The Golden has a deep and rich history spanning more than 60 years. In the 1960s, Dr. Rev. Edward Smith Golden founded the North East Career Center at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Golden pioneered the use of vocational and psychological tests to guide clergy and church staff towards more fulfilling lives and careers.
In 1970, Dr. Golden founded Organizational Renewal Associates, Incorporated, (ORA), a consulting company that brought assessment and career development testing to for-profit companies, non-profits, educational institutions, and government organizations globally. Using a multi-battery assessment approach, Golden introduced more than 100,000 people to the power of self-knowledge through self-report assessments. Tools like the Sixteen-Personality Factor (16-PF), Briggs Myers Type Indicator, Strong Vocational Interest Blank for men and women, Campbell Interest and Skills Survey, Rokeach Value Survey, WAIS-PAS, Adjective Checklist, and many other assessments were applied over ORA’s 35-year legacy.
Golden and ORA staff professionals were recognized as top experts in the application and interpretation of these assessments. The massive multi-level assessment database resulting from decades of use was viewed as a rich source of research.
During the 1980s, Dr. Golden hired David Saunders, Ph.D., to head up its cross-assessment research and development effort. Saunders worked with Raymond Cattell on the development of the first version of the 16PF and later, at Educational Testing Service, oversaw the research for the first publisher of the Briggs Myers assessment.
In 1979, Dr. Golden and ORA staff coordinated and produced the first conference of experts using Carl Jung's Psychological Type theory in Philadelphia. Attendees were charged a membership fee, which became the Association of Psychological Type (APT).
In 1980, following the death of Isabel Myers, Ed, Sally, John, and his wife Kiron joined Dr. Saunders, his wife Fran (the official biographer of Isabel Myers' life), and Isabel’s son Peter at Isabel Myers' home in Swarthmore, PA. Auctioneers were coming the next day to sell off Myers' personal possessions, but the data collected over Isabel's life needed to be saved.
Dr. Saunders was contracted to organize and conduct research on the data saved that day. ORA and the Golden family, including Dr. Golden, Sally, and their oldest son Scott, formed the expert team directing Saunders in his research efforts. Every question ever developed by Myers and a dozen or so created by Saunders were aggregated into an assessment, which became the MBTI form J, Type Differentiation Indicator, and later the Expanded Analysis Report Form M, now called the Myers-Briggs Step 2.
Data collected from ORA clients became the basis for the correlational and validation research of these assessments, including the Rokeach Values Survey, 16PF, Strong, and ACL results. Because of the rich data collected by ORA, Saunders was able to complete the research quickly; however, the enormous cost of supporting the research took a toll on the resources of ORA.
Seeking to recoup that research investment, ORA sought formal research and training rights from the Myers' and the MBTI publisher CPP. Despite their best efforts, a relationship was not to be, and ORA was forced to break off its deep friendship and informal business relationships with CPP and the Myers.
During that period, Dr. Saunders was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and subsequently retired. ORA hired his protégé Donald Johnson, Ph.D., to assume his research role. In 1993, Dr. Johnson, along with Dr. John Golden, Ed Golden's youngest son and President of ORA, forged the strategy to develop ORA's own personality, interest, and values assessments. James Hughes, Isabel Myers' son-in-law, was also a member of the ORA team assembled to undertake this venture.
Today, Golden LLC carries on ORA's mission to bring the Golden Personality assessment to the world.
The A/Z dimension was incorporated into the first version of the in 1995. Personality psychologists concurred that the construct is an important dimension in behavior that must be measured. While the dimension is called many names, it is measured by most comprehensive assessments of personality. Our selection of organiZing/Adapting (Z/A) label in the Golden model is based on experience, practice and statistical evidence support these two words as the best labels to capture the overall meaning of the construct and that they effectively convey, in everyday language. What that means to both the coach, counselor or layperson is that they are easy to recall and apply. OrganiZing and Adapting avoid confusion.
Organizing and Adapting and/or Z and A help people remember and communicate the ideas behind them effectively. Repeatedly we found understanding, interpretation, and retention to be a problem with Judging/Perceiving as labels originally defined by Carl Jung to describe the Thinking & Feeling Judging dimension and Sensing/Intuiting Perceiving Function.
The Golden is based on much more than just Jungian Psychological Type Theory. The Golden is a universal personality tool that combines five of the most widely accepted and respected theories of personality, including the Five Factor Model, Trait Theory, Temperament Theory, General Adaptation Syndrome, aka Stress Theory and Jung's Psychological Type Theory into one comprehensive and elegant model. These theories are reported in the form of the five global scales and their related 36 facet scales.
The Golden also achieves significant advances in personality assessment and measurement. Advanced item format and content, scoring methods, report content, support materials and training for the Golden all in an online format distances itself from other Jungian assessments, as well as all other assessments of personality.
The decision to reference "organizing" with Z was primarily driven by the goal of making the scale intuitive, practical, and easy to apply in everyday language. The development team felt that the Judging/Perceiving (J/P) terminology used by Myers did not effectively capture the essence of the scale, and "Conscientiousness" from the Five-Factor Model was never considered a viable option.
"Organized" was the most fitting term, but using "O" would have resulted in type codes like INTO and ENTO, which were deemed awkward. Instead, Z was chosen, following the precedent of using N for iNtuition. The alphabet itself represents structure, reliability, and order—qualities that align well with the nature of Organizers. Meanwhile, Adaptives start at A and may take flexible paths, whereas Organizers follow a structured process from A to Z.
Ultimately, the naming decision was about clarity and ensuring the concept was memorable for users. If a client asks about it, a lengthy explanation isn’t always effective. Dr. John Golden once answered succinctly: "It takes an organized person to get from A to Z." That response alone was enough to satisfy the question!