The Myers-Briggs Personality Dimensions

Introverted (Inward-Oriented) – Extraverted (Outward-Oriented)
Intuitive (Conceptual) – Sensing (Actual)
Thinking (Rational) – Feeling (Empathetic)
Judging (Structured) – Perceiving (Flexible)

The Myers-Briggs Personality Dimensions

Where We Go For Energy: Sharing Energy (Inward- Oriented) Vs. Receiving Energy (Outward-Oriented)

Sharing Energy – Inward-Oriented (Introverted)

-Wants: Time to recharge and gain energy from within
-Can end up: Ignoring the need to gain energy from the outside world

You look inward for energy. You plug into yourself for energy and need time to recharge away from outside stimulation. You live with your attention mainly on your own internal world.

You want to come up with new, subtle and refreshing energy to share with others and the world around you.

Receiving Energy – Outward-Oriented (Extraverted)

-Wants: Stimulation and energy from the outside world
-Can end up: Ignoring the need to find energy within him/herself

You look outward for energy. You plug into the outside world for energy and seek out stimulation outside yourself. You live with your attention mainly on the outside world.

You want to receive energy from others and the world around you and come up with a different energy (more exciting, more stimulating) from what you’ve received.

-The lesson for both: While we have our preference for where we’d like to seek our energy—which affects where we’re most inclined to be comfortable—we can work toward some kind of balance between looking outside and looking inside for that energy.

Most of the above information is excerpted from The Relationship Key: Unlock Your Ideal Life Experience

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How We Process The World And Search For Meaning: Sharing Meaning (Conceptual) Vs. Receiving Meaning (Actual)

Sharing Meaning – Conceptual (Intuitive)

-Wants: To abstract from experience and find depth and meaning, to think about and discuss things conceptually, to imagine future possibilities and look at the big picture
-Can end up: Ignoring practical details and feeling that many people are too mundane and superficial

You want to think about and discuss conceptual, abstract things, such as theories and ideas that you can generalize from experience as you imagine what could be that hasn’t been and isn’t already. You are big-picture-oriented, preferring to discuss possibilities rather than the details of daily life.

You want to come up with new, conceptual and profound meaning to share with others and the world around you.

Receiving Meaning – Actual (Sensing)

-Wants: To think about and discuss concrete things that can be discerned with the physical senses—actual people and actual events in the present and past
-Can end up: Missing the depth of life and feeling that many people are too up in the air and impractical

You want to think about and discuss concrete, real things, such as actual people and actual events that you can experience with your physical senses in the present and past. You are detail- oriented, preferring to discuss tangible examples and practical approaches.

You want to receive meaning from others and the world around you and come up with a different meaning (more concrete, more tangible) from what you’ve received.

-The lesson for both: While we have our preference for how we process our experience of the world—which affects where we’re most inclined to receive fulfillment—we can work toward some kind of balance between living in the depth of reality and living in the surface practicalities of life.

Most of the above information is excerpted from The Relationship Key: Unlock Your Ideal Life Experience

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How We Make Decisions: Sharing Guidance (Rational) Vs. Receiving Guidance (Empathetic)

Sharing Guidance – Rational (Thinking)

-Wants: To make decisions based on what makes sense and is rational and logical to him/her, to think about and discuss life removed from human experience
-Can end up: Ignoring people’s feelings and human experience

You make decisions based on what makes sense, what’s rational, and what’s logical to you. You try to be rational and objective in your decision-making. You want to discuss topics removed from human experience, such as facts (if concrete) or theories (if conceptual).

You want to come up with new, rational and objective guidance to share with others and the world around you.

Receiving Guidance – Empathetic (Feeling)

-Wants: To make decisions based on how they would make other people feel, to think about and discuss human experience
-Can end up: Ignoring logic, reason, and objectivity

You make decisions based on how they would make other people feel. You try to be empathetic and sensitive to other people’s feelings and are subjective in your decision-making. You want to discuss human experience, such as your and other people’s daily life experiences and how they made you and other people feel.

You want to receive guidance from others and the world around you and come up with different guidance (more empathetic, more sensitive) from what you’ve received.

-The lesson for both: While we have our preference for how we make decisions, we can work toward some kind of balance between being rational and objective and considering other people’s experiences of our words and actions.

Most of the above information is excerpted from The Relationship Key: Unlock Your Ideal Life Experience

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How We Approach The World And Determine Direction: Sharing Direction (Structured) Vs. Receiving Direction (Flexible)

Sharing Direction – Structured (Judging)

-Wants: To plan things out and take things one at a time, follow through, and then move onto the next; to have the closure of knowing, or at least having some idea of, what’s going to happen
-Can end up: Rigid and inflexible in his/her plans, so that it is stressful if there aren’t any plans or if things don’t work out as planned

You want to structure your time and surrounding space. You want to plan things out and consider the consequences of actions, and you get closure from having an idea of what’s going to happen. You want to do one thing at a time and follow through before moving on to the next thing. You want to do work first, and leave relaxation and fun until after work is finished.

You want to come up with new, planned and structured direction to share with others and the world around you.

Receiving Direction – Flexible (Perceiving)

-Wants: To keep options open until the last minute, to do things spontaneously and start several things at once (and not necessarily follow through with any or all of them)
-Can end up: Not finishing anything that he/she starts

You want to keep your time and surrounding space flexible. You want to do spontaneously whatever you think and feel like doing in the moment, and you want to keep your options open until the last minute. You want to start many things at once and not necessarily follow through with them. You want to relax and have fun, and leave work until later.

You want to receive direction from others and the world around you and come up with a different direction (more spontaneous, more flexible) from what you’ve received.

-The lesson for both: While we have our preference for how we approach the world, we can work toward some kind of balance between planning things out and being spontaneous, so that we set some intention for what we’d like to have happen and follow through with the projects we start, but we are also flexible and open to things not happening exactly as planned and are able to work on several projects and adjust our plans spontaneously when necessary.

Most of the above information is excerpted from The Relationship Key: Unlock Your Ideal Life Experience

Back to the Myers-Briggs Personality Dimensions

For more information on the Myers-Briggs personality dimensions, see The Relationship Key: Unlock Your Ideal Life Experience