A validation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator on Black high school children

M.A.The Myers Briggs Type® Indicator is a personality assessment instrument, which is based on the ideas of the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, and was developed by a mother-daughter team. Isabel Briggs Myers and Katherine Briggs dedicated their lives to type watching and perfecting their instrument. The notion of type became a focal point in the lives of these two women but especially Isabel Briggs Myers whose wish was that people recognise and understand their own, as well as others' uniqueness. By appreciating each other's "gifts", it was her deepest desire that people would be happy and effective in what they did. The MBTI® is used extensively throughout the world in many fields such as education, career guidance, family therapy, conflict resolutions in the business world, team-building etc. In South Africa the MBTI® is relatively new but has secured a very strong position amongst therapists, counselors, educationalists and business. With the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, opportunities were open to all race groups. The South African society is both complex and diverse, bringing with it difficulties in adaptation, making sound career choices and developing mature career identities. The loss of opportunity and exposure during the apartheid era has created contradictions and uncertainty for many young black adolescents who must make career choices. In completing the MBTI® and the SDS questionnaires it is hoped that the young adolescent will have a better understanding of him or herself and that he or she would be guided in making sound career choices that will lead to a fuller and satisfying life. The purpose of this study is to validate the MBTI® in the context of career guidance against the Self-Directed Search; an instrument developed by John Holland as a means of operationalising his theory of Careers. There were 125 subjects in this research sample who were chosen from a group of predominantly black school children who came from a disadvantaged background and who were recognised as having the potential for tertiary education, specifically at university level. The study discusses the findings of the MBTI® types and SDS. The results are elaborated in terms of the influence of other possible variables