Those of you who took Psychology 101 will remember what Myers-Briggs Typology is. You may even recall your type. But for the rest of you, here's a little primer.
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| Notice that this man smokes a pipe. And he was a genius! |
Myers-Briggs Typology is based on the work of Carl Jung; psychiatrist, philosopher, and pillar of Western civilization. Along with many other breathtaking achievements, Jung developed a system of personality typing based on three cognitive spectra: Introversion-Extroversion, Intuition-Sensation, and Thinking-Feeling.
Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers further refined that typology by adding a fourth identifier, which indicated a psychological preference between the Intuition-Sensation spectrum, and the Thinking-Feeling spectrum. Perceiving indicates a preference for Intuition-Sensation, while Judging indicates a preference for Thinking-Feeling.
So the Myers-Briggs type identifiers are as follows:
- Introversion or Extroversion - describes how the subject gathers and uses their mental energy.
- iNtuition or Sensation - describes how the subject gathers or Perceives information.
- Thinking or Feeling - describes how the subject interprets or Judges information.
- Perceiving or Judging - describes whether the subject has a preference for information gathering (Perceiving) or information interpreting (Judging)
Now, those terms don't necessarily carry the common definitions you know (Judging does not mean judgmental). They each have specific technical meanings in this model. This article is not meant to be an academic explanation of this model, just a layman's version that's convenient for writers. For a more academic look at Myers-Briggs Typology, start with the Wikipedia article.
- Introversion - Gathers mental energy while alone, and expends it in the presence of others.
- Extroversion - Gathers mental energy in the presence of others, and expends it while alone.
- Intuition - Gathers information internally by recognizing patterns and checking memory.
- Sensation - Gathers information externally by observing and listening.
- Thinking - Interprets information according to logic.
- Feeling - Interprets information according to emotion.
- Perception - In general, the subject's psychology is geared toward gathering information.
- Judging - In general, the subject's psychology is geared toward interpreting information.
Myers-Briggs types are determined by a questionnaire that assesses these values, and then assigns a four-letter identifier. The middle two letters (Intuition or Sensation, Thinking or Feeling) are called Cognitive Processes, and they are the four main modes of thought in this model. The outer two letters refine the information of the inner two.
My Myers-Briggs Type is INTJ. That means I gather energy from alone time, I gather data by recognizing patterns, I interpret data according to logic, and in general I'm geared more toward interpreting data.
But what does that mean?
First, you need to realize two things:
1) All people use all four of the cognitive processes. This model simply describes the order of their importance in the subject's mind.
2) These letter identifiers only indicate a psychological preference. As an "I", I am still perfectly capable of being energetic in the presence of others. I simply need time to recharge after long periods in groups. And being a "T" doesn't mean I'm Mr. Spock. I'm perfectly capable of emotion (just ask my wife), but generally, my brain tends to be more logical.
But, because I prefer Judging, then my Judging style--Thinking--is my most preferred cognitive process. My second most preferred is Intuiting, third is Sensing, and Feeling is my weakest. So the fourth letter gives you an order of importance for the four cognitive processes.
This model groups people into one of sixteen personality types. And based on the ordering of their cognitive processes, experts can deduce all kinds of things about a person.
Is this the end-all, be-all of personality? Heck no. Psychologists will be building and dismantling models of personality forever. But Myers-Briggs Typology is one of the most popular because it is simple, and understandable to laymen like myself.
OKAY. I'm done! I get really into this stuff, because once upon a time I was a psychology student.
Maybe real people can't be so easily grouped into sixteen types, but characters are another story. Characters, though very complex, are much simpler than actual people. The greater understanding we have of their psychology, the better we can write them.
When I develop a major character, I always try to consider their MBTI. One way I do this is to take a personality test in character. Humanmetrics has a great, free, online test you can take in less than ten minutes. Try it on yourself first, just for fun. It'll tell you a lot. Then try it as your main character. Don't be surprised if you and your protagonist are the same type. I definitely tend to write a lot of INTJs in my fiction.
Another way to approach MBTI in fiction is to simply pick one of the sixteen types and build a character around it. Humanmetrics has detailed articles on all sixteen types.
One of my current works in progress is centered around an ESFJ. According to Humanmetrics, ESFJs place a lot of importance on celebrations and traditions, and act as guardians of their families. But they are also dependent on their families for praise and attention, and can be overbearing when it comes to enforcing traditional values. They wear their heart on their sleeve, and it is very easy to tell when they are upset.
So what kind of story would you write about that person? What challenges would you present them with?
I chose to give my ESFJ a family that no longer needs him--a deceased wife, and a grown-up, absent son--as well as a family business that is failing. When his son is around, my ESFJ berates him for abandoning the family business and leaving home. And the conflict that flows from that dynamic is the heart of the story.
If you already have a character, you owe it to yourself to find out their MBTI. If you are still working on your character, maybe pick an MBTI for them, and see if the story doesn't flow naturally.
There's a long list of resources about Myers-Briggs Types online, with Humanmetrics being only one of them. Once you have your MBTI type, seek out articles on how that type deals with depression, anger, or death (Pinterest is full of infographics on this stuff). Figure out what challenges them most, and how they typically respond. Learn the brightest and darkest sides of their psychology, and show them to your readers. They'll thank you for it.
Next, we'll begin looking at Character Arc.
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