Personality types: the 16 types of personality to which each person belongs according to psychology
There are many different types of personalities and in this article we will try to discover the main types into which individuals can be divided, the main ones at least. Understanding one's personality like that of others is not easy but not impossible, sometimes even body language can help us. Watch the video and find out how to interpret the gestures of those in front of you to get to know their personality and character!
The main classification of personality based on the traits of individuals
To know what category a particular individual belongs to, we need to analyze his social behavior. How he learns information, how he processes it and what actions he takes as a result of what he has learned. In fact, not all of us give the same value and meaning to what we find ourselves in front of, each of us, based on his own character and personality, processes data and his own thoughts, from which actions and specific behaviors then arise. There are tools that allow us to understand which type of personality a given individual belongs to: these tools are psychometric tools, which analyze the psychological aspects to classify people into macro categories of personality. One of these tools, particularly famous and used online is the Jung Type Indicator, or JTI, a standardized test validated for the Italian working population. In addition to the Jung Type Indicator, there are many other tools and classifiers but many of them are not yet validated. However the number 16 is a recurring number in this type of analysis, many personality tests tend to classify individuals into 16 different types.
By continuing to read this article you will find out more about the Jung Type Indicator, Jung's type theory. According to this analysis there are 4 macro areas, the basic preferences: Extroversion - Introversion, Sensation - Intuition, Thought-Feeling and finally Judgment-Perception.
By responding to the different stages of the test and then combining the scores obtained in each area, Jung's personality type theory attributes to each one a personality type, among the 16 possible ones. Psychology of course also presents different theories, but today Jung's one represents a good combination of practicality and effectiveness.
Personality Types: Introversion-Extroversion (E-I)
The term Extrovert means a type of personality open to the outside world, inclined to pay attention to things and people around him. Introvert instead describes a personality oriented towards the internal or internal world, I try to focus on concepts and ideas rather than on people or things. The big difference in this classification also lies in the way you spend your time: the Extrovert prefers to spend moments in company, expressing his ideas and interests. The Introvert prefers to reflect and does not need to surround himself with people: solitude suits him more than company.
Personality Types: Sensation-Intuition (Y-N)
After evaluating the extroverted or introverted behavior, the way of perceiving is analyzed: we are talking about Sensation (S) and Intuition (N), with this different classification we evaluate the way in which an individual learns information from the outside. A type S learns information through the 5 senses, loves to discover the true nature of all things, seeks the solution and is gratified by this kind of information. The N type that corresponds to an Intuitive personality still acquires information about the surrounding reality through the 5 senses but he prefers to rely on his imagination. Intuitives are experts in theoretical reasoning and the elaboration of their own theories, while S-types, in the category of sensation, are a little more reliable as they are more objective.
Personality Types: Thinking-Feeling (T-F)
Another important factor in cataloging the different personality types is the way in which information is processed and managed. We speak of Thought (for which the letter T is used, for Thinking from the English) and Sentimento for which the letter F is used instead (always wait for the English reference word Feeling).
According to Jung's type theory, which analyzes personality types, people can come to a conclusion in two different ways. Either through a rigorous logic, based on the principle of cause and effect (and of course we are talking about the T types that use the Thought) or by making a personal and subjective evaluation, according to its own logic (and naturally now we are talking about the F types that use the Feeling). Type F focuses on what they feel, not on what they understand. Individuals belonging to this category are very sensitive.
Personality Types: Judgment-Perception (J-P)
The last source of information on the different types of personalities classified by Jung comes from a fourth couple: Judgment-Perception (JP). Here too we have the English terms from which we draw the different letters for the classification and therefore J which stands for Judging and P which stands for the English term Perceiving.
To understand which of the two should be selected for an individual, it is necessary to look at the method that the person uses to face the world. Does he go in search of information and evidence and come to his conclusions quickly? So we talk about Judgment and the letter to match is J. Does it exclude personal judgment and always evaluate possible alternatives? In this case we speak of Perception, letter P. The Perceptual type spends a lot of time searching for information and does not make a decision until he is sure he has evaluated every aspect and understood every nuance. Instead, type J acts quickly. By understanding the dominant letter of each couple, it is possible to know their own four-letter acronym, a dominant function that tells about some aspects of the personality.
The Myers-Briggs indicator and personality types
The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator, often abbreviated to MBTI (from English Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), allows the identification of psychological characteristics through psychosometric questionnaires with the aim of creating a pattern of the behavior of individuals towards the world and life.
This indicator is heavily based on Jung's theory we have seen and his division of humanity into 16 personality types. The MBTI indicator was carried on by two psychology pioneers, Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. Their goal during the creation of the indicator was to help the women who replaced (due to the great shortage of men) the male staff in the factory during the Second World War. The questionnaire was in fact used to find the most suitable job for them, based on their type of personality.
According to this deepening of Jung's thesis, each person uses only one of the functions in a dominant way, the others are used equally but one is more natural and congenial to him.
The cognitive functions of each personality type according to Myers-Briggs are represented by color, the background color attributed to each type represents the dominant function while the text color represents the auxiliary function. Each has a dominant function followed by an auxiliary function.
Then there is a third, less relevant and even a fourth function that Myers-Briggs define as a shadow function because it is the one of which every individual is least aware.
