[Magdalen] What Each Myers-Briggs Type Does In A Rut (The Rise Of The Inferior Function) | Thought Catalog

[Sally Davies]

I'm fascinated by the Myers-Briggs.

On the one hand, it is regarded with at best distrust and at worst contempt
by those who believe that "personality" measurement can and should be a
science. For example:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-myers-briggs-personality-test-is-pretty-much-meaningless-9359770/

And the point is well made in that article, that if businesses are in any
way relying on MBTI for HR decisions, it could be at the expense of
fairness to individuals or benefit to teams.

It's neither used nor taught in clinical psychology, at least in my limited
experience.

And yet...what other "personality" test - except perhaps "star signs" - has
such wide currency and is so well loved by those who take it? What other
test is so free of pathologising and normalising tendencies?

You don't find groups of people online talking about their MMPI or Millon
scores or the intricacies of their Rorschach tests (though the Rorschach
USED to be a parlour game in the days when people enjoyed divergent
thinking more than blowing up one target after another).

I even used to have a book (on loan) called "16 ways to love your lover"
which explored how the different combos of "types" do intimate
relationships. And people identified with that, too.

So for me there is something about MBTI that people really do like, that
helps us explain ourselves to ourselves and perhaps to accept  - and even
like! - things about ourselves. For example, the idea of "introversion"
(not unique to MBTI) is of tremendous help to people who prefer a quieter,
less socially engaged way of life and work, in a culture that tends to
value (and promote) the opposite.

Does it matter whether these things are "real" or not in the eyes of the so
called experts? I tend to think, not. We are all many selves and that's
another thing MBTI kind of allows - that growth and change can occur, as
Jon said about getting sober. Migration of identity does occur and MBTI can
help track it. It's become a tool that people can use to re-present
themselves, and so far I haven't noticed any harm coming from that. Unlike
pathologising tests which contribute to the labelling of persons and their
lives, and can have devastating consequences.

The one thing I really don't like about it is the commercial exploitation.
Our local test supplier charges a small fortune to offer the "course" for
learning how to implement and report on the test - which is basically
common sense. It's easily pirated however and there's not much they can do
about that.

Theoretically, it has some links to Jungian personality tests like the JPQ,
and there's a scaled down version, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, which is
free online.

Other than the I/E, the "type" that I find most helpful to explore, is the
J/P. I haven't (so far) found there to be much of a "spectrum" on that -
people seem to be one or the other, although with varying intensities of J
or P.

N/S and F/T, I think, are far more contextual in their expression,
reflecting culture, education and so on; and F/T has shown a gender bias
which always makes me suspicious of what's going on with that.

Last time I tried it I came out as ENFP, though I wasn't very E or very F.
I don't think of myself as an E really, just an I who likes to talk
with other people, until I don't any more.

Keith was an off-the-scale I, but he's fantastic with people and never
seems to avoid personal engagement with others, only noisy, crowded places.

Sally D



On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, Christopher Hart <cervus51 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Uh, Jim, the Myers-Briggs type indicator may not be perfect, but there IS a
> bit more science to it than astrology has to offer.
>
> On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
>
> > Is looking for quantification of one' own behavior a way of rationalizing
> > away certain outré personal habits?
> >
> > "I'm an ABCD and she's a WXYZ and that explains everything." I suspect
> all
> > this is an intellectual version of "What sign are you?" "Oh, I could
> never
> > get along with a Gemini because I;m a Capricorn. Good Bye!"
> >
> > But it's the age we live in, I suppose.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Jim
> >
>
>
> --
>
> Christopher Hart
>
> List Mail Address: cervus51 at gmail.com <javascript:;>
> Personal Mail: cervus at veritasliberat.net <javascript:;>
> Twitter: @cervus51
>