To ask if you think personality tests are accurate

[KnitsBakesAndReads]

I recently did the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. I thought my results were scarily accurate and just wondered if anyone else has taken this test and if so whether your results seemed accurate or not.

I'm trying to work out if I'm just looking for ways that I fit with the type the test defines me as, or if it is genuinely accurate.

Would also be interested if anyone knows much about how these tests are developed - eg are they generally regarded as reliable or not?

The site I was given to take the test was www.16personalities.com (I'm not associated with the site in any way, just interested in hearing others opinions).

[tigermoll]

Personality tests are basically nonsense. Read a few of the descriptions of other types and see if they are 'spookily accurate'. Or take another test from a different site, or the same test on a different day and see if you're the same "type". Most people will regularly get different outcomes. And check the Barnum Effect: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_effect

And even if they were accurate (and there really were exactly 16 "kinds" of people and we all fitted into one or other category) I'm not sure what that would achieve? I mean, so now you get to say to people "I'm ETJI (or whatever) That's why I'm great at problem solving and like being part of a team".

I know that it's endlessly fascinating to think about oneself, but you might as well spend an afternoon doing "which character from Frozen are you?" quizzes on Buzzfeed.

Rant over :)

[albertcampionscat]

See: Nothing personal: The questionable Myers-Briggs test gu.com/p/3egzq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Hmm, I think those Myers Briggs ones are pretty accurate. Some of the things I read about myself are absolutely spot on. Some are a bit concerning. My DH and grown up kids had a go too. Again, I'd say pretty accurate.

[HermioneWeasley]

Personality questionnaires are usually self assessment, so they play back how you think you are. That's why they seem "scarily accurate"

I've known some right delusional nightmares.

[JasperDamerel]

Mine is very accurate, and I always come out with the same result. But the questions just ask how you generally behave and think and then make some generalisations about how you behave and think, so it's not all that strange when the results are accurate.

[wasonthelist]

They are bollocks - and what's more I am 90% sure I could get any result I wanted.

[albertcampionscat]

They can only be accurate if the information you feed in is accurate (even leaving aside questions like whether it makes sense to think of people having fixed personalites/ whether the topics they cover make up the whole of a human). Delusional garbage in, delusional garbage out.

[notagiraffe]

I don't think Myers Briggs are accurate, any more than those birth chart personality readings are. they are so general. We all feel introverted sometimes, extroverted sometimes, happy, sad, confident insecure. It's easy to nod at the bits they point out.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

But I thought the result sort of told me things I hadn't realised about myself, if you see what I mean. And definitely told my daughters stuff they hadn't realised about themselves, but I thought was spot on.

Mind you it told DD's boyfriend he was sometimes a bit nasty, which he was understandably not happy about. He seems fine to me.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

oh, it's a bit disappointing to see it so roundly discredited. So you all reckon it basically tells you what you believe yourself to be?

[Ifailed]

Myers Briggs is about as accurate as the daily horoscope in trashy newspapers:
"Libra: today you will meet a tall dark stranger"

"ESTJ: Today you will excel at managing something"

Complete crap.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Horoscopes can be scarily accurate. They are designed to be. But what use are they?

[MrsTerryPratchett]

x-posted. Great minds!

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I can do one for you right now...

You can seem confident to others while feeling more insecure on the inside. Large groups of people can be tiring for you. And so on...

[PhilPhilConnors]

I know a few people who do these sort of things and smugly post the results on FB saying what amazing people they are, when in reality it bears little resemblance to them at all.
They test what you think of yourself I think, so therefore can be revealing in that way I suppose.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Hmm. I'm supposed to be the rarest type. The Nelson Mandela one. I obviously see myself as a proper special anowflake then don't I?

God I'm probably a raging narc

[Banderwassnatched]

It would be funny if they occasionally said 'You are a truly terrible human'. I think the Myers-Briggs has been invested with more significance than it deserves, though there's definitely some merit, IMO, in assessing the learning and working styles of others, to get the best of them. It's when some BuzzFeed tells my idiot friend 'You are a Philosopher!'- that tickles me.

[bbpp]

I did the Myers-Briggs the other day after DP did, and got the exact same personality type as him. But we are SO different. Some parts matched him, other's were way off. For me there was about one sentence that bared any resemblance to me and the rest was ridiculous, like the exact opposite. I did the test again to see if I'd put some answers as too high/low, but nope, same result. Eh?

Funny enough I've always found star signs to be accurate. I'm a Libra in every single way. I know most people could relate to all star signs in some way but my strongest personality traits are Libra traits. With other people I do find their most prominent traits - what really sticks out when you think about them - are accurate to their star sign too. I don't pay attention to horoscopes though, and don't really believe star signs but I find it interesting.

[FutureGadgetsLab]

It's accurate to a point, but it's not a perfect description. I get INTP and it describes me very well, and it helps me understand others.

[Somerville]

MBTI assesses how an individual perceives the world and makes decisions. Viewing it in that, rather limited, way, I've found it helpful.

In my field it is used loads for working out good team dynamics and similar. The one company I work for (I freelance) who don't use it seem to have more problems with their teams, which I have personally concluded is because they have too many ENTJ's working on the same project.

For those who've taken MBTI and not found it accurate, everyone taking it is meant to read the type suggested and other similar types and find the one that is the best fit. One of the precepts is that every individual is the best judge of their own fit, rather than the test being the ultimate authority.