Personality Assessment
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality assessment tool developed by Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, based on the work of Carl Jung's theory of psychological types. The MBTI aims to categorise individuals into one of sixteen personality types based on their preferences in four different dichotomies:
- Extraversion (E) versus Introversion (I)
- Sensing (S) versus Intuition (N)
- Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F)
- Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)
According to MBTI, individuals fall on a continuum between each of these dichotomies, but they have a dominant preference in each of the four categories, which results in one of the sixteen possible personality types.
Pros and cons of Myers Briggs
Pros of Myers Briggs
Self-awareness: MBTI can help individuals gain a better understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, which can improve their self-awareness and personal development.
Improved communication: By understanding their own personality type and the personality types of others, individuals can improve their communication skills and work more effectively with others.
Team building: MBTI can be used to help teams understand each other's personality types, which can lead to improved team dynamics and collaboration.
Career development: MBTI can be used to help individuals identify career paths that are well-suited to their personality type and preferences.
Popular tool: The MBTI is widely recognised and has been used by millions of people worldwide, which can create a shared language and understanding of personality types.
Cons of Myers Briggs
Scientific validity: The MBTI has been criticised for lacking scientific evidence and validity as a psychological tool.
Limited accuracy: The MBTI measures personality types on a dichotomous scale, which can oversimplify personality traits and limit the accuracy of the assessment.
Rigidity: Some people may feel constrained or limited by their assigned personality type, which could lead to self-fulfilling prophecies or missed opportunities.
Cultural bias: The MBTI has been criticised for being culturally biased and not accounting for cultural differences in personality expression.
Misuse: The MBTI should not be used for hiring, promotion, or other employment decisions, as it is not a valid or reliable tool for predicting job performance.
Other assessments
Personality tests
Values and strengths tests
- Define Your Values
- Strengths Profile (cost associated)
- VIA Strengths
- Schein's Career Anchors
Skills and career interests tests
- Hollands' Career Hexagon (more info)
- Imagine PhD (Social Science and Humanities)
- PostdocTraining
- SkillScan (cost associated)
- myIDP (STEM)
References
Grant, A. (2013) Goodbye to MBTI, the Fad that Won’t Die. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/give-and-take/201309/goodbye-mbti-the-fad-won-t-die (Accessed: 26 May 2020).
Pittenger, D. J. (1993) ‘Measuring the MBTI… and coming up short’, Journal of Career Planning and Employment, 54(1), pp. 48-52.
Quenk, N. L. (2009). Essentials of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment. Hoboken, NJ.: Wiley.