Isabel Briggs Myers

Isabel Briggs Myers (born Isabel Briggs; October 18, 1897 – May 5, 1980[1][2]) was an American author and co-creator with her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, of a personality inventory known as the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and based on theories of Carl Jung.

Isabel Briggs Myers
Briggs Myers (right) with her mother
Born(1897-10-18)October 18, 1897
DiedMay 5, 1980(1980-05-05) (aged 82)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSwarthmore College
Known forMyers-Briggs Type Indicator
Spouse(s)Clarence Myers
Children2

Background

Isabel Briggs Myers grew up in Washington, D.C. where she was home-schooled by her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs. Her father, Lyman J. Briggs, worked as a research physicist. Briggs had little formal schooling up until she attended Swarthmore College, where she studied political science. During her time at the college she met Clarence "Chief" Gates Myers who was studying law. The two married in 1918 and were together until his death in 1980.[3] When Briggs Myers died in 1980 she left the copyright to the MBTI (which was little known at the time) to her son Peter.[4]

MBTI personality indicator
Main article: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Briggs Myers implemented the ideas of Carl Jung and added her own insights. She then created a paper survey which would eventually become the MBTI. The test was to assess personality type and was fully developed after 20 years of research by Briggs Myers with her mother and thousands of others. In the 21st century, research into this instrument is still being put into action with dozens of articles written per year. The questionnaire is meant to help people realize their "best fit type", the personality type that will help them succeed most in life.[5] The three original pairs of preferences in Jung's typology are Extraversion and Introversion, Sensing and Intuition, and Thinking and Feeling. After studying them, Briggs Myers added a fourth pair, Judging and Perceiving.

  • Extraversion or Introversion: refers to where and how one directs his or her attention and energy – on people and things in the outer world, or alone in the inner world [6]
  • Sensing or Intuition: refers to how one prefers to deal with information – by focusing on the basic information, or by interpreting and adding meaning[7]
  • Thinking or Feeling: refers to decision making – objectively, using logic and consistency, or subjectively, considering other people and special circumstances[8]
  • Judging or Perceiving: refers to how one interacts with the outer world – with a preference towards getting things decided, or for staying open to new information and options[9]

Influences

In the July 1980 edition of MBTI News, Briggs Myers attributed another reason for creating the MBTI to her marriage to Clarence Myers. Their differences in psychological type (she was an INFP and he was an ISTJ) inspired her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, to keep studying differences among people and their actions. Her mother had come upon the work of Carl Gustav Jung and introduced it to her daughter who then started studying the psychological types.

When World War II began, Briggs Myers wanted to help reduce conflict among people, and to help them people understand each other instead of harming and killing each other. She observed that some people also hated their jobs in the military and she wanted to understand their experience.

In 1945, the dean of the George Washington School of Medicine allowed Briggs Myers and her mother to apply the MBTI to first-year undergraduates. This included about 5,500 students and Briggs Myers studied it for years by looking at patterns among dropouts and successful students.[10]

Briggs Myers was also influenced by her father, Lyman J. Briggs. As the director of the Bureau of Standards in Washington at the time that Briggs Myers was developing the MBTI, he was a devoted research physicist. Growing up in an environment that cultivated a passion for research allowed Briggs Myers to consider the prospect fun and exciting, which eventually led to her interest in personality and the creation of the type indicator.[11]

Fiction

In 1928, she responded to a magazine advertisement for a National Detective Murder Mystery Contest by writing a novel titled Murder Yet to Come. Her novel won the contest and was published serially in 1929.[12] It applies her ideas about personality type to a murder mystery.[13]

The contest prize included a $7,500 cash award and a contract for a second work of fiction. Briggs Myers fulfilled her obligation by writing the novel Give Me Death, which revisits the same detectives from Murder Yet to Come. In it, a Southern family commits suicide one by one after learning they may have "Negro blood".[14][15] The novel was published in 1934 and received harsh treatment from critics.[12]

Application

In 1962, the Educational Testing Service published the MBTI for research-only purposes. In 1975, 1977 and 1979, three national MBTI conferences were held at the University of Florida, Michigan State University, and Philadelphia respectively. In 1975, Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. published the MBTI as a tool for helping people.

In the 2000s, the MBTI is now taken by more than two million people per year and is translated into 16 languages.[10]

Legacy

CAPT

In 1975, Briggs Myers co-founded the Center for Application of Psychological Type with Mary McCaulley. CAPT is a non-profit organization which maintains research and application of the MBTI. It also exists to protect and promote Briggs Myers' ideology.[5] Its headquarters are in Gainesville, Florida and its motto is "Fostering human understanding through training, publishing, and research".[10]

Memorial research awards

The Isabel Briggs Myers Memorial Research Awards exist to further MBTI and psychological research. These awards are given twice a year. They consist of $2,000 for up to two people. They are rewarded for advancements in understanding of these topics to focus on continuous research in the field.[16]

Publications
  • Myers, I. (1980, 1995) Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type. Davies-Black Publishing, U.S. ISBN 0-89106-074-X

Gifts Differing is written by Isabel with her son, Peter Briggs Myers. It is about human personality and how it affects several aspects of life such as career, marriage, and meaning of life. It speaks about all sixteen personality types.[17]

  • Myers, I. (1990) Introduction to Type: A Description of the Theory and Applications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Center for Applications of Psychological Type Inc. ISBN 0-935652-06-X
  • Myers, I. and McCaulley, M. (1985) Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Consulting Psychologists Press. ISBN 0-89106-027-8
  • Myers, I. (1995) Murder Yet to Come. Center for Applications of Psychological Type Inc. ISBN 0-935652-22-1

Further reading

Saunders, F. W. (1991), Katharine and Isabel: Mother's Light, Daughter's Journey, Davies-Black Publishing, U.S. ISBN 0-89106-049-9 (biography of Briggs Myers and her mother)

References
  1. "The AJPT Interview: Otto Kroeger" (PDF). Peter Geyer. 2004-06-28.
  2. "Global Citizens All: An Interview With Rebecca Chopp". Swarthmore College. Archived from the original on 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2005-12-05.
  3. "The Story of Isabel Briggs Myers - CAPT.org". www.capt.org. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  4. Obituary on the Meyers-Briggs Company website
  5. "Isabel Briggs Myers and Her Mother, Katharine Cook Briggs". The Myers & Briggs Foundation. The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  6. "Extraversion or Introversion". The Myers & Briggs Foundation. The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  7. "Sensing or Intuition". The Myers & Briggs Foundation. The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  8. "Thinking or Feeling". The Myers & Briggs Foundation. The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  9. "Judging or Perceiving". The Myers & Briggs Foundation. The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  10. "The Story of Isabel Briggs Myers". Center of Applications of Psychological Type. Center of Applications of Psychological Type, Inc. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  11. "The Story of Isabel Briggs Myers - CAPT.org". www.capt.org. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  12. Diebel, Anne (December 20, 2018). "Simple Answers to Profound Questions". The New York Review of Books. 65 (20): 57–59.
  13. "Murder Yet to Come". CAPT, Inc. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  14. Murder Yet to Come. Frederick A. Stokes Company, Inc. OCLC 7621206.
  15. "Uncovering The Secret History of Myers-Briggs". Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  16. "Memorial Research Awards". The Myers & Briggs Foundation. The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  17. "Rev. of Gifts Differing: Understand Personality Type, by Isabel Briggs Myers". Innovation Watch. Innovation Watch. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
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