C.G. Jung Personality Theory

and the MBTI

 

 

C.G.Jung’s theory of personality has the merit of letting us expect specific personality differences in each person, differences that are the logical result of a few basic ways of mental functioning.  These basic differences focus on the way people prefer to use their minds – the ways in which they gather data and the ways in which they make judgments.

 

These are not usually trivial differences and an understanding of them helps explain how other people do not think as we think, do not value the things we value, and are not interested in what interests us.  It also explains why some teaching methods work well with some students and not with others – an explanation that can delve below the superficial (albeit valid) excuses of inattention, poor motivation, poor study habits, poor teaching skills, or whatever.

 

People differ in the ways they prefer to perceive and the ways they prefer to make judgments.  Perceiving includes the process of becoming aware of people, things, events, and ideas.  Judging is the process of reaching a conclusion about what was perceived.  Clearly, perception and judgment must constitute much of one’s mental activity and thus govern much of one’s behavior; perception intrinsically determines what people experience in an event and judgment is what they decide to do about it.

 

Jung’s theory maintains that all perception can fall into two patterns:

• Sensing  (S) = awareness of things around us directly from our five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste), paying most attention to experience as it is, in the here and now.
• Intuiting (N) = adds imagination to facts, most attentive to the meanings of facts and how they fit together.

 

Once one has data, one must do something with it.  Jung saw this function as having two basic patterns:

• Thinking (T) = logical, examine data, most interested in fairness and justice.
• Feeling (F) = likes to decide by using personal values and feelings.

 

It is crucial to realize that Jung should have made up new words, to help reduce semantic confusion.  People make T and F judgments every day, all day, but they use one kind of judgment more than the other.  Colloquially, people who prefer Feeling as their process are called “Feelers” and people who prefer Thinking as their process of assessment are called “Thinkers.”  In point of fact, Feelers think and Thinkers feel; it’s merely that Thinkers tend to use JUSTICE and their battle cry, while Feelers use MERCY as their talisman.

 

Then, to complicate a basically simple concept of mental functioning, Jung posited that people also have attitudes in which those functions operate.  The first attitude regards energy-flow.  People, Jung maintained, are energized by the outer world or by the inner world.

• Extraverts (E) = energy flows outward, and the person prefers to focus on what’s out there.  Interacting with others energizes E’s.
• Introverts (I) = prefer the inner world of ideas and concepts.  I’s are drained by outside interaction.

 

And, lastly, Jung maintained that people have an attitude that gives them a favorite mental function:

• Judging (J) = comfortable with closure, having things settled.
• Perceiving (P) = prefer flexibility, hate closure (might still perceive something to amend the “conclusion”).

 

All people may thus be described by the selection of one of 4 different bi-polar indices: E/I, S/N, T/F, J/P.   This yields the 16 MBTI types.  If you do not know yours and would like an informal approximation, click here.  (link 2)

 

There are no panaceas.   This presentation is offered in the hope that a fresh look may inspire a renewed appreciation of the uniqueness and commonalities of all people, teacher and students.