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Personality Tests REVISED
In taking the Myers-Briggs personality test, my results indicated ENFJ, or Extraverted Intuitive Feeling Judging. One interpretation calls this type "The Teacher" for shorthand (presumably because Extraversion is required for a teacher or professor to willingly stand in front of a classroom and "perform," while the Judging component helps with grading papers). Another weblink offered to show me a list of famous people with the ENFJ type: after scanning the various names (some of whom I identified with, some of whom I didn't) I began to consider what these tests were actually measuring, if anything. I was reading a list of "famous ENFJ personalities" but I wondered if they had lists of famous Introverts. With the possible exception of certain creative artists or eccentrics -- e.g., Marcel Proust, Greta Garbo, Nikola Tesla -- there are not many professions which offer wide fame to those who lack Extraversion altogether. Is there a famous historical figure who could truly be considered an "Introvert"? Surely the definition of historical significance means that you have an effect upon the lives of other people, and even a historical figure who might seem more introspective like the melancholy Abraham Lincoln was also clearly extraverted enough to deliver the Gettysburg Address without...
The oxymoron of a list of "Famous Introverts" told me that these tests had now become a kind of cultural shorthand precisely like the "signs of the zodiac" which are still featured in some media venues in the form of a "daily horoscope." These will routinely include a list of "famous personalities" by whom you are invited to measure yourself. Famous Scorpios include Hillary Clinton, Charles Manson, and Nick Lachey; famous ENFJs apparently include Leon Trotsky, Oprah, Pope John Paul II, and Ralph Nader. I do not know how these designations were achieved. I'm fairly sure that Trotsky died of an icepick to the skull in Mexico City long before a match was made in pop-psych heaven and Myers met Briggs, and so therefore could not have actually taken the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory. So who decides that Leon Trotsky was an ENFJ?
In fact, the Myers-Briggs or any "Pseudo Personality Test" has no greater claim to credibility than the daily horoscope. There are three logical fallacies at play, which may prevent the Myers-Briggs test from achieving anything resembling a scientific assessment of the human personality. Listed on page 486 of the course text, these are the "Barnum Effect," the "Fallacy of Positive Instances," and the "Self-Serving Bias." The Barnum effect offers language so…
References
Guastello, S.J., Guastello, D.D., and Craft, L.L. (1989). Assessment of the Barnum effect in computer-based test interpretations. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 123, 477-484.
Huffman, Karen. (2008). Psychology in Action. Ninth Edition. Hoboken: Wiley.
"Idealist ™ Portrait of the Teacher (ENFJ)." Web. Accessed 1 March 2011 at: http://keirsey.com/4temps/teacher.asp
"Personality Test Based on Jung -- Meyers-Briggs Terminology." Web. Accessed 1 March at: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes3.asp
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-reporting inventory developed from Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung's theory of psychological types and functions by Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers. The MBTI instrument has become the largest personality inventory being used by non-psychiatric individuals. It is claimed that the inventory assists in an understanding of human behavior and potential area of growth. MBTI has found applications in workplace and careers, managing life
Personality Theory and Why It Matters Introduction What shapes the human personality? What factors impact the development of the individual’s cognition, behaviors, and outlook? These questions have longed been considered by psychologists and researchers. Early on, some believed nature played a more dominant role; later, psychologists began to examine the role of a nurturing environment in the formation of the personality. Over the decades, it has become more and more evident that
Individuals scoring high on this scale are preoccupied about their health, tend to exaggerate symptoms, and are considered to be demanding and immature. Scoring high on this scale is associated with complaints of chronic pain, fatigue and weakness. Individuals scoring low on this scale are held to be: "Healthy, insightful, and optimistic" (MMPI, nd) Scale Two - Depression: This scale is used for assessing symptomatic depression exhibited as poor morale,
As emotionally intelligent employees are reportedly more content, conscientious and committed in the workplace, businesses and organizations are repeatedly advised to recruit and retain these individuals. Abraham (2006), nevertheless, reports that the strongest findings emerging from her study was.".. The effect of job control on emotional intelligence." She contends that emotionally intelligent employees will not just naturally thrive in their workplace; that the work environment needs to provide independence in
Leadership Styles Among Male and Female Principal It is the intention of this research to study the leadership and cognitive styles of teachers and instructors of both genders within the educational system and their preference for types of leadership in a principal of that institution. The research will include teachers and educators from all levels of the educational system from grade school to high school. The study will also include teachers and
Assessment Synthesis Some of my mistrust may come from my personal timeliness, and my sense that teams can occasionally procrastinate and pull other people back. Accepting others differences is indeed difficult. (Kroeger, Thuesen & Rutledge, 2002, p. 3) I need to make the differences of others work better for both myself, and my organization. Even if I am doing a good job, I must make my internal criticism of others less