An Evaluation of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator

An Evaluation of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a psychological test that was originally designed in the early 1940s by a mother-daughter team of Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs. Myers and Briggs developed their test in response to the calamity of World War II, because they believed the war was caused by the countries involved failing to understand each other’s differences (Coe, 1992). The MBTI is designed to measure personality, and the basis for this test comes from the work of personality types as described by Carl Jung’s theory. All the information provided in this evaluation comes from form M of the MBTI. Purpose, Design and Format of the MBTI The purpose of the MBTI is to classify individuals on each of the four levels as identified in Jung’s theory, and then provide them with a description of their personality as a result of their test (Fleenor, 2001). On each of the four levels to identify a person there are two options on each level making a total of eight different possibilities that can be used to describe someone’s personality. Those levels are: Extraversion v. Introversion, Sensing v. Intuition, Thinking v. Feeling, and Judging v. Perceiving. As defined for the MBTI Extraverts enjoy communication with others and thrive off that contact; while Introverts tend to not find any pleasure in their relationships and prefer to be alone. Sensors use their five senses to gather information about a scenario and see the present for what it is; in contrast people scoring high in Intuition like to look toward the future and the possibilities that could exist. Finally, Judgers use the information available and come to a decision quickly; whereas Perceivers tend to be procrastinators and are always waiting for more facts before deciding (Coe, 1992). It is important to note that while the MBTI places test takers in a category of having one trait or the other that people do display characteristics of all eight, but tend to display one aspect on each level more prominently. The degree to which a person varies on a particular attributed is explained upon completion of the test. The questions on the MBTI are also designed in such a way that it is impossible to fall in the exact middle of a particular trait, everyone will vary slightly one direction or another (Fleenor, 2001). This test is designed for the general population ages 14 and older, and there is not a specific group who is not eligible to take the MBTI. This is considered a weakness by many and will be covered later. There are 93 multiple choice items on the MBTI, and the questions are written at a seventh grade reading level to ensure comprehension of the questions (Fleenor, 2001). Each question is designed so that one question is measuring just one type of personality level for simple and accurate scoring. In defining the norms for this test a group of 3009 people were administered the MBTI all were adults from the United States and were 18 years and older. Th e specific demographics of the normative sample are not given, but the sample was lopsided towards females and Caucasians (Fleenor, 2001).