DOES
TYPE FENCE YOU IN?
Not
if you understand it. An understanding of type frees you in several
ways. It gives you confidence in your own direction of development -- the
areas in which you can become excellent with the most ease and pleasure.
It can also reduce the guilt many people feel at not being able to do everything
in life equally well. As Isabel Myers put it, "For most people,
really understanding their own type in particular, and other people's types in
general, is a releasing experience rather than a restricting one. It sets
one free to recognize one's own natural bent and to trust one's own potential
for growth and excellence, with no obligation to copy anyone else, however
admirable that person may be in his or her own different way."
Finally, acknowledging your own preferences opens the possibility of finding
constructive values instead of conflicts in the differences you encounter with
someone whose preferences are opposite yours.
CAN
YOU CHANGE YOUR TYPE?
Scores
on the MBTI can be changed depending on how you answer the questions.
Score changes can result in a report of a different type. Jung seemed to
believe that each person has a true type that he or she may not yet have
discovered. The true type does not change, although it may seem to, as one
focuses on developing different mental processes at different stages of one's
life. Behaviors can change, of course, but their roots remain the same.
However,
there are many reasons you might take the MBTI two different times and come out
different types. You might still be discovering your preferences, and
trying them on for size. Or you might be working especially hard to
develop one of the mental processes, so that you report it on the MBTI with
stronger than usual emphasis. Or, you might take the MBTI one time as your
"job self," responding as you see yourself acting on the job, and you
might take it another time as your "home self," responding as you see
yourself in your home environment. If your type differs between two
reports this fact may lead to interesting information about yourself. As
you cast your thoughts back to your frame of mind when you were answering the
questions, consider how it may have affected your reporting of yourself and
whether it reflects your true type.
WHAT'S
THE BEST TYPE TO BE?
For
you, the type you really are. Jung's theory says your best satisfactions
in life will be those that come through the strengths of your type.
IS
EVERYONE OF THE SAME TYPE ALIKE?
No.
There are many individual differences within each type, because many things
influence personality besides type.
-Gordon
Lawrence
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