Personality Type

[Umbran]

Myers-Briggs actually has credibility with some reputable people.

Yes, but it is also widely questioned. It is based in Jungian theory, which was based on methods widely regarded as inconclusive by the psychological community these days. Maybe Jung got the right idea using inconclusive methods, but I don't know if I'd call that likely. There are also several other basis for criticism of the scheme, in terms of how the testing operates, its repeatability, specificity and sensitivity:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I went to a leading MBA school, and I remember spending a day in one of the soft classes talking about how your M-B type affects which managerial techniques will be the most effective for you.

Yes, that's *exactly* why I question it. The majority of those pushing it seem to have economic skin in the game.

I can accept Byers-Briggs as a good starting point for a conversation on how a single management style will not always work, but we have a word for pigeonholing people and deciding how they think and behave beforehand: stereotyping. Dressing it up as psychology does not make it any less stereotyping.

Just a couple weeks ago I was labelled by someone who is not a mental health professional, as a way to shut me out of a conversation (in effect, "You're an X, and we need Y input now."), and if the tool is going to be used in that manner, we are all better off without it.

But, you know, that's just me. Don't let it spoil the thread.

 

[haakon1]

Expectations v. Poll Results

E is about 75% of the population, as is S, but T v. F and J v. P are 50/50 splits. So in a normal population, you'd expect lots of SJ's and SP's.

For RPG gamers, I thought we'd more than our fair share of NT's and NF's, given that "N" (intuitive) is about imagination (key words that come up often in describing N's = hunches, future, speculative, inspiration, head-in-the-clouds, fantasy, fiction, ingenuity, imaginative).

It turns out that's right -- NT and NF are the largest populations, and far out of line with their prevalence in the general population:

NT's = 12 (5 ENTJ "Fieldmarshal", 4 INTP "Architect", 3 INTJ "Scientist", 0 ENTP "Inventor") = 46% of the those who answered, should be 12.5% of general population (nearly 4x)

NF's = 6 (3 INFP "Questor", 2 INFJ "Author", 1 ENFP "Journalist", 0 ENFJ "Pedagogue") = 23% of those who answered, should be 12.5% of general population (nearly 2x)

Umbran, that's 69% answering in a bucket that's 25% of the general population . . . could it be this theory is not just a random guess like astrology?

SP's = 5 (3 ISTP "Artisan", 2 ISFP "Artist", 0 ESTP "Promotor", 0 ESFP "Entertainer") = 19% of those who answered, should be 37.5% of general population (about 1/2x)

SJ's = 3 (2 ISTJ "Trustee", 1 ESFJ "Seller", 0 ISFJ "Conservator", 0 ESTJ "Administrator) = 12% of those who answered, should be 37.% of general population (about 1/3x)

I didn't expect the outcomes by individual letters (NT, NF, SJ, and SP being the major "roll up" categories):

E v. I. should be 75% E's in general population. Results were the opposite, as others (but not me!) suspected: 19 I's (73%) and only 7 E's (27%).

T v. F should be 50/50 in general population. Results were heavily T, which I guess makes sense for people who don't mind "good v. evil" being solid detectable things and who like to describe the universe with lots and lots and lots of rules. 17 T's (65%) v. 9 F's (35%).

J v. P should also be 50/50 in general population. Results were precisely that -- 13 v. 13!

 

[Stormonu]

Looks like I fell into the ISTP bucket.

I'm also a Gemini, or Taurus, depending on which Zodiac calendar I'm looking at (I see that as being a "true" Gemini).

I guess I should go check where my biorhythms are at as well.

 

[Dice4Hire]

What? Nothing about blood types?

Over here in Japan people really believe this is important.

I was 18 before I even knew what mine was (I am an American)

 

[Desdichado]

The zodiac isn't self-selected, so it's really not comparable at all.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Myers-Briggs actually has credibility with some reputable people. I went to a leading MBA school

Not my standard of reputability!

I believe the gold standard personality typing is the Big 5 and even that is highly contentious.

 

[Nyeshet]

There are rather strong correlations between four of the Big Five factors and the four polar traits of the MBTI, so while MBTI may have a shaky origin (in Jung theory), its statements of type do have a firmer foundation.

here

Basically, the E/I correlates strongly with Extroversion, the S/N correlates strongly with Openness, the T/F correlates well with Agreeableness, and the J/P correlates well with Conscientiousness. But the MBTI has no type to correlate with Neuroticism, so it could be said that MBTI is incomplete in its current form.

Because of these correlations with the Big Five Factors - a personality traits system which *is* generally accepted by psychiatrists - the MBTI can be used as a sort of non-professional (in psychology) generalization of the more specific and more complex Big Five Factors, but one has to keep in mind that it *is* only a generalization - and an incomplete one at that.

Oh, and I test as an INFJ (albeit near borderline between J and P).


(Also, be aware that Keirysey's Temperments [SJ, SP, NF, NT] - while having its origin in MBTI - is not quite the same as MBTI [SF, ST, NF, NT]; it has developed along a different path.)

 

[Umbran]

Hr. So much for my request to not have this derail the thread. Sorry.

There are rather strong correlations between four of the Big Five factors and the four polar traits of the MBTI, so while MBTI may have a shaky origin (in Jung theory), its statements of type do have a firmer foundation.

Big Five is an empirical finding from factor analysis (when you do tests, people tend to cluster in groups, and they put names to the groups - much like the WotC "Breakdown of RPG players). There is no underlying theory of *why* people have these traits.

This limits its usefulness. You can legitimately say, "People like this exist." But, without a theory behind it, you don't know much about what you can or should do about them. It is like saying "Cars that drive 30 MPH exist." It is information, but it doesn't tell you about how to service the engine.

...the MBTI can be used as a sort of non-professional (in psychology) generalization of the more specific and more complex Big Five Factors, but one has to keep in mind that it *is* only a generalization - and an incomplete one at that.

Because non-professionals should get into psychological characterization? This seems like a good idea?

 

[Janx]

I get widely varying results on Myers-Briggs tests...

...and, as a complete aside, I'm not so sure that classifying people as one of 16 personality types is any less weird than classifying them as one of 12 zodiac signs.

Yeah, I could take that test and get different results each time. Too many of the questions are equally appealing forks in the road.

Overall, I describe myself as an Introverted Extrovert or an Extroverted Introvert.

 

[Stumblewyk]

I said INTJ, but I've come up as an INFJ before as well. I've always felt my scoring was close enough to be a decent gauge of my personality.