I don’t claim to be an MBTI expert by any stretch, but I did plod my way through Myers’ book, and there are a few little details that tend to throw people off if they haven’t really studied the system.  I’m going to try to clarify those here without getting all “scholarly” on you.

MBTI stands for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  It is what the “average Joe” would refer to as a “personality typing system,” and its purpose is to determine in which order you innately/naturally prefer to use a given set of functions to interact with yourself and the world around you.  Where it gets a little tricky is that the set of four letters that indicate your type don’t necessarily mean what you might think at first glance!  Here are the things I think you might need to know:

1. Every function is part of a balanced “pair.”

Not only does Sensing, for instance, match up with Intuition, but they match up with the opposite “-version.”  So Introverted Sensing is balanced by Extroverted Intuition, and vice versa.  (Nobody is a complete introvert or complete extrovert!  We all have to interact with both ourselves and with the things and people around us.)

2. The first and second letters don’t go together.

This is the most confusing thing, in my opinion.  One would think that the four letters that indicate your type are the top four functions, but that’s not how it works.  The first and third letters go together.  The second letter is secondary.

As an ENTJ, I am not extroverted intuitive.  I’m an extroverted thinker.  (I don’t understand why they set it up that way, but that is how it works.)

My secondary function is introverted intuition — because the secondary function is always introverted if the primary is extroverted.  (And, likewise, if the primary is introverted, the secondary is extroverted.  Because God made sure we can all function in life!  If this balance is not present, it’s considered a dysfunction, not a healthy, normal combination.)

3. If you’re an “introvert first,” your primary function might not be completely obvious.

Because your primary function as an “introvert first” is not how you interface with the world, your secondary function might be the more obvious/better-recognized.  That doesn’t mean it’s more dominant; just that it’s more visible.  Don’t let that throw you off!