Welcome to Practical Typing! We’ve got two writers here: Mara (ISTP) and Ryan (ISTJ). We developed an interest in Jungian personality theory as teenagers, seeing it as valuable for understanding the differences in how people think. We initially started with Myers-Briggs dichotomies, and overtime, began delving into the cognitive functions.
Online resources have always been a great source of frustration for us, due to the prevalence of stereotypes, extremes, and unrealistic/idealized descriptions in addition to the oftentimes vague, unspecific, or biased information. As a result, we decided to start our own blog in June 2018. We launched Practical Typing’s official website a couple of months later.
Mara recently became a certified MBTI practitioner, although we do not strictly adhere to the Myers-Briggs theory, because we view the dichotomy approach (I/E, S/N, T/F, J/P) as overly simplistic, and oftentimes, inaccurate. While we originally knew little about Carl Jung, it was mentioned to us once that we adhere closely to his work. As a result, we purchased Psychological Types, and have begun incorporating Jung’s thoughts more and more into our writings.
Our Mission
Our goal at Practical Typing is to provide a practical and realistic interpretation of the 16 personality types and their cognitive makeup, while still adhering to the basic principles of Carl Jung.
Our Approach
No one personality type is better than another. At Practical Typing, we aim to present balanced perspectives of each personality type, backed by real life observation and examples. Many people attribute certain skill sets and abilities to certain personality types or cognitive functions. However, we believe that everyone is capable of doing everything. Your personality does not limit your physical ability or your chance of success in life. Instead, it defines the way you think, and thus, the way you’ll approach situations, decisions, learning experiences, etc.
As mentioned earlier, Mara is officially MBTI certified, and we appreciate aspects of the Myers-Briggs theory, such as the 4 letter type codes. However, we prefer to place a stronger emphasis on cognitive functions, rather than primarily using the dichotomies to differentiate personality types. We view this approach as more nuanced and accurate. In addition, while we view Carl Jung’s Psychological Types as a valuable resource which we intend to incorporate more and more, we will never take a pure Jungian approach. Carl Jung described extremes (albeit, intentionally), and never really fleshed out his original theory. We’re aiming for relatable, balanced content.
We use the Grant Model when it comes to building a type’s cognitive function stack. For those who don’t know, this means that a personality type’s cognitive functions alternate between introversion and extraversion (IEIE or EIEI). For instance, an ISTP in the Grant Model is Ti-Se-Ni-Fe. Many people have shifted from the IEIE or EIEI stack order to IIEE or EEII. Such individuals would interpret an ISTP as Ti-Ni-Se-Fe. However, we prefer the Grant Model interpretation, because we believe that it describes a healthier individual, or an ideal to strive for. Many people might manifest an IIEE or EEII stack, due to imbalance, but that is not a state they should remain in. Too much introversion is a bad thing, just like too much extraversion.
We try really hard to publish accurate information that is as balanced and realistic as possible. Every article written, even though many are written through only one author’s voice, is always a combined perspective of both, since that helps to keep the information balanced. We also constantly adapt our information as our understanding of personality theory grows. Hopefully this site can be of some help to you. If you’d like to contribute to the cause, check out how you can support us!
What We Do
Articles: Here at Practical Typing, we write a combination of theory articles and personality analyses, which include both fictional characters and historical figures. Check out Updates and Current Projects to see what we’re currently working, or you can submit a Paid Request. Don’t be afraid to reach out and make suggestions (whether theory or character related). We’re open to your ideas.
Q&A: We welcome questions related to our blog or personality theory in general. We strive to be responsive over email, so feel free to reach out. Your questions and the subsequent email correspondence often provide inspiration for our articles. (Don’t worry, though, we don’t publish any of your private correspondence in our articles without permission.)
How To Follow Us
You can receive post notifications via Pinterest, Facebook, or email (subscription form can be found near the bottom of the home page). If you wish to keep current with what we’re up to, subscribe via email, and you’ll get notified whenever our Updates and Current Projects page is updated.
Otherwise, neither of us are into social media. Mara has a Twitter account that you’re welcome to follow, but be warned, she can be fairly inconsistent with tweeting.
