Waverly Pegelo | Contributor
Featured image: While MBTI tests allow you to reflect on your personality, remember that letters can’t define you. | Jasmine Wiradharma
Even if you’re not a psychology student, you’ve probably been asked whether you are in introvert or an extrovert. These expressions derive from the work of Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist who thought that personalities could be sorted based on how people use their cognitive functions. This theory developed into the “Myers Briggs” types, represented by the four letters that one receives after completing one of many tests online known as the MBTI tests. But how accurate are these in categorizing individuals?
One doesn’t need to be well-versed with Jung’s work to know the two classic groupings: the introvert and the extrovert. Common tropes that follow these groupings is that the shy wallflower that reads novels frequently and doesn’t go to many parties is an introvert, while being loud or having an abundance of friends are marks of an extrovert. But these tropes are misconstrued. Extroversion means not only that you get your energy from other people, but that your main priority is the external. In other words, extroverts are primarily focused on the external world around them.
“I go out a lot and people generally think that I am an extroverted person. What they don’t know is that I only leave my house for the good music. The minute people start to talk I instantly feel drained,” says Angie Inderjit, fourth-year social science student and self-identified introvert.
Introverts on the other hand, get their energy from themselves. They are more focused on their internal world. This consists of their own mental landscapes, feelings, thoughts and desires. They operate according to their internal world, rather than what is physically around them.
“I generally prefer to do things alone if I can because it let’s me be in complete control,” explains Inderjit.
However, students don’t always seem to fit neatly into one or another of these categories. “Honestly, sometimes I feel like an introvert and sometimes I feel like an extrovert it all depends on how I feel when I wake up this morning,” adds Inderjit.
The next identification function of the Myers Briggs typology is the one that many people find confusing generally: sensing or intuitive individuals. This is represented by the second letter of someone’s Myers Briggs type. This letter represents how someone processes information.
Sensing people are said to prefer processing information through their five senses and they are more likely to describe events using sensory details. Sensing individuals prefer the concrete, fact-based information and dislike abstract theories.They would more likely prefer programs in statistics than philosophy.
Intuitive people, by contrast, prefer to process information through their “gut feelings” and subconscious. To be more specific, an intuitive person directs their attention to the vibes and impressions they get about things. While a sensing person will give you the facts when telling a story such as the location, time and scenic details, an intuitive person will give you their impression of the event and what it meant to them.
Additionally, while a sensing person will be focused on the present, an intuitive person is focused on the possibilities. They operate on “what could be” rather than “what is.” This means that they are extremely perceptive to patterns. They are more likely to favour history than biology. Although this appears black and white, it too seems to have certain grey areas.
“I did an online quiz and found out my personality was an ISFJ, meaning that I am a sensing person. But after reading it, I don’t think that I am actually compatible with either sensing or intuitive,” says Inderjit.
The next letter in the Myers Briggs typology tells you whether you are a thinking or feeling person. This letter determines how a person makes decisions and what is their more prominent system of values. Those associated with thinking make decisions based on logic and the objectivity. The feeling types value mercy over justice and cooperation over rational self-interest. They would rather spare a group’s or individual’s feelings even if they know it is unfair to them, dishonest or not to their own benefit.
This too can become a grey area with common misconceptions being that thinkers are logical people much more intelligent than their empathetic counterparts, but this is not necessarily the case.
“I got feeling but I would like to think of myself as a logical person. I am definitely empathetic but I don’t think I would say that I am [any] more empathetic than the average person is,” says Inderjit.
The last letter indicates whether you are a judging or perceiving person. This represents how an individual likes to organize their time. Judging individuals like to schedule and prefer routine and lists. They are generally described as being rigid, inflexible and predictable. Perceptive individuals prefer to operate in flux. They dislike being tied down by people or obligations. This latter type is more likely to start projects and partly finishing all of them. They prefer variety to routine and work inconsistently and can be described as disorganized, flighty or unreliable. Many people assume they are judging individuals since they obtain good grades or are responsible at work. However, that is the worst way to gauge this trait. Educational institutes and workplaces often pressure individuals to operate in a judging manner rather than a perceptive manner. This is also commonly considered the hardest trait to determine.
Although these typologies appear to be diverse, it is important to note that it is not always black and white and that there are many grey areas. It can be said that knowing someone’s typology can enhance communication and understanding and be beneficial on both ends. Going through a personality test should be taken with a grain of salt and it’s important to note that individuals, including students, are fluid beings in that today you may be an introvert and next week you may become an extrovert. Overall, there are 16 different type combinations. Try the test online for yourself and see if your predictions match and see if your classifications match you.
