evolution of the jung's typology and the myers-briggs type indicator - white paper
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©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD., & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Striving Styles® Personality System
www.StrivingStyles.com
Striving Styles®
Personality
System
The Next Evolution of Jung’s
Typology and the Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator®
More than 100 years from the inception of Jung’s Psychological
Type Theory and 70 years after the release of the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator, the Striving Styles Personality System is the
next step in this evolutionary process. It is a complete
assessment and development system that is based in the
neurobiology of personality development. It incorporates the
pioneering work of experts in brain functioning and
development as well as emotional intelligence.
Like Myers & Briggs, another mother and daughter team, Anne
Dranitsaris, Ph.D. and Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard, have
created the Striving Styles to show people the true mechanics
of their minds, so they can direct how it functions and how they
feel -- as Jung intended with his work!
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 2 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
Jung theorized that
there are four
principal psychological
functions by which we
experience the world:
sensation, intuition,
feeling, and thinking.
One of these four
functions is dominant
and we use it most of
the time. It is used in
either an inwardly or
outwardly fashion.
This paper discusses the Striving Styles® Personality System as the
third step in the evolution of psychological type theory and its many
applications. It builds on Jung’s theory as well as the pioneering work of
Myers, Briggs and all of the practitioners that have contributed to the body
of knowledge surrounding the MBTI®. In addition, it integrates the work of
top theorists of the 20th and 21st centuries, on psychological development
and emotional intelligence, as well as recent findings from neuroscience. It
shows how psychological functions are embedded in our physiology and
linked to our emotions. Most importantly, it gives people the wisdom and
power they need to self-actualize by re-patterning their brains.
The Theory: Jung’s Psychological
Type Theory
Psychological type is a theory of personality developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl
Jung to explain the innate differences in the behaviors, choices and forms of
expression in healthy people. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Jung not only
investigated psychological disorders or mental illness, but attempted to determine
the basis for healthy psychological order in the human psyche. Jung inferred that
people operate from different psychological frameworks and orientations, which
are identifiable through observation and that we have physiological, inborn
preferences for processing our experiences and interacting with the world.
Jung opened new ways of thinking about people and
the behaviors with which people would respond in
normal circumstances. He described behavioral
predictability and provided a way to make reasonable
assessments about people’s differences in ideas,
responses, and behaviors. He theorized that we have
four different “functions” in our consciousness, and
that the four functions are on two polar scales; two
functions for “perceiving” (or gathering information),
and two functions for “judging” (or making decisions).
Jung also believed that individuals have a preference
for using one of the functions on each of the scales, and
that it seemed like one of these two functions will be
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 3 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
The Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator is a
psychometric
questionnaire
designed to measure
inborn, psychological
preferences in how
people gather
information & make
decisions, inferred
from Jung’s typology
theory.
favored the most. He also theorized that people used these functions in either an
extraverted or outwardly-directed fashion, or an introverted or inwardly directed
fashion. He referred to the directional aspect as “attitudes in consciousness.”
Based on this model, Jung defined eight different functional patterns of
behavior, or “types” with predictable patterns of behavior.
Jung described the behaviors and motivations of these eight different functions in
his book, Psychological Types (1921), through characterizations of people who
habitually prefer one pattern over another – his “eight types.” Jung's theory of
psychological types attempts to categorize people in terms of their primary modes
of psychological/mental functioning, assuming that we all have different functions
and attitudes of consciousness.
The Assessment: Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator
The MBTI was the first effective tool for sorting the eight Jungian functions into
the most to least favorite. It was created by Isabel Briggs-Myers and her mother,
Katherine Briggs in the early 1940s to make Jung’s theory useful for a more
mainstream audience.
The original focus of the assessment was careers, as Briggs tried to help
people select occupations that were best suited to their personality types
during and following WWII. She believed this would help them lead
healthier, happier lives.
Myers and Briggs created the MBTI based on four
dichotomous scales, adding two new scales -
Extroversion/Introversion and Judging/Perceiving - to
Jung’s original two function scales (judging functions:
Thinking and Feeling, and perceiving functions:
Intuition and Sensing) to make their psychometric
instrument work.
As well, they replaced psychological type with
personality type to make it palatable to people of that
time. The MBTI soon found its place in organizations,
because unlike Jung’s theory, it did not discuss emotions
or mental dysfunctions, or use other psychological
words that would cause it to be rejected.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 4 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
In the MBTI language, there are four dichotomous scales rather than the two
that Jung identified. This differed from Jung’s language, which identified the
attitude the function operated in, and the mental process of the function.
While Jung identified 8 psychological types, the MBTI identifies 16 personality types.
Myers and Briggs, the authors of the test, was determined to make
Jung’s Psychological Type theory useable in daily life. To do this, they
departed from Jung in some significant ways. Jung’s Theory
incorporated the notion of development and individuation, however, the
MBTI did not. It is solely a psychometric instrument.
The body of research and writing that gives credibility to the MBTI is
based on the ongoing contributions of psychologists, consultants,
coaches, trainers and facilitators who have integrated it into training
and development programs, counseling, career counseling, leadership,
team and employee development, culture, etc. The success of the
application of the results of the MBTI is dependent upon their programs.
Adapting Jung’s Theory & the MBTI to
Advances in Neuroscience
Jung believed we have four mental functions in consciousness, meaning that our
brain has four distinct areas in which these functions are located. During Jung’s
lifetime, his theory was impossible to prove, as the technological advances that
allow us to look at the brain to see how it lights up when the functions are used
simply did not exist. However, we now have this information available to us and
pioneers like Katherine Benziger, Arlene Taylor and others have endeavored to
connect Jung’s functions with brain functions.
As the SSPS incorporates the neuroscience of personality and brain
development, it allows us to leverage what we have learned through the
MBTI. As a result, we can now enhance our ability to understand and
help others achieve their potential.
Jung did not have access to brain specialization research, as it had not yet taken
place during his lifetime. As a result, he compared the four functions as being:
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 5 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
“…somewhat like the four points of the compass; they are just as arbitrary and just as
indispensable. Nothing prevents our shifting the cardinal points as many degrees as
we like in one direction or the other, or giving them different names….”
(C.G. Jung, Psychological Types)
The work that has been done by people such as Roger Sperry and Ned Hermann
show us that the brain has two hemispheres with two areas of specialization on
each hemisphere. This results in four quadrants. Rather than the points on the
compass, we have the four quadrants of the
brain, each with their own role to play in our
personality and in consciousness. While Jung
believed they were opposite – and they can
appear that way – each specialized function
is necessary for us to achieve our potential
as human beings.
As we now have learned, our brain is
neurally wired to use one brain function
over the others. The functions are also wired
to communicate with each other over time.
The functions are a physiological reality, and
studies by Dr. Arlene Taylor have supported Jung’s hypothesis that we can
experience energy depletion and fatigue when we use our other mental functions
for too long. Jung went so far as to say that it could be psychologically detrimental
to our well being when our environment does not support us in the use of our
dominant function; he called this “falsification of type.”
Now that we have embraced the developments in brain specialization
and dominance and incorporated them into the SSPS, people are now
able to gain more insight into how their brains work and take charge of
their own development.
Finally, everyone dedicated to using Jung’s Psychological Type theory, the
MBTI and other Jungian sorters can integrate the advantages of brain
science and neuroplasticity. With the SSPS, personality type becomes
something that everyone must know about, not just a fun activity, or
something comparable to astrology.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 6 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
Jung’s intention was to help people by recognizing the complexity of
human psychology. Through the Striving Styles, we hope to facilitate
Jung’s Theory of Psychological Type to meet its own potential by
illuminating the dynamic nature of the mind and consciousness.
Incorporating advances in neuroscience and brain development and
linking back to Jung’s theory of mental functions, the Striving Styles
provides a complete understanding of the mechanics of the mind and
how the brain is organized for each of the eight psychological types or
Striving Styles.
The SSPS allows us to go beyond sorting Jung’s functions with an
assessment tool as it is a comprehensive assessment and development
system, with a Roadmap for Development that provides a step-by-step
approach for achieving potential by integrating the four functions of the
brain based on the specific needs of each Striving Style.
SSPS: Time for an Evolution!
It’s time for us to build on the knowledge base of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
and to show people the true mechanics of their minds, so they can direct how it
functions and how they feel -- as Jung intended with his work. If we understand
the brain, particularly our own brain, we can direct and influence how it functions
and how we feel.
The Striving Styles brings Jung's eight psychological types to life, connecting each
type to the psychological need that must be met to ensure the well-being and
growth of the individual. Each of the eight Striving Styles has its own unique
qualities based on the quadrant of the brain it resides in. These qualities are
obvious to others, in the way they behave, communicate and relate. The distinct
talents, abilities and behaviors of each of the Striving Styles ensure that they get
their predominant need met.
The SSPS is based on the assertion that each of us is born with a
predominant need and pattern of energy (Striving Style) that determines
how we will behave in order to get that need met.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 7 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
With this neuro-psychological framework, practitioners quickly get to the heart of
what is driving client behavior so they can expedite their development and
behavioral change. Understanding the function of the part of the brain that each
Style originates from, and what its predominant need is, enables us to identify how
clients will behave at their most confident and when they feel threatened. It also
shows which situations will satisfy the Style’s need and which will thwart it.
Unlike the MBTI, the Striving Styles isn’t just about sorting preferences and giving
you a four letter code. It is a user-friendly system, taking Jung’s functions and
evolving them into characters that are so simple that even children can identify
and use them.
“Our ten year old grand-daughter / niece, a Socializer Striving
Style, knows that if she isn’t connected to friends or spends too
much time on her own, she becomes manipulative in order to get
attention. She can see that when she is only focused on her need to
connect with others, that other areas of her life suffer. She could
not understand the Jungian language of extraverted feeling or
introverted intuition – in our experience, neither do most people.
The most exciting thing about the SSPS is that it is easy to get to
know, easy to understand, and easy to apply.” – Anne & Heather
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 8 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
Each of us has four quadrants in our brain that are meant to work in an
integrated fashion. We call it your ‘Striving Style Squad’.
Neuroscience has shown that when this integration does not happen, we become
rigid and inflexible in thought and action. It also shows that it leads to physical and
mental illness, including dementia (Alzheimer’s). The SSPS teaches how to use all
four functions of the brain in a step-by-step approach to development leading to a
healthy brain and self-actualizing human being.
Getting to know each of the Striving Styles goes hand in hand with getting to know
your brain. This makes it easy for clients to recognize what quadrant of the brain
they are acting from and to be able to shift. They learn what makes them tick,
including information on the part of the brain where their Predominant Style is
located, and what types of activities it is therefore oriented toward. It helps them
understand their relationship style, which includes aspects of their
communication style, and their social and emotional orientation.
Most importantly, it teaches them about their need satisfiers, which includes the
“must have” activities that satisfy their predominant need, how they are likely to
behave if they are self-protective and how they behave if they are self-actualizing.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 9 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
With the SSPS, we can go below the surface, to get in and talk about
emotions and defensive behavior. SSPS Practitioner training teaches
those skilled with using the MBTI the mechanics of the mind, how the
brain works and how behavior is a result of an attempt to satisfy
psychological needs.
It’s exciting to think that those who are working with the development of
personality can now increase their awareness of the brain, personality
development, defenses and emotions through the Striving Styles.
The Need for a Neuro-Psychological
Approach
We now know so much about the brain and emotional maturation. Most working
with human development have fallen behind neuroscience and psychology in
terms of the approaches being used to help people develop. Jung’s theory of
psychological type is still as relevant as ever as it can now be connected to brain
lateralization theory and brain physiology. When integrated with an
understanding of psychological need and brain development, it gives us the key to
expediting development and unlocking human potential.
The Striving Styles Personality System is the first, comprehensive, neuro-
psychological framework for learning how a person’s cognitive functions are
organized in their brain and which of the functions is hard wired from birth to be
used to meet the psychological needs of the self. It shows how behavior is used to
get the need of the function met.
The SSPS is a way of understanding the more dynamic and interpersonal
aspects of an individual’s personality and how their needs and emotions
cause shifts in behavior.
The Striving Styles is a complete development system that that incorporates Jung’s
Psychological Type Theory, Emotional and Social Intelligence, Needs Theory,
Mindfulness and the latest advances in brain development and neuroplasticity as
it relates to emotional development. It provides people with a structured and
systematic approach to developing the quadrants of the brain and the integration
of the functions – just as Jung intended.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 10 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
Using recent findings in how the human brain develops during the lifespan, it
shows the stages of development of our three brains based on Roger Sperry’s
Triune Brain Theory (instinctual, emotional and rational) and how failures in
childhood nurturing and
environmental factors can lead
to maladaptive patterns of
behavior in adulthood. It states
that these maladaptive patterns
of behavior are emotionally
driven and get in the way of
brain development and
achieving one’s potential.
It promotes the premise that
automatic maladaptive patterns of behavior that get the predominant need met
and ensure psychological survival will get in the way of development. It states that
these maladaptive behavioral patterns can be changed and new neural pathways
in the brain can be laid as a result of choosing different behaviors and having
different experiences.
In other words, by understanding the psychological need that must be
met, individuals can consciously seek to meet their predominant need in
their work, relationships and leisure activities. This increases self-
awareness and self-mastery, putting people in the “driver’s seat” in their
lives and helping them actively develop their true potential, rather than
simply surviving.
Not Just an Assessment
\
We know that assessment is only the first step. The SSPS provides
individuals with a step-by-step guide for developing their brain, their
personality and their potential.
Development of the personality and changing behavior is possible but it’s not as
easy as swallowing a pill or having an “A-ha” moment. Our brains are capable of
changing from emotionally-driven automatic behaviors, to creating new patterns
of behavior and new pathways in the brain. Rather than just a list of tips and
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 11 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
things to do, the SSPS Developmental Framework focuses on brain development
and emotional maturation.
Building on the work of pioneers in emotional and social intelligence such as
Daniel Goleman and Daniel Siegel, the Developmental Framework teaches
individuals how they grow and mature emotionally. It includes five essential
building blocks needed for people to become who they are meant to be, based on
their own innate brain organization. Each of the building blocks helps them to:
work through barriers to growth; mature their emotions, and change reactive
habits of mind. The Framework provides individuals and practitioners alike with
all the tools needed for emotional and relational development.
The SSPS’ comprehensive Roadmap for
Development lets individuals chart a course for their
own development by helping them first to
understand how their brain is organized and what
part of their brain they need to develop. It also shows
how unmet needs cause shifts in behavior that get in
the way of achieving a person’s goals and, most
importantly, what they can do about it.
As a complete system for development, the SSPS
uniquely offers practitioners a clear path for
facilitating client development based on brain
organization. It allows practitioners to generate a
roadmap for their clients' growth based on
understanding the more dynamic aspects of their
brain, emotions, behavior, and personality. It
provides them with the activities and experiences
necessary in order for their client to repattern their
brain for sustained behavioral change.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 12 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
The Striving Styles Personality System was developed by Toronto-based
clinical psychotherapist, corporate therapist and author, Anne
Dranitsaris, PhD, and her business partner, Heather Dranitsaris-
Hilliard, a sought-after speaker and expert in organizational
development and behavioral change.
Like Myers and Briggs, Anne and Heather are also a mother and
daughter team who have more than 50 years of combined experience
helping clients to develop to their full potential and working with leaders
in organizations to alleviate dysfunctions and bring about behavioral
change.
They bring a unique perspective to the nature vs. nurture debate. At
birth, Heather was given up for adoption by Anne. They reunited 27
years later to find they were both working to help people to achieve their
potential – just in different forums. They started their first business
three years later and have been working together ever since.
Creators of the SSPS
Having spent many years using the MBTI in our work with individuals as well as
organizations, we knew first hand its limitations. We started using other
assessments in combination with the MBTI as part of our development programs
aimed at creating significant behavioral change. We found ourselves building
customized reports for clients to help them to really understand the drivers of
their behavior and the self-protective strategies being used as a result of their
needs and emotions. For many, this was cost prohibitive, leaving them without the
tools they needed to break patterns of behavior that were getting in the way.
In 2007, our belief in the need for something
that would help people to really understand
why they behave the way they do led us to
create an assessment and development
system of our own with the same type of
substantial reports we had been customizing
for our clients. We had conducted an
exhaustive search and could not find an
assessment or approach that was inclusive
of a developmental framework or that would truly shed light on what was behind
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 13 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
the behavior which was seemingly counter to what was in a person's best
interests. We wanted something that would be useful for our clients in a range of
applications, as well as for ourselves, in our own lives, as well as for our children.
We wanted a system that considered the full human experience —
emotions, behavior and personality – and showed people how to develop.
Using the most up-to-date research on how different parts of the brain function
and the role of emotions in learning and development, we combined this
information with Psychological Type, Needs and Brain Dominance theories, and
Mindfulness – amongst others - to create the Striving Styles Personality System, or
SSPS. After using the system successfully in our consulting business and personal
lives, we decided to bring the Striving Styles to a wider human development
practitioner market as well as to the general public.
The Striving Styles brings Jung's eight psychological types
to life, connecting each Style to the psychological need that
must be met. With this neuro-psychological framework, you
quickly get to the heart of what is driving behavior so you
can expedite development. The Striving Styles Personality
System provides individuals and practitioners alike with a
way to easily understand and leverage brain functioning.
It provides people with the specific tools to re-cast
their motivations and re-pattern their brains, and to consciously influence
how they behave in order to live happy, successful and fulfilled lives.
“We are excited to bring the SSPS to the market and to continue to use Jung’s
psychological types, as well as enhance the use of the MBTI. There are so many out
there who could benefit personally and professionally. It is our deepest hope that the
Striving Styles Personality System will fill the void, helping people to stop adapting
and begin to pursue their own path to becoming who they are meant to be.”
- Anne & Heather -
Learn more about the Striving Styles and how to put this powerful neuro-
psychological framework for development and achieving potential to work for
you or your clients. Build on your knowledge of personality type, and enhance
your ability to develop others by becoming a Striving Styles Qualified
Practitioner. Leverage our consulting expertise for your organization.
The SSPS®: An Evolution of Jung’s Psychological Type and the MBTI
©2013 Anne Dranitsaris, PhD. & Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard Page 14 of 14 Striving Styles® Personality System | www.StrivingStyles.com
MBTI®, Myers-Briggs, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the MBTI® logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and are used under license.
Striving Styles®, SSPS, Who Are You Meant to Be? and the SSPS logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sage, Kahuna Enterprises Inc. in Canada, the United States and other countries.