Interaction Styles are groupings of the 16 types of the MBTI instrument of psychometrics

Psychometrics

Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...

 and Jung

Jung

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...

ian psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

. The Interaction Styles model was developed by Linda Berens, PhD, founder of the Temperament Research Institute. This model builds on David Keirsey

David Keirsey

David West Keirsey , is an internationally renowned psychologist, a professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton, and the author of several books...

's Temperament model and its subcategories, and is based on observable behavior patterns that are quite similar to David Merrill's "Social Styles" and William Moulton Marston

William Moulton Marston

Dr. William Moulton Marston , also known by the pen name Charles Moulton, was an American psychologist, feminist theorist, inventor and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman...

's DiSC

Disc

- Data storage :* Disk storage, a general category of data storage mechanisms** Magnetic disk*** Floppy disk, a magnetic data storage device using a flexible disc*** Hard disk drive, a non-volatile magnetic data storage device...

 theory.

Temperament and Interaction Style
iStJ	iSfJ	iNFj	iNTj
iStP	iSfP	iNFp	iNTp
eStP	eSfP	eNFp	eNTp
eStJ	eSfJ	eNFj	eNTj
Temperaments and Interaction Styles in the MBTI.

Development

David Keirsey, who had mapped the four temperaments of his Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves and others. It was first introduced in the book Please Understand Me...

 to the MBTI system, ended up minimizing the role of both Thinking/Feeling (T/F) and J/P (Judging/Perceiving). Starting with S/N ("Sensing" and "Intuition", which he renames "Observation" and "Introspection" or “Concrete” and “Abstract”, under the category of "Communication"), he divides this by the new scale of "Cooperative" or “Utilitarian” (also called "Pragmatic") under the category of "Action"; which yields his "four temperaments" (SP-Artisan, SJ-Guardian, NF-Idealist, and NT-Rational).
Next, this is divided by "Role-Directive" and "Role-Informative", into eight “roles” or “intelligence types” (STP-Operator, SFP-Entertainer, STJ-Administrator, SFJ-Conservator, NFJ-Mentor, NFP-Advocate, NTJ-Coordinator, and NTP-Engineer). Finally, these are divided by E/I (Extraversion/Introversion also called "Expressive/Reserved"), yielding the sixteen "types" of the MBTI.

Linda V. Berens, another doctor of Psychology and a former student of Keirsey, would also use a similar system, pairing the Interaction Styles (which were implicit in Keirsey's system) with both the temperaments and the cognitive processes. Just as Keirsey combined S/N and his “Cooperative-Utilitarian” into "temperaments", Berens would pair “Directing” and “Informing” (as she calls them) directly with E/I (which she calls “Initiating - Responding”) creating the four "Interaction Styles" in addition to the four "temperaments". This then matched the several other Two-factor models of personality

Two-factor models of personality

The Two-Factor Model of Personality is a widely used psychological factor analysis measurement of personality, behavior and temperament. It most often consists of a matrix measuring the factor of introversion and extroversion with some form of people versus task orientation.-Beginnings:Anciently,...

, beginning with the original four temperaments which had been observed in terms of fast or slow response, and short or long delay.

Comparison and Cross-mapping with Keirseyan Temperament

Keirsey generally correlated his temperaments with the ancient temperaments as follows: Artisan=Sanguine; Idealist=Choleric; Rational=Phlegmatic and Epimethean=Melancholic. However, among others interpreting the theory, there is no complete agreement as to which correspond to which. For instance, while the Artisan is almost unanimously matched with the Sanguine, the other comparisons are not consistent. The Guardians are often associated with the Melancholic, but then they are also linked to the Phlegmatic, with the Melancholic being the Idealist. Idealists and Rationals are often switched back and forth between representing Cholerics and Phlegmatics in comparisons. These anomalies may have stemmed from the fact that Keirsey based his temperaments on a "Greek god" typology created by pairing together the philosophical Apollonian and Dionysian

Apollonian and Dionysian

The Apollonian and Dionysian is a philosophical and literary concept, or dichotomy, based on certain features of ancient Greek mythology. Several Western philosophical and literary figures have invoked this dichotomy in critical and creative works....

 concept with Carl Spitteler

Carl Spitteler

Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919. His work includes both pessimistic and heroic poems....

's "Prometheus

Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...

 and Epimetheus

Epimetheus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus , a pair of Titans who "acted as representatives of mankind" . They were the inseparable sons of Iapetus, who in other contexts was the father of Atlas...

" epic (1881), rather than using purely the Galenic descriptions. Believing the "humor

Humorism

Humorism, or humoralism, is a now discredited theory of the makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers, positing that an excess or deficiency of any of four distinct bodily fluids in a person directly influences their temperament and health...

" names were "misleading", he originally named his temperaments after the mythological figures.

Plus, he also drew more upon the likes of Ernst Kretschmer

Ernst Kretschmer

Ernst Kretschmer Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. h.c., was a German psychiatrist who researched the human constitution and established a typology...

 and Eduard Spranger

Eduard Spranger

Eduard Spranger was a German philosopher and psychologist.A student of Wilhelm Dilthey, Spranger was born in Berlin and died in Tübingen....

, who had other models which he correlated with Galen's temperaments (though they were not necessarily perfect matches of them); while others followed Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....

 and Eysenck

Eysenck

Eysenck is a surname, and may refer to*Hans Jürgen Eysenck , psychology professor*Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, a psychological test developed by Hans Eysenck*Michael Eysenck , psychology professor, son of Hans...

, who shaped the modern theories of those who held onto the Galenic names. Kretschmer, for example, used different factors ("Cycloid": gay vs. sad, and "Schizoid": sensitive vs. cold), instead of the "extraversion" and "people/task-orientation" scales that define temperament in many other systems. Spranger had six types; the two that were omitted ("Social" and "Political") fit the classic behavioral descriptions of the Sanguine and Choleric (love of people or love of power); while the remaining four, which did not correspond as clearly to the temperaments would be compared to Keirsey's model. This omissions was because "Political" was a category containing both Theoretic and Artistic, and "Social" contained Economical and Religious.
Hence, it corresponded more with Keirsey's own "cooperative" and "pragmatic" categories.

The Interaction Styles, however, more closely match the behavior of the familiar understanding of the classic temperaments with “Directing” and “Informing” being a closer counterpart to people/task-orientation. Berens herself stated "Directing communications seem to have a task focus and Informing communications have a people focus. MBTI practitioners have long related task focus to a preference for Thinking and people focus to a preference for Feeling". "Descriptors of 'responsive' seem to go with the Informing style of communication and descriptors of 'less responsive' seem to go with the Directing style of communication.". Directives are the more "serious" type, defined by Keirsey as "those who communicate primarily by directing others", and Informatives are defined as "those who communicate primarily by informing others". The expressive/directing Berens calls In Charge, and behaves like a Choleric, as the name itself even implies. The reserved/directing is called Chart the Course and corresponds to the Melancholy, who is very analytical and needs order and familiarity. The expressive/informing is called Get Things Going and fits the description of the Sanguine, who is upbeat, enthusiastic and focused on interaction. The reserved/informing; Behind the Scenes is a calm peacemaker who sees value in many contributions and consult outside inputs to make an informed decision and is linked to the Phlegmatic.

In addition to the E/I and Directing/Informing categories, there is also "Attention: Focus and Interest (Control/Movement)", which pairs the diametric opposite styles. In-Charge and Behind-the-Scenes have in common "Control": Focus on control over the outcome, and Chart-the-Course and Get-Things-Going have in common "Movement": Focus on movement toward the goal.
In 2008, Berens released version 2.0 of
Understanding Yourself and Others: An Introduction to Interaction Styles, in which she renamed this dimension into Process/Outcome. In-Charge and Behind-the-Scenes focus on the outcome of tasks (which as already implicit in the "control" definition, above), while Get-Things-Going and Chart-the-Course focus on the process (hence, the act of movement toward the goal).

Keirsey would eventually divide his eight intelligence types to yield a corresponding four groupings, which he calls "four differing roles that people play in face-to-face interaction with one another" in his book Brains and Careers (2008).

Initiators: ENTJ, ESTJ, ESTP, ENFJ (Extraverted and Directive)

Coworkers: ENTP, ESFJ, ESFP, ENFP (Extraverted and Informative)

Contenders: INTJ, ISTJ, ISTP, INFJ (Introverted and Directive)

Responders: INTP, ISFJ, ISFP, INFP (Introverted and Informative)

The roles were implied in the role-informative/directive factor he had introduced in Portraits of Temperament (1987).

The role of Thinking, Feeling, Judging and Perceiving

Looking at the type division between Directing vs. Informing reveals that this scale can be defined by both T/F and J/P together. Directives lean towards T and J, while Informatives lean towards F and P. (Thinking or “Toughmindedness” as well as Judging or "Scheduling" as Keirsey calls it, are very compatible with "Directing". Likewise, Feeling or “Friendliness” as well as Perceiving or "Probing" (Keirsey) are compatible with Informing). "TJ" in the Jungian-Myersian system represents "extraverted Thinking", meaning the people of these types use critical logic or objective criteria in dealing with the outer world of people, (resulting in their characteristic "directive" behavior); while FP is "Introverted Feeling" (meaning they use values or subjective criteria in dealing with the inner world of thoughts, in which they tend to do what they would want to be done to them). So each of the four types that make up each directing style have a T and/or J, and the informatives have an F and/or P. Since there are only two TJ or FP combinations per E and I, each style also contains one TP and one FJ type. The directives tie TP with S and FJ with N; and the informatives tie TP with N, and FJ with S. So Directives can also be categorized as containing all NJ's (Introverted iNtuition) and ST's (Sensing and Thinking together as the primary and auxiliary functions). Informatives also contain all NP's (extraverted iNtuition) and SF's (Sensing and Feeling together).

The result is that each of the four interaction styles share one of the 16
personality types with each of the four Keirsey temperaments. Berens describes the Keirseyan SP, SJ, NF and NT temperaments (Which she renames “Improviser”, "Stabilizer", “Catalyst” and “Theorist”) as the “Why” of behavior, while the interaction styles are the “How”.

Temperaments and Interaction Styles

Interaction Style	Catalyst (NF)	Theorist (NT)	Stabilizer (SJ)	Improviser (SP)
In Charge (Choleric)	Envisioner Mentor (ENFJ ENFJ ENFJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Strategist Mobilizer (ENTJ ENTJ ENTJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G... )	Implementor Supervisor (ESTJ ESTJ ESTJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Promoter Executor (ESTP ESTP ESTP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )
Chart the Course (Melancholic)	Foreseer Developer (INFJ INFJ INFJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of the sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Conceptualizer Director (INTJ INTJ INTJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of the sixteen personality types.... )	Planner Inspector (ISTJ ISTJ ISTJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Analyzer Operator (ISTP ISTP (personality type) ISTP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )
Get Things Going (Sanguine)	Discoverer Advocate (ENFP ENFP ENFP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Explorer Inventor (ENTP ENTP ENTP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Facilitator Caretaker (ESFJ ESFJ ESFJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Motivator Presenter (ESFP ESFP ESFP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of the sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )
Behind the Scenes (Phlegmatic)	Harmonizer Clarifier (INFP INFP INFP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Designer Theorizer (INTP INTP INTP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Protector Supporter (ISFJ ISFJ ISFJ is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )	Composer Producer (ISFP ISFP ISFP is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to refer to one of sixteen personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types... )