My Beef with MBTI Personality Types

From a (former) personality type obsessor

Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, Big Five: All names given to tests with the same objective of assessing human personality and fitting people into simple categorization schemes neatly. While some swear by its results, feeling seen and understood, others call it ‘astrology for nerds’ and compare it to horoscopes. As you can tell, there is a wide range of opinions on personality tests.

All of these tests come under the type approach to personality. This attempts to understand personality by analysing broad patterns of observable behaviour. The behavioural patterns are quantified into unique categories. Whether it is Hippocrates’ 4 type classification or the Ayurvedic “tridosha” and “triguna”, throughout history, we have formulated tests and assessments to fit ourselves in a box.

One very popular personality test is the Myers-Briggs personality test (MBTI). Like most personality tests, it is self-reported and introspective, designed to identify a person’s personality type, preferences and interests. It is one of the world’s most widely used psychological instruments though some in the scientific community regard it as pseudoscience.

I have a love-hate relationship with the MBTI test. It may seem appealing to simply fill in a questionnaire about yourself and in response, have it spit out a type that defines you. At the same time, a label can get too comfortable and strictly defining your personality goes against the fluidity of personality.

You are so much more than 4 Letters

When I did the test on 16personalities.com, my type reflected to be ENTP i.e. extraverted, intuitive, thinking, perceiving.

But I’m so much more than that. Strict definitions placed on personality don’t reflect real-life nuances. Every personality trait is more on a continuum, a spectrum than discrete boxes. Most people do not fall on the extremes of any trait. This is something that the Big Five personality test recognises.

While these tests are a good tool for self-exploration and introspection, to base important life decisions based on my personality type is folly. For instance, choosing to become a lawyer owing only to the fact that I’m an ENTP wouldn’t be the smartest decision. Some research even suggests that the test is NOT a good predictor of success in different careers.

Objective Self-Evaluation can get Messy

Internal biases and a desire to please may lead to inaccurate self-reporting, which is what the tests are entirely based on. In the test, we may give certain responses that we believe make us more socially desirable. Personally, I observe a gap in who I am and who I want to be (i.e. my ideal self). I find this an excellent way to get an existential crisis which is a delightful experience: 10/10, would recommend.

Moreover, I feel like if someone else were to do this test on my behalf, I would get a completely different personality type because they perceive me differently. In that case, the way I perceive myself may be inconsistent with who I actually am as well and the test is really only labelling who I think I am.

Also, a study showed that nearly half the people who take the MBTI test get assigned a different type after 5 weeks of taking the test. I wouldn’t exactly count that as reliable…

Personality is Fluid

A key assumption observed in these personality types is that personality remains the same throughout your life. This is actually false and it has been shown that personality can shift during key periods of life. Some traits may be relatively stable and other traits may change as we mature over time. Our personalities are more malleable than we think.

You may find yourself a social chameleon. You may move in accordance to the natural environment around you, open to influence. For instance, I can adapt well to different social settings and this brings out different personality traits in me. Hence, your personality may be defined differently by different people in different social settings you may form a part of. This video does a good job showing that.

“We are three different people: who we think we are, who others tell us we are, and who we really are” (from a YouTube comment lol)

Inaccuracies aren’t alien to MBTI metrics

A lot of the evidence supporting these tests is case studies. There aren’t much controlled tests that point towards the usefulness of the test.

Recent studies show inaccuracies in the way we look at traits that govern your MBTI personality type. For instance, people do not really have a dominant preference for thinking and feeling; research suggests that your preference for using logic to make decisions isn’t related to your empathy for others. In fact, more often than not, thinking and feeling go hand-in-hand. The MBTI test has suggested the opposite.

What makes things even more complicated is the fact that the definitions of the traits which constitute the metrics of the personality tests itself are constantly changing. For instance, what may be viewed as extroversion 20 years ago may not be extroversion today.

Despite all this, we find ourselves leaning towards this personality test. Why is that? I believe it could be due to the Forer Effect. The Forer effect is a phenomenon in which individuals think personality descriptions are accurate and apply specifically to them despite the fact that they are framed so vague that they could apply to most. This is why we gravitate towards zodiac signs and personality types. In a way, we just want to feel special; I sure do love the feeling of getting a long descriptive page about me.

The descriptions you get may be “freakishly accurate” for two very different personalities. The descriptions aren’t super specific to you and could even apply to very different people. Moreover, these personality descriptions tend to be positive. I mean, has any test ever described you as lazy, selfish, rude and narcissistic? Yeah, me neither.

If you believe in MBTI and have thoughts on this article, feel free to comment or shoot me a DM — have I mentioned I’m a debater (ENTP)? 🗿

Anyways, take this article as me officially being done with filling the void in my sense of self with MBTI personality tests.*

*this doesn’t mean I will not take them just for the identity crises they give me.

Hey 👋, I’m Rania, a 16 y/o activator at the Knowledge Society. I’m a future of food researcher who focuses on acellular agriculture. Currently, I’m nerding out on using artificial intelligence in healthcare. I’m always ready to learn, grow and inspire. I’d love to connect; reach out to me on any of my social media and let’s be friends!