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Neuroscience of Personality

The Science Is In! Professor Dario Nardi at the University of California at Los Angeles has discovered patterns of brain activity supporting the existence of the Jungian Mental Mechanisms (cognitive processes).

Professor Dario Nardi produces the first empirical evidence that Jungian cognitive processes correspond to a pattern of brain activity. 

Dario Nardi Neuroscience of Personality

Jung emphasized that the purpose of his theory of psychological types was not to classify human beings into categories, but rather to “provide a critical psychology which will make a methodical investigation and presentation of the empirical material possible.”
Jung’s vision for his theory to provide a theoretical framework for a future investigator’s experimental research has finally been realized in the work of Professor Dario Nardi at the University of California at Los Angeles.
In 2011, Dario Nardi published the book “Neuroscience of Personality” which describes his brain mapping research. His results provide preliminary evidence supporting Jung’s observational theory.
Studies that utilize MBTI data often analyze results in groups of four, each group containing four types. Let’s call these groups quartets. Anecdotally, some quartets lend themselves well to particular applications such as communication, education, leadership, or so forth.
Dario Nardi
Neuroscience of Personality
Temperament is useful because it describes holistic qualities: it names people’s core needs and values, describes how people go about getting their underlying needs and values met, and how they tend to reshape their environment and grow … Each temperament is a pattern of interrelated qualities.
Dario Nardi
Neuroscience of Personality
Nardi explored the following quartets in his brain mapping research:
  • Needs and Values
  • Career Choice
  • Communication Style
  • Decision-Making Style
  • Information Access
  • Learning Style
  • Work Style
  • SP, SJ, NT, NF
  • ST, SF, NT, NF
  • ET, EF, IT, IF
  • TJ, FJ, TP, FP
  • SP, SJ, NP, NJ
  • ES, IS, EN, IN
  • IP, EP, IJ, EJ

All the quartets performed better than chance… Overall, the results suggest there are more than personality type “boxes”. Rather, there is an underlying set of dynamics. When people share a dynamic, they share brain activity that helps them get along.

Dario Nardi
Neuroscience of Personality
While additional research is needed to further solidify these findings, Professor Nardi’s experimental approach sets a standard for advancement in this area.

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