Missing Letters?

[tragula]

MBTI personality theory is complicated and I'm stuck on the idea that adding some missing facets could improve the whole system. (If this has been covered already somewhere then just point me to it, I could find nothing in search.)

Some candidates I have are letters denoting a generous vs selfish spirit. (I suppose this could be (G for giving and U for ungiving?)

Another is maturity. It's funny how as I get older I really do feel that I have a quality available to me that younger people don't have. It's not about intelligence... something that experience teaches you that nothing else can. (Maybe an M for mature and a Y for immature.) I'm not saying this correlates directly with age, as there are some very mature young people and some very immature old people. And possibly both maturity and immaturity have their attractions. Maybe Wisdom would be a much better candidate! W and F for wise and foolish.

Lastly, what about spirituality? That is a dimension of personality that can have a huge impact!


(I don't mean to start a lot of posts, it's just that I have questions that need answers.) :blush:

[Boneca]

I think you have to be careful with such things. Nobody likes to hear that they are immature or foolish!
That is one of the strengths of the Myers-Briggs system - no type is considered better than the others.

[mgb]

The only thing I might "add" as far as letters go is the the strongest of the traits that you don't have.

So I might be INTPj, just a recognition that I have strong J tendencies as well.

[SheepDog]

MBTI would most likely say that preferences are the same over time, although they might be developed as you grow. For example, an INTP may develop their F, but they still remain an INTP. The ones you mention are certainly likely to change over time.

[SensEye]

I think MBTI is pretty good as it is. I think the missing facets you allude to are a matter of having different strengths of preferences.

PS> Oh wise and sage tragula, if you mentioned your age I missed it. Care to enlighten me? (Note: anything under 30 and I'm going to laugh).

[tragula]

I think perhaps what I was trying to get at was--Freud. Not to dust him off an throw him into the mix. But, his concept of Ego and Superego is useful, and I imaginge that some sort of a test could be made to determine how strong people's Ego is vs. their Superego (conscience).

I don't think that the purpose of a personality test should be to flatter someone, but to produce an accurate picture. But I suppose it is nice that MBTI is not judgemental. Though many people would probably not like an F or an I or to be described as banker accountant types.

SensEye, I don't believe in Chronological age! Thanks for calling me wise though.... ;-) I'll take it as a compliment.

[jimkopelli]

There's this thing called sarcasm... ignore it at your own peril.

Some of this makes sense... but some things are probably not really implementable. W/F? That would really depend on the person, and I don't think that you could test for it, in any way, shape or form.

[tragula]

Oh! So that is Sarcasm! Thanks for explaining it to me! Maybe you should start a thread explaining what sacrasm is so everybody gets it. I'm sure people would be interested. ;P

[Aryan]

Yeah the system is incomplete
In fact it should be generalised, to something like
A1 A2 A3 ... An, which represents a personality
B1 B2 B3 ... Bn, represents the complement personality
Ai and Bi being comeplements
We dont know what n is, but this is finite

[synchronous]

I'm not so sure I would consider MBTI incomplete. My issue is how the system is interpreted by various sources, from experts to self-ID'd types. I've seen the J/P function interpreted at least two different ways. I've read all sorts of INTP type descriptions - from ones that fit me very well, to others that make me feel like I should have an IQ of 180 to qualify.

I have an issue with the way MBTI differs from Jung's theory, how Keirsey differs from MBTI, how Socionics stands out on its own, different from most if not all the others. Sometimes, I think it would be best if we put beside our personality type acronym, the name of the PT system you use to ID yourself as such. ie. INTP per Keirsey or INTP (K). I would hesitate to call any of these an evolution of Jung's theory on personality types.

Before adding anything to the theory, I'd want to return to the beginning and better understand Jung's intent on personality types. As well, I would probably move away from canned personality type descriptions or acronyms - Just have the strengths and weaknesses of all eight cognitive functions evaluated individually, and have the results interpreted with an individualized detailed explanation as to what it means for you and how this knowledge can best direct you in your personal growth.

- end rant - (for now)

[Jezebel]

MBTI personality theory is complicated and I'm stuck on the idea that adding some missing facets could improve the whole system. (If this has been covered already somewhere then just point me to it, I could find nothing in search.)

Some candidates I have are letters denoting a generous vs selfish spirit. (I suppose this could be (G for giving and U for ungiving?)

Another is maturity. It's funny how as I get older I really do feel that I have a quality available to me that younger people don't have. It's not about intelligence... something that experience teaches you that nothing else can. (Maybe an M for mature and a Y for immature.) I'm not saying this correlates directly with age, as there are some very mature young people and some very immature old people. And possibly both maturity and immaturity have their attractions. Maybe Wisdom would be a much better candidate! W and F for wise and foolish.

Lastly, what about spirituality? That is a dimension of personality that can have a huge impact!

I've wondered the same thing before. Even people of the same type can be very different. The best I've come up with is that personality is very complex and the MBTI is not meant to measure everything.

I think it's important to stay away from postive and negative character traits. Consider the following:

You could also add ambitious vs. lazy, intelligence vs. stupidity, tolerant vs. intolerant, and on and on. What makes your choices any better? Where do you draw the limit?
There is already enough discrimination of other types within the MBTI without it actually measuring aptitude, morality and character.
Results are more likely to be unreliable since many people won't want "negative" preferences.

I think if any more letters were added at least two conditions should be applied. First, they should be of similar nature to the preferences that are already measured. Second, they shouldn't only be looked at individually, but also at how they will affect each other preference already measured.

[SheepDog]

I agree Jezebel, MBTI is incomplete. Any attempt at 'defining' personality will be incomplete, since personality is too complex to be explained in a single theory.

[tragula]

I think that it's true people don't want to see negative traits. But that problem could be fixed with more carefully chosen neutral sounding words.
Dominant/Submissive would be a good canditate. (If your phrased it Bossy and Doormat, people would object, but it is the same thing.)
I think Sensitive/Thick Skinned could be another good dimension.
And perhaps something like Self nurturing vs. Other nurturing or language to that effect could get around some of the negative labels issue.

[Edmond Zedo]

Most of the "alternate" characteristics "you people" are "talkin aboot" aren't static. They may have changed in me once in life, or vary daily depending on mood and circumstance.

That old boy Jung weren't no hack.

[Killsteel]

Well, I personally believe everything can be improved, given enough time, so I do think another letter could be added or something, but I don't know what...