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Each of us has a particular personality type. Personality types define to a very large extent our character traits, or behaviors. There are several theories on the characteristics of personality types. Already in ancient times, the Greek physician Hippocrates distinguished four – but today the most trusted theory is the one formulated by Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung, which presents sixteen different personality types.
Table of Contents:
- Personality type – what does it mean?
- What traits define the INFP personality?
- The 16 personality types: where did the concept come from?
- What are the personality types according to. Jung?
- 16 personality types – what is the test on?
- Personality types according to MBTI
Personality type – what does it mean?
To begin with, let’s consider what specifically is meant by the term “personality type.” Personality is nothing more than a specific set of traits. They affect, for example, our disposition, as well as our behavior. By analyzing the traits that characterize a particular person, it is possible to learn about his personality type – that is, in the simplest terms, the specific set of traits that characterize a person.
Carl Jung, whose theory we will write about in this article, distinguished sixteen unique personality type patterns – and each of them has a distinct set of traits.
Personality analysis helps find the personality type that best suits a person. This knowledge can then be used if only to determine career predispositions, for example, using the so-called MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) method.
What traits define the INFP personality?
One of the personality types according to Carl Jung is the INFP personality. The acronym comes from the English name for the four character traits that, according to Jung, define this personality type: Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceptive. After translating the names of these traits into our language, we learn that a person with the INFP personality type is:
- introvert,
- intuitive person,
- AN IMPRESSION,
- perceptive observer.
People with this personality type are called idealists. This is because they are people for whom it is extremely important to generate happiness – both for themselves and for others. They are extremely faithful to those close to them, as well as to the values they consider important. They are also characterized by a strong desire to understand the other person. A person with this personality type is usually fond of all kinds of art and activities that allow him to express his emotions.
The 16 personality types: where did the concept come from?
The concept of sixteen personality types was introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. He used the concept developed by Hippocrates of four types of temperament (the ancient doctor distinguished between sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic temperaments) as the source of his research. Jung found his predecessor’s theory to be a great basis for further research – and proposed the concept of opposing pairs of personality traits, based on which many different personality types can be described. These opposing pairs are respectively:
- extrovert and introvert
- intuitionist and perceptionist
- emotionalist and thinker
The model he proposed was mildly modified by American women Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs-Myers, who introduced a fourth pair of opposites:
- observer and judge
In the course of a personality analysis, it may turn out, for example, that a person is an extrovert, a perceiver, a thinker, and an observer. As it turns out, a combination of these exemplary character traits describes the ESTP personality type – Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving.
What are the personality types according to. Jung?
Carl Jung, as we mentioned, described 16 personality types. Above we briefly mentioned two of them. However, below is a full list of them, along with their corresponding character traits:
- Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ESTJ) – Extraverted, Perceptionist, Thinking, Judging
- Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ISTJ) – Introvert, Perceptionist, Thinking, Judging
- Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging (ENTJ) – Extravert, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging
- Introverted, INtuitive, Thinking, Judging (INTJ) – Introvert, INtuitive, Thinking, Judging
- Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving (ISTP) – Introvert, Perceiver, Thinker, Observer
- Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving (ESTP) – Extravert, Perceiver, Thinker, Observer
- Extraverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving (ENTP) – Extraverted, INtuitive, Thinking, Observing
- Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving (INTP) – Introvert, INtuitive, Thinking, Observing
- Extraverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging (ESFJ) – Extravert, Perceptionist, Feeling, Judging
- Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging (ISFJ) – Introvert, Perceptionist, Feeling, Judging
- Extraverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging (ENFJ) – Extravert, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging
- Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging (INFJ) – Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging
- Extraverted, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving (ESFP) – Extraverted, Perceiving, Feeling, Observing
- Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving (ISFP) – Introvert, Perceiver, Feeling, Observer
- Extraverted, INtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving (ENFP) – Extravert, Intuitive, Feeling, Observing
- Introverted, INtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving (INFP) – Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Observing
To find out which personality type we are closest to, it is useful to solve a special test.
16 personality types – what is the test on?
The test of 16 personality types is performed with the help of an appropriate questionnaire. It involves reading a series of statements and then answering them using a multi-level scale – for some questions, however, our choice is limited to selecting one of two available answers. Depending on the version, the questionnaire consists of 88 or 93 questions. Honestly and correctly answering all the questions will allow us to know our individual personality type.
Personality types according to MBTI
A sort of extension of the model proposed by Jung is the division developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs-Myers, also known as MBTI. The model they have developed is particularly popular with companies and corporations, for example, as part of the recruitment process to better match an employee to a position.
Personality types can be assigned to four different groups, and each group contains four different roles. The personality types were grouped according to as much similarity as possible. The following groups are distinguished:
- Analyst: INTP (logician), INTJ (architect), ENTP (discussant) ENTJ (commander)
- Diplomats: INFP (intermediary) INFJ (spokesperson), ENFP (activist), ENFJ (protagonist)
- Watchdogs: ISFI (defender), ISTI (logistician), ESFJ (advisor), ESTI (doer)
- Artists: ISFP (adventurer), ISTP (virtuoso), ESFP (entertainer), ESTP (entrepreneur)
Statistics vary, by 2020. The most common personality type is logistician, while the least common is commander. However, some recent studies suggest that people with the logistician personality type (ISFJ) tend to be more likely than those with the commander personality type (ENTJ). In any case, it is worth remembering that each person is unique and cannot be fully described by a personality type.
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