Steve Myers book review

Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and Society

Steve Myers has been one of my favorite teachers. He was a ground breaker with focusing on
the 8 Function approach as he created the Management Team Role Indicator (MTR-i™) in his
early work with teams. The MTR-i was based on the 8 Jungian Functions. I first encountered
Steve at the 2001 APT-I conference in Minneapolis, MN and he really pushed the limits of my
understanding of type. Over the years, I’ve been in his sessions, taught his MTR-I certification
program, been in discussion groups and in personal dialog with him. In every instant he can
quote chapter and verse from Carl Jung’s writing and is very well versed in the differences in
the Jungian view of individuation and the MBTI® instrument and teachings. Steve is a very deep
student of Jung with his Masters in Jungian and post-Jungian Studies and PhD in Psychoanalytic
Studies. He gives the reader ample quotes from many different sources written by Jung as well
as his own clarification about Jung’s intentions as well as Myers’ intentions and the unintended
consequences of both approaches.

I highly recommend this book for the clarity of writing, the many analogies and examples, and
the integrity of the material. I buy a lot of books that I wind up not reading, but this book I read
cover to cover with many highlights and flags on pages of importance. So below are a few of
the key learnings that Steve presented to me in this book.

There is much to be learned in the preface alone. It is 15 pages long and I was surprised when I
got to Chapter 1 that I hadn’t been already reading Chapter 1! Here are few if the pearls from
the preface. He explains that there are four themes in the book and clarifies the terminology.

Theme #1: “…how to overcome the problem of one-sidedness in self and society.”i I was struck
by the focus on both the self and on society. It is interesting that in the 1920’s when Jung wrote
the book, he also had concerns about society as many of us do now. Steve immediately gives
some examples from politicians and what prevents us from having a good political debate.

He also states that “One of the goals of this book is to overcome one-sidedness and reconcile
opposites by developing a new, dialectical attitude, in ourselves and in our public [Link]”
This seems to go beyond our basic polarity activities that many practitioners do in type
workshops and is a more transformative shift that can go beyond type preferences.

“The second major theme is the relationship between consciousness and the unconscious.” iii In
this section he gives a powerful analogy to the ego as being locked in a room of a house. The
room represents consciousness, which is limited and the rest of the house is the unconscious.
Steve gives more analogies that help make these Jungian concepts even clearer as he goes on
to explain the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious, also touching on the
concept of the archetype, the psyche or self. A neat primer on Jungian theory if you ask me.

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The third theme is the comparison of the Myers Briggs typology and Jungian individuation. In
my humble opinion, this distinction is very important. While the MBTI® instrument was just a
way to help someone get at their personality type based on Jungian theory, its popularity and
interpretation of the dichotomies has become a theory of its own. I also see that as a theory
this approach shortchanges the power of Jungian typology. Steve makes all this much clearer
even in the preface as well as later in the book.

“The fourth and final theme is the use of alchemy as psychological metaphor.”iv I must admit
that I had never understood what is meant by alchemy until I read this explanation. Jung’s view
of ‘alchemy’ was not mystical, and Steve makes that clear. Seeing it as a metaphor, I can now
better understand some of the writings that I had previously dismissed.

In Chapter one Steve treats us to some clarifying statements about Jung’s intentions and some
clear explanation of the problem of one-sidedness. He also highlights ‘what went wrong’ in the
divergence of Myers-Briggs typology and Jungian individuation. He explains some
misinterpretations of Psychological Types as well as the unintended consequences on the focus
on quantification that was popular in America in the early twentieth century that contributed to
the confusion. He is clear that, “…it is not the aim of the present book to reject Myers-Brigs
typology, but to reframe it, to show that there are further stages of development after type and
to show that the principles of typology can be applied on a much wider basis than is currently
the norm.” v

Chapter two explains the type problem more in depth. Chapter 3 poses The Solution. Here is
one place he goes into depth with an explanation of the problems in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and the conflicts in Northern Ireland. He outlines several key principles of the solution:
1. The transcendent function
2. Various forms of opposites
3. Various levels of development
4. The caduceus
5. Two movements
6. The axiom of Maria
7. Flexibility of perspective
8. One-sidedness and analytical psychology

One of the key concepts that drew my attention is the Axiom of Maria. “’one becomes two, two
becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth’ (Jung 1951, p.153).” vi I have
to admit that I didn’t really understand the axiom, but Steve’s explanation makes a lot of sense
to me.
In summary, we start out in stage one by viewing everything as the same. In stage two,
we separate the opposites and give priority to one over the other, making the former
conscious and repressing the opposite into the unconscious. IN stage three, we treat
both equally, giving them parity of respect and seriousness, and tolerating the conflict

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 or paradox that their opposition creates. Finally in stage four, we reconcile the two sides
with a solution that emerges from the unconscious.”vii
This so parallels what I have learned about the development of consciousness in my studies of
the developmental theorists such as Suzanne Cook-Greuter and Terri O’Fallon that I was excited
to see it help me understand type development and the process of individuation. His further
explanation here is worth the cost of the book alone.

Chapter 4 goes into the transcendent function and Chapter 5 explores the principle of the Many
forms of opposite. It is in Chapter 5 that I found an explanation that I feel compelled to share
with you. Steve points out that “A small degree of one-sidedness is not usually of concern
because the unconscious can ‘act compensatorily to the conscious contents of the moment.’
(Jung 1915, p. 15)”viii To me, this means that it is still just fine to act from our preferences and
that this only becomes a big problem when we refuse to acknowledge the value of the opposite
and the one-sidedness becomes even more differentiated. And one more gem from Chapter 4
in the closing paragraph,
When we acknowledge and reconcile the opposites in ourselves, it does not lead to their
disappearance or to the destruction of the differences. It leads to a new attitude that is
based on a psychological function that transcends them (goes beyond their limits). ix

There are some real gems in Chapter 6, Individuals, relationships, groups, society. This is where
we get into some applications way beyond helping individuals identify their best-fit type. Here
is one of the most impactful statements I’ve read in the book…
We can only bring about a change within the individual, within ourselves, which can
affect the behavior of the group in two ways. If enough people work on themselves, the
diversity of conscious attitudes can beg to change the collective psychology. x

To me this is why the focus on introducing type in a way that makes space for development is
so important. Also I’ve noticed the participants we attract to the InterStrength certification
programs seem to be on this developmental path. And also, the wide popularity now of the 8
Function model seems to signal more individuals on this growth path that can have an impact
on many of our society’s issues.

Steve also points out that the type descriptions are stereotypes. I take from that the message
that we can’t stop with stereotypical descriptions of how each type is one sided. Steve points
out that in some ways since the type descriptions are more descriptions of a social function,
they can be detrimental to the individual in their own process of individuation.

I wish I could continue with some of the gems I found in the rest of the book. Steve devotes a
chapter to each of those principles listed above. I hope you’ve been intrigued enough to get the
book and dive deep into what Jungian Individuation is all about. I also hope it sparks some ideas
that you can incorporate into how you understand type and move into a focus on individuation
rather than just getting a type code for a label.

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i
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page xviii Preface. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
ii
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page xviii Preface. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
iii
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page xix Preface. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
iv
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page xxii Preface. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
v
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, pages 8-9. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
vi
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page 42. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
vii
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page 42. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
viii
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page 61. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
ix
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page 70. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon
x
Steve Myers: Myer-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation, Overcoming One-Sidedness in Self-and
Society, page 80. 2019 Routledge, Abington, Oxon