Survey MBTI Personality Type Preferences

Type Dynamics Survey: MBTI Personality Type & Mental Preferences
By Ross Reinhold, INTJ

Introduction
This exercise will deal with the middle two letters of your Personality Type Code, what Isabel Myers and Psychologist Carl Jung called the "mental functions" (Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling). Although your code only shows two of these functions, everyone has and uses all four functions. Examples. Those who prefer Intuition (second letter is N) will use or rely upon their Sensing nature in some specialized way - complimenting rather than conflicting with their more preferred Intuition. Those whose preference is Thinking (third letter is T) will value and use its opposite, Feeling, in certain ways and sometimes will let this function be their guide even though normally the person favors Thinking.

Part 1.
The following are some characteristic ways^1. people use the four mental functions of the MBTI Personality Type model. They are arranged in pairs of polar opposite concepts and under the particular mental function they are associated with. Your first task is to determine which of the opposites of each pair is most inherently (your natural bent vs. what wisdom or experience may have taught you) characteristic of you. Remember it is OK and normal to have "some" characteristics that are opposite your favored preference ( as is it is OK and normal to have none that are opposite).

Click the radio button of the opposite of each pair that best fits. (Doing so will simply serve as a visable checklist to help you get acquainted with some trait correlates of these four mental functions; the checked boxes do not automatically score any test. (Persons seeking a scientifically pedigreed assessment like this are urged to seek out a qualified MBTI practitioner who has the credentials to administer an MBTI Step 2 Assessment)

Part 2. - Picking your Dominant Mental Function
In the Myers MBTI model, your most fundamental guiding preference is called the Dominant preference. It is either one of the two Perceiving preferences (Sensing or Intuition) or one of the two Judging preferences (Thinking or Feeling).

Based upon what you understand about the 4 mental functions (S, N, T & F) [For a review you might want to re-read the Introduction to Type page. Click here to bring it up in a separate window] and a review of the selections you've just made above, consider which of the four mental functions (S, N, T or F) may be your most fundamental guiding preference, your Dominant Mental Function. (Some may find it helpful to talk over these considerations outloud and/or with another person. )

A helpful tip. If your principle energy preference is Extraverted (first letter E), then this guiding preference is most typically used in an open/easily apparent manner, dealing with the outside world. However if your principle energy preference is Introverted (first letter I), then this guiding preference is most typically used internally and more privately in reflection and consideration.

Part 3. - Picking your Auxiliary Mental Function
Your second most fundamental guiding preference is called the Auxiliary preference. In the model, it belongs to the opposite classification of your Dominant. If your Dominant preference is one of the two Perceiving preferences (S or N), then your Auxiliary preference is one of the two Judging preferences (T or F). Conversely, if your Dominant preference is one of the two Judging preferences, then your Auxiliary is one of the two Perceiving preferences.

In the Myers model, the Auxiliary is whichever of the middle two letters in your type code you DID NOT select as your Dominant. Together these middle two letters form a Dominant-Auxiliary pair, one taking the lead and the other helping out in a supportive way.

As mentioned above, Introverted types tend to hide their Dominant and more readily show their Auxiliary (because the Dominant is Introverted). This can mask an essential part of an Introverted type's nature.

Part 4. - Picking your Tertiary (Third) Mental Function
Your third most preferred mental function is one of the two mental function letters that is NOT in your type code. For example, if your middle two letters are NT, then your third mental function would be either S or F. Many interpret the Myers-Jung model as indicating that this third function is in the same extraverted/introverted attitude as one's Dominant function. So for Introverted types, the Tertiary is introverted and for Extraverted types, it is extraverted.

Some people, through life experiences, have developed a pattern in the use of preferences that doesn't square with the model just described. Such a unique pattern may have helped the person cope with a particular environment they found themselves in. In other cases, such a non-typical pattern may create some personal stress or interpersonal problems. For example, imagine a person whose first preference is Thinking and their second is Feeling. There will inevitably be situations where these two opposite ways of Judging will want to lead the person in quite opposite directions - creating personal ambivalence or vacillation in decision-making. In relationships with others, people may see such a person as "schitzo" or perhaps untrustworthy because they often present contradictory ways of forming conclusions. So while Jung presented his model as "describing" an aspect of the normal personality, Myers went one step further and "prescribed" it as important to healthy psychological development. She believed that people needed to develop both Perception and Judgement and learn to use them productively together.

In the case of the third and fourth mental functions, the reading of Jung and Myers is less clear. While the camp I subscribe to is as described above (third mental function is in the same E/I attitude as the Dominant and fourth mental function is in the same E/I attitude of the Auxiliary), there are other experienced observers of Personality Type who believe it is common for other patterns to exist and that the attitude (E or I) orientation of the third and fourth functions is largely due to life experience and not inherently associated with a person's type.

What has been just described are some important parts of the Type Dynamics model. A model may work well in general but may miss the mark in a number of specific instances. Perhaps it does in your case? This is what my inquiring mind wants to know! Does the model fit how people see themselves and if so how often? And if not, what are the other patterns that appear?

^1.The above material was adapted from the work of David R. Saunders, Ph.D. who performed the initial psychometric research on trait correlates of the MBTI from "test" questions that Myers employed over several years in her endless quest to broaden the base of Type knowledge. Saunders research eventually resulted in the development of the "Type Differentiation Indicator" and the "Expanded Analysis Report." His work was later extended by others, re-constituted, and updated into what is now known as the Step II and Step III MBTI Instruments published by CPP, Inc.

^® MBTI, Myers-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.

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