MBTI Myers Briggs Personality: 16 Types & Best Fit Type

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Myers-Briggs Personality Type, Your Best Fit Type, and an introduction
to the 16 types

More . . . What is your Personality Type?
Profiles & Characteristics of the 16 Types

By Ross Reinhold, with Danielle Poirier

Sometimes a person who has been introduced to MBTI ® Personality Type may feel drawn to several as potential "best fit."

There are many ways to explore solving this dilemma. One is to look at which of the four preference options you think or feel is borderline. (For example, you may be uncertain if you prefer "Thinking" or "Feeling.") Looking at one borderline preference produces 2 different type possibilities (example: INTP vs INFP).

The prescription for this method is: review descriptions of these two alternative types (example: comparing INTP vs INFP type descriptions) to see which seems a more comfortable home. Taking this even further would be to talk to folks from those two groups, to see if either camp seems to be a better fit.

Katharine and Peter Myer's site - MBTI Type Today - provide thumbnail descriptions of the 16 types. Click here to bring them up in a separate window to review.

Another method of verifying your BEST FIT TYPE is to look at temperament descriptions. Sometimes the two type alternatives are drawn from 2 different temperaments and thus comparing temperament differences is instructive. Handbooks by authors Berens and Nardi can be helpful. [ . . . One word of caution. The four basic Kiersey Temperament categories are the most helpful. The Kiersey descriptions of 16 types (using the MBTI type code designations) - as found in the book "Please Understand Me" - are not recommended. They do not necessarily follow the accepted type model . . . nor are they as well researched . . . so they are as likely to muddy the water for you as help.]

A third method, and one I've found most helpful, of narrowing the search for BEST FIT TYPE is advocated by consultant Danielle Poirier. This involves first noting the dominant function of the alternative types you are considering. If they are different form one another, the dominant type descriptions by Poirier offered below may help you decide among them.

Personality and type can involve complex constellations of characteristics that overlay and hide one's core makeup. The classic Jungian type model places the dominant function closer to this core of being. Thus descriptions of type characteristics that emphasize the role of the dominant function can produce more clear cut distinctions between alternatives (the one exception being if you happen to be "on the fence" between the two types that share a common dominant function in its attitude. For example: INTJ vs INFJ).

Here's how Poirier clusters and describes the 16 types:

Introverted Types

Dominant Introverted Intuition INTJ & INFJ --Click here to learn what is it like?	Dominant Introverted Sensing ISTJ & ISFJ --Click here to learn what is it like?
Dominant Introverted Thinking INTP & ISTP --Click here to learn what is it like?	Dominant Introverted Feeling INFP & ISFP --Click here to learn what is it like?

Extraverted Types

Dominant Extraverted Intuition ENTP & ENFP --Click here to learn what is it like?	Dominant Extraverted Sensing ESTP & ESFP --Click here to learn what is it like?
Dominant Extraverted Thinking ENTJ & ESTJ --Click here to learn what is it like?	Dominant Extraverted Feeling ENFJ & ESFJ --Click here to learn what is it like?

^® MBTI, Myers-Briggs, Meyers Briggs, and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust in the United States and other countries (aka meyers briggs or myers briggs).

Other Online Resources to learn more about Type
MBTI ® TYPE TODAY - Edited by Katharine D. Myers and Peter Briggs Myers
The Sixteen Types at a Glance - Charles Martin, www.CAPT.org
The Magnificant 16 - A multi-media CD, www.rebeleagle.com

Some Recommended Print Resources
Introduction to Type by Isabel Myers, 6th Ed. revised by Linda K. Kirby and Katharine D. Myers - CPP, Inc, 1998.
Gifts Differing by Isabel Myers - CPP Inc, 1980.
Type Talk by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen - Delacorte Press, 1988.

Our Book Recommendations - Books and Booklets we recommend

Printable Reference List of 16 types pages:

isfp & infp - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-fi.html
isfj & istj - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-si.html
istp & intp - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-ti.html
infj & intj - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-ni.html
esfj & enfj - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-fe.html
estj & entj - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-te.html
estp & esfp - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-se.html
enfp & entp - www.personalitypathways.com/dom-ne.html

Go Here to Learn more about the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Code

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A multi-media CD featuring a joyfully polygamous collage of people, music, text, images, dancing violinists and belly dancing assistants who come together to consider and celebrate the issues of personality and differences in the workplace.

>>> Follow this link to learn more about this ground-breaking educational and training too l that is helping people understand and apply personality type to their careers and living styles.

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Myers-Briggs Personality Type, Your Best Fit Type, and an introduction to the 16 types

Myers-Briggs Personality Type, Your Best Fit Type, and an introduction
to the 16 types