Development and Personality Tracking Type over Time Original Post by John Hackston – Head of R&D at OPP. One of the criticisms of the MBTI® questionnaire- like many developmental tools out there – is that it ‘puts you in a box’. MBTI practitioners, however, know that this isn’t true – although we will have many similarities to people of the same type, there are also many ways in which we are unique. Whatever our underlying psychological type, we have all been brought up in different environments, and this will have a big influence on our personality and behaviour too. Once we start talking about the ‘environment’, you may think of how you were brought up, what influence your siblings had on you, your schooling, the impact of past relationships; or you may be thinking about how your present circumstances are affecting you. What often goes unsaid here is that time – and our evolution within it- is a big part of our environment. Different events happen to us at different points in our lives, and the effect they have our personality’s development can also depend on when these events happen. By mapping out your journey through life, a timeline can help you understand where you are now. But it can be much more powerful if you also bring in information about your personality. The MBTI gives us a map for how we are likely to develop, based on the dynamics of our type (if you are not familiar with type dynamics concepts, read the summary at the end of this article). Jung suggested that everyone has an inborn drive to develop and become the best version of themselves that they can be. This means that each type has its own path to lifelong development, starting with developing the dominant function; then (usually in our late teens) the auxiliary; then (in mid-life) the tertiary; and, finally, the fourth or ’inferior’ function. Jung also suggested that in our striving toward ‘completeness’ or ‘individuation’, midlife is particularly potent in drawing attention to previously overlooked parts of our personality; in most cases, this relates to purposely and intentionally beginning to ‘work on’ those tertiary and inferior functions. As one looks at how they began to use their auxiliary, tertiary and inferior functions, they can create a picture for themselves of how their personality has developed thus far, what it may have been influenced by – and where they might be headed. This can be extremely useful in coaching or career counselling, perhaps especially for those at midlife. A brief explanation of type dynamics In developing his theory of psychological type, upon which the MBTI instrument is founded, Carl Jung suggested that at any one time we might be doing one of two things: We might be taking in information from the environment, a process that Jung called Perceiving. There are two different ways in which we might do this: Sensing: taking in detailed real-life information from the external world or from our stored memories iNtuition: looking at connection, possibilities and the big picture OR we might be making a decision or judgment on the basis of this information, a process that Jung called Judging. Again, there are two different ways in which we might do this: Thinking: making the logical, rational decision Feeling: making a decision that takes into account our own and others’ values and feelings We all use all four of these functions, but there will be one of these that we use and trust most (our dominant function), and one we use in a support role to the dominant (our auxiliary function). By adulthood, the goal is to have both these functions well developed so that we have a reliable way of taking in information and making decisions. In the second half of life, we integrate our less preferred functions (the ones that do not appear in our four-letter type code) – these are our tertiary function, and fourth or inferior function. For more information on this area, Introduction to Type Dynamics and Development is a good starting point.
