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CHAPTER 9 • Foundations of Individual Behavior 295
assessment uses four dimensions of personality to identify 16 different personality types
based on the responses to an approximately 100-item questionnaire. The MBTI personality
assessment is used by some 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies. 22
The 16 personality types are based on four dimensions:
• Extraversion versus Introversion (EI)
▪ ▪ The EI dimension describes an individual’s orientation toward the external world of the
environment (E) or the inner world of ideas and experiences (I).
• Sensing versus Intuition (SN)
▪ ▪ The SN dimension indicates an individual’s preference for gathering data while focusing
on a standard routine based on factual data (S) to focusing on the big picture and making
connections among the facts (N).
• Thinking versus Feeling (TF)
▪ ▪ The TF dimension reflects one’s preference for making decisions in a logical and analyti-
cal manner (T) or on the basis of values and beliefs and the effects the decision will have
on others (F).
• Judging versus Perceiving (JP)
▪ ▪ The JP dimension reflects an attitude toward how one deals with the external world—either
in a planned and orderly way (J) or preferring to remain flexible and spontaneous (P). 23
Let’s give you some examples:
• ISTJ (Introversion - Sensing - Thinking - Judging)—quiet, serious, dependable, practical,
and matter-of-fact
• ESFP (Extraversion - Sensing - Feeling - Perceiving)—outgoing, friendly, spontaneous,
enjoys working with others, and learns best by trying a new skill with other people
• INFP (Introversion - Intuition - Feeling - Perceiving)—idealistic, loyal to personal values,
and seeks to understand people and help them fulfill their potential
• ENTJ (Extraversion - Intuition - Thinking - Judging)—frank, decisive, and will assume leader-
ship roles; also enjoys long-term planning and goal setting and is forceful in presenting ideas 24

How can the MBTI assessment help managers? Proponents believe that it’s important to
know these personality types because they influence the way people interact and solve prob-
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lems. For example, if your boss prefers Intuition and you’re a Sensing type, you’ll deal with
information in different ways. An Intuition preference indicates your boss is one who prefers
gut reactions, whereas you, as a Sensing type, prefer to deal with the facts. To work well with
your boss, you have to present more than just facts about a situation—you’ll also have to
discuss your gut feeling about the situation. The MBTI assessment has also been found to be
useful in focusing on growth orientations for entrepreneurial types as well as profiles support-
ing emotional intelligence (something we’ll look at shortly). 26

What is the Big Five Model oF personality? Another way of viewing person-
ality is through a five-factor model of personality—more typically called the Big Five
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model. The Big Five factors are:

1 extraversion A personality dimension that describes the degree to which
someone is sociable, talkative, and assertive.
2 agreeableness A personality dimension that describes the degree to which
someone is good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.
3 conscientiousness A personality dimension that describes the degree to
which someone is responsible, dependable, persistent, and
achievement oriented.
4 emotional stability A personality dimension that describes the degree to which
someone is calm, enthusiastic, and secure (positive) or
tense, nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative). Big Five model
A personality trait model that examines five traits:
5 openness to experience A personality dimension that describes the degree to which extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
someone is imaginative, artistically sensitive, and intellectual. emotional stability, and openness to experience