by Julie Kang

Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) is an introspective self-report personality test. You might have seen people posting their types. You might have done the test yourself and you have your type now. But what are the four letters telling you? What are they indicating?

First things first, Myers-Briggs is not as researched and evidence-based as the Big Five, another indicator of personality traits. Many people have found their Myers-Briggs type changing throughout the year. It is normal and it does not mean Myers-Briggs is a meaningless test. Our personality traits fluctuate and change over time, just like our favorite restaurants and our taste for music. More so than anything, Myers-Briggs is trying to tell you more about your preferences in processing the world.

The first category, attitudes, tells you how you draw energy. Introverts prefer introspective ways of processing. Extroverts prefer to recharge their energy by spending time with people. You might find it is not entirely your case: I am an introvert but I like spending time with people; I am an extrovert but I like staying at home. That’s exactly true. The dichotomy doesn’t mean introverts do not interact with people, but their social battery might get low pretty quickly. And you might find yourself between introvert and extrovert. Your test result might have told you how much introverted and how much extroverted you are. That doesn’t mean you are unstable! As human beings, we are all impacted by our environment. For example, I am almost a 100% introvert in Myers-Briggs. But I like to host parties! I enjoy hanging out with close friends but strangers stress me out.

The second category tells how you take in information. If you are the sensing type, you probably focus more on details and facts. You depend more on your five senses to perceive the world. What size is it? What color is it? For intuition folks, you might believe in “the sixth sense.” These are people who might say: “I know what the reality says, but I FEEL like it’s more than that…” And again, instead of a clear cut, these two are like two parts of us. When I am doing my budget, I am certainly not relying on how I feel about my cost over the month. But my intuition is very present when I try to find a movie to watch: “I don’t feel like watching action movies tonight. I do not know why, I simply don’t feel like it.”

The third category is about decision-making. Thinking means making decisions based on facts and logic. Sounds familiar? It often goes with sensing in the second indicator! On the other hand, feeling means depending on feelings and values. Does this mean feeling people don’t attend to facts? Absolutely not! It just means feeling folks might prefer to act upon their feelings. Let’s say you are a hiring manager. There are two nice candidates, one has a perfect resume and a lot of related experiences, and the other one doesn’t have much experience, but they need this job desperately because their family cannot afford daily costs anymore. Who would you hire? For thinking people, it might be the first candidate. For feeling people, it might be the second candidate. And for people who waver between thinking and feeling all the time, like me, we cannot really settle on a choice!

The last category describes your approach to life. Judging means you like an ordered life with goals and structures. You might plan for your next day with journals and to-do lists like I do. You might have your closet organized in a certain way (like color-coded) like I do. And you might always be the most punctual one in your group of friends! People who are more perceiving like to “go with the flow”. Life is all open, flexible, and spontaneous. Here goes the classic joke about judging and perceiving: J and P are planning to go on a trip to New York. J planned everything out, including the hotel, the flight, where to visit, and where to eat. When they are on the trip, P is attracted by the little vintage shop on the street corner and wants to spend the afternoon there instead of going to Times Square as planned, which drives J crazy!

You might have heard of all the descriptions from social media. But the most important idea here is that none of the types define you, as a unique person! That’s why your results are different from what you had three years ago. There are some opinions in the scientific world claiming that the middle two categories are more likely to stay unchanged. But if you find it is not your case, that’s totally fine! What we prefer as ways to process is always dependent on other factors, like society, culture, family dynamics, friends, and social media!

So, if it changes so frequently, why bother doing the tests in the first place? That’s because we are not trying to use these types to define us, but to match us with the environment where we are most likely to thrive. For example, I am an introvert and I need to arrange breaks in between my social events so that I can get recharged and prevent burnout. The more understanding you have of your personality traits and types, the more likely you can identify environments, jobs, relationships, or anything in your life, that would be a better fit for you. If you still feel confused about your personality type, maybe this is a topic for you and your therapist in your next session!