Abstract: MBTI is an instrument designed to assess personality type. It is jointly developed by Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers. In recent years, along with the advancement of its theory, MBTI has gone through three developmental stages. Based on our systematic review of the development of the theory and findings of applied research, we have found that the MBTI has evolved from examining inter-type differences, to examining intra-type differences, and then to examining individual differences. Future research should focus on investigating personality types among people employed in various occupations to establish a Chinese MBTI database, deepening the research on MBTI instrument, carrying out longitudinal and cross-cultural studies, and conducting more applied research on the use of MBTI in the field.

Key words: MBTI, personality type, occupational counseling, team development