Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Is One

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is one of the most widely used tests in the world for assessing personality characteristics for general non-psychiatric populations. The authors state that it is a self-report inventory, objective assessment that is not diagnostic in a psychopathological sense. Developed by Katherine C. Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers and based on Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung's studies on psychological type, the MBTI is used extensively both in academic and corporate settings. Opinions about MBTI range from those who are leery of personality tests as a whole because of stereotyping and profiling, to those who specifically question this test's reliability, to those who believe that it's an essential tool for helping people become more satisfied with their lives and companies find a means to significantly increase productivity. As with many similar vehicles, the truth most likely lies somewhere in between the extremes of thought. Over the years, numerous studies have shown that MBTI can provide a better understanding of an individual's overall personality traits. However, one always has to be mindful of making broad generalizations and only using one form of measurement to define the complex being called humans.

The first personality tests stretch back into the early 1900s, when Fredrick Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911, popularized the idea that employee skills are quantifiable. His time-and-motion studies tried to determine, for example, "How many times a minute should [a secretary] be able to open and close a file drawer?" (Answer: "Exactly 25 times.") (Witt, 2003) In the 1913 book Psychology and Industrial Efficiency, Harvard University professor Hugo Munsterberg asked executives which personal characteristics are desirable in an employee. He used the results to develop screening techniques. Other researchers followed, creating employee-rating methods and other character assessment systems. Personality testing reached its pinnacle thus far with Henry C. Link's Employment Psychology in 1919 where he noted: "The ideal employment method is undoubtedly an immense machine which would receive applicants of all kinds at one end, automatically sort, interview, and record them, and finally turn them out at the other end nicely labeled with the job which they are to do" (Cox, n.d., 6. para)

Regardless of these scholars strong support for assessment systems, they could not convince corporations of their need. Proven connections did not exist between personality type and job success. However, a couple of decades later, Katherine C. Briggs tried again by using Jungian psychology as the rationale. Unlike others before him during the late 1800s and early 1900s, Jung saw patterns of behavior. He said psychological types are consistencies in the way people prefer to perceive and make judgments. In Jung's theory, all conscious mental activity could be classified into four mental processes: two perception processes of sensing and intuition and two judgment processes of thinking and feeling. The senses and intuition perceptions are relied on to sort, weigh, analyze and evaluate through the judgment processes of thinking and feeling.

In the early 1940s, the mother/daughter educator team developed the Meyers-Briggs Type-Indicator (MBTI) and defined their own interpretation of Jung's archetypes. Their personality test was used to help employers screen female applicants for factory jobs, which was crucial with the advent of WWII.

In their studies of people and interpretation of Jung's theories, Myers and Briggs concluded there were four primary ways people differed from one another. They labeled these variations preferences. This word was used to draw a similarity to hand preferences, illustrating that people use both hands but most have a preference for one over the other. The first set of mental preferences relates to how people perceive the world and accept information. Those who prefer sensing perception favor clear, tangible data that correlates well with their direct here-and-now experience. To the contrary, those who prefer intuition perception desire information that is more abstract and conceptual and represents imaginative possibilities for the future (Briggs, 1995, pp.67-69).

The second set of mental preferences identifies how people form judgments or make decisions. Those who prefer thinking judgment are inclined to make decisions in an objective and analytical manner and with an emphasis on tasks and results to be accomplished. Those with a preference for feeling judgment make their choices in a more global and value-oriented manner, paying special attention to the impact of decisions and actions on other people. The two other mental preferences in the Myers-Briggs model pertain to energy consciousness, or extraversion vs. introversion, and life management orientation, or judging vs. perceiving (Briggs, 1995, pp.67-69).

There are 16 possible personality types that result from these four perceptions. People who complete the MBTI receive a four letter code, such as ISTJ for "The Inspector" (introverted, sensing, thinking, judgment) or ENFP for "The Champion" (extraverted, intuitive, feeling, perceptive), that indicates their personality type and means to better understand themselves (Briggs, 1995, p. 103). Not spending sufficient time in a preferred mode can result in stress and lack of effectiveness in the workplace and at home.

A type preference does not necessarily translate into a specific set of skills. Further, type is not simply behavior, because people can perform the same task in the same way for different reasons. Types can also be identified cross-culturally, but the expression of people's preferences is contingent on their cultural experience.

Since the 1940s, the MBTI has been given to countless numbers of individuals 14 years and older from all different possible backgrounds. Thousands of studies have been conducted that provide positive results for the test's use. According to the Myers-Briggs Foundation (n.d., 1-6 para.), the MBTI ranks high in reliability, or how consistently the test measures what it attempts to measure. The organization concludes that:

On retest, people come out with three to four type preferences the same 75% to 90% of the time.

When a person changes type on retest, it is usually on "one" of the dichotomous pairs (for example, E-I or S-N), and in a dichotomy where the preference clarity was low.

The reliabilities are quite good across most age and ethnic groups.

For some groups, such as children and underachieving students, reliability can be low; caution needs to be exercised in using the MBTI instrument with these populations. When the MBTI instrument is used with groups that are reported to have been demonstrably lower, the results can be used as a jumping-off point for discussion.

The foundation also states that the MBTI does well in validity or the degree to which the results of a study are likely to be true, believable and free of bias. The organization notes that the shorter version of the test may not provide the accuracy of the longer version.

According to Suzuki (1991, p. 288), "MBTI has unique psychomentric properties. Statistics reported for reliability and validity reflect the intent of the instrument to measure a theory of dichotomies rather than one of continuous traits." From the beginning of her work, Myers clustered items in E-I, S-N, T-F, and J-P into subscales. As part of her analysis of reliability of the scales, she created an X and Y halves for each preference. Reliability numbers of items were computed by correlating the logical split-half scales. Both the 1995 and 1998 manuals report high internal consistency reliabilities of Form G. An Form M. over a variety of samples for split-half correlations of X and Y scores. Internal consistency reliabilities for sample size from 37 to 2,859 are over.90, regardless if the analysis relies on logical or consecutive split-half or coefficient alpha.

Interestingly, in her 1962 manual, Myers poised the question that continues to this day: "How much of any given result is the reliability of the Indicator and how much is the reliability of the person taking it? The potent but as yet unmeasurable variable of type development -- i.e., the extent to which person actually has developed the functions and the attitude he prefers -- enters every equation as an unknown quantity" (Suzuki, 1991, p. 289.) This is something that should be considered by anyone who gives the test. It is a factor that should be addressed with the individuals taking the test, so they can decide how much weight to place on the results.

Not everyone in the field or professional organization agrees with the Myers-Briggs Foundation findings. For example, the Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology notes, to the contrary:

The MBTI's reliability is only fair. One study showed that fewer than half of the respondents retained their initial types over a 5-week period. Consequently, we should be careful about making career decisions based on a classification system that is unstable. People change over time as a result of experience. The MBTI may capture a person's current state, but that state should probably not be treated as a fixed typology.... Is the test diagnostic of successful performance in particular occupations? These questions pertain to validity -- the ability of the test to predict future performance. There have been no long-term studies showing that successful or unsuccessful careers can be predicted from MBTI profiles. Nor is there any evidence that on-the-job performance is related to MBTI scores. (Reachout Trust, para. 12)

Over the past six decades, the MBTI has become very successful worldwide. It is used by a number of educational concerns, non-profit organizations and corporations for a variety of reasons. These include:

Careers/Personal Development: The MBTI helps people identify career and/or life paths. A person's type preferences indicates skills they are most likely to pick up easily, as well as occupations they might be interested in or know how to perform within a specific occupation. For instance, an INFP teacher, driven by internal personal values and new approaches to education, will operate differently from an ISTJ one, or a person driven by precedent and tradition.

While people whose preferences are consistent with large numbers of those in a particular employment field may feel more comfortable operating in that field, those who have different preferences can add to the perspective and approaches simply through seeing things differently.

Learning Styles: Different types learn more effectively in different ways. Some like to learn through group work, others do not. Some like to learn hands on, while others like acquire knowledge through discussion or reading. The practical ESTJ supervisor might be thoroughly involved with a course designed to develop a new policy booklet for the company, but may end up following traditional rules. This approach may surprise other supervisors who prefer intuition and whose mode of thought commonly includes appreciation of new ideas first, before testing out practicality.

Teambuilding: Defining personality type is especially effective in building and maintaining teams because it identifies similarities and differences in communication styles and how people prefer to work together. Some types want to work smarter, not harder; put in minimum input for required output; work harder so things will work out; or be liked, to be motivated to do their best work

Communication: Different personality types communicate in varying ways. Making sure that one is understood in the way he/she wants means using type-based strategies to deal with others more effectively. Although many adult training methods presume that all adults have the desire for group work and active discussions, it depends on personality factors.

Leadership: For some types, mostly introverts, leadership means leaving them alone to do their job. Other people are very independent and do not follow others at all. People that prefer sensing generally want someone to model the necessary behaviors either in a traditional, authority-driven manner or as the leader of action.

Counseling: Different types get stressed or motivated in different ways. Counseling strategies are more effective taking personalities into account. Cognitive dissonance often takes many types outside their comfort zone and so counseling is less effective.

Over the decades, a large number of researchers, including those in the fields of psychology and social psychology, have used the Myers Briggs assessment tool as a means of studying a specific hypothesis. Below are some of the more recent studies and the results derived pro/con using Myers-Briggs.

1) Time sensitivity and purpose in life: Contrasting theoretical perspectives of Myers-Briggs and Victor Frankl.

A study of 100 college students was conducted to test the hypothesis from Myers and Briggs and Viktor Frankl. Myers and Briggs stated that judging vs. perceiving according to MBTI did not affect levels of purpose in life. On the other hand, Frankl believed that individuals who are more time sensitive would accomplish more and therefore have a higher level of meaning and purpose in their lives. Students were given the MBTI and the Crumbaugh and Maholick Purpose in Life Test. They were also asked if they were habitual watch wearers. A lack of correlation in judging/perceiving category of MBTI and Purpose in Life scores indicated that Myers and Briggs were correct. However a correlation between watch wearers and high scores on the Purpose in Life test indicted that Frankl was also correct. The results were thus inconclusive.

2) Color and type: Myth or reality?

This is a study of college students' preferences for color as related to psychological type. Results seem to contradict colors that Jung associated with type: sensing -- green, intuition -- yellow, thinking -- blue, and feeling -- red based on stated color preferences. Instead, results seem to indicate an overall preference for green and blue.

3) Communicator image and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator extraversion- introversion.

This research examined the relationship between communicator image and MBTI dimensions of extraversion-introversion. The authors found that individuals who prefer extraversion tend to have a more positive communicator image than those who prefer introversion. The results of this study supported other research concluding that personality preferences differ in communication behaviors and traits, which could have implications for the individual's comfort and success in society. Results of this research also supported the contention that communication behavior has biological aspects.

4) Piloting the rocket of radical innovation: selecting the right people for the right roles dramatically improves the effectiveness of new business development.

The personalities of individuals involved in the early stages of new business development (NBD) have been found to be as important as the process itself. NBD analysts with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator[R] (MBTI)-based preferences for intuition ("N") and thinking ("T") score highest on a Rainmaker-Index[SM]. Those in the top third of the Index generated 95 times more profit than those in the bottom third, when rigorously coached in the same NBD staged-gate process. Further, 32 of the 33 NBD recommendations from the opportunity analysts made money. This represents a success rate of 97% vs. 11% when moving from Stage 4 to Stage 7 on the "universal success curve." Fixing the NBD processes in this way has led to increases in NBD speed and effectiveness of more than 900%, by achieving near-perfection in commercialization rates.

5) Personality profiles of today's - and tomorrow's - successful bankers.

A study was conducted on the personality styles of successful bankers within various functional areas in the industry using a shortened version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Typical bankers were found to have a dominant sensing-thinking-judging profile. Strong sensing features were found among bankers engaged in operations. Moreover, over 70% of the bankers surveyed in the study were characterized as thinking types rather than feeling types. Research showed that the quality of decisions in the banking industry is correlated with personality types, perspectives and experiences.

6) Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to study managers: a literature review and research agenda.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is increasingly being used to study the relationships between psychological types and managerial attributes, behaviors and effectiveness. A review of literature indicates that the MBTI is reliable and valid enough to be used as a tool for examining the relationships between manager personality and attributes. Nevertheless, it should be acknowledged that refinements of the type construct and its measures are still needed because there remain rational worries about type theory and its operationalization. In view of this, this study makes recommendations regarding the exploration of potential psychometric refinements of the MBTI, more rigorous research designs, and a wider scope of manager research on psychology types.

7) Myers-Briggs Personality Profiles of Prospective Educators.

This study gave the Myers-Briggs test to 866 students who were interested in going into education and becoming teachers. They authors wanted to determine the personality types of students who, after exposure to an early teaching experience program, decided either to (a) continue their preparation to teach, as evidenced by receiving a bachelor's degree from the College of Education at The Ohio State University (OSU), or (b) abandon their efforts to obtain a degree from the College of Education. Results indicated that the S-F-J (Sensing-Feeling-Judging) profile on the MBTI described a significant number of students who continued in education after being exposed. Also identified were several types and antitypes linked to areas of teacher certification. The authors believed, based on the findings, that SFJ teachers who wanted to go into elementary schools would be "warm, sociable, responsible, and caring about people," but they would "comfortable with the disorder, ambiguity, and confusion that inevitably accompanies change" and "conjecture that elementary teachers with an SFJ profile will not be leaders in the educational reform that many believe is needed to improve today's schools." However, those with N-F-J (Intuitive-Thinking-Judging) personality types who go into secondary schools would be desirous of reform and "appear to be the best source of leadership among practicing teachers."

8) Does personality influence brand image?

Consumer psychologists have attempted to relate purchase behavior, media choice, innovation, segmentation, and a wide variety of other marketing variables to consumer personality. Results have been mixed with most studies demonstrating a weak relationship between consumer personality and market behavior. The purpose of this present study was to explore the connection between human personality using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and product personality. To date, the MBTI has not been applied in the marketing/consumer behavior discipline. The results of this study provided minimal support for using information on consumer personality as a strategic marketing tool.

9) An Alternative Application of Holland's Theory and It's Implications for career Counseling in College Settings.

J. Holland's theory is that vocational and educational stability, satisfaction, and success are contingent on the congruence or "fit" between individuals' personality types and their work or educational environments. Like the MBTI, his instruments have been used by researchers and counselors to help individuals select work and educational environments in which they have the greatest likelihood of persistence, satisfaction, and success. This researcher interviewed students who followed both congruent and incongruent avenues of study in relationship to their personality traits. Notes the author: "We specifically seek to determine whether such students (incongruent route) are doomed to lower levels of success or achievement by virtue of their having chosen an incongruent academic environment, as would be predicted by the traditional application of the congruence assumption."

The results showed evidence that supports both the traditional and alternative application of the congruence assumption. choice between the two approaches is predicated on one's vision of what college students should seek to accomplish during their college experiences. The implications for college students and for academic and career counselors are dramatically different depending on one's response to this fundamental issue. Ultimately, Holland's theory has much to offer those who select either approach.

10) Psychological types of Canadian engineering students.

At the University of Western Canada, 1,913 first-year engineering students from 1987 to 1993 completed the Myers Briggs Type Inventory. When compared to a similar group of American engineering students, the U.S. engineering students had a greater than the average population percentage of students on the Intuitive, Thinking and Judging scales, while the Canadians had significantly more students on the Intuitive, Felling, and Perceiving scales than the Americans. It was found that men (who make up the larger percentage of students) who were successful during their first year in the engineering program were more likely to be high on the ITJ scales compared to other entry students and higher on IP scales then comparative groups of American students

With so many people -- both lay and professionals -- giving thumbs up reviews to Myers-Briggs, does that make it all that it claims to be? Are there any difficulties with this approach that people are overlooking in their zealousness to help individuals be happy and successful in life? In her book The Cult of Personality: How Personality Tests are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Companies and Misunderstand Ourselves, Annie Murphy Paul notes:

The Cult of Personality' seems to have originated from an important premise. The results of Psychometric or Personality Questionnaires are often given far too much credence. They are often used in inappropriate ways, to limit and to stereotype, and to make judgments for which they were not intended. The best Personality Questionnaires are supported by reliability and validity research - but even the best research shows that such questionnaires can sometimes be wrong. But that fact is often forgotten, and as a result many people (including some 'qualified practitioners') misuse or abuse personality questionnaires by giving their results more authority than they deserve, or using them in contexts that are inappropriate.

Paul goes back in time to the early 1900s and relates information about the "people sorters," who gave personality tests designed to meet the needs of business (p. 108). The exams were used by many leading companies such as Metropolitan Life, Western Electric and American Tobacco to hire and promote employees. They were used in the 1920s to weed out political liberals and union sympathizers. "The Humm-Wadsworth itself was administered at Lockheed Aircraft to eliminate 'potential troublemakers.'" Another company used the test to select henpecked husbands, assuming that a man who is dominated by a woman could be controlled by his supervisor as well!

The whole selection industry," adds Paul "was riddled with frauds and shams" (p. 109). Character analysis, for instance, was frequently used based on physical attributes -- blonds were more aggressive than brunets -- and facial profile -- personality differences existed between people who had convex or concave features. Prejudices were stressed: A selection expert who spoke at a American Psychological Association meeting in 1919 declared that "the laborer's attitude toward industrial relations determined by his nationality more than any other single factor." Swedes and Germans were "placid," Italians were "sullen and moody," and Jews were "keen-witted" and "radical."

In 1983, the test was given to 750,000. In 1993 this number rose to 3 million. It is used by thousands of companies, including 89 of the Fortune 100. It has been translated into 16 languages. It, and its clones, are applied for a host of purposes from those standard ones noted above, as well as some newer ones such as religious institutions for their congregants to better understand their spiritual needs.

Paul questions why people fall in love with Myers-Briggs. "One of its principal attractions is no doubt its reassuring confirmation of what we already know about ourselves." Another reason is its comforting stability, giving a clear, firm identity often when it is most needed. Also is the help of understanding relationships with other people. "The Indicator, in short, is not so much diagnostic as therapeutic, not about exploring people's personalities, but making people feel better (p. 132).

At a business meeting in New York City in 2003, someone asked Peter Myers (who has continued the business) "Is there anything that you 'haven't' accomplished on behalf of the Myers-Briggs?" The 77-year-old son responded, "The supreme thing that has not yet happened is the acceptance of Jungian psychology and the MBTI by the academic community...We need to prove to the scientists what everyone in this room already knows" (p. 133)

Indeed, says Paul, academic psychologists have not been positive. They take issue with "type." Most people's personalities, psychologists say, do not fall neatly into one category or another, but occupy some middle ground. In 1991, the National Research Council conducted a performance evaluation In the Mind's Eye, finding 24 to 61% of test takers receive the same Myers-Briggs type when reexamined at intervals ranging from five weeks to six years -- or, 39 to 76% who do not. Changes of this frequency say the authors "suggest caution in classifying people in these ways and then making decisions that would influence their careers or personal lives." They also note: "Nor has the instrument been validated in a long-term study of successful and unsuccessful careers." They conclude that MBTI not be used for career counseling until its validity is supported by research.

Interesting to note, people have different reactions to taking the test. McCauley, date, p161) notes that MBTI reports in terms of 16 types, not scale profiles, poses several problems for counselors. Some types, especially E-N-F-Ps, balk at the idea of being "boxed in." They do not see that the type describes a developmental pathway, not a restriction. He adds, "The type descriptions can be seen as pop psychology rather than an integrated set of hypotheses, exemplifying a complex theory with considerable empirical support." Some people may reify the descriptions, casting them in concrete. An I-S-F-J for whom type had become very important as part of her identity was asked to take the MBTI in a course. She became panicky waiting for the results, fearing she might not be an ISFJ after all! McCauley does note, however, that although he was once skeptical of Myers-Briggs, after 25 years of using it as a counseling tool "he has a deep appreciation of its depth and complexity" (p. 161).

Looking at this issue from a personal consideration and concerning the ethics involved with this type of measurement, it is of interest to once again refer back to Paul. She compares the popularity of MBTI with Barnum's rule "there's a sucker born every minute." If this was the greatest concern with the extensive following of the Myers-Briggs methodology, it would be incidental.