The Myers-Briggs Company Blog Central

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, September, 2012—CPP, Inc. (www.cpp.com), an industry leader in research, training, and organizational development tools, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment, released a report detailing the results of its Myers-Briggs® Type and Social Media Report. Based on survey responses from 1,784 participants, the report revealed that those who prefer Extraversion are the most active social media users across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter platforms.

"Higher social media use by those who prefer Extraversion appears consistent with their general tendency to be more energized by external environment than those who prefer Introversion," said Rich Thompson, Research Director, CPP, Inc. "Social media is just one additional way of engaging."

All survey participants had previously taken the MBTI assessment, which is based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological type, and examines how individuals prefer to:

• Focus their attention and get energy: Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)
• Take in information: Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)
• Make decisions: Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
• Deal with the outer world: Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

These four preferences combine to form 16 possible four-letter types and represent innate predispositions that interact with and are shaped by environmental influences.

Facebook

Although Facebook use is generally commonplace (65% on average across all personality types), specific use varies by personality preferences and types:

• 9% more people with a preference for Extraversion (69%) reported using Facebook than those with a preference for Introversion (60%)
• 75.5% of ENFJs (Extraversion/Intuition/Feeling/Judging) report using Facebook, making them the most active users. In contrast, 51.6% of ISTJs (Introversion/Sensing/Thinking/Judging) reported using Facebook, making them the least active
• Individuals with a preference for Extraversion and/or Feeling reported spending more time engaging in activities in their work time -- such as browsing, recommending and interacting -- than those with a preference for Introversion and/or Thinking

LinkedIn

An average of 33% across all personality types reported being active users of LinkedIn

• 53.9% ENTJs (Extraversion/Intuition/Thinking/Judging) reported using LinkedIn, making them the most active users. In contrast, 13% of ISFPs (Introversion/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving) report using LinkedIn, making them the least active users
• Those with preferences for Extraversion (40%), Intuition (41%) and Thinking (38%) reported using LinkedIn more than those with preferences for Introversion (28%), Sensing (29%) and Feeling (30%)
• Those with a preference for Extraversion were nearly twice as likely to engage in certain LinkedIn activities during work time than those with a preference for Introversion:
  • Interacting: Extraversion (29%) vs. Introversion (16%)
  • Sharing information about professional life: Extraversion (17%) vs. Introversion (8%)

Twitter

Compared to Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter is used more narrowly across all personality types, with 11% of study participants reporting active use of the platform

• ENTPs (Extraversion/Intuition/Thinking/Perceiving), who reported highest use of Twitter (11.7%), are often described as "quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, outspoken, bored by routine"
• ISFPs (Introversion/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving) and ESFPs (Extraversion/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving), who reported the lowest level of use (1.6%), are often described as:
  • (ISFP) Quiet, friendly, sensitive, kind, disliking conflict, loyal to people/values
  • (ESFP) Outgoing, accepting, friendly, flexible, spontaneous, exuberant

Read the full Myers-Briggs® Type and Social Media Report.

About CPP, Inc.

Since its founding in 1956 CPP, Inc., has been a leading publisher and provider of innovative products and services for individual and organizational development, supplying reliable training solutions to businesses of all sizes, including the Fortune 500. The company’s hundreds of offerings have been used by millions of individuals in more than 100 countries, in more than 20 languages, to help people and organizations grow and develop by improving performance and increasing understanding. Among CPP’s world-renowned brands and services are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, Strong Interest Inventory®, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), FIRO®, CPI 260®, and California Psychological Inventory™ (CPI™) assessments, and CPP Professional Services.