When reading your MBTI type description, have you ever felt like most things fit you,

but a few were way off the mark?

Well, some of that certainly comes from the fact that humans are individuals who have unique experiences and
backgrounds We are more than our type, but part of those differences may still fall within the realm Myers-Briggs can
explain. Thats where Step II comes into play.

Step II is one of the three steps of the MBTI, and it provides individuals not only with a 4-letter type code, which
indicates the individuals inborn type that stays with the person throughout life, but also with a description of where that
individual falls on a continuum of 20 pairs of facets, 5 pairs per set of preferences, contained within type. For example,
you may have a preference for Introversion, and there are five facets that are parts of the Introverted preference, which
Introverts commonly display and identify with. With Step II, it is possible to have facets that are outside of your
preference, meaning that an Introvert could have 4 facets that fall under Introversion and one that is usually preferred by
Extraverts.

What does this look like in real life? As an example, I am an Introvert. I enjoy being around other people, but I find
myself very drained after interacting with large groups and/or people I do not know very well. I love reflection and long
hours of deep thinking, and I wouldnt be a bit sad if I got snowed into the house with my husband and the dogs for a
week. That being said, I am one of the most talkative Introverts I know, and most people would describe me as
extremely easy to get to know. Does that mean the Introversion police should take my membership card away?? (I hope
not I just got it laminated.) No. What it means is that I am an Expressive Introvert. I have 4 facets that fit my
Introversion, and I have one facet that would normally fit an Extravert, and that is completely okay!

You might wonder how this happens. Well, it may be that an individual is born as a slightly different version of his or her
type, or it may be, in the case of facets, that the individual has learned life skills that involve developing parts of non-
preferences. Of course, that means it is possible for facets to change over the course of your life, unlike your 4-letter
type code which stays the same. You may also wonder if it is possible for a person to truly be a Sensing type, but have all
5 facets fall on the Intuitive side. While that is unlikely, the facets do not make up the entirety of the preference, so it is
possible.

Another cool thing about facets is that they finally allow a place in MBTI for a person to say that how he or she act
depends on the situation! (Can I get a Hallelujah!?) With facets, it is possible to fall in a mid-zone, which indicates that
either facet may be used, depending on the situation.
The charts below list all of the possible facets, along with descriptions of each. Of course, it would be wonderful if every
person in the world could take the Step II assessment, but if you do not have that luxury, you will likely still gain
benefit from reading through the facet descriptions to see which ones sound most like you.

Extraversion and Introversion

Extraverted Facets
Initiating: The core facet of Extraversion, Initiating
shows up in individuals as an ability to easily network,
never meet a stranger, and carry on conversations with
most other people with ease and at length.
Expressive: Appears as someone who is easy to get to
know and open to sharing feelings, thoughts, and
interests freely.
Gregarious: Describes someone who loves to have a
wide circle of friends and acquaintances who have
diversity in interests, communication styles, etc.
Active: Fits individuals who like to take active part in
activities by being hands on, asking questions, and
otherwise being directly involved.
Enthusiastic: Tends to enjoy being the center of
attention, while being highly conversational in group
settings, full of life, and a lover of great stories.
Introverted Facets
Receiving: The core facet of Introversion, Receiving
shows up in individuals as preferring to let conversations
and other people come to them to engage in large
groups, as well as preferring to be introduced in lieu of
making introductions.
Contained: Appears as someone who only shares
thoughts, feelings and interests with those they trust and
know well, and may be difficult to get to know.
Intimate: Describes someone who loves to have a
small circle of close friends that he or she knows well and
can talk in depth with one on one.
Reflective: Fits Individuals who love to take part by
seeing, thinking, and pondering matters in a quiet setting,
conducive to personal reflection.
Quiet: Tends to lack interest in being the center of
attention, while loving their difficult to describe, rich,
inner world of thoughts and ideas about the surrounding
world.

Sensing and Intuition

 Sensing Facets
Concrete: The core facet of Sensing, and people with
this facet prefer to live in the world of the 5 senses and its
perceptions in all, or most, aspects of life, from learning
to communicating, They love that which can be verified
and touched, and they will often be skeptical of moving
beyond this realm to the more abstract.
Realistic: Appears as someone who places high value
on good old common sense and objects and other things
that have a practical use in the here and now. They want
to keep themselves and their families secure (financially,
physically, etc.) and as comfortable as possible in practical
ways.
Practical: Describes someone who enjoys performing
tasks in the prescribed and familiar way with the "right"
and familiar tools. They would rather build slowly and
steadily, in ways that risk little, than attempt great
change for possible great return, which may blow up in
their faces. They also place emphasis on personal
comforts of life.
Experiential: Fits individuals who work from past
experience and live by the mantra, "if it ain't broken,
don't fix it". If they must complete an unfamiliar task,
they will begin with what valued sources claim works best,
and they will then use trial and error until they find the
best method of completing the task.
Traditional: Tends to find a sense of security and
validation in the social traditions of society, and are often
uncomfortable with trends and fads that have not passed
societal tests and norms. There is comfort in aspects of
society that are tried and true.
Intuitive Facets
Abstract: The core facet of Intuition, and people with
this facet love to focus on what ideas mean and how they
connect with other things and ideas. They love to focus on
the gist and the basic concepts of a matter, and they are
perfectly comfortable interpretations of information that
are not necessarily literal
Imaginative: Appears as someone who is resourceful
in finding original and creative solutions to new problems,
while being much more concerned with, interested in, and
place more value on what could be in the future than
what is in the here and now that can be seen or touched.
Conceptual: Describes someone who has little interest
in what is tangible or practically known, preferring to read
underlying meaning and understand joyful complexity.
These individuals often perform well on tests, and they
tend to be willing to take greater risks in anticipation of
greater gain.
Theoretical: Fits individuals who are often described as
insightful and good at finding ways to approach new tasks
that work. They prefer to seek and do what has not yet
been done, finding it uninteresting to repeat tasks in the
ways prescribed by others. They believe that 1 + 1 very
often equals far more than the obvious 2, when you look
deeper into the complexities and connections behind it.
Original: Tends to lean towards uniqueness and variety
in an effort to express his or her own uniqueness of self.
This may be a way to express an adventurous streak or
display different and original ideas, but it certainly is seen
as a way to infuse more meaning into a mundane day.
 Thinking and Feeling
Thinking Facets Feeling Facets
Logical: The core facet of Thinking, people with the Empathetic: The core facet of Feeling, people with the
Logical facet tend to believe that the best way to make Empathetic facet tend to place relationships above all
sense of the world and its residents is through reason and other things in their hierarchy of importance, to the point
logic. They often find that feelings are less reliable in of feeling that they are the basis of life's meaning. These
relationships than exhibiting fairness, reason, and individuals believe universal and personal truth are both
respecting rights on both sides of the relationship. attached to people and relationships.
Reasonable: Appears as someone who uses logic and a Compassionate: Appears as someone who prefers to
solid process of reasoning to confidently make decisions show mercy, even to the detriment of objective fairness,
on a daily basis. and they love to see people for the individuals they are.
Questioning: Describes someone who believes that Accommodating: Describes someone who prizes
situations turn out better when problems are solved harmony above whatever good may come from
through debating and challenging ideas, which not only confrontation and critique, and they aim to please as
helps individuals find areas of agreement, but can help many people as possible.
reduce flaws in solutions.
Critical: Fits individuals who believe that impersonal Accepting: Fits Individuals who like to find solutions
criticism is necessary to get to the bottom line of that are as likely as possible to be a win for all involved
situations, remove flaws from plans and decisions, and by tolerating the viewpoints of others and expecting the
get the desired outcomes from a situation. same in return.
Tough: Tends to appraise a situation, then take a Tender: Tends to show tenderness and caring in
strong stand on their decisions, which they see as the achieving their goals because they understand that
best way to show support for all of the logic and data that different people have different viewpoints, that are often
went into making the decision. in opposition, and that must be respected, especially
when making a purely rational decision is not possible.

Judging and Perceiving

 Judging Facets Perceiving Facets
Systematic: The core facet of Judging, people with the Casual: The core facet of Perceiving, a person with the
Systematic facet like to have order in their home, work, Casual facet is usually good at going with the flow of life.
and sometimes leisure life, by planning, organizing and They deal well with surprises, and they may be described
performing tasks in a systematic fashion. as laid back, with a preference for keeping options open,
in lieu of deciding early.
Planful: Appears as someone who likes to plan well in Open-Ended: Appears as someone who loves freedom
advance to make sure they do mot miss out on things and making decisions on the fly, rather than being tied
that are important to them. This can include holidays with down to plans that are far in the future. They love
family, vacations, concerts, etc. flexibility and a lack of feeling constricted.
Early Starting: Describes someone who becomes quite Pressure-Prompted: Describes someone who may
stressed when working right up to a deadline, so the come up with ideas for projects in advance, but does
person tends to start early, complete tasks one at a time, his/her best work during the energetic and creative burst
and finish with enough time to leave room for things to go that comes right before a deadline. They almost feed off
wrong (internet or printer down) without causing a missed of the stress of a project being due, and they may squeak
deadline. it in just in the nick of time. This is not to be confused
with procrastination, which all types do.
Scheduled: Fits individuals who find comfort and Spontaneous: Fits Individuals who love variety in their
security in completing their tried and true routines each lives and having a work environment where they have
day. They know these routines are reliable and reduce some say over what they can do at any given time, rather
chaos. than being restricted to monotony.
Methodical: Tends to organize everything needed to Emergent: Tends to enjoy problem solving on the fly
complete a project, from materials to people, and create a through improvisation and a lack of planning... They may
sequence for the completion of tasks that lead to project believe that the instructions that come with a furniture kit
completion in a planned and strategic fashion. are a waste of paper because they'd rather jump in and
figure it out along the way.
Finally, you may wonder how to identify yourself if you have preferences outside of your type, which not everyone has.
Well, technically any facets where you are out of preference (Judging facet on a person who prefers Perceiving) would be
added to your type. For instance, I am technically a, Expressive, Questioning INFJ because I have a facet out of
preference on E/I and another out of preference on T/F. That being said, I have two other facets that are in the mid-
zone, and those titles are not added to my type title. All of that being fine and dandy, many type enthusiasts are not
familiar with Step II, and the facets can make for a lengthy self-description, so I typically leave them out of type
discussions not revolving around Step II.

I hope this article has helped you gain some new insight into your type, and I would love to hear about those insights in
the comments, if you have them. As always, I am also happy to answer questions. Thanks for reading.