Ensayos Generales

Carl Jung and Myers Briggs Type Indicator
During the early 1900s, Carl Jung established a field identifying distinct personality patterns.
Many theorists have since broken these patterns into categories attempting to make them easier
to understand. Carl Jung was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and a leading exponent of
Gestalt personality theory. Jung developed a ground-breaking personalitytheory that introduced
two attitudes: extroversion and introversion (1933a).
Later he described human behavior as a combination of four psychic functions: thinking verses
feeling and intuition verses sensation (1933b). Thinking and feeling are said to be rational
functions because they both require acts of judgments. Sensation and intuition involve immediate
experiences. The MBTI, Kolb'sLearning Style Inventory, the Managerial Grid, and a number of
other instruments all use a form of extroversion/introversion. His four other functions are also
closely tied with these instruments.
The MBTI has been claimed (McCaulley, 2000) to be an aid in understanding the individual
differences by helping employees and managers enhance their interpersonal relations and thereby
improving theirability to work effectively. Thus, having knowledge of coworkers' personality
preferences, or MBTI type, will facilitate greater respect for individual differences, aid in
assigning work responsibilities, and foster effective collaboration among employees. However,
McCaulley offered little empirical evidence to support those claims. This is why it is more
complicated than the other modelsdiscussing learning styles as they are strictly learning models
where the MBTI is a personality model. However, supposedly our personality plays a part in
determining our learning style, thus it ties in with the other models so it will be discussed as a
part in the learning process.
The relevant data does not justify the conclusion that the MBTI is a direct measure of Jung's
theory of personalitytypes and the current scoring procedures for the MBTI does not allow one
to make important prophecies about individuals (Pittenger, 2005). Pittenger argues that the
available evidence suggests that the MBTI does measure constructs related to personality. Thus,
the MBTI, while offering much intuitive appeal, may not yet be able to support all the claims its
supporters make.
Scores obtained fromthe MBTI indicate a person's preference on each of four dichotomous
dimensions:





Extroversion (E) versus Introversion (I) [similar to two dimensional behavioral models
and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory]
Sensing (S) versus iNtuition (N)
Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F) [similar to two dimensional behavioral models and
Kolb's Learning Style Inventory]
Judging (J) versusPerceiving (P)

1. Extroversion (E) versus Introversion (I)

This indicates whether a learner prefers to direct attention towards the external world of people
and things or toward the internal world of concepts and ideas. This preference tells us from
where people get their energy.
Introverts find energy in the inner world of ideas, concepts, and abstractions. They can be
sociable but needtranquility to regain their energy. They want to understand the world; they
concentrate and tend to be reflective thinkers. They think more than talk. Introverted learners
want to develop frameworks that integrate or connect the information that they learn, this
becomes knowledge is the interconnection of the material and to see a global view.
Extroverts find energy in things and people. Theyprefer interaction with others, and tend to be
action-oriented. They also tend to think on their feet. They talk more than listen. Extroverted
learners learn by teaching others. They do not normally understand the subject until they try to
explain it to themselves or others (working in groups). Problem Based Learning and
Collaborative Learning are good teaching techniques for this group.

2....