Liora Abrera Manoim (12) | STAFF REPORTER
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ve likely heard of the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) personality test. The concept is simple: you answer a couple of questions on a scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree,” and – based on your responses – you’re assigned one of sixteen personality types. Each personality type has four components: Introverted versus Extraverted, Sensing versus iNtuition, Thinking versus Feeling, and Judging versus Perceiving, and whichever ones you more closely align with inform your personality. (I, myself, am an ENFP.)
The MBTI test and others like it are designed and marketed as valuable and reliable tools to help employers select the right hiring candidate, to help job-seekers find the best career for themselves, and to assist in uncovering one’s perfect love match. All these fanciful promises lead me – and several others, I’m sure – to ask the following question: How accurate are these personality tests?
Well, if you’re to believe the psychologists that The Scientific American interviewed on this exact topic, not very. These experts state that the questionnaire is very vague and worded confusingly, a fact that I – having taken the MBTI test myself – can attest to. On top of that, a person’s type may change from day to day, meaning that the MBTI gives false information when it claims to be a reliable personality test. As taking an officially licensed MBTI test can cost up to $40 USD, is it any wonder that the consensus among many professionals is that it’s one of the worst personality tests out there? Other “scientific” personality tests face the same problem.[1]
“Scientific” personality tests are grossly inaccurate, which is a shame. Many people pigeonhole themselves into a set of behaviours and characteristics because it matches the personality assigned to them by these ‘scientific’ tests and refuse to grow as a person. These ‘personalities’ become so central to one’s sense of identity that the thought of changing – even if it’s a change for the better – feels like losing a part of yourself.
However, as long as they’re not taken too seriously (and you don’t pay any money for something so ridiculous), taking a “scientific” personality test for fun shouldn’t do any harm. Go nuts!
