A lot of people have heard of the Myers Briggs (or 16) personality test. First, I am going to explain this test, how it’s useful and then why I think it’s inadequate.
The Myers Briggs splits the human personality into four different subgroups, with two choices for each one. The first group is either introverted (abbreviated with an I) or extroverted (abbreviated with an E). According to the organization in the Myers Briggs system, the decision between introverted and extroverted revolves largely around how socially inept you are. If you like people and you can communicate with people, you are an extrovert. If you don’t like people and would rather be alone, you are an introvert.
The second determines whether you are a sensor (abbreviated with an S) or intuitive (abbreviated with an N). According to the Myers Briggs organization, if you a sensor you are materialistic and engaged with the physical world. If you are intuitive then you prefer abstract thoughts and tend to ignore the physical world.
The third determines whether you are feeler (abbreviated with an F) or a thinker (abbreviated with a T). If you are a feeler, you are an emotional wreck guided only by your feelings. If you are a thinker, you are a psychopathic robot guided by logic.
The fourth talks about whether you are a Perceiver (abbreviated with a P) or a Judger (abbreviated with a J). If you are a perceiver you a free spirit with a messy house that hates to plan. If you are a judger then everything must be planned out, you’re controlling and probably OCD.
So, for example, if you’re a Introvert, Sensor, Thinker and Perceiver, then you are an ISFP. Picking one out of each group gives the possibility of 16 different personalities. They are shown below.
ISFP ESFP ISTP ESTP
ISFJ ESFJ ISTJ ESTJ
INFP ENFP INTP ENTP
INFJ ENFJ INTJ ENTJ
Each type is then described based on the combination of the each of the four groups and stereotypes develop. For example, an ESFJ is often described as being social, but small minded, they are usually obsessed with appearances and therefore become judgmental, but they are extremely caring and love to plan events. So the stereotypical ESFJ turns into the church coordinator that is always complaining about the girl that wears too low cut shirts but at the same time would drop everything for anyone who needed her.
The problem with the myers briggs organization is that, you are either this or that. And personality is based on actions when actions are usually just a side effect of what we value and how we process information. The outsider sees the ESFJ always coordinating church parties and judging the way people dress but that isn’t as important as to why the ESFJ is always coordinating church parties and judging the way people dress. If you asked them why, (and they were relatively aware of why they did things), their answer would consist of how comfort and community cohesiveness are all important in society. She wants the community to come together because she sees how a community that stays together is not only happier but more prosperous, so she volunteers to plan events for the church. She judges the girl that dresses to provocatively because she thinks she might be making people uncomfortable. If she’s making people uncomfortable, then people will stop coming to her events and then the community collapses.
My point is that Myers Briggs uses actions and stereotypes to determine a person’s personality and this can cause issues when evaluating people because we tend to put people in a box. Not to mention, Myers Briggs doesn’t allow for any growth, or change in mood. Keeping the same example, what if ESFJ woman doesn’t want to plan any event for an entire month and she’d rather stay at home? Did her personality change? Is she now an ISFJ? No, she’s still an ESFJ. I will explain why momentarily.
But the Myers Briggs personality test is actually useful in a couple ways. The truth is actions usually point to personality so it will get people close to what their personality is and second, it’s the fastest way to communicate your personality to someone that understands its’ origins. Because Myers Briggs actually simplified Carl Jung’s work on cognitive functions by organizing it into the four letter code that is so recognizable.
However, if you’re new to understanding personalities from this perspective, Myers Briggs (16 Personality Test) is a great place to start. take the test below and post your results.
Closed System 