Peculiarities and Use of the MBTI Analysis - Research Paper Example

HERE HERE YOUR HERE HERE Personality Analysis Paper BACKGROUND OF MBTI ANALYSIS The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator describes the different personality-related characteristics that act as predictors for the type of career and lifestyle a person will lead. The index describes four different personality traits based on Jung’s psychological theories as they relate to extraversion, sensing, feeling and judging characteristics. The level to which the individual taking the assessment experiences higher volumes of each characteristic determines how excessively one identifies with a certain trait over another. For instance, extraversion versus intraversion determines the level to which a person is predicted to be more social or withdrawn. Each of these traits have an opposite personality trait and the strength of each is determined by a higher score for each type on the MBTI. RESULTS OF MBTI The results of the MBTI indicated my personality type was ESFJ, with a moderate expression of extraversion, a moderate score in judging, a moderate expression of feeling, and a very slight expression of sensing as part of my personality dynamics. The highest scores were extraversion with 56 and judging also with 56. These were my most significant scores of the four types. I am currently studying nursing, a job role that requires direct intervention with diverse and culturally-different patients, therefore extraversion is a desired trait in the role of nurse practitioner. Nurses are considered the primary source of information for patients and must serve as an advocate based on a trusting foundation of sociability (Morrison, 4). Extraverts “are keenly interested in other people and external events, and venture forth with confidence into the unknown” (Ewen, 1998, p.127). This suggests a higher level of sociability than an intraverted personality type, meaning that it is a predictor of a well-adjusted ability to function well in group environments. The extravert enjoys social environments and often takes a leadership role when exploring discussion in the group concept. In the role of nurse practitioner, there must be the ability to work directly with patients in order to explore their needs and concerns. Especially when dealing with patients that are battling difficult illnesses, they rely on the competence and social knowledge of the nurse in order to find quality and dimension in effective treatment programs. An introverted individual would not be able to serve the patient needs effectively and it is likely that the quality of treatment would suffer in the long-term. This is why the MBTI index results reinforced that nursing is a quality profession for my unique personality type. I also maintain a moderate judging personality versus the opposite, which is feeling. Judging is the tendency to prefer a structured and orderly environment that is based on factual data, rather than in feeling where intuition and hunches are preferred over logical information. It is “the preferred method of managing the outer world” (Lucas, 2007, p.14). This, too, is important in the role of a nurse where orderly scheduling and statistical information must be considered when developing an appropriate treatment plan. It serves the role of the nurse practitioner well to be able to use logical analyses rather than acting on instinctive information so that the quality of patient care is top-notch. When working directly with physicians, there must be structure both in management and in the management of data to ensure zero errors and be able to coordinate treatment-based activities effectively. This is a field that would not be served well with an instinctive philosophy as is associated with perceiving and does not afford much in terms of spontaneity. Feeling also maintained a moderate score of 44, based on the results of the MBTI. This is how a certain personality type prefers to make decisions, either based on empathy, such as with feeling or as associated with thinking methodology. Feeling is a more personal type of thought process that is based on particular likes or dislikes rather than analytics (Churchill & Rowan, 380). Feeling deals with the desire to construct solutions based on emotional constructs and this person usually has more empathy for others in their daily lifestyle or the workplace environment. Again, in the role of nurse, feeling is extremely critical to providing quality of care since patients want an empathetic and sympathetic caregiver that can provide information in a feeling type of manner. A logical thinker that devotes most of their thought process or thoughtful analyses toward rationale in all types of situations would be a less compassionate caregiver to patients. Take into consideration the role of hospice nurse that must deal with the complicated realities of death and dying and still be able to provide care effectively. A hospice nurse is usually social, caring and empathetic in order to build a relationship with the patient built on trust factors (Palliative and Supportive Care, 160). Whether the role of nurse takes me to the hospice environment or just provides in-house clinical treatment plan to walk-in patients, there must be an empathetic style of working with the client in order to provide effective care. There needs to be more than just social dynamics, which I am strong in extraversion, there must be a sense of community and compassion that is provided by a feeling caregiver. In terms of sensing, this was a significantly lower score of only 1. This type prefers the sensory experience and concerns themselves primarily with what is concrete and real about what is going on around them. In opposite accord, the intuition-based personality is more optimistic and believes in idealism with a focus more on the future rather than what is occurring today. Based on the results with such a low score in sensing, this would seem to suggest that I have a balance between sensing and intuition, again something needed in the field of nursing. A nurse must be concerned with the facts of what is occurring in the real-life environment as it relates to patient needs and treatment planning. This is a necessity in this type of caregiving field. However, being optimistic about the future is also critically important since patients rely on an idealistic advocate that believes in future successes. I would suggest that with such a low score in sensing, I have a quality blend of both principles. MBTI RESULTS IN LIFESTYLE It is not just the workplace where personality is a major factor or predictor of behavior, it also plays into the social environment as well. Being extraverted has obvious advantages when working in team-based organizations or in academics that require student intervention and group study work. This allows for me to take a leadership role when working in this team dynamic, thus ensuring work is completed and using a sort of empathetic and charismatic attitude to gain attention from the group. Having a sense of empathy and community is also critical in lifestyle and the social environment since gaining support from peers or associates comes from a sort of transformational leadership style dealing with mutual reward and empathic interventions. My judging capabilities to provide a structured and orderly environment are also appreciated by my social network and are beneficial in the academic environment for being able to coordinate activities and manage time effectively. Coupled with a moderate feeling score related to personality puts an element of compassion and trust into all aspects of relationship that are needed to have a quality social network. STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND GOAL-SETTING There is a weakness associated with having a lower score in sensing. In the role of nursing, there must be a high level of emotional intelligence which deals with understanding oneself and their emotional needs. Nurses need to be completely open to new experiences and possibilities (Grossman & Valiga, 138). Sensing types have a more practical viewpoint with less optimism about tomorrow where concrete data about real-time events is preferred when structuring decision-making. This might suggest that I would need to be less pragmatic and more idealistic in the role of nurse practitioner. Therefore, as part of emotional intelligence development, I intend to work on being more open to experience and less focused on the proverbial here and now as it relates to my personality. The strengths associated with my scores are most noticeable in moderate extraversion that will be a predictor of total success in nursing and in my social environment. Nurses are leaders that take the initiative and are able to act as diplomatic facilitators of knowledge that is necessary for group leadership and when working directly with patients. This particular assessment was interesting and very true to my actual self-perceived personality. I have never taken such an inventory before and therefore have no point of comparison as it might be related to other testing indexes. However, as a result, I intend to use this information in goal-attainment related to career and also to improve interactions with family and friends. Attempting to be more optimistic will have value for other idealistic people in my life that do not necessarily share my same value systems. As a nurse, being diverse and culturally-minded is very important to success and in order to enjoy an active and quality social life, one must be willing to step outside of their concrete personality dimensions and be more flexible. I intend to work on flexibility in all aspects of life, especially related to enjoying more sensory experiences. Works Cited Churchill, S. & B. Rowan. “Psychological type and concepts of empathy in experienced counselors”, Counseling Psychology Quarterly, vol.11, no.4, 1998. Ewen, R.B. Personality: A topical approach – theories, research, major controversies, and emerging findings, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998. Grossman, S. & T. Valiga. The New Leadership Challenge: Creating the Future of Nursing, 3rd ed. FA Davis Company, 2009. Lucas, D. “Personality type (MBTI) relationship to performance and satisfaction in web-based instruction”, North Carolina State University, 2007. Accessed June 19, 2011 from EBSCO database. Morrison, Eileen E. “Complementary Therapies: What are the Ethics Challenges for Kansas Nurses?”, Kansas Nurse, vol.82, no.5, 2007. Accessed June 19, 2011 from EBSCO database. Palliative and Supportive Care. “Hospice Volunteer as Patient Advocate: A Trait Approach”, vol. 9, 2010. Read More