This is where putting too much faith in the test causes problems The test looks at 4 factors of your personality, and there are statistical correlations between those traits and a person's career path, but it's not 100%, and it's not prescriptive I'm INTP, so stereotypically, you'd expect me to be a mathematics professor, an architect, or a programmer (and in fact, I wanted to be a math professor for a pretty long time), but I didn't do well in college, yet I love my new day job in retail If you don't want to get an "artsy job," you don't have to! Adolf Hitler was INFJ, and he completely failed as a painter
I can see where you're coming from, and even agree to an extent. It may be worth considering that the middle ground between the test being just about serious enough to be used for character sheets and it being used as a foundation for one's sense of self is actually fairly broad, and that a sensible amount of those people who consistently score the same result regardless of the source will be able to find that middle ground without too much difficulty. I'll put this pompously - I'm too large, layered and complex to be defined, or summed up, by any personality test. I know who I am. What (I believe) MBTI to have reasonably helped me with is translate and analyse how I work to a degree greater than I'd been able to of myself, which is bliss for me, since (aiming to) translate and analyse how I and others work is an innate need of mine.
And if that works for you, that's fine, but I also see people take the test and then use those results to limit themselves in how they interact with the world. "Oh well, I'm and INTP, so I wouldn't have any fun going out and doing things," or, "I shouldn't try an art career because I'm supposed to be good at math," when in reality, both of those things would be incredibly fulfilling for the person involved.
Not quite Horoscopes are prescriptive: "If you were born on Month the Dayth, then your personality is ____" Myers-Briggs is descriptive: "If your personality is ____, then the label for your personality is ____" Like I have A strong preference for being asocial over being social A strong preference for being theoretical over practical A moderate preference for being insensitive to others over being sensitive to them A strong preference for being disorganized over being organized And the Myers-Briggs label for an asocial, theoretical, insensitive, disorganized personality is INTP That is true but just because many people use a thing poorly doesn't necessarily mean that the thing itself is a problem
But the thing is still kind of a problem. Even dividing people into Introverted or Extroverted creates kind of a false type class given that most people are pretty much in between. I don't have a problem with personality types or type tests in general, but the Meyers-Briggs is iffy. With result reproducibility at somewhere in the range of 50 and 80 percent (depending on the source) it's really not very accurate.
Except that when you take a test, it gives you numbers like 87% I 64% S 75% F 90% J Even when I call myself "INTP," I still know that my weakest preference is T and that my closest second is INFP It takes extra work to reinterpret the labels from meaning "I = more than 50% introverted, E = more than 50% extraverted" to meaning "I = 100% introverted, E = 100% extraverted"
The official MBTI puts it on a scale of 30 for whatever reason. But it still also treats things like Sensing and Intuition, and Thinking and Feeling like they're two ends of a spectrum, when they're their own unrelated traits.
Not really: Sensing is a focus on specific practical details over general abstract concepts, and vice versa for Intuiting Thinking is when you try to be detached in your dealings with other people (even if you’re attached to the people themselves), and vice versa for Feeling
I've done heaps of personality tests, scientific and "spiritual", eg: Western, Chinese and Mayan Astrology, Numerology. What I've found is none of them are 100% accurate, thus I use them as guides only, info that I can choose to further explore, and I'll dismiss anything that I judge doesn't depict me. Of course, some tests are more accurate than others, which I imagine is due to how the test is constructed, and what I notice a lot is how the questions are constructed, in that many times the question misses the mark on my particular way of thinking thus it's difficult to either answer yes or no, or when they offer a scale, it become too vague thus inaccuracies arise. Plus, badly constructed tests repeat the same question, just worded differently, thus instead of answering 100 questions, you're only answering 20. As soon as I see a repeat question I stop wasting my time. I found it all boils down to how well you know yourself, thus you're not using a test to tell you who you are, they're used to confirm what you already think of yourself, this way these tests are tools to help you build confidence in self awareness. All the tests I've taken, puting aside the gross errors, all point to me being a writer and helping folks sort their shit out and perfectly matches my personality and character triats. I'm about to do the test linked in the OP.
Problems in the test. Are you quick to compliment or critique? I am quick for both, but you have to choose one, which affects the result. Of course, all one has to do is redo the test and answer differently for these types of questions. I am tough-minded or soft-hearted? I am both. I take more pride in my goals, or successes? I think this is an irrational question, for if you don't have pride in your goals, you won't keep at it to have pride in your success. Rating which one you pride more seems pointless. I prefer speakers that communicate figuratively or literally? I like both. When around other people, I keep to myself or start a conversation? Vague question 'cus it depends on the situation. I prefer someone who is empathetic or efficient? Depends on the circumstance doesn't it. First run... "ISTP - The "Craftsman" - ISTPs are adventurous and independent. They are fearless and thrive on challenging situations. They are gifted problem solvers. Their mechanical and technical nature enables them to operate many kinds of tools and instruments. They are proud of their relatively effortless ability to acquire many skills. They seek freedom and are typically unemotional." Most of this is accurate, but completely wrong about being unemotional, but easily seen how they concluded this going by the construct of the questions. What I noticed in the test is repeat questions, written differently, including the same question when you had to choose between two options and when the test changed to 4 choices, thus many questions were asked more than once. Results from the 2nd run show there were less than 60 questions that I could give a definitive single answer to. All the rest had two distinct answers, or three...which equates to inaccuracies if you only to the test once or you can't see more than one accurate answer for the questions. 2nd run... "INFP - The "Dreamer" - INFPs are idealistic and deeply sensitive. They are characterized by their loyal and gentle nature. Beneath their easy going disposition runs a fixed passion for the causes they believe in and the people they care for." Again, accurate to a degree, then I have issues with the 2nd line. And a completely different result, just from either opposite answers to the 2 choice questions, or a slight variation in the multiple choice ones.
The real problem with Meyers-Briggs is the number of companies that use it as part of decision making during the hiring process. If you don't know whether or not you want to hire someone after the testing agencies do, a bunch of rounds of interviews including two panel interviews, and a thorough background check, the problem isn't with the person taking the test, regardless of their result.
Bingo! That's what the evidence shows as well. People are making big bucks selling this fraud to HR departments complete with seminars to train your HR staff how to administer and interpret the test.
Yeah. I agree. But only if you use the horoscope results to estimate the time of year someone is born. "Oh, you've answered a question in a way that means you're labelled a "Capricorn". That probably means you were born in late December or early January. Is that accurate?" People may well misuse or misinterpret the test results. But the test itself, if used in a reasonable manner? I've got no problem with it.
Please refer back to my earlier post in this thread. There are personality tests (such as the Millon and the MMPI) that are well researched and validated, and respected by psychologists— but this is not one of them. Continue to have fun with it, but please don’t suggest that it should be taken seriously. BTW, those other inventories are administered and scored in clinical settings.
Perhaps that evidence is based on your experiences; my experiences are different. Personality tests and astrology are tools, thus any errors from using these tools come from ones that are badly designed or effective ones misused by unskilled folks. I've done some personality tests that are highly accurate, my judgement based on my self knowledge, while others are just horrendously inaccurate. I've had spiritual readings of many types, some are hilariously wrong, and some are pin-point accurate. With spiritual matters, the accuracy is heavily subject to the skill and ability of the practitioner. If you've only experienced unskilled practioners, the potential exists to formulate a negative attitude to all of them, thus think it's all a scam. And it's true that there are scammers, but inaccuracy doesn't always mean the person is scamming, they could simply be incompetent....which includes my fav subject, they could suffer from a level of narcissism and actually believe they have access to higher knowledge. The same applies with scientific psych tests and those that design them and use them. I regard the human soul\consciousness\mind, as highly complex, and I've also noticed that humans are imperfect, thus all tools, all of our creations are imperfect, so error is a part of our human existence...though many of us do allocate time and effort on improvement and development. Over the years I've noticed progress has been made, though we as a species have a bloody long way to go. Some folks dismiss the whole matter as bs, and some see the benefits and work on weeding out the problems.
I learned in 2006 I was an INTJ. It changed my life to learn that I was an introvert. I grew up in a household of extroverts. Up till then, I always felt inadequat...
Well initially I just posted this test as a bit of fun. Nobody was supposed to take it very seriously. Unless you believe in psychics?? I’ve been taking a lot of these tests. So it’s very “hit and miss”.
Ok...I stand corrected! But serioulsy, the MBTI is used extensively in government and corporate human resources for people managment. The first time I took the actual test it was mandatory. And follow-up training on how to deal with other types was also required. Like I say it was very useful...and is based on Jung's theory which is psychological not psychics.
INFP here. I've taken it multiple times over the years. The raw numbers change slightly, but I'm always INFP. I disagree completely. I know (or knew -- as I get older there are fewer and fewer left) of mental health professionals who used it clinically. I have never, EVER, met anyone (other than you) who dismissed as being equivalent to a parlor game.
I took that test for fun a while ago. I mean, take it with a grain of salt I guess but it was surprisingly accurate at describing my personality. I think I was an INFP as well.
I took that test with a grain of salt also. But I thought this test in particular was kinda accurate about me. Perhaps it’s not particularly correct about everyone per se but I thought I’d post this out so you can take the test and decide for yourself.
