- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Step II Facet Scales & the Strong, Part IV
- About the Strong Interest Inventory®: Basic Interest Scales: Realistic, Part I
- About the FIRO-B™: Team Preferences – Active Types
- The 16PF®– The 16 Personality Factors: Correlations with Myers-Briggs, Part VI - Feeling
- Group Testing
- Have Brian Speak to Your Group About Myers-Briggs
This month we'll continue looking at the relationships between the facet scores on the MBTI Step II Interpretive Report and the six themes of the Strong Interest Inventory. We'll continue with the five facet scales involving Judging and Perceiving. The sample size used was quite small and mostly male engineering students, so we cannot generalize too much from these results. Still, it's interesting to see the patterns. For example, all six
As a quick review, a correlation might be positive or negative. That means scores either move in tandem or in the opposite direction on the two tests. The direction is not the same as the strength of the relationship. It could be strong or weak in either direction.
Let's start with the Realistic theme. The relationships were mixed, with three facets on the Judging and two on the Perceiving side of the scale. The strongest correlation was with Early Starting – Pressure Prompted scale, meaning Realistic types are likely to be Pressure Prompted. The weakest relationship was with Methodical - Emergent, which was essentially flat, meaning little or no correlation. Realistic types tend to be Systematic and Planful.
The Investigative theme correlations were also mixed. The strongest relationship was again on the Early Starting – Pressure Prompted scale, with Realistic types tending to come out on the Pressure Prompted side. The weakest correlation on the Planful – Open-Ended scale. Investigative types tend to be Systematic, Scheduled, and Emergent.
For Artistic types, four correlations were negative. The greatest correlation was on the Systematic - Casual facet. They were likelier to be on the Systematic side. This is probably not what one would expect from Artistic types. The only positive correlation was on the Early Starting – Pressure Prompted facet, meaning Artistic types are likelier to score on the Pressure Prompted side. They also tend to be Planful, Scheduled, and Methodical.
For Social types, only one correlation was positive (Early Starting – Pressure Prompted). The greatest effect was on the Scheduled - Spontaneous facet, where they were likely to be Scheduled. The smallest effect was on the Early Starting – Pressure Prompted facet. Social types tend to be Systematic, Planful, and Methodical.
Enterprising types had three positive correlations, meaning they tend to show up on the Perceiving side of the scale. The greatest correlation was with the Early Starting – Pressure Prompted scale, the smallest on the Planful – Open Ended facet. Enterprising people tend to come out on the Systematic, Planful, Pressure-Prompted, and Spontaneous facet scales.
Finally, Conventional types had four negative correlations, with the Systematic - Casual scale the strongest and the Scheduled - Spontaneous facet the weakest. Conventional people tend to be Systematic, Planful, Pressure-Prompted, and Methodical.
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The Basic Interest Scales (BIS) on the Strong can be thought of as more clearly defined aspects of the General Occupational Themes. Since they provide a more detailed picture of a career area, they can help a person determine which fields might be most interesting to him or her. The BISs are grouped along similar lines, so a person can see how closely he or she matches that particular theme. Let's look at the BISs in greater depth, starting with those in the Realistic category.
The first BIS is Mechanics & Construction. High scorers on this scale usually like to build, design, repair, tinker, and use their hands with an assortment of materials and tools. They usually come out on the "Works with ideas/data/things" end of the Work Style Personal Style scale. Occupations with high scores on this scale include engineer, carpenter, electrician, medical technologist, and network administrator.
Computer Hardware & Electronics is the next scale, which measures a person's interest in installing & repairing computers, networks, & associated equipment. They also tend towards the "Works with ideas/data/things" end of the Work Style Personal Style scale and the "Accomplishes tasks independently" end of the Team Orientation scale. People with high scores on this scale tend to have similar scores on the previous scale. Occupations with high scores on this scale include computer scientists, engineers, physicists, and information system managers.
The third scale is Military. People with high scores on this scale often like highly structured work environments with clear lines of authority. However, a high score on this scale does not necessarily mean the person will also score high on the Military Officer or Enlisted Occupational scales. That's because the Occupational Scales have far more items a person would have to match to receive a high score. High scores for women are relatively rare on this scale. Occupations with high scores on this BIS include physical education teachers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and as expected, the military.
Next month we'll continue with the Realistic Basic Interest Scales.
People vary considerably in their desire to have contact with others, from very little to a great deal of interaction with others. Your Overall Interpersonal Needs score can tell us a lot about how your will likely perform on a team. This month we'll look at those in the high range, which is a score between 39 and 54. These types are generally considered Active.
People who have scores in this range generally really enjoy being on teams and have strong positive feelings about teams. They like to be at the center of discussions and believe they can make a significant contribution to the team's efforts. Likewise, they often have high expectations for others on the team, wanting them to be active, engaged, and contributing members. Active types are frequently energized by being on a team, and can expect to do their best work as part of a team. Active types generally do not worry much about who is on the team, and like to spend extra time with other team members, even outside of work. One possible downside for Active types is spending so much time with the team's work that their individual responsibilities suffer. Other priorities might not receive the attention they need because working with the team is more interesting and stimulating.
Let's look at how the 16 scales correlate to the scale on the Myers-Briggs. A positive correlation means that as the score on one scale goes up, the score on the other scale goes up also. A negative correlation means the opposite. For example, someone with a high score on Factor A is likely to show up on the Feeling side of the MBTI. Someone with a low score on Factor C probably would too.
For Feeling on the Myers-Briggs, here are the correlations from the 16PF:
Factor A (Warmth): Positive
Factor B (Reasoning): Negative
Factor C (Emotional Stability): Negative
Factor E (Dominance): Negative
Factor F (Liveliness): Positive
Factor G (Rule-Consciousness): Positive
Factor H (Social Boldness): Negative
Factor I (Sensitivity): Positive
Factor L (Vigilance): Negative
Factor M (Abstractedness): Positive
Factor N (Privateness): Negative
Factor O (Apprehension): Positive
Factor Q1 (Openness to Change): Neutral
Factor Q2 (Self-Reliance): Negative
Factor Q3 (Perfectionism): Negative
Factor Q4 (Tension): Negative
The factors with the greatest positive correlation to Feeling are I, O, and A. Those with the greatest negative correlation are N, E, and B & L (tie).
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