The Hidden Letters in the Myers-Briggs MBTI ^® Type
Diagrams of the 16 Personality Types

1 - Hidden Letters of Type 2 - 16 Personality Type Patterns Are you a "newbie" to Personality Type? If so, I suggest going here to get the basics on Myers-Briggs Personality Type.

In the following diagrams of the 16 Personality Types, the mental function that is opposite in all respects to one's dominant mental function is illustrated in red, in italics, and in the smallest font size. It typically is expressed unconsciously, hidden to one's self and in the case of extraverts hidden to others. In the language of Jungian type theory, this is called the "inferior function." Being hidden, however, doesn't mean it has no influence. In fact it can be the gateway to an entirely opposite personality called the shadow, an evil twin that may come out under situations of extreme stress. Or it can emerge in a more positive way as a person matures and begins employing their hidden functions in a more active manner, adding new dimensions to their nature.

The third mental function is illustrated in red and a smaller font to illustrate a lesser influence and its less conscious nature. It too plays a role in personality operating in a supportive fashion to a person's dominant function. For example, it helps explain why an ENTJ friend holds to the maxim that "the devil is in the details" (outer world face is T and S) and an ESTJ friend considers himself a "big picture guy" (outer world face is T and N).

The diagrams illustrate three important points. 1) All types have all four mental preferences as part of their personality pattern, not just the two represented by the two middle letters of their type code. 2) All types have both an E (extravert) and I (introvert) nature, and a J (judging) and P (perceiving) nature even though the letters of the MBTI personality type code show only two. 3) The four MBTI ^® type letters are a short-hand code for a much more complex pattern of personality that incorporates E & I, S & N, T & F, and J & P. The diagrams, I hope, make more evident that the 16 Types represent 16 different kinds of minds, each with a unique pattern or mental framework.

Introverted Types

ISFP and INFP - Introverted Feeling Types

ISTP and INTP - Introverted Thinking Types

INFJ and INTJ - Introverted Intuitive Types

ISFJ and ISTJ - Introverted Sensing Types

Extraverted Types

ESFP and ESTP - Extraverted Sensing Types

ENFP and ENTP - Extraverted Intuitive Types

ESTJ and ENTJ - Extraverted Thinking Types

ESFJ and ENFJ - Extraverted Feeling Types

In looking at the above diagrams one can see that some personality pattern show a mental preference as extraverted while others show it as introverted. See ESFJ vs ISFP for example; their patterns are the flip-flop of one another. In fact hidden within every ESFJ personality is an unconscious ISFP and visa-versa. This is true of every type; there is secondary pattern, a twin who is the mirror image of the primary pattern. Educators and practitioners of Myers-Briggs Personality Type have expanded the original 4 mental preferences (S, N, T, and F) into 8 by considering whether the preferences is used in an extraverted fashion or an introverted fashion. Roger Pearman (2011) considers these as eight resources that are available to every person. Each type typically has a greater degree of comfort in using two to four of these resources, but the remainder can be seen as untapped, waiting to be developed.

You can learn more about these 8 resources or mental functions in an article I've written elsewhere in PersonalityPathways . . . how to recognize them in yourself and perhaps develop them as well as recognizing and understanding them as others may use them. See Descriptions of the Jung-Myers-Briggs Mental Functions.

Bibliography

Pearman, Roger (2011) Personality Type: Adding Value to Learning and Growing for Personal Effectiveness. Bulletin of Psychological Type, 34(1), 21 -22.

Learn more about interpretting the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Code

Learn more about the Type Faces and the Dynamics of Type

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