About the Pearson-Marr Assessment
People are storytelling creatures. Listen to the conversation in a restaurant, at the water cooler, or on an airplane, and you will find that the majority of what is said is in the form of stories. Carl Jung, a founding father of modern psychology, contributed to our understanding of these stories through the concept of the archetype — the shared myths, themes, images, characters, patterns, and symbols ever present in our lives and our culture.
The PMAI® (Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator®) is the world's first scientifically validated archetype assessment tool, and it opens a window into the patterns of our unconscious stories and provides a path to self-understanding. Taking the PMAI assessment allows us to become aware of the archetypes that are active in our lives. This experience helps us decide how and when to use our archetypes, and which ones may need nurturing or further development.
Exploring your results when you take the PMAI instrument is a call to the great heroic adventure of finding yourself and making the differences only you can make. Imagine knowing what really energizes and motivates you, and using that to became aware of important things that you might easily miss – those patterns of human interaction in your relationships and the entire world around you.
How does the PMAI instrument accomplish this? The PMAI® tool provides a mirror that allows individuals to identify the archetypes that are most active when they take it. These archetypal characters can be thought of as purpose motivators that urge you to live their stories, but also foster a consciousness of openness to the great adventure of living.
Created by Carol Pearson, Ph.D., and Hugh Marr, Ph.D., the PMAI instrument does for archetypes what the MBTI® instrument does for psychological type; it makes the theory clear and applicable for everyday life.
Your PMAI results are provided via two main reports: Core, which gives you the essential information about the archetypes active in your life, and Expanded, which leads you on a deeper journey into how all the archetypes can be manifested in your life story. These are delivered online and are also available in print. After taking the assessment, you get one of these self-explanatory reports and access to other resources on the Storywell website.
Through taking the PMAI multiple times as you grow and change, you can discover archetypes that have been with you for years, that you might see as core to who you are. However, the PMAI® instrument avoids the trap of making core archetypes a life sentence from which you must conform in order to succeed. The PMAI experience does not pigeon-hole you into static archetypal characters or themes, but rather is a dynamic system that furthers your growth with tools to access your archetypes and use them to provide insight and inspiration as you live your life.Refer to this chart to learn about the differences between the new and legacy versions of the PMAI assessment, both of which have 72 questions:
