The Myers-Briggs Personality Test
A critical look at the world's most popular psychological metric, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
Filed under Fads, General Science
| Skeptoid #221 August 31, 2010 Podcast transcript | Listen | Subscribe |
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By Brian Dunning, Skeptoid Podcast
Episode 221, August 31, 2010
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4221
Today we're going to delve into the murky depths of Jungian psychology, and examine one of its most popular surviving manifestations. The Myers-Briggs test is used all over the world, and is the single most popular psychometric system, with the full formal version of the test given more than 2,000,000 times a year. But is it a valid psychological tool, is it just another pop gimmick like astrology, or is the truth somewhere in between?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, called MBTI for short, more properly owes the bulk of its credit to the great Swiss analytical psychologist Carl Jung. In 1921, Jung published his book Psychological Types, in which he laid out all the same concepts found in the MBTI, but he had them organized quite differently. Jung had everyone categorized as either a "perceiver" or a" judger". Perceivers fell into one of two groups: sensation and intuition; while judgers also fall into two groups: thinking and feeling. So everyone fits into one of those four buckets. Finally, each bucket is divided into two attitude types: introversion and extraversion. Thus, the scale proposed by Jung divided us all into one of eight basic psychological types.
An American woman, Katherine Briggs, bought Jung's book and was fascinated by it. She recommended it to her married daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, who had a degree in political science. The two of them got hooked on the idea of psychological metrics. Together they sat down and codified their own interpretation of Carl Jung, making a few important changes of their own. Jung had everyone fitting into one of four basic buckets. Myers and Briggs decided that each person probably combined elements, so they modified Jung's system and made it a little more complex, ending up with four dichotomies, like binary switches. Any combination of the four switches is allowed, and Myers and Briggs reasoned that just about every personality type could be well described by one of the sixteen possible ways for those switches to be set. Basically, according to Myers and Briggs, we're all represented by a four-digit binary number.
- The first dichotomy is called your Attitude, and according to the MBTI, you're either an E for Extravert or an I for Introvert. Extraverts prefer action, frequent interaction, focus outward, and are most relaxed when interacting with others. Introverts prefer thought, less frequent but more substantial interaction, and are most relaxed spending time alone.
- The second dichotomy is your Perceiving function, and you're either S for Sensing or N for Intuition. Sensing is the scientific, tangible data-driven approach to gathering information, preferring to deal in concrete, measurable information. The Intuition approach prefers theoretical, abstract, hunch-driven information, finding more meaning in apparent patterns and context.
- The third dichotomy is your Judging function, and you're either a T for Thinking or an F for Feeling. This is basically how you make decisions. Thinking makes the logical decision, what's best for the situation, based on rules and pragmatism. Feeling decides based on empathy for the people whom the decision affects, seeking balance and harmony.
- The fourth and final dichotomy is your Lifestyle, and you're either a J for Judgment or a P for Perception. This one gets a little confusing. Judgment types prefer to use the third dichotomy, Judging, when relating to the outside world, while Perception types prefer the second Perceiving dichotomy; but how that preference is determined is based on whether you're an Introvert or an Extravert. Suffice it to say, for the purpose of this light overview, that this last of the four dichotomies, Lifestyle, is the most complicated; and it's where Myers and Briggs most creatively expanded upon Jung on their own.
The basic test, of which there are several variations and revisions, is called the MBTI Step I and it's a series of almost 100 questions, each with two possible answers. Each question consists of two short statements or word choices, and you simply choose which of the two you prefer. When the results are tabulated, you should ideally have your preference established for each of the four dichotomies; and congratulations, you are now identified by one of sixteen possible personality types. Myers and Briggs gave names and descriptions to all sixteen, names such as the Executive, the Caregiver, the Scientist, and the Idealist.
Perhaps the most common misconception about the MBTI is that it shows your aptitude, helping you determine what kinds of things you'd be good at. This is not the case. Myers-Briggs is only about determining your preference, not your ability. There might be things that you're good at that you don't enjoy, and there might be things you enjoy that you're not good at. The MBTI helps your find your comfort zone, the types of activities you'll like and be most content with; not necessarily those at which you'll be especially competent.
Even though neither had any background in psychology, Myers and Briggs enjoyed great success with their system. As Mrs. Briggs was getting quite old, Isabel Myers was the main driving force. Her initial idea was that certain personality types would more easily excel at different jobs, and the tool was intended to be used by women entering the workforce during World War II. However, it was not published until 1962, but since that time, it's become the most widely used basic psychology test. It's most often used outside of the psychological profession, and is employed in career counseling, sports coaching, marriage counseling, dating, professional development, and almost every other field where people hope to be fit with a role that would work best for them.
So the MBTI's practical use is overwhelmingly unscientific, and it's often criticized for this. Criticism ranges from the pragmatic fact that neither Jung nor Myers and Briggs ever employed scientific studies to develop or test these concepts, relying instead on their own observations, anecdotes, and intuitions; all the way to charges that your MBTI score is hardly more meaningful than your zodiac sign.
One obvious trait that the MBTI has in common with horoscopes is its tendency to describe each personality type using only positive words. Horoscopes are so popular, in part, because they virtually always tell people just what they want to hear, using phrases that most people generally like to believe are true, like "You have a lot of unused potential." They're also popular because they are presented as being personalized based on the person's sign. This has been called the Forer Effect, after psychologist Bertram Forer who, in 1948, gave a personality test to his students and then gave each one a supposedly personalized analysis. The impressed students gave the analyses an average accuracy rating of 85%, and only then did Forer reveal that each had received an identical, generic report. Belief that a report is customized for us tends to improve our perception of the report's accuracy.
I notice this right away when I read Isabel Myers' description for my own personality type, ISTJ, the Duty Fulfiller: "Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible." Basically it's a nice way to say "Dry, boring, and punctual," which hits my nail pretty squarely on the head. From that alone, I might conclude that the MBTI is extraordinarily insightful. But if I look at her description of my opposite counterpart, an ENFP, the Inspirer, that person is "Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. Sees life as full of possibilities." Who wouldn't like to believe that about his or her self? If I'd taken the test and been handed that result, I might be equally inclined to embrace it, probably thinking something like "Wow, I'm even more awesome than I thought I was."
Due to these legitimate criticisms of the MBTI and its unscientific underpinnings, the test is rarely used in clinical psychology. I did a literature search on PubMed and discovered that, interestingly, many of the published studies of its practical utility come from nursing journals. Many of the other publications pertain to relationship counseling and religious counseling. Normally, this is a red flag. When you see a topic that purports to be psychological being used in practically every professional discipline except psychology, you have very good reason to be skeptical of its actual value. Should we dismiss the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a psychometric?
The test does have some severe inherent problems. It's been found that 50% of test takers who retake it score differently the second time. This is because nobody is strictly an E or an I, for example, but somewhere in between. Many people are right on the border for some of the four dichotomies, and depending on their mood that day or other factors, may answer enough questions differently to push them over. Yet the results inaccurately pigeonhole them all the way over to one side or the other. This makes it possible for two people who are very similar to actually end up with completely opposite scores. Isabel Myers was aware of this limitation, and did her best to eliminate questions that did not push people away from the center when the results were studied in aggregate. It was a hack.
From the perspective of statistical analysis, the MBTI's fundamental premise is flawed. According to Myers & Briggs, each person is either an introvert or an extravert. Within each group we would expect to see a bell curve showing the distribution of extraversion within the extraverts group, and introversion within the introverts. If the MBTI approach is valid, we should expect to see two separate bell curves along the introversion/extraversion spectrum, making it valid for Myers & Briggs to decide there are two groups into which people fit. But data have shown that people do not clump into two separately identifiable curves; they clump into a single bell curve, with extreme introverts and extreme extraverts forming the long tails of the curve, and most people gathered somewhere in the middle. Jung himself said "There is no such thing as a pure extravert or a pure introvert. Such a man would be in the lunatic asylum." This does not support the MBTI assumption that people naturally separate into two groups. MBTI takes a knife and cuts the bell curve right down the center, through the meatiest part, and right through most people's horizontal error bars. Moreover, this forced error is compounded four times, with each of the four dichotomies. This statistical fumble helps to explain why so many people score differently when retaking the test: There is no truly correct score for most people, and no perfect fit for anyone.
And this has been borne out in observation. A number of studies have found that personality types said to be most appropriate for certain professions, notably nursing or teaching, turn out to be no more prevalent among that profession than among the general population. The Army Research Institute commissioned one such study to determine if the MBTI or similar tests could be used to improve the placement of personnel in different duties, and firmly concluded that the results of such tests did not justify their use in career counseling.
From reviewing the literature, I do find one common theme among mainstream psychotherapists where the use of the MBTI is advised, and that's as a conversation starter. It's a fine way to give people a quick snapshot of what their strengths and weaknesses might be, and of those with whom they interact. To get the dialog going, this is a perfectly valid tool. But as a tool for making career decisions, relationship decisions, or psychiatric assessment, no. Although it would be nice to have a magically easy self-analysis tool that can make your decisions for you and be your crystal ball, the Myers-Briggs test is not it. It is interesting and it does have value as a starting point for meaningful dialog, but that's where the line should be drawn.
© 2010 Skeptoid Media, Inc.
References & Further Reading
Dickson, D., Kelly, I. "'The Barnum Effect' in Personality Assessment: A Review of the Literature." Psychological Reports. 1 Feb. 1985, Volume 57, Number 2: 367-382.
Druckman, D., Bjork, R. In the Mind's Eye: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1991.
Howes, R., Carskadon, T. "Test-Retest Reliabilities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a Function of Mood Changes." Research in Psychological Type. 1 Jan. 1979, Volume 2, Number 1: 67-72.
Jung, C. Psychological Types. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc., 1923.
Long, T. "Myers-Briggs and Other Modern Astrologies." Theology Today. 1 Oct. 1992, Volume 49, Number 3: 291-295.
Myers, Isabel and Peter. Gifts Differing. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1980.
Reference this article:
Dunning, B.
"The Myers-Briggs Personality Test." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, Inc.,
31 Aug 2010. Web.
21 May 2013. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4221>
Discuss!
10 most recent comments | Show all 127 comments
I LOVE THIS TEST
Macauley Deverin, fair haven
May 08, 2012 8:52am
Certainly no test that measures who you are is perfect. How odd of us to ever expect such a thing! No human is the exact same as any other, so therefore, the test has flaws. Let me just say... DUH. But that does not mean it is complete trash. Some people are strong versions of the personalities created. Others, not so much. But complaining and discouraging the making of a personality test is just plain silly, considering there has yet to ever be a test made that was perfect, or a person, for that matter.
Hayley, Lexington
May 23, 2012 9:21pm
I am a libra. I know, my mother passed that test! She informed me.
Useless piece of information that was!
mud, Sinful shire, sin city, Oz
June 12, 2012 4:57am
Personality inventory psychology is of great interest to libertarians and I'm sure there are many readers of Skeptoid.com who are of that ilk. That's because they are interested in human action. Theories of how people get along with each other is exactly what personality inventory psychology is all about. Without such tool, people get to know each other and find that experience very useful in getting along amicably after that. Personality inventory psychology is merely a spreadsheet to hasten that process. That's all. It has nothing to do with making a better B2 or faster car. If this tool is useless, then so too are counselors who specialize in people working together.
Walter Clark, Fullerton California
June 28, 2012 1:11pm
A few years ago I unearthed the MBTI results from a workshop I attended my senior year of high school ('91). I do not see mention here of the type of scoring used on the test I took.
Each of the 4 areas were graded with 0 as a midpoint, then either left 1-100 or right 1-100. It was explained that if you graded near 0 it was likely you moved between different types. For example, if you scored 5 on introversion, it was very likely you could test again as an extrovert. However, if you scored 90 on introversion, you may test again as 50, but you were pretty solidly an introvert.
I have seen no one mention this type of scoring, but it seems to fly in the face of the sliced bell curve fault found with the testing in the article.
Lastly, the test is highly personal. I have read it is correct 75% of the time, but the only way to determine correctness is to personally agree or disagree with the results.
My results were dead on when I took the test. After 17 years of not thinking of it at all, they are still accurate today. I've mellowed (scored 70+ I,N,F & P originally) but, I'm still firmly an INFP.
Paddy McFaddy, Illinois
August 31, 2012 6:34pm
I am a believer in the MBTI system, but only as an eccentric curiosity. It's about as valid as a horoscope without being a horoscope. I am an INFP, and I find it is quite helpful for certain things, and identifying with myself. However, I believe it is unethical and frankly stupid to apply it in business situations and so on. It's a personal thing, not a corporate tool.
Conor Mullins, London
November 20, 2012 11:35am
Look, I found getting a horoscope bed sheet and hiding chocolates and flowers under every astrological star got me EVERYWHERE.
Still doesnt mean the predictions of the "horoscope" regarding real life situations got me anywhere other than the chocolates and flowers.
This is the disappointing things for believers of any stripe.
But while someone is ranging and just happens to avoid LHC...
1) what is the unacceptable probability of world demise due to the LHC in the discussion of the past few months. Journal articles from refereed journals (Hell, even Phys Rev B will do!).
2) what is the unacceptable energy and which particle is the unacceptable particle (again, this can only appear from an appropriate journal).
These should have been posted at the start..not asked for months and months later.
PS.. for a stoic I am an incurable romantic...
Mud, At virtually missing point, NSW, OZ,
December 18, 2012 12:55am
A friend of mine in high school, long before I had heard of Jung, once said that she could never imagine me as an extravert. I kept my inner world quiet with almost a paranoid fear of others, shielding the intensity of my incredible emotions, towards which I attributed the closest thing to Godliness that an atheist can conceive. Part of my disconnect from people came from their lack of interest in "profound" matters. I found it fascinating and unbelievable that, despite the invisible Essence pervading the world, a unitive entity that I perceived that pervaded all things, like an Oversoul, revealing itself in glorious moments of spontaneous clarity, went entirely unmentioned by people, and some would even insist on using logic where this Presence would, by virtue of logic, hide itself.
I just talked to one of my friends from high school, and elementary school, in fact. It was the first time in my life that I fully fathomed that he, and perhaps most people, would not discern any meaning in the above paragraph. Considering the depictions of Bradbury, of Poe, of Salinger, of Rowling, of Shakespeare of this phenomenon, -- Of Meaning as an incontrovertible phenomenon Presenting itself serendipitously -- it was boggling to discover that my friend had only experienced this whilst using psychedelics.
Could it be that, in fact, these writers are on a different planet? The MBTI helped me to see that and understand why friends had called me Hamlet and Holden Caulfield.
- INFP
Dmitry Andreyev, San Diego, CA
April 03, 2013 2:45am
It's sad that businesses are still using the test, or some bastardized 4-quadrant branding, to measure ability and willingness to work in a team. Unlike the focus on what is positive, my experience has been that managers use it as a tool to point out your weaknesses or as an excuse for your inability to team. I understand that the test has 10 gradients to each of the four quadrants that puts the number of personalities, mathematically, over 100 thousand. I am amused when we try to measure the unmeasurable.
Eileen, Simi Valley, CA
May 12, 2013 7:57am
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Fair point: It's a conversation starter. No analytical framework captures life in all its fullness, certainly not these four sets of opposed tendencies of psychological processes and personality.
Personal observation: Besides yielding a four letter "type", the test yields a number/percentage that measures the strength of the test taker's inclination toward each letter, and thus away from its opposite letter (100% E is highly extroverted, hardly introverted; 1% E an is barely more extroverted than introverted). If the number for one or more letters is low, the test taker fits less well within the general description of the type.
Error1?: I was first made aware of the test by a clinical psychologist at a university, where the MBTI is used among a group of tests, most often for career counseling. I will tell my friend about the Army study you mention. That's interesting.
Error2?: Supposedly, one's scores and type have not been shown to be inconsistent over time.
Proves nothing, but...: Allegedly, my dominant mental function is N, and my N percentage is high. All of the people with whom I'm really close agreed to take the test, and all are N types. I have conflict with and struggle to deeply understand S types (with one "half" exception), which include several immediate family members. I find this personal circumstance interesting, albeit anecdotal.
Ben Factor, L.A., CA
May 04, 2012 11:21am