6 Practical Applications of Personality Theory

MBTI and Myers-Briggs related content

Yup, I know that’s pretty straight forward, but it’s a little more nuanced than that. Sure, most people probably have a decent idea of what their weaknesses are even if they know nothing about typing theory, but there are more blind spots in your own view of yourself than you are probably ready to admit. This is where type theory comes in. If you can properly deduce what type you really are, you now have a vast database of information on people who think pretty similarly to you. You can see what other people have observed about your type, and chances are, some of the criticism they have for your type may apply to you. However, without a third party pointing out that flaw, you may have never noticed it in yourself.

In addition to that, advice from an older person of you same type will have a higher chance of helping you avoid your types pitfalls than general advice from someone older than you. In general, someone of your same type should give more relatable advice because there thought process should be close enough to your own for you to see where they are coming from.

2. It can give you a realistic idea of what a successful/ healthy version of yourself will probably look like.

Have you ever read a book about someone else’s success story and the advice that they give or the road map that they lay out to repeat their success? After reading that information, have you tried to repeat it, but find that for you it’s almost impossible? While there could be many different factors as to why the information has turned up as useless for you, one possibility is simply that the author is of a completely different type than you. He is giving advice that plays to HIS strengths and he became successful because he was leveraging the strong points of his types mindset. You as a completely different type may not have those same cognitive strengths so his advice may never be achievable for you personally.

So what does this all mean? It means that if you can find a success story of someone who you can identify as having the same cognitive strengths as you, it’s possible that you could repeat their process with much more success because you are now leveraging the same strengths within yourself as they did. Obviously no guarantees, but it is common sense to know that playing toward your strengths will lead to more success than trying to fight against them.

Same idea goes for those popular and charismatic people. Just copying someone who is charismatic will not necessarily lead to you being charismatic yourself. However, finding a role model that is of your type will provide you with realistic examples of charismatic practices you can personally make work for you.

3. It shows you how to develop your weak spots.

For instance, as an ISTJ, I know that my lower two functions are Fi and Ne. Because I know my type and I know what each of the cognitive functions do, I can easily identify which parts of my personality need developed and why. Having low Ne, I know I can have issues balancing my Si/Ne which can lead to things like: being quick to discard new ideas or other people’s opinions, being overly stubborn about the way I am doing something, having anxiety participating in activities that I am not familiar, and etc. Furthermore, I should also be tempering my Te with my Fi to keep me balanced even though them both being in the middle should cause me fewer problems as a whole. Recognizing this in myself is the first step in making change and working toward balance. Balance is really the key here. That being said, balance for an ISTJ does not look the same as balance for say an ISTP like Mara, so trying to implement my strategy for development and growth would not work for her.

4. It helps you distinguish whether a person is just different than you or if they are being unreasonable

Sometimes, there is only a fine line between tolerance/intolerance and what is reasonable/unreasonable. Without proper knowledge of different mindset, it can be hard to distinguish when someone is just being difficult or is just different. It can be hard to know when you need to call someone on their actions or what is just normal behavior for that type. (IE: what needs to be worked with versus what doesn’t.) Chances are the XXXP you are working with is not purposely forgetting everything you say, and the XXXJ is not purposely blocking out your ideas or input. So, rather then getting angry about it, strategize around their blind spot by doing things like getting the Ps to write things down or talking to the Js about their lack of inclusion of your ideas.

5. It can be a great tool for self acceptance

If you happen to be one of the many people that feels alienated because no one else seems to think like you, finding other people of your type can help you realize that you are not alone. If you, for instance, are a T female who doesn’t fall into the typical feminine mold because its based largely off of Fe stereotypes, you may find it reassuring to know that there are other T females who feel the same frustrations that you do. It can help you realize that there isn’t something wrong with you just because you don’t have the same reasonings or priorities as a high F user; and that it’s not a defect, it’s simply a result of being a different type. The same can be said for F dominant men, although the stigma for males seems to be less prominent than that for T women from what I have seen.