Beloved by corporate HR departments and government agencies alike, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator measures personality types. Betsy Styron, board chairman of the Myers-Brigg Foundation, explains how the assessment works and what it should and shouldn’t be used for. An introvert herself, Betsy powers through a great interview. This episode was originally released on July 11, 2019.

TRANSCRIPT:

Intro: 0:01
Inventors and their inventions. Welcome to Radio Cade a podcast from the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida. The museum is named after James Robert Cade, who invented Gatorade in 1965. My name is Richard Miles . We'll introduce you to inventors and the things that motivate them, we'll learn about their personal stories, how their inventions work, and how their ideas get from the laboratory to the marketplace personality.

Richard Miles: 0:39
It's not just a song. It's a test, specifically, a test called Myers Briggs type indicator. My name is Richard Miles, ENTJ. My guest today is Betsy Styron. INTP the President and CEO of the Center for Application of Psychological Type and chairman of the board of the Myers and Briggs Foundation. Welcome Betsy .

Betsy Styron: 0:57
Thank you. Good to be here.

Richard Miles: 0:59
So, the initials I rattled off after names are one of what? 16 Myers Briggs type indicator, I think. And I've taken that many times working for the federal government. And after 20 years, I just barely shifted from INTJ to ENTJ in fact, according to test , I have no personality at all. So I don't know what it says about me working for the federal government or, or whatnot, but Betsy, why don't we start out by educating our listeners for those who are not familiar? What exactly Myers-Briggs is tell us what does it measure and how does it measure it?

Betsy Styron: 1:31
Okay, let's call it the NBTI Myers Briggs Type Indicator. And the word indicator simply means it indicates a preference. So we're looking at four scales and there are two opposite sides. So let's start with introversion extroversion, which are opposite. So I happen to be an introvert. So when I took the NBTI and got my results, essentially it pointed to introversion as a preference. We don't like to use the word test. We call it an indicator because there was really no right or wrong answer. We all do both. I couldn't be talking with you without extroverting. It really is about two scales. And you just prefer one over the other. The analogy that is most often used is like being right handed or left handed. You have the preference that you lead with the preference, where you get more energy. You're typically a little bit more accomplished with that one, but we all use both hands. There will be times like now, with me with a preference for introversion that I'm talking and I'm animated about it because the topic is very interesting to me and there are four scales. And we can talk about those a little bit later, if you would like.

Richard Miles: 2:46
So let's take that as an example, introversion, extroversion, what are some sample questions for instance, on the NBTI, in which you try to suss that out, whether somebody has a preference for introversion or extroversion.

Betsy Styron: 2:58
There are multiple items that measure the different scales. And when you sit down and take it, they're all integrated in a way that you can't figure out, you know, am I doing the block of questions related to this or that, but essentially, a question might be, if you have a choice to want to go out tonight and be social, or would you rather prefer to stay at home? That's not a direct question, but the whole idea of the items is to get at the essence of what t