MBTI Type Development

 

 

It is axiomatic that as human beings grow up, their personality develops and changes.  .Jung approached this phenomenon by postulating that his personality indices were developed at different periods of one’s life, that in fact there were sequentially developed.  Jung looked at the two mental functions, SN and TF, and split them into 4 dynamic parts.  All people do Sensing, Intuiting, Thinking and Feeling all the time.  It is merely that each person has a priority system.  No one uses all four processes the same amount of time, nor equally well.  One mental function becomes the dominant one, the commander-in-chief.  Once the dominant emerges (usually by age 12), the auxiliary follows.  The dominant and auxiliary functions are always the two center letters in the Type; whichever is the dominant, the other is the auxiliary.  By the middle 20s, most dominant and auxiliary functioning is well developed.  For the next ten years or so, the tertiary develops (the opposite of the auxiliary), and then the inferior (the opposite of the dominant) by  approximately age 50.  [N.B.: so-called mid-life crisis occurs just when the inferior is developing beyond a childish state.]

 

All functions serve the dominant, but with increasing difficulty.  One way of picturing this is to represent the dominant mental function as having $100 to spend, the auxiliary as having $75, the tertiary $50 and the inferior $25.  My dominant function is the one that I do best, like the most, and use the most effectively.  My auxiliary is the counterbalance to my dominant.  After all, I need both to acquire data and to decide what to do.

 

The essence of MBTI type development is the development of both perception and judgment.  The theory allows for the great assistance or hindering of development by the environment from the beginning, which is why there are differences within each of the 16 types.

 

The way in which the dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior are determined is logical.  The first preference (E/I) determines whether the person shows the best (dominant) function to the outer world, or keeps it within – showing the second best (auxiliary) to the world.  Hence, the E—J actually prefers the judging function and lets it hang out for all to see, whereas the I—J shows the perceiving function as dominant.  Similarly,  the E—P has a dominant perceiving function, while the I—P has a dominant judging function.

 

Thus, the types can be described as follows:

·         ISTJ: Introverted Sensing with Thinking (auxiliary), tertiary = F, and inferior = N

·         ISFJ: Introverted Sensing with Feeling (auxiliary), tertiary = T, and inferior = S

·         ISTP: Introverted Thinking with Sensing (auxiliary), tertiary = N, and inferior = F

·         ISFP: Introverted Feeling with Sensing (auxiliary), tertiary = N, and inferior = T

·         INTJ: Introverted Intuition with Thinking (auxiliary), tertiary = F, and inferior = S

·         INFJ: Introverted Intuition with Feeling, tertiary = T, and inferior = S

·         INTP: Introverted Thinking with Intuition, tertiary = S, and inferior = F

·         INFP: Introverted Feeling with Intuition, tertiary = S, and inferior = T

·         ESTJ: Extraverted Thinking with Sensing (auxiliary), tertiary = N, and inferior = F

·         ESFJ: Extraverted Feeling with Sensing (auxiliary), tertiary = N, and inferior = T

·         ESTP: Extraverted Sensing with Thinking (auxiliary), tertiary = F, and inferior = N

·         ESFP: Extraverted Sensing with Feeling (auxiliary), tertiary = T, and inferior = S

·         ENTJ: Extraverted Intuition with Thinking (auxiliary), tertiary = F, and inferior = S

·         ENFJ: Extraverted Intuition with Feeling, tertiary = T, and inferior = S

·         ENTP: Extraverted Thinking with Intuition, tertiary = S, and inferior = F

·         ENFP: Extraverted Feeling with Intuition, tertiary = S, and inferior = T

One example: INTP

 

If I am an INTP (many college professors are), this means that my type is Introverted Thinking with Intuition as auxiliary, tertiary = Sensing, and inferior = Feeling.   I prefer to do my thinking inside, looking at logical consequences quietly.  My inspiration  (intuition) is extraverted, and exploring options and ideas by writing or talking is what I do well.  My logic, of course, may shoot down a particular flight of fancy.  When I relate to people, I will do so with logic and probable impartiality, which may seem very cold to others because the least developed of my functions is Feeling, and I am not apt to know (unless told) what matters emotionally to another person.  As an INTP, I am quiet, reserved, detachably curious about almost everything, and quite adaptable – until one of my ruling principles is violated, at which time the INTP stops adapting. 

 

My teaching style is going to favor logical and orderly presentation, assigning and grading papers seems ideal (and easy!).  But I may not be too concerned if my students get the concepts but are shaky on the facts.   My lectures will highlight the salient points, explore implications and possibilities, and leave the details for the student to read.  Giving too many examples will strike me as insulting to the student or a waste of class time.  I value competence and ingenuity, Interacting in groups, public presentations outside the classroom, confrontations, and having to respond to someone else’s agendas will “drive me crazy.”  Only as my tertiary and inferior continue to develop will it begin to seem valuable and practical to have group classroom projects or collaborative learning, which has previously seemed inefficient use of time.