What is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most popular personality assessment in the world with over 2 million people taking it every year. The Myers Briggs is used for personal development, career counselling, team building, management training and relationship counselling. It is often used in conjunction with other assessments such as the DISC profile, the Strong Interest Inventory and the Career Interests Profiler.


The Myers Briggs Type Indicator determines your personality preferences based on the following scales:

Extraversion – Attention focused outwardly on people, things and action
Introversion – Attention focused inwardly on thoughts, feelings and reflections

Sensing – Gather information through the five senses and enjoy doing practical, hands-on things
Intuiting – Gather information through their ‘sixth sense’ and enjoy doing creative things

Thinking – Make decisions based on logic and facts and are honest and direct
Feeling – Make decisions based on their personal likes and dislikes and are diplomatic and tactful

Judging – Have a planned, orderly and decisive lifestyle and enjoy organising others
Perceiving – Have a casual, flexible and spontaneous lifestyle and like to ‘go with the flow’


The Myers Briggs Personality Test is often used in career counselling to help people identify the type of work and the work environment that best suits their personality. For example, an extravert may prefer a busy environment with lots of people contact, while an introvert may prefer a quiet environment where they can work behind the scenes and have time to themselves.

Many companies use the Myers Briggs or MBTI to learn more about their employees and ensure they are placed in the best possible position within the company. For example, a Sensing person may be more suited to a position that involves dealing with facts and details, while an Intuiting person may be more suited to a position that allows them to be creative and develop new ideas.

Often companies use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator for team building purposes. This allows them to determine the personality mix in each team and focus on each person’s strengths. It also helps employees understand their colleagues' personality types better as well as improve employee communication and reduce staff conflict.

 

Take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator