Review: Isabel Briggs Myers’ ‘Gifts Differing’

★★★★☆

If I have a hobby I probably shouldn’t admit to, it’s that I find it deeply fascinating to psychoanalyse my entire circle of acquaintance. As a result of this, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is something I have come across several times over the years, and I figured it was finally time to do some deeper reading on the subject. Gifts Differing (1980) was written by the mother of MBTI, Isabel Briggs Myers, and was published after a lifetime spent developing, testing and refining her theories.

It is important to note that MBTI is considered pseudoscience by most of the scientific community. Even its strongest supporters struggle to argue that MBTI has any proven real-world applications, and the fiercest critics regard Briggs Myers as completely unqualified. There is also no denying that MBTI, like most personality tests, relies heavily on self-introspection. As anyone who has ever interacted with another member of the human race knows, how a person thinks they behave, and how they actually behave, may differ significantly.

On the other hand, however, MBTI has existed in roughly its current guise since the 1940s, and its popularity has only grown with time. Outside the scientific community, there are a considerable number of people who feel it is a helpful tool for self-reflection. Personally, I do think it is fair to lay some (though not all) of the blame for MBTI’s shattered reputation at the feet of those who extol its powers far beyond its own claims.

Somewhat hesitantly, and speaking only from my own experience, I find MBTI can be useful in developing empathy towards those who think in different ways. I feel it helped a younger me identify and work on some weaknesses, and I have occasionally found it useful as a writing tool whilst trying to develop and deepen the psyche of fictional characters.

We cannot safely assume that other people’s minds work on the same principles as our own. All too often, others with whom we come in contact do not reason as we reason, or do not value the things we value, or are not interested in what interests us… Briefly, the theory is that much seemingly chance variation in human behavior is not due to chance; it is in fact the logical result of a few basic, observable differences in mental functioning.

Each of the 16 MBTI personality types are a combination of four letters: extroversion(E) or introversion(I), sensing(S) or intuition(N), thinking(T) or feeling(F) and judgement(J) or perception(P). This is not to say that the average ESTJ is 100% extroverted, however. MBTI, though the types are binary, indicates tendencies and preferences. Anyone who types as any of the Exxx personalities is more extroverted than introverted, and therefore should be considered an extrovert, but Briggs Myers believed ‘pure’ examples of type could only exist in theory.

As well as offering a brief overview of the characteristics of each of the 16 types, Gifts Differing explains the theory behind MBTI, including its roots in Jungian psychology. Briggs Myers was heavily influenced by Jung’s book, Psychological Types (1921), but given that Jung never endorsed MBTI, this should not be taken as a credential.

I must admit, I did expect this book to be more thorough in its dissection of the types. If you want to learn more about your own personality, Gifts Differing will likely be something of a disappointment. The book is much more concerned with the theory behind the framework and the practice of good personality development. It explores cognitive function stacks in some depth, but tends to group personalities who share traits rather than discussing them individually.

I will also say that there is a definite positive bias towards the Introverted Intuitives (the INxx types), which is perhaps explained by the fact that Briggs Myers typed herself as an INFP, and by the fact that she developed her theories alongside her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, who considered herself an INFJ. The book does celebrate the supposed virtues of all types, but the Extroverted Sensing personalities (ESxx types) are noticeably presented as inferior.

The types most prone to drift into wrongdoing, from a thoughtless yielding to circumstances or bad companions, are the extraverted sensing types. In extreme cases, they may have neither enough introversion or intuitive insight to warn them of the underlying principle involved nor the judgment with which to criticize their impulses.

I found the opening chapters interesting, and based on them alone, I am prepared to believe that MBTI, at least as a premise, is on to something. Unfortunately, Gifts Differing does not sell it much further than that. As a read, this book seems progressively less reasonable and progressively more assumptive. In places there are what can only be described as insane leaps of judgement. One particularly glaring example is the hypothesis that personality type is inherent from birth, which is presented without any supporting evidence. I also find the notion of measurable compatibility between individuals based on their MBTI types extremely questionable, and not just because I am an INTP disinclined to view my happy marriage to an ENFJ as a statistical anomaly.

The overall sense is that Briggs Myers had a solid, insightful idea, but then got completely carried away by the lure of unproven and fundamentally unprovable possibilities. In short, MBTI should be taken only with a very large pinch of salt.

So long as you do not take it too seriously, however, Gifts Differing does make for an extremely interesting read. My rating is a reflection of the fact that, despite its many issues (and perhaps partly because of its strangely magnetic quality, which seems to ensure its continued popularity no matter the strength of reasonable objection), I do find MBTI fascinating, and downright good fun.

Chances are, anyone who reads this book is already something of an MBTI nerd, but if you don’t know your MBTI type, you can test yourself on the 16 Personalities website: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.