The purpose of this paper is to highlight the effectiveness of Jung’s theory of personality types. Psychologist C.C Jung made the famous theory of the personality types and the purpose of the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator test (MBTI) is to ensure that people understand this theory and make it useful in their lives (Burt, 1992). This theory is important in the study of behavior because it exposes the random variations in behavior brought about by the diverse methods of perception and judgment.
Perception is the awareness of situations while judgment is the process of making conclusions after becoming aware of the situations. The differences between how people perceive and make judgments are the essence of personality (Roggio, 2007). The results of the MBTI instrument must agree with Jung’s theory of perception and judgment because the instrument identifies what people prefer as a result of their perceptions and judgment. The results of the instrument can be put into practical use.
According to the theory, women are more emotional than men and they are also more extroverted than men. The two qualities are very important in a team in their moderate levels. To prove this theory, my team carried out an MBTI test on personality. The test was aimed at identifying personality traits that can influence teamwork and improve the performance of a team. The test was conducted on two students, namely Jasmine and Farah and the results of the test indicated some positive traits that can influence the effectiveness of a team. The results of the test were compared with the average males and females recorded in previous tests. On the personality scale, the two team members had an average score in comparison with the ordinary male and female. However, there are some areas of their personality that deviated from the normal curve. These are the areas that the instrument focused on because the deviations really influence the performance of a team. Starting with the extroversion level, Farah’s extroversion level was average. According to Jung’s theory, females tend to be more extroverted than the males. Most females score about 40 in extroversion levels. Jasmine’s extroversion level was almost the same as that of Farah and this means that the two are social and outgoing people. This trait is good for a team because when members of a team exhibit the same levels of extroversion, there is high probability of enhanced teamwork, cooperation and application of a collective culture. The probability of occurrence of conflict is lower than when the members of a team have varying levels of extroversion.
My team also carried out an emotionality test on the two team members. Farah was found to be a more relaxed person ranking higher than the average score. This means that she is not the reactionary type and does not suffer from mood swings that afflict most females. However, Jasmine is average in her emotionality, expressing some levels of sensitivity to feelings but she is not oversensitive or over reactive. The varying emotional levels are good for the efficiency of a team. When the emotional levels are different, there is some one to keep the other in check. People who are calm and relaxed tend to be too lenient.A balance can be struck by the existence of a team member who is sensitive to issues. Back to the MBTI test and the Jung theory, there is a vivid relationship between the results of the test my team conducted and the principles of the MBTI test because the scores we got are in agreement with the personality of the two team members.
Subjective Tests
There are three main personality testing tools. These are the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Rorschach ink blot test and the word assessment test The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most commonly used diagnostic instrument and most psychologist use it in personality tests in almost all settings.
The test MBTI test is acceptable in educational psychology, social psychology and industrial psychology. One of the advantages that the Myers Briggs Type Indicator has over the other two indicators is that it can be used to create predictable pattern of behavior from random variants that it has measured (Roggio, 2007). The second advantage of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is that it has very high levels of reliability and validity and is the most efficient method that psychologists can use to determine personality. Though it has not reached the 100 percent reliability and validity mark, it has little room for errors and this makes it the most preferred personality testing instrument. However, the instrument is very expensive to administer and it is also time consuming (Roggio, 2007).
The other instrument is the Rorschach Ink blot test which has since fallen out of favor with psychologists. As opposed to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Rorschach Ink blot test has low levels of validity and reliability (Roggio, 2007). This has led psychologists to question its efficacy in the determination of personality. However, the Rorschach Ink Blot test is still popular in academic settings. The method is quick and cheaper unlike the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The word association test is a more inferior test where psychologists use words in series to respondents to test their cognitive skills. The responses that the respondents give the researchers clues that they use in the determination of personality. It has average reliability and validity levels but its main disadvantage is its limited scope.
References
- Burt, C. (1992). The mental difference between the sexes. NY: Sage.
- Roggio, E. (2007). Past and Present Views on Personality. New Jersey: Pearson Custom Publishing