Introduction
Carl Jung’s theory of personality is among the most common approaches to personality studies. The theory argued that there are certain types of personality that affect the way people feel, think, and behave. Jung’s writings became the foundation of later typologies of personality. In particular, Jungian theory appealed to Myers-Briggs, who built on it to develop the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality instrument. This instrument is widely used in modern psychology and sociology. The MBTI, as well as Jungian theory, provides a useful insight into the personality and allows for a better understanding of people’s motivations and behaviors. The present paper will apply Jung’s theory of personality and the MBTI to Madame C. J. Walker, a famous African American entrepreneur, with the goal of discussing both approaches to personality studies.
Jung’s Theoretical Approach
Jung’s theory is rather broad and encompasses various aspects of psychoanalysis. According to Engler (2013), Jung believed that personality is a network of interacting systems, which include the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The interactions between these systems affected the person’s psychological types. Psychological types, in turn, included three sets of dichotomous attitudes and functions. The two possible attitudes defined by Jung were extraversion and introversion, whereas the functions included sensation and intuition, as well as thinking and feeling (Engler, 2013). Based on this typology, it is possible to examine Madame C. J. Walker from the perspective of Jung’s theoretical approach.
First of all, Madame C. J. Walker was extroversive rather than introversive. Extroverts, in Jungian theory, are people whose psyche is oriented outward (Cloninger, 2013). They are usually good at communication and are comfortable in the company of other people. The first set of functions os sensation and intuition. Sensors, by Jung, tend to use facts and rely on their senses, whereas intuitive personalities look for relationships and meanings (Engler, 2013). Here, Madame C. J. Walker appears to be a sensor, as she had to rely on concrete data to be more successful in business. However, it is difficult to assess this function based on historical information alone. The last functions are thinking and feeling. Given Walker’s altruism and experience in social activism, it is most likely that she felt strongly for disadvantaged people and thus had a more developed feeling function.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The MBTI typology instrument is largely based on Carl Jung’s theory and seeks to place people into one of the 16 personality types based on their attitudes and functions. The MBTI includes the attitudes and functions listed by Jung, while also adding a judging/perceiving domain. Thus, there are 16 combinations of attitudes and functions, representing 16 personality types. The main advantages of the MBTI are that it is easy to use and accessible both to the public and to professionals. It also appears to be rather accurate. For instance, Madame C. J. Walker could probably be described as ESFJ, which reflects an extroversive, sensory, feeling, and judging personality. This personality type is consistent with her professional life, as well as her activism in social and political matters. However, the MBTI has some drawbacks. As noted by Myers (2016), while Jung’s personality types were rather broad and allowed for individuation, the MBTI types are rigid and fail to account for individual differences between people, as well as for changes in certain traits or functions over time.
The setting in which Madame C. J. Walker lived presented numerous ethical issues that would have affected the use of MBTI. First of all, racial discrimination and sexism were still prevalent at the time. Thus, using personality typology extensively could have created more difficulties for specific groups of people. Also, the security of information was a significant ethical concern at the time. Today, testing can be done online. In Walker’s time, however, the use of manual testing would create opportunities for misuse of personal information. Based on the information above, the MBTI has certain disadvantages. First of all, it does not allow for sufficient individuation and attempts to place people in rigid personality types rather than act as a guideline for explaining human behavior (Myers, 2016). Moreover, the use of this tool at Walker’s time would be affected by the contemporary ethical issues. Therefore, using it to assess the personality of this historical figure is inefficient. Although Madame C. J. Walker appears to be an ESFJ personality type, this might not be accurate because the MBTI does not take into account the changes to her character and personality that occurred over time, instead of focusing on the general image. Using the instrument for assessing living persons would ensure its reliability and efficacy.
Conclusion
Overall, Jung’s theory of personality provides useful insight into people’s behaviors and attitudes. This theory is rather broad and allows to view people individually, improving the reliability of the analysis. The MBTI, on the other hand, has many drawbacks and does not help to explain individual differences among people. Therefore, using the instrument for assessing a historical figure is inefficient and unreliable.
References
Cloninger, S. (2013). Theories of personality: Understanding persons (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Engler, B. (2014). Personality theories (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Myers, S. (2016). Myers-Briggs typology and Jungian individuation. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 61(3), 289-308.