Medical 2 Intro History

As early as 1923, Dr. Carl Jung, considered the father of contemporary psychological type and temperament, set the foundation for classifying personality and behaviour styles in his book, Psychological Type.

Hippocrates, Plato and other ancient writers had long studied behaviour classification. Jung’s work developed those theories of differing systems and analyses into the cornerstone of what we know today as personality type or style.

Jung’s book on type was the culmination of twenty years of research and included an extensive historical review of literature, mythology, philosophy and psychopathology. Having worked as a psychiatrist, Jung wrote that his thoughts had taken shape from the countless impressions and experiences he received from his clients.

In authoring his book, Jung said, he had become a critic of his own psychological peculiarities. He had come to believe that all people are different in fundamental ways although they all have the same multitude of instincts driving them from within. What seemed to be most important, he said, were the psychological preferences for how we function.

Following in Jung’s footsteps, Isabel Briggs-Myers and David Keirsey have recognized the importance of differences in preferred styles.

Isabel Briggs-Myers, along with her mother, Katherine Briggs, in working with the Jungian model, developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an assessment tool to measure personality style and type.

The Myers-Briggs system classifies personality into sixteen different types. It is used in many environments today, from within the corporate climate to educational institutions and by professionals engaged in counselling, consulting and/or training and education.

David Keirsey, drawing on the theoretical contributions of Jung, Kretschmer, Adler, Sullivan, Maslow, Fromm and Spranger, developed his Keirsey Temperament Model. His model utilizes the four personality temperaments: the Artisan, the Guardian, the Idealist and the Rational. Keirsey’s work is known and popularized through, Please Understand Me, a book he co-authored with Marilyn Bates. Keirsey also published, Portraits of Temperament, 1987 and Please Understand Me II in 1998.

The PRI system is based on the Jungian model and incorporates concepts from MBTI and Keirsey. The model blends the best of all psychological and temperament research as well as research and knowledge on emotional intelligence.

The ease of understanding for use in all human relationships and interactions makes this model very functional, useful and easy to apply to relational and communication areas.

The PRI Model provides the foundation for human performance applications that result in personal and professional growth, as well as organizational systemic change. This application incorporates the Jungian concepts of Extraversion and Introversion and of Shadow energy.

History of

Personality Identification