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You’ve read the article, “Determining Another’s Myers-Briggs Type: Extraversion vs. Introversion”, and have practiced Type-watching every day for the past week.  You’re very confident that your colleague is an extravert and you’re an introvert.  You want to communicate more effectively with them, but aren’t sure how to do that.  Welcome to the applied concept of “Type-flexing”.  Type-flexing is the purposeful and temporary alignment of your communication style with another’s. 

Type-flexing is similar to “mirroring”, a term you’ll often hear in social psychology and sales, but can be more accurate and authentic.  When Type-flexing, you don’t just mirror another’s

“There is no such thing as a pure extravert or a pure introvert.  Such a man would be in a lunatic asylum.  Those are only terms to designate a certain penchant, a certain tendency.” -Carl Jung

Similar to the other three dimensions of the Myers-Briggs, the ease and speed with which a Type-watcher can identify another’s preference for extraversion or introversion depends on two key factors: Context and Clarity.  It’s easy to mistake most people as extraverts when introducing you to their family, talking about their children, or sharing a favorite childhood memory.  We naturally adjust our behavior as the context of our environment (both outer and inner) demands an adjustment.  Everyone has a home base, however.&nbs

It is not uncommon to find a LinkedIn post or news article that criticizes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® for being ‘unreliable’, ‘not predictive’, and ‘not useful’.  These posts are abundant and often written out of context, lack factual evidence, and are commonly based on the writer’s poor personal experience of the instrument.  For the untrained reader and newer MBTI® students, critical articles about the MBTI® can cause them confusion at the very least, and at the very worst derail their confidence in the instrument.  Below, we provide some clarity on three common misconceptions of the MBTI®.

Misconception #1: The Myers-Briggs is a “test”.

Reality: The word “test” indicates “right” or “wrong” base