Perhaps you’ve taken a personality psychometric prior to a job interview? Or you’ve been asked to complete one within a team that you’re part of? Maybe you’re curious about the entire field of psychometrics and find yourself asking; What do personality questionnaires really reveal?
Personality questionnaires are tools used in business, education and other organisations to examine personality differences. The framework will help you to look at your preferences for;
- Where you get your energy from
- How you prefer to live your life
- How you take in information
- The information you pay attention to when making decisions
- Your preferred style of working with others in teams or groups
How can you use them?
You can use each description of type to;
Understand your own type
Understand others
Identify, develop and flex your non-preference
At PPC our own (free) Personality Framework https://planetpositivechange.com/discover-your-personality-type/ is based upon Jungian typology and the modification of his work by Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs (MBTI). The typology assessment works on the basis that you naturally choose one of two preferences in each of four categories relating to how you operate in the world around you. These four items are called dichotomies, pairs or preferences. Identifying these preferred preferences generates your typology Type.
The developed theory today is that every individual has a primary mode of operation within four categories:
- our flow of energy
- how we take in information
- how we prefer to make decisions
- the basic day-to-day lifestyle that we prefer
Within each of these categories, we “prefer” to be either:
Extraverted or Introverted (E-I)
Sensing or intuitive (S-N)
Thinking or Feeling (T-F)
Judging or Perceiving (J-P)
We all naturally use one mode of operation within each category more easily and more frequently than we use the other mode of operation. So, we are said to “prefer” one function over the other. The combination of our four “preferences” defines our personality type and the dynamic that we see with each type. Although everybody functions across the entire spectrum of the preferences, each individual has a natural preference which leans in one direction or the other within the four categories.
Our Flow of Energy defines how we receive the essential part of our stimulation. Do we receive it from within ourselves (Introverted) or from external sources (Extraverted)? Is our dominant function focused externally or internally?
The topic of how we take in Information deals with our preferred method of taking in and absorbing information. Do we trust our five senses (Sensing) to take in information, or do we rely on our instincts (iNtuitive)?
The third type of preference, how we prefer to Make Decisions, refers to whether we are prone to decide things based on logic and objective consideration (Thinking), or based on our personal, subjective value systems (Feeling).
The 16 Personality Types
These first three preferences were the basis of Jung’s theory of Personality Types. Isabel Briggs Myers developed the theory of the fourth preference, which is concerned with how we deal with the external world on a Day-to-day Basis. Are we organized and purposeful, and more comfortable with scheduled, structured environments (Judging), or are we flexible and diverse, and more comfortable with open, casual environments (Perceiving)? From a theoretical perspective, we know that if our highest Extraverted function is a Decision Making function, we prefer Judging. If our highest Extraverted function is an Information Gathering function, we prefer Perceiving.
We know from years of research in psychology and neuropsychology that all human beings are capable of developing their opposite preferences as well as self directing neuroplasticity and behaviour. These type explanations are your guide to identifying your own preferences as well as areas for development.
With psychometrics such as the MBTI, there are no right or wrong answers, all differences are equally valid. If you find that you are ‘stuck’ when answering the question, think about what you are like in your home life rather than at work, as this will be a more true representation of what you are truly life without external pressures. The framework explores differences, it does not examine strength or weakness.
How can I use the results?
You can use the results of the framework to build your self knowledge, understand different styles and others, at work and within your personal life. You can apply the results of your questionnaire to a number of practical scenarios;
Identifying your leadership style
Developing teams
Communication
Conflict resolution
Personal development
Solving problems
Relationships
Personal and career development
Want to know more? Go to our FREE personality assessment at https://planetpositivechange.com/discover-your-personality-type/
