Katharine Cook Briggs
| Katharine Cook Briggs | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 January 1875 |
| Died | 1968 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Myers-Briggs Type Indicator |
| Spouse | Lyman James Briggs |
| Children | 2, including Isabel |
Katharine Cook Briggs (1875–1968) was co-creator, with her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, of an inventory of personality type known as the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Katharine Cook Briggs was born in 1875 to a family who promoted education for women as well as men. Her father was on the faculty of Michigan State, previously known as Michigan Agricultural College. After she graduated college she married Lyman James Briggs, a physicist and Director of the Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C. On October 18, 1897 Katharine and Lyman had their only child to survive infancy, Isabel Briggs Myers. Through raising Isabel, Briggs developed many theories about the proper ways to raise a child. She took her daughter out of traditional schooling, brought her home, and encouraged her to read and write on any topic of interest. Briggs' interest in personality types grew as her daughter met the man she would marry, Clarence “Chief” Myers. Briggs felt that Chief was different than the rest of the family. To maintain her relationship with her daughter, Briggs sought to better understand Myers and his differences using what she knew of personality types.
Briggs was home schooled by her father. Briggs claimed that she did not recall who taught her to write, but that he or she did so poorly. She never attended a formal school until she left for college at the age of fourteen. Briggs earned a college degree in agriculture and became a well-known academic during a time when it was falsely believed that too much education for women harmed their reproductive abilities. She worked as a teacher after college. She was a devoted reader and writer throughout her life.
Briggs looked at data from studies of contemporary children's educational and social developmental theories. She created a vocation test for children. She saw this as a key to a child's future happiness and well being. Her earliest research led her to identify 4 main personality types in 1917: meditative types, spontaneous types, executive types, and sociable types, which later developed into the MBTI terms Ixxx, ExxP, ExTJ, and ExFJ. However, while investigating the works of various philosophers, scientists and psychologists, she was unable to identify one definitive theory of type that encompassed all aspects. From the lack of findings, she decided to begin to distinguish her own theory of type.
She wrote essays about child-rearing and education, believing that children have an innate curiosity and that education is what fuels this natural instinct. Briggs' early interest in personality types bloomed from her attempts at fiction writing. To create richer characters for her fiction writing, she attempted to understand the details of human personality and behaviors. Briggs' first two articles were published in the journal New Republic. Both discussed Jung's theory. The first was published in 1926 (Meet Yourself Using the Personality Paint Box) and the second in 1928 (Up From Barbarism).
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