Are Myers-Briggs Personality Tests Pseudoscience?

[Fia]

Latest post of the previous page:

I'm still INFJ, and have ticked the box

[Hundovir]

Your Type is
INTJ
Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging
Strength of the preferences %
56 50 25 33

The trouble is, the description of this type reminds me of those "cold reading" scripts which everyone thinks applies personally. Derren Brown has a good example in Tricks of the Mind.

[Dan]

Psychometrics are probably pseudoscientific, but on the other hand they can be quite fun in classroom situations, and do encourage some thinking about the different approaches of different people to learning, for example.

I remember one course I did where we were grouped according to our "learning styles" - another pseudoscientific concept, but not without its interest. The best bit was when we had to draw pictures which other groups had to interpret. I was in the very word-oriented rationalist group, and remember talking about the more arty group's picture, and observing - to general hilarity - that I had found it difficult to get past the fact that they had drawn a rainbow which had the colours in the wrong order.

Dan

[sisyphushappy]

Of course there is a "Barnum effect" but is it really true that someone could pick one of the 16 types at random and see themselves in the description. For example, if you tested INTJ, try reading the description of an ESFJ. It's not like a horoscope.

[getreal]

I remember one course I did where we were grouped according to our "learning styles" - another pseudoscientific concept, but not without its interest. Dan

Now that's interesting! I enrolled as a volunteer tutor and the course you had to complete prior to being let loose on people was based on this concept.

Can#t beleive anything anyone says nowadays!

[Hestia]

ISFJ
Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging
Strength of the preferences %
89 25 75 44

[Lorikeet]

Interesting. It got the careers bit spookily right, and the healing the community business, not to mention the childhood stuff . . . (lies down on the couch) Actually it got an awful lot of it right. Even more interestingly, I've read another few and they don't describe me.

Pseudoscience? Well I definitely wouldn't call this science; I don't believe you can ever get this kind of thing 100% right. I don't think there even is a right or wrong when it comes to something as complex and unmeasurable as the personality. But it's a darn sight better than some tests I've taken

INFP - they seem to state that only 1% of people are these yet 15% are on this forum! Bigger sample please. By the way, what do all the other letters mean?

Introverted 44%
Intuitive 38%
Feeling 35%
Perceiving 33%

That suggests I am not cut out to be a scientist. Never mind, I knew that . . .

The careers they suggest to me are teaching (especially RE and humanities - I wanted to teach science, but got slung out!), counselling, writing, web design, archaeology . . . Interestingly these are all things I've thought about pretty seriously. Well, archaeology, at least studying it.

(Skip this bit if you don't feel like reading it. I seriously object to being lumped in with Princess Diana! Apparently I am also "the most sensitive of the Idealists". Hmmmmm, and I always manage to look blank and even rather smug when I feel at my worst!)


Healers present a calm and serene face to the world, and can seem shy, even distant around others. But inside they're anything but serene, having a capacity for personal caring rarely found in the other types. Healers care deeply about the inner life of a few special persons, or about a favorite cause in the world at large. And their great passion is to heal the conflicts that trouble individuals, or that divide groups, and thus to bring wholeness, or health, to themselves, their loved ones, and their community.

Healers have a profound sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of right and wrong. They conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place, full of wondrous possibilities and potential goods. In fact, to understand Healers, we must understand that their deep commitment to the positive and the good is almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. Set off from the rest of humanity by their privacy and scarcity (around one percent of the population), Healers can feel even more isolated in the purity of their idealism.

Also, Healers might well feel a sense of separation because of their often misunderstood childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood-they are the prince or princess of fairy tales-an attitude which, sadly, is frowned upon, or even punished, by many parents. With parents who want them to get their head out of the clouds, Healers begin to believe they are bad to be so fanciful, so dreamy, and can come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. In truth, they are quite OK just as they are, only different from most others-swans reared in a family of ducks.

At work, Healers are adaptable, welcome new ideas and new information, are patient with complicated situations, but impatient with routine details. Healers are keenly aware of people and their feelings, and relate well with most others. Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite happily alone. When making decisions, Healers follow their heart not their head, which means they can make errors of fact, but seldom of feeling. They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often write in lyric, poetic fashion. Frequently they hear a call to go forth into the world and help others, a call they seem ready to answer, even if they must sacrifice their own comfort.

Princess Diana, Richard Gere, Audrey Hephurn, Albert Schweiter, George Orwell, Karen Armstrong, Aldous Huxley, Mia Farrow", and Isabel Meyers are examples of a Healer Idealists.

[Alan H]

Some alternative Myers-Briggs interpretations.

[Dave B]

Looks like I am with the majority at the moment - INTJ

Introverted 56
Intuitive 38
Thinking 12
Judging 11

Considering the jobs and voluntary work I have enjoyed and the parts of training and academic courses I have not I would say this is not far off the mark.

[Dave B]

Some alternative Myers-Briggs interpretations.

Thanks, Alan, I did not really want to know that I am in the "Outside Contractor" category - boring or what!!!

[Marian]

Dave, don't feel bad because I am exactly the same and if you really must know, I do build my own friends.

[Dave B]

Dave, don't feel bad because I am exactly the same and if you really must know, I do build my own friends.

Yeah, I have re-read it and have to agree that it is pretty accurate in most respects. "Build friends", hmmm, not sure about that phrase, I prefer to think of "develop friends" - not in a manipulative way but by matching a little to them and offering them chances to match to me, seeking out areas in common or making new ones.

Interesting that this seems to be the largest category for the members that checked. Now, what is the crucial thing there I wonder, the fact that we are all humanists or that we join fora like this? Or both?

[Han83]

I've always come out as ENFP with varying degrees of extraversion.

Pseudo-science? Possibly. But still interesting and useful. I work with young people and on occasion I've got them to do the test. The nicest thing is that it gives them a little affirmation that it's OK to be whoever it is they are. So if they're a little quiet it can be helpful. They're just someone who gets their emotional energy from their internal processes.

And by the way, Loving the alternative guide. I come out as 'The Scientologist' which is fairly apt as I do have a penchant for joining cults of one form or another.

[Dave B]

Dan said, above, that psychometrics were all pseudo-science - but I begin to wonder. After taking the test here I looked up the results from one, far more elaborate, that I took whilst on my Access course.

Despite being logged in the top couple of percent in the mechanical aptitude tests the recommendations for work were still to do with writing, editing, journalism, information science etc. with an offshoot towards the legal professions. Engineering, in which I have worked most of my life, was not recommended.

There was also another test that I took in 1981, which I still have the report from, that offered similar conclusions . I felt that I needed a new look at my career then - I should have taken the hint but took the "easy" route back into engineering (with some success.)

Despite having a fair degree of skill with mechanical stuff, especially in the analytical aspects of it, I have to admit that for most of my life I have taken any opportunity to write that came along and enjoyed that. But I never really had the confidence to put all my chips in that area - until being retired when it made little difference anyway if I failed! As it was ill health got in the way of the uni course I got onto, in English Language, in the end.

So, the tests have shown similar results over 30 years - that seems to argue for some sort of sound basis. Scientific? Not sure if you take the classical use of the word. There is probably a statistical element in it, as there is behind a lot of psychological ideas. As time goes on and more people get tested then the results get more accurate.

[Paolo]

Some alternative Myers-Briggs interpretations.

Love it - very accurate too, here's mine:

ENTJ: The Evil Overlord

The ENTJ is best characterized by his charisma, his ability to grasp complex situations and to think flexibly and creatively, his keen and active intelligence, and his overwhelming desire to crush the world beneath his boot. ENTJs are naturally outgoing and love the company of other people, particulalry minions, henchmen, slaves, and the others they rule with ruthless efficiency.

ENTJs usually die at the hand of secret government agents in a fiery cataclysm that destroys their entire underground fortress. Often, Evil Overlords will have a secret clone whose implanted memories contain all the knowledge and ambition of the original, stored in cryonic suspension in a safe location. The clone will appear in a sequel.

RECREATION: ENTJs enjoy spending their leisure time in groups, seeking out the company of others with whom they can exchange strategies and ideas, and test their mind control rays. They also enjoy competitive games which challenge them intellectually, such as chess, go, and "tell me where the missiles are or I'll open the pirhana cage and the girl dies."

COMPATIBILITY: Ideal companions include ENTPs, whose inventive natures often most useful; and ESTJs, who make excellent henchmen once the neural realignment is complete. ENTJs often employ the services of ISTJs but don't usually make good romantic partners with them. Under no circumstances should an ENTJ ever date an ENFJ; no good can come of it.

Famous ENTJs include Ming the Merciless, John Bigboote, and Charles Montgomery Burns.

[Marian]

Paolo,
Perfect! Just as I suspected...

[Dave B]

Ming the Merciless

I can just imagine him sitting down and doing the test! Between wiping out Earth and Flash Gordon.

[Alan H]

Brian Dunning on the Myers-Briggs Personality Test.

[philbo]

Some alternative Myers-Briggs interpretations.

ENTP: The Mad Scientist

The ENTP, like the ENTJ, is charismatic, outgoing, and intelligent. ENTPs are often quickwitted, clever, and genial; they typically display a highly organized, rational cognitive ability which makes them natural scientists and inventors.

ENTPs are creative, complex people who seek to improve their understanding of the natural world, usually by building armored fifty-story-tall robotic monsters with iron jaws and death-ray eyes, or by creating genetically mutated plagues that spread unstoppably across the land, turning all who are contaminated into mindless zombie drones. They are less likely to want to conquer the world than to destroy it utterly, reducing it to nothing but slag and rubble--though this is often merely a side-effect of their pursuit of knowledge.

RECREATION: ENTPs enjoy recreational activities which challenge them physically and intellectually, such as water skiing and porting Linux to their iPods. They are also fond of collecting gadgets like combination cellpone/PDAs and orbiting arsenals of brain lasers, which they may port Linux to as well.

..unfortunately a natural dyspraxic tendency means that my attempts to port Linux to an iPod while waterskiing was a bit of a damp squib.

[CurtisB]

Your Type is
INTJ
Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging
Strength of the preferences %
89 12 12 33

Qualitative analysis of your type formula

You are:

* very expressed introvert
* slightly expressed intuitive personality
* slightly expressed thinking personality
* moderately expressed judging personality

[Alan H]

Nothing personal: The questionable Myers-Briggs test