Student

MBTI (myers briggs) Critique:

The Myers-Briggs type indicator is a personality questionnaire design to identify different characteristics. It consists of 16 different traits or types which people can be grouped in together. It has become more and more popular during years and many criticisms have risen from it. It was developed by a mother and daughter combination, over a period of 40 years, Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers who originally created this gage during WWII, for women entering the industrial workforce for the first time to recognize which sort of job would they be most at ease and effective at.

On after my personal completion of the “Human metrics Jung Typology Test” I was given a type of ENTJ (Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Judging). This has the characteristic of being natural leaders. It was also states that we tend to decide early and remain confident of our choices, enjoy competitive challenges and we are often found in management positions in the workforce. On the downside we are easily frustrated by others who don’t meet deadlines, we put pressure on our self’s, which lead to stress. After reading through the ENTJ profile, I did seem to notice similar characteristics that I would generally display, but on saying that I did also observe other attributes which are completely wrong.

I think the test is unrealistic and the truth be said, very judgmental for it places people in groups, which I found to be difficult because to answer these questions they have used a Yes or No answering system. For some questions it felt quite hesitant to answer with a simple Yes or No, and for this reason I felt fairly skeptical already before even finishing the test.

I believe out of the 16 types, many people would prefer to be in the extroverted categories, the more flamboyant types, and hence I would think a lot people would base there answers to fit in those groups.

Due to Myer-Briggs type indicators growing popularity, which is extensively used within corporate organizations, many critics deem (like I have above), MBTI is giving birth to “type mania” this is where the testers try to apply unnecessary effort to belong to illustrious personality types. This is already why a problem can be foreseen, for the people who rely on this test overly, will come to see that most people will not be in sync with the test results.

To further add to the growing condemnation, many critics have questioned its scientific integrity for the creators of MBTI, Katharine Cook Briggs nor Isabel Briggs Myers did not have any scientific qualifications in the field of psychometric testing. In addition the takers of the test who have retaken the test to test the reliability of it, have came to see that the results do come out differently.

When researching this issue I have come across one critic: G. Stephen Taylor, a management professor at the Mississippi State University, who fears in the work place and in many corporations, managers may have the tendency to issue a personality test for the solving of the organizational. Instead of assisting the management