Nemo
Community Member
- MBTI
- INFJ
So I got into a discussion on MBTI recently and someone gave me a list of reasons for why MBTI is a pseudo-science. I was wondering what people here (who know a lot more about MBTI than I do) think of these reasons.
So what do you think? Is he right or am I missing something?
1. Myers-Briggs are not certified psychologists.
2. Their personality theories are based on the crazy Carl Jung.
Jung's so crazy that Freud (not the sanest person on Earth, mind you) couldn't tolerate him.
3. There is no scientific basis behind this. Jung was not a fan of scientific methods, he preferred anecdotes and such.
4. Why are there only 16 personality types?
16 comes from 4 multiplied by 4.
4 is chosen because Jung thinks that 4 is a mystical number.
5. The test questions is so vague that people can interpret it differently and such give highly variable answers.
6. It is doubtful that people can answer the questions honestly since most people do not know themselves.
7. A lot of the questions have the unintentional effect of getting people to give dishonest response.
For example:
The question may ask, "Are you rational or emotional?"
Most people like to think of themselves as logical, clever creatures, instead of emotional and irrational,
so it is obvious that they would pick "rational" as their answer. The question might as well have asked, "Are you an idiot?"
8. Since the test results is so vague and general, the perceived accuracy of this test is due to Barnum/Forer effect.
The Barnum/Forer effect has been observed with astrology, cold-reading and assorted pseudo-psychology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_effect
So what do you think? Is he right or am I missing something?