An MBTI^® History

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, to make C.G. Jung's theory of psychological type practical and useful in people's lives.

C.G.Jung (1875-1961), the Swiss psychoanalyst and thinker, developed his theory of psychological type from reflecting on why there were so many different approaches to psychology, in particular the differences between Freud and Adler. Building his ideas on the work of others, as well as from his own clinical research, he described two psychological types _ extraverts and introverts, in 1913.

Jung developed the framework further in his book Psychological Types (1921/3), introducing categories of perception and judgement in mental functioning: sensing, intuition, thinking and feeling. Jung added to and spoke on his theory of types over some decade, but never revised his writing on the types, unlike most of his other work. He always considered it a cornerstone of his thought, notably in the expression of his theory of opposites.

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. Sheread all of Jung's available works and corresponded with him intermittently, meeting him briefly in 1937, accompanied by her daughter.

Isabel Briggs Myers (1896-1980) learned about psychological type through family discussion and observation, testing out Jung's framework over many years. Educated mainly at home and with a degree from Swarthmore College, Isabel at one stage had a promising career as an author/ playwright, which she gave up to concentrate on being a parent. Her prize-winning crime novel Murder Yet to Come, published in 1930 and recently republished, used type concepts in the development of the book's characters.

Her family validated Jung's typology for themselves through discussions and observations, expecting professionals in the field would put these ideas to practical use. This did not happen. Applied psychology in the USA had no space for Jung, and attempts to quantify extraversion and introversion had mixed results. In any case, this research did not use Jung's definitions.

The US entry into World War II in late 1941 motivated Isabel Myers to develop a personality instrument to help people get a better fit between themselves and their jobs. Isabel's father, Lyman Briggs, was then Director of the National Bureau of Standards in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, and so directly concerned with the US war effort.

Starting from a Reader's Digest article on a test called the Humm_Wadsworth Temperament Scale (a modern version is still used), which she tested out through working with Edward Hay (later the author of an internationally known and used job classification system, named after him), a family friend, Isabel on her mother's suggestion, began to develop an instrument based on Jung's typology.

To develop this instrument, Isabel taught herself about the statistics required, with family assistance, and constructed questions for testing against a criterion group of about 20 family and friends whose type preferences seemed clear to Katharine and Isabel. The questions were also taken by Isabel's children to school for testing with their peers.

Following this early development, Isabel concluded an agreement with Edward Hay to use the Indicator. In the late 1940s, a similar agreement was made with Donald Mackinnon, founder of the Institute of Personality Research (IPAR) at the University of California (Berkeley) and author in the early 1960's of the first published research article using MBTI^®.

Isabel Myers conducted her own research with High School and medical students, the contacts her father arranged being useful. The Indicator was funded by the family through Isabel's own money and gifts from others.

She also sent Jung a copy of the Indicator. He declined to complete it, while complimenting Isabel on her work. Although Jung had initially come to notice through his Word Association Test, he did not care for mathematics and quantification; His science, which was grounded in the German school of thought, did not value statistics and instrumentation as Americans did.

In 1956, Isabel Myers was asked to present at Educational Testing Service (ETS) on her work. ETS later signed a contract with Isabel setting up a special area and publishing MBTI^® Form F as a research instrument in 1958.

Although the Indicator itself was critiqued by ETS researchers, notably Stricker and Ross, Isabel proceeded with her research and produced a Manual for Form F in 1962. Isabel also privately published Introduction to Type in 1970.

Because the MBTI^® was not available generally in this period, it was discovered through word_of_mouth or accident. For example, Dr Takeshi Ohsawa from Japan negotiated with Isabel Myers for the rights to a Japanese version of the MBTI^® at this time.

In the late 1960's, Dr. Mary McCaulley of the University of Florida encountered the MBTI^® in Buros (The Mental Measurements Yearbook), conducted research with it and consequently contacted Isabel Myers. Their meeting started a collaboration that established the Typology Laboratory at the University of Florida in 1972, whichin 1975 became the Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT), developer and provider of a centralised database for MBTI^® research.

The first conference on the MBTI^® was held at Gainesville, Florida in 1975 organised through word of mouth and ETS/CAPT mailing lists. Other conferences followed. The Association for Psychological Type (APT) was founded at the 1979 Conference.

ETS ended its contract with Isabel Myers in 1975, and Consulting Psychologists Press (CPP) became the new MBTI^® publisher; CPP made it generally available for the first time in its 1976 catalogue. 1978 saw the first book published using MBTI^® ideas, in David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates' Please Understand Me. Isabel Myers' Gifts Differing, around for some years as a manuscript in various forms as Consequences of Psychological Type was published in 1980, following her death. A revised MBTI^® Manual, co-authored by Mary McCaulley and Isabel Myers, became available in 1985.

Research and development into the MBTI^® has continued since Isabel Myers' death. The development of a shorter form in Form AV was later proven unreliable. Later, shorter self-scoring versions of Form G were released, not without controversy, although they have proven quite popular. Other people have worked on the Indicator, predominantly David Saunders, in developing and introducing Forms J and K. Naomi Quenk and Jean Kummerow have worked on the revised Form K (Expanded Interpretive Report_MBTI^® Step II) and Allen Hammer on the revised MBTI^® (Form M) as well as editing the supplement to the MBTI^® Manual, MBTI^® Applications (1996).

The MBTI^® continues to spread in acceptance and use, assisted by the 100 or more Training manuals and books available and the regular MBTI^® Qualifying Workshops, instituted by CPP in 1985 as a means for professionals to know how to use the MBTI^® ethically and properly.

The MBTI^® is used extensively internationally. Associations for Psychological Type are in Australia, Britain, Canada, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and elsewhere, affiliated with APT, conducting their own conferences aand developing their own databases. The International Type Users Organisation (ITUO) has conducted conferences around the world and there are regular specialist conferences (leadership, education, culture, counselling, temperament etc.). The MBTI^® has been translated into over 30 languages (viz. .French, Spanish, Japanese) some of which are commercially available.

Selected References

Geyer, Peter (1995), Quantifying Jung:The Origin and Development of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^®, MSc Thesis, Uni of Melbourne.

Jung, C.G.(1990), Psychological Types, Princeton University Press.

Jung, C.G.(1989), Analytical Psychology, Princeton University Press.

Lawrence, Gordon (1986), "Issues in the Development of the MBTI^®" in JPT Vol.12

Myers, Isabel Briggs, w. Myers, Peter B.(1990) Gifts Differing, 10th Anniversary Edition, Palo Alto, Consulting Psychologists Press.

Myers, Isabel and McCaulley, Mary H.(1985) MBTI^® Manual, Palo Alto, Consulting Psychologists Press.

Myers, Katharine D.(1987), "Katharine C.Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers:The Women Behind the MBTI^®" JPT Vol. 13.

Saunders, Frances Wright (1991), Katharine and Isabel:Mother's Light, Daughter's Journey, Palo Alto, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto.

Photograph courtesy of Jamie Johnston, CAPT Library. PETER GEYER (INTP) is a consultant, researcher and writer in the field of C G Jung's theory of psychological types. He conducts MBTI Accreditation programs and presents internationally on a regular basis. Peter is a life member of AusAPT and a professional affiliate of the Australian Psychological Society.