Carl Jung and Myers-Briggs

[Peppers123]

In the past I’ve made the mistake of just reading something and believing it when it comes to religion. I’ve read that he was an occultist and did seances is this true? What does this mean for his psychological foundings or Myer Briggs?

 

[Cirdan_XII]

In the past I’ve made the mistake of just reading something and believing it when it comes to religion. I’ve read that he was an occultist and did seances is this true? What does this mean for his psychological foundings or Myer Briggs?

What findings are you referring to?

The only thing that I know Myers Briggs for is his personality test system, which seems to be pretty much standard fare in the world of corporate recruiting.

 

[Peppers123]

I wonder if it makes it sinful to take the mbti or refer to yourself as a introvert/extrovert

 

[Fauken]

I wonder if it makes it sinful to take the mbti or refer to yourself as a introvert/extrovert

Is it sinful for Catholics to ride on rockets or be involved in aeronautics?

Jack Parsons - Wikipedia

Is it a sin to want to be an astronaut because of his influence on rocketry?

 

[BartholomewB]

And don’t read Sherlock Holmes stories! Conan Doyle was a spiritualist who took part in seances.

 

[tomarin]

I don’t think you can say Carl Jung was an occultist (barring some evidence I’m unfamiliar with). He believed all of these spiritual or religious phenomena as well as dreams and myths and hallucinations, etc. were products of our collective unconscious, which is populated by archetypes, so you could say he reduced all religious phenomena to that.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

I don’t think you can say Carl Jung was an occultist (barring some evidence I’m unfamiliar with). He believed all of these spiritual or religious phenomena as well as dreams and myths and hallucinations, etc. were products of our collective unconscious, which is populated by archetypes, so you could say he reduced all religious phenomena to that.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but he didn’t believe these archteypes to be somehow scientifically explainable but attributed them to something supernatural. Whether that was religion or something occult I do not know, and as far as I know he did not comment much on the matter. He was more interested in the phenomenon than in its root origin.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

What does this mean for his psychological foundings or Myer Briggs?

MBTI does not have any foundations in actual psychology. Myers and Briggs had no formal training in psychology. Myers was a recruitment consultant with a degree in political science; Briggs was a schoolteacher with a degree in agriculture. As for Jung, I’d put him in much the same category as Freud and possibly Marx: a groundbreaking thinker whose ideas are of considerable historical interest, but which have limited application in his original field.

The only thing that I know Myers Briggs for is his personality test system, which seems to be pretty much standard fare in the world of corporate recruiting.

Myers Briggs was not a man! Myers was Isabel Briggs Myers and Briggs was her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs.

I think I am right in saying that you are also from the UK. Someone from the US will be able to clarify this, but it’s my understanding that a 2005 case in the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit called Karraker v. Rent-a-Center found that it is prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for employers to use psychological personality tests prior to an offer of employment.

 

[Irishmom2]

OP, read this.

Personality Puzzler: Is There Any Science Behind Myers-Briggs? - Knowledge at Wharton

 

[Sarcelle]

My first employer right out of University, back in the late 90s, gave me the Myers Briggs test.

Do employers still do that?

 

[Cirdan_XII]

My first employer right out of University, back in the late 90s, gave me the Myers Briggs test.

Do employers still do that?

I don’t know.

Coming to think of it, the last time I had one was in about 1998 or 1999. So maybe it has indeed gone out of fashion.

 

[Fauken]

Sarcelle:

My first employer right out of University, back in the late 90s, gave me the Myers Briggs test.

Do employers still do that?

I don’t know.

Coming to think of it, the last time I had one was in about 1998 or 1999. So maybe it has indeed gone out of fashion.

At my workplace, we were given a personality test (after being employed), but it wasn’t MBTI.

 

[Sarcelle]

I was actually given two.

My boss told me those two tests gave him a glimpse on how we process information and how we act on it.

It was very informative.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

One of the problems with the test is that as soon as you figure out how it works, you can taylor your answers and so pretend to have the personality they are looking for.

 

[Fauken]

I was actually given two.

My boss told me those two tests gave him a glimpse on how we process information and how we act on it.

It was very informative.

Yeah, our test was quite similar: to basically see our working styles (detail or results oriented, people person or not, etc.). It was very funny to see all of us tech types reviewing our results because we more or less hovered around the same area: detail oriented and not people-person types. The person reviewing our responses asked what we thought about them, and we all said we agreed with the test’s assessment and weren’t surprised.

 

[Sarcelle]

It was very funny to see all of us tech types reviewing our results because we more or less hovered around the same area: detail oriented and not people-person types.

I once volunteered at a hospital. They had me working with patients but I was so bad at it that the hospital immediately transferred me to working in the medical library where I could do simple IT or library work. Got along better with books than with people.

 

[Pattylt]

Medical Technologists are the detailed oriented and tend to not be people persons. Years ago, we were given these tests and there was so little variation it was funny! Only one gal came out as very people oriented so she was given all the party plans for the lab!

If lab techs were otherwise, they’d be nurses…better pay and more power. We much preferred to know patients by their specimens than their faces!

 

[Sarcelle]

I can’t see myself being a doctor. I like science but I don’t have the needed people skills.

 

[CoffeeFanatic]

As someone else said, Myers-Briggs were two different people and I don’t have the first clue whether they were into spiritualism. Whether or not Jung was isn’t something I’m too knowledgeable about either. Psychology isn’t a religion. It’s a social science and what we know regarding it changes as time goes on and as we learn more. What people believed regarding religion and what they put together regarding this topic professionally aren’t necessarily the same thing and it doesn’t have to influence what you believe. Your whole question feels scrupulous.

I’ve had to take the Myers-Briggs test a few times in various university programs. Everywhere I’ve ever worked couldn’t care less what my personality is as long as I’m pleasant, professional, show up, and get my work done. I’m an INFJ. It seems fairly accurate in many ways. I’m probably on the F/T line though. It’s interesting but I take it with a huge grain of salt. I certainly don’t let my ‘personality type’ stop me from doing whatever I feel like doing or box me in. It can be disconcerting to read about your alleged personality type and then feel called out though.

 

[Pattylt]

I think it depends on the type of doctor. Our Pathologists were excellent doctors with no patients per say… they mostly work with other doctors and only see patients passed out on a surgical table. That’s my kind of doctor!