The Hierarchy of Preferences in Jungian Psychological Type: Comparing Theory to Evidence

Jungian Psychological Type is the foundation of many modern theories of personality. Many aspects of the theory have yet to be explored with empirical research, one area in particular being the theory behind the hierarchy of preferences, which is important because the Types are classified by the order of their preferred functions. A latent class analysis technique was applied to the eight ranked function-attitude scores of 5,247 participants who took the Majors Personality Type IndicatorTM (PTI) and Majors Personality Type ElementsTM (PTE) assessments. The superior, auxiliary, and tertiary preferences of the latent classes were examined so that the nature of the relationships amongst the three preferences could be observed. Results show that the superior/auxiliary preferences were consistently opposite in process (one rational and one irrational)—but not consistently in attitude. Not only did the superior/auxiliary/tertiary preferences exhibit complementary relationships to one another, the tertiary function was never antagonistic to the auxiliary or superior preference. Remarkably, the superior and inferior functions were antagonistic to one another in 46 out of the 47 classes that resulted from the analysis. Thus, the outcomes support Jung’s theory but also present evidence against other popular Type theories. The resulting profiles support the hypothesis that there may be more than 8 or 16 Types, which holds implications for the practical application of the Type theory as well as the classification and assessment of Psychological Type. A model for a systemic conceptualization of the hierarchy is presented and suggestions for future research are proposed.

Author

• Barimany, Mina Elena

Language

• en

Keyword

• Hierarchy of Preferences
• Psychological Type
• Jung
• Human Development
• Majors PTI/PTE
• MBTI

Date created

• 2017

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Counseling

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Lanthier, Richard P

Committee Member(s)

• Megivern, Monica M
• Bennett, Angelina
• Ruth, Richard
• Dannels, Sharon A
• Dardick, William R
• Majors, Mark M

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/ff365533x