (Introverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving)

People who live totally in the here and now, in constant search of novelty and sensory stimulating situations. They are reserved, but also cheerful, spontaneous and warm with their friends. They have a special talent in the world of the arts.

9. ENTJ (Extraverted Intuitive Thinking Judging)

This is one of the 16 personality types most related to leadership and assertiveness. The people described by this category are communicative, agile and analytical thinking, and predisposed to leading teams and organizations. They adapt well to change and make their strategies adapt as well whenever the environment changes. In addition, they almost always know how to explain their projects or stories in a way that will be of interest to others, which makes them very apt commercials.

10. ENTP (Extraverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving)

People especially moved by curiosity and challenges that to be solved require facing intellectually stimulating questions. Their mental agility and their ability to detect logical inconsistencies make them people predisposed to be interested in science or philosophy. In addition, their tendency to be competitive makes them very active people during the day, always trying to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems.

11. ENFJ (Extraverted Intuitive Feeling Judging)

People who constantly learn about all areas of knowledge (or a good part of them) and help others to learn, guiding them in their own evolution. They like to offer mentorship and advice, and they are very good at influencing the behavior of others. They focus on their values ​​and ideals and do their best to improve the well-being of the greatest number of people through their ideas and actions.

12. ENFP (Extraverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving)

One of the 16 personality types with the highest propensity for creative thinking, the arts and sociability. They are cheerful, they enjoy interacting with other people, and they act with their position in mind as part of a "whole" made up of humanity, and they are not individualistic. In fact, they tend to get involved in collective tasks to help others, thinking about the social impact of their actions. However, they are also easily distracted and often put off tasks that they consider boring or too simple and routine.

13. INTJ (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging)

A personality type oriented towards solving specific problems based on analytical reasoning. Those described by this category are people who are very focused on their own ideas and theories about the functioning of the world, which means that they analyze their environment by focusing on their ideas about how operate this. They are aware of their own capabilities and trust their own judgment, even if it goes against some superiors.

It is very common that they become experts in a very specific field of knowledge, since they like to have enough knowledge about something like to be able to take into account all the factors that come into play in its operation and, from there, to know what can be done or what will happen in the future.

14. INTP (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving)

One of the 16 personality types most defined by the propensity for reflection. These people like theories capable of explaining everything that can happen in a system, and their tendency towards perfectionism makes them correct others multiple times. They value accuracy more in theoretical terms than pragmatism and solving concrete problems.

15. INFJ (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging)

Very sensitive, reserved and driven by very defined ideals and that, in addition, they feel the need to make others also benefit from these ideals. This makes them prone to both reflection and action, which can be so much work that they become overburdened by having too many responsibilities. They show a great ability to successfully interpret the mental states of others and try to use this information to help them before the other person asks for it.

16. INFP (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving)

Less self-righteous than INFJs, INFPs also care a lot about helping others from their position of reserved persons. They show an aesthetic and artistic sensibility that makes them creative.

Criticisms of the Myers-Briggs Indicator

There are numerous researchers and academics who deny the idea that the MBTI has any value for science, basically for being based on some ideas (those of Carl Jung) that were not born through the use of the scientific method and because, in addition, find the 16 personality types too ambiguous and abstract as to be able to be used to predict patterns of thought or behavior.

That is, anyone could read the descriptions of these personality categories and be reflected in many of them at the same time, being so general. This phenomenon is an example of the forer effect, according to which when the personality categories are ambiguous enough, anyone can come to identify with them to the point of believing that they fit well with his way of being and not with that of others. In turn, this is a case of confirmation bias.

Then... It is not useful?

The problem of the ambiguity of the personality categories with which the Myers-Briggs indicator works also occurs in a similar way, for example, in Carl Jung's personality proposal. It is assumed that a personality model has to lay the foundations to be able to isolate relevant psychological variables and that in certain investigations have a certain predictive value (That is, to clear up doubts about what will happen, for example, if a person with high levels of neuroticism begins to work in an environment facing the public and with a lot of pressure.

When the popularity of a personality model is based on the Forer effect, there is little to expect of its usefulness as a research tool, because everyone is capable of feeling identified by virtually any personality type and the end result will depend on minor factors, such as the personality style description read before, for example.

That is why, although the Myers-Briggs Indicator continues to be used in organizational contexts to select personnel or assess the possibility of someone moving up, in the field of research this tool has been so harshly criticized that its use is a rarity.

Now, that does not mean that, in its own way, there can be certain utilities for the Myers-Briggs indicator. For example, the possibility of inspiring us, making us reflect on how our personality is structured and in what way these aspects of personality are related to each other.