Katharine Cook Briggs (1875-1968) came from an academic family, gaining her tertiary qualifications from what later became the University of Michigan. She had many stories and articles published under various names in periodicals and magazines. Through her interest in biography she developed an interest in individual differences. She constructed a personality model from her own research, commenced in 1917 after meeting her daughter Isabel's boyfriend Clarence (Chief) Myers.

She set aside this research after reading Jung's book Psychological Types in 1923, considering his model to be superior. The respected periodical New Republic published two articles of Katharine's on type: Meet Yourself_Using the Personality Paint Box in 1926 and Up From Barbarism in 1928, to no overt response. She read all of Jung's available works and corresponded with him intermittently, meeting him briefly in 1937, accompanied by her daughter.