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Find out more about the history of MRA Profiling
Is Personality Profiling legal?
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The MRA Leadership Matrix®
and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®
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The MRA Leadership Matrix (MRA) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) are both used by
business managers as decision-support tools for hiring, career development and team-building.
People often ask if the two instruments are equivalent in their results and their usefulness.
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Contents
The Original Thinkers: Freud, Jung and Marston
Putting the theory to work: Myers, Clark, Menzies
Developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Developing the MRA Leadership Matrix
The Theoretical Divide
Using the Tools
Ease of Use
Comparing the Results
Conclusion
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To answer the question, we should look at the theoretical basis of each instrument,
its history and what it measures. We should also look at what efforts and expenses are
entailed in administering and deriving reports from each one.
The Original Thinkers
The MBTI is based on the work of Carl Gustav Jung. Jung was a disciple of Freud and
developed a complex psychological theory which was less focused on sex than Freud's.
Jung intended to explain both the conscious and unconscious forces affecting behavior and
to identify core personality traits that differentiate people. As a medical doctor working
in the analytic tradition begun by Freud, he looked for explanations of the "inner core"
of personality that first appears just after birth. He also sought an explanation for the
qualities of human art and literature, particularly myths and symbols used through the
ages as people tried to understand their experience. His theories were designed to
explain how abnormal, as well as normal, behavioral adjustments occur.
The MRA Leadership Matrix is based on the work of Dr. William Marston, a Harvard psychologist.
Marston recognized that the work of Freud and Jung was largely based on the study of abnormal
psychology. Marston felt that more attention should be paid to the psychological and behavioral
traits of normal people, which would serve as a baseline psychological understanding. Marston
intended to explain how normal human emotions lead to behavioral differences among people, as
well as to changes in a person's behavioral tendencies over time. His work focused on finding
practical explanations which would help people understand and manage their experience in the
world. He also related his ideas to issues in interpersonal relationships.
Putting Theory to Work
World War II caused enormous changes in the way Americans worked. The demands of the war
created a drive to become more efficient in every way. Women came into the business and
industrial work force in unprecedented numbers. After the war it became clear that the changes
were permanent and so a crucial question became "How can we work more effectively, more
efficiently and more humanely with other individuals in this new world?" The MRA Leadership
Matrix and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator were developed to provide useful answers to the question.
Developing the MBTI
Isabel Myers and her mother, Katherine Briggs turned to the work of Jung who, in 1921,
published "Psychological Types." Jung developed a typology for explaining human behavior -
both normal and abnormal. The essential ingredients of Jung's model are:
- Individuals are predisposed to pay more attention to either the external world
of objects or the inner world of ideas and feelings. Thus, they exhibit either
extraversion or introversion.
- Individuals naturally prefer to use one of two functions for gathering
information - either sensing what the objective facts are or intuiting relationships
and possibilities. One is grounded in reality, the other in imagination.
- How individuals process and evaluate information depends on their preference for
thinking versus feeling. The first approach is based on logic and objectivity, and
the second is based on subjectivity and personal values.
Myers and Briggs added to Jung's three dimensions a "judging-perceiving" scale, which is designed to
measure one's attitude toward the "outer world" - i.e., how people manage their lives.
Myers and Briggs created a psychological test to measure where the individual stands on these four
scales. The MBTI instrument generates sixteen distinct personality profiles based on which side of
the four scales one tends toward. A large set of interpretive materials has been created to explain
the implication of each of the sixteen possibilities in various personal, social and business contexts.
Developing the MRA Leadership Matrix
In the late 1940's Walter V. Clarke, a graduate student of William Marston, developed an instrument
called the Activity Vector Analysis that expanded on the work of Marston by applying "Personality"
or behavioral patterns to the work environment. Marston's theory was that, in normal people, at
least four key behavioral traits could be objectively measured by asking people to choose
descriptive words which applied to them.
Marston's original four traits were:
- Dominance: Response to problems and challenges
- Influencing: Ability to influence others to personal point of view
- Steadiness: Response to the pace of the environment
- Compliance: Response to rules and procedures set by others
From measurements of an individual's rating in each trait, a profile could be derived to determine
the suitability of people to various kinds of roles in the workplace. Clark's work, in turn, was
further developed by Charles Menzies who created the MRA Leadership Matrix. Menzies added depth to the
process through enhanced testing techniques and statistical analyses.
Menzies reformulated the four traits as
- Ascendancy (A): Assertive response to challenge
- Sociability (S): Introversion/extroversion
- Emotional Accommodation (E): Emotional response to the environment - active/calm, variety/stability
- Readjustment (R): Degree of adaptive behavior to authority and structured situations
The Theoretical Divide:
Marston sought to explain how people adjust to varying environments by starting with their emotional
response to a given environment and relating this emotional response to behavior. Psychometric
instruments based on his work therefore focus on behavior. Marston's traits were determined by
contingencies (the environment can change for many reasons) and were therefore flexible over time. The traits were, by definition, verifiable
through observed behavior, and there was no attempt to describe any inner processes that did not
affect behavior.
Jung sought to explain why people differ from one another by identifying fundamental, and permanent
personality traits or preferences rooted in biology. Psychometric instruments based on his work
therefore focus on inner processes. These traits were expressed in the individual's preferences in
how to think about, and experience, the outside world. There were understood to be unconscious
constituents of personality which might be hidden from the subject, but might emerge at some future date.
Using the Tools:
Because Marston focused on the individual in relation to the environment, it is appropriate to use
instruments based on Marston to help people understand individual behavior - their own and others' -
in response to a particular situation, such as the responsibilities of a specific profession. Information
from the instruments may be used determine how someone may want to adjust behavior to work more
effectively with others or better adapt to a situation. However, neither the MRA Leadership Matrix
nor the theory behind it evaluates one kind of behavior as preferable to another.
The MRA Leadership Matrix is primarily suited for increasing self-awareness in a setting where
the individual can decide how to use the information in his or her decision-making process and
relations with others. It is also useful for others who may, as managers, co-worker or potential
employers, want to know the behavioral tendencies of an individual so they can provide - when possible -
the most successful environment. Because the outcomes are given to the individual in clear, concise
and positive terms, most individuals fully grasp the application of the information and are happy to
share the information with others.
Because Jung focused on trying to explain individual differences, including a range of normal and
abnormal behavior, it is appropriate to use the Myers-Briggs instrument to help people determine whether
their behavior should change to become more effective. However, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the
theory on which it is based can also be used to identify underdeveloped behavioral strategies that
can be developed to enhance interpersonal effectiveness. The assumption is that more mature persons
bring unconscious elements of their nature into conscious use and try to employ the little-used pairs
of their profile more and more as life goes on.
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is primarily suited to increase self-awareness for the purpose
of getting along with others more effectively. It is also used to identify the source of problems
in relationships with the help of a skilled counselor and to prepare a therapeutic plan for
growth or change. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is available in a self-scored form. However,
greater use is made of forms that must be sent to the publisher to be scored. From the forms,
the publisher is able to develop norms for determining how normal or abnormal a particular
response pattern is, in relation to a reference group.
Ease of Use
Sufficient information is provided in the MRA Leadership Matrix reports to aid the subject
and/or a manager in interpretation. An interviewer or facilitator can also add to the subject's
understanding through a broader knowledge of the theory behind the instrument, useful "war stories",
and a more detailed discussion of individual results. A one-day training program for MRA Leadership
Matrix users (called the Executive Leadership Seminar) is offered to those who wish to administer a
nd interpret the instrument as a manager, trainer, counselor, or consultant.
With the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, little information is provided in the instrument itself
to aid the respondent in interpretation. Most forms of the MBTI are
sent in for scoring; thus the instrument itself is merely a response form. Individuals receive
a computer generated profile and narrative report once the instrument is scored. The report
includes a description of the person's type and descriptions of how indicated preferences
relate to the work setting, communication style and problem-solving style. Group - or
organization - level applications are also available.
Purchasers of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator are required to submit evidence of one or
more college courses in behavioral measurement and complete a three-day training program
on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator.
Comparing the Results
The two instruments were designed, from the outset to measure different things and for
different purposes. It should not be expected that the results should be comparable,
although they may be complimentary.
For example, the MBTI scale of Extraversion vs. Introversion sounds as if it might be
comparable to the MRA scale of high Sociability vs. low Sociability. However, this is
a good example of the two instruments complimenting each other, rather than duplicating
each other.
Extraversion describes the individual's preference in getting information, e.g. the
extravert prefers to get information from the outside world rather than from inner
feelings and ideas. MBTI says nothing, however, about whether the individual is actively
engaged in information gathering. An extravert who feels that there is plenty of
information on hand will not necessarily talk to others, take the social initiative
with others or make a personal investment in a team identity. In fact, there are
no necessary behavioral correlatives to any of the MBTI parameters.
MRA, on the other hand, specifically and exclusively describes behaviors: a high
sociability person is defined as one who actively seeks and engages in spontaneous
conversation with others, takes the social initiative with strangers and works for
a team role and identity. As the converse of MBTI, MRA says nothing about the inner
processes or preferences which may lead to this behavior.
Conclusion
The MRA Leadership matrix describes and predicts verifiable behaviors. These behaviors
are based on the individual's emotions interacting with the given environment. The
results are best used to determine what environment the individual will be most productive
in and/or what behaviors might be modified to relate most effectively to the environment.
This applies to the majority of business applications where determining job-fit,
career-development steps and team-building are the goal.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator describes how people approach the environment
intellectually and attitudinally and how they process information. The results are
best used to increase self-awareness for the purpose of getting along with others
more effectively. It is also used to identify the source of problems in relationships with
the help of a skilled counselor and to prepare a therapeutic plan for growth or change.
This makes it particularly suited to counseling, self-help and therapeutic situations.
Comparing and contrasting the results obtained from each instrument for a given individual
is a stimulating intellectual exercise. But there should be no expectation that the results
of one confirm or deny the results of the other, nor that any particular commonality of
results should be anticipated.
If you have questions, comments or want more information contact
John Loven
MRA Team Spirit
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