ebbnflow的动态

THE CLAIM Dating back to 1917 & built on Jung’s ‘type theory’, MBTI claims to ‘discover your personality type’ in a valid & reliable way. THE EVIDENCE Like a clock without a face, MBTI can tell us the time – our ‘true type’. But if the inner workings of the mind are hidden - how can the test & types be validated? Assuming MBTI ‘types’ exist, they have to be fixed & distinct – I will always be an Introvert (‘I’) & never an Extrovert (‘E’). But evidence suggests that I am more likely to be on a spectrum from I to E. According to Jung, ‘I’ & ‘E’ defines where people receive ‘psychic energy’ – a paranormal phenomenon. But empirical studies show that whether I am introvert or extrovert depends on how stimulating I find my surrounding. Therefore, type is context dependent not fixed, so measuring it can never be reliable. MBTI misses key aspects of our personality such as neuroticism (critical to wellbeing) and has no predictive power. VERDICT Our desire to find our ‘true’ selves makes us susceptible to positive & vague personality descriptions like MBTI. But its lack of falsifiability makes it pseudo not science. We should use trait rather than type tools that have predictive validity & are less likely to deceive such as the FREE! Big 5 Personality Test. #MBTI #personalitytype