Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless

Summary

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a widely used personality test, yet it's largely dismissed by psychologists. Despite its popularity in companies and organizations, the test lacks scientific validity and fails to predict job success. Rooted in Carl Jung's early theories, the MBTI's binary categories—like extrovert vs introvert—don’t account for the complexities of human personality. The test thrives on vague, positive descriptions that appeal to people’s desire for simple categories, much like astrology or Buzzfeed quizzes. While entertaining, the MBTI's real value is limited to fun rather than reliable psychological insights.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used personality test globally, with millions of people taking it annually.
• 😀 Despite its popularity, MBTI is considered meaningless by most clinical psychologists and psychiatrists due to its lack of scientific basis.
• 😀 Carl Jung's early work on personality types, introduced in 1921, served as the foundation for the MBTI but acknowledged that most people don't fit neatly into fixed categories.
• 😀 The MBTI was developed by Catherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs-Myers in the 1940s, who adapted Jung’s ideas but assigned people to strict binary personality categories.
• 😀 One of the key issues with the MBTI is that it forces individuals into one category or another, such as extrovert or introvert, despite many people displaying traits from both sides.
• 😀 Studies have shown that MBTI results are unreliable, with up to 50% of people getting different results even if they take the test just five weeks apart.
• 😀 The MBTI test is marketed as reliable and valid, with global research backing it, but multiple studies have demonstrated that it fails to predict success in different jobs.
• 😀 While 89% of Fortune 100 companies and 200 federal agencies use MBTI, leading psychologists on its advisory board do not use it in their own research.
• 😀 The popularity of MBTI can be attributed to its positive and vague descriptions, which people find appealing, similar to horoscopes and Buzzfeed quizzes.
• 😀 The Forer effect is a psychological phenomenon that explains why vague personality descriptions, like those in the MBTI, feel accurate to people despite having little scientific value.
• 😀 While the MBTI can be fun as a casual activity, it is ultimately not a reliable tool for understanding human personality or predicting workplace success.

Q & A

What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test that categorizes individuals into one of 16 personality types based on their preferences in four categories: introversion vs. extroversion, sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving.

How many questions are in the Myers-Briggs test?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator consists of 93 questions.

How widely used is the MBTI, and how much revenue does it generate?

The MBTI is the most widely used personality test in the world, with about 2 million people taking it annually. The company behind it, CPP, reportedly earns around $20 million each year from test takers and companies that use it.

Why is the Myers-Briggs test considered meaningless by many psychologists?

Many clinical psychologists and psychiatrists consider the MBTI meaningless because it lacks scientific validity and reliability. Studies have shown that people's results can change significantly when retaking the test, sometimes even within weeks.

Who developed the concept of personality types that the MBTI is based on?

The concept of personality types that the MBTI is based on was developed by Carl Jung, a prominent early psychologist. He theorized that people fall into different types, such as perceivers and judgers, and thinkers and feelers.

What is the primary flaw in how the MBTI categorizes personality types?

The primary flaw in the MBTI is that it assigns individuals to one of two categories for each of the four dimensions, whereas in reality, people often exhibit characteristics of both sides (e.g., being a little bit of an extrovert and a little bit of an introvert). This oversimplification makes the test unreliable.

How does the Forer effect relate to the MBTI?

The Forer effect is a psychological phenomenon where people believe vague, general statements about themselves are accurate. The MBTI's results often contain such vague descriptions, making them feel personally relevant even though they are not based on solid evidence.

What does the MBTI promise, and how does it market its validity?

The MBTI promises to be a reliable and valid personality assessment tool, supported by ongoing global research and development. However, this claim is not supported by the broader scientific community, and many leading psychologists do not use it.

Why do people find personality categorization, like the MBTI, so appealing?

People find personality categorization appealing because it provides clear, simple labels that help them understand themselves and others. The desire to fit into neat categories is a natural human inclination, similar to the popularity of horoscopes and other personality quizzes.

How does the MBTI compare to other personality assessments in terms of scientific use?

While the MBTI is popular in corporate settings for assigning roles and training, it is not used by psychologists in academic or clinical research due to its lack of scientific rigor. It fails to predict people's success in jobs or measure complex aspects of personality.