The Problem with Personality Tests

[soos_mite_ah]

Thoughts? 

[Carl-Richard]

50 minutes ?

Can I have tl;dr plz?  

[Carl-Richard]

7 minutes ago, Khr said:

Obviously the personality tests will be flawed - the map is not the territory here. Finding out ones personality type requires a lot more than just doing an online test.

It's still good to know the specifics so you can distinguish good tests/models from bad ones. For example, there are more problems with MBTI than Big 5.

[Carl-Richard]

8 minutes ago, Khr said:

The problem with people saying MBTI is bs is that they equate the test with personality types themselves - i.e., the test is BS and so the personality type thing is BS.

It's not that simple. The constructs in Big 5 are based on something called the Lexical hypothesis and a strict empirical methodology of factor analysis. MBTI is based on an idea.

[integral]

These personality type models are tools to help you create your own internal models and distinctions of people. 
 

Personality types cannot be learned by reading it from a book, it’s learned by applying the tool. Just like you can’t learn much about piano from a book. It’s learned from practice and experience.
 

The map is not the territory because you are the territory, you’re constructing it on the fly.

Edited January 2, 2022 by integral

[soos_mite_ah]

On 12/30/2021 at 5:25 PM, Carl-Richard said:

50 minutes ?

Can I have tl;dr plz?  

Sorry, I haven't been on here all that much and I forgot I made this thread

Basically these are the main points: 

• Personality can change depending on situational circumstance, period of life, mood etc. It isn't a static type
• A lot of the questions are phrased in a black and white, either or, kind of way which doesn't leave much room for nuance 
• Putting people in boxes and categories are usually not the best for selecting jobs and partners. 
• Self bias is a huge problem especially when self interest is involved when trying to get a job. 
• The model wasn't even made by trained psychologists or formal training so there wasn't an adequate sample size or way to test these theories (this specifically pertains to the Myers Brigg)
• Personality can change the way that it expresses itself depending on context (i.e. being more extroverted around people you feel comfortable with or being more introverted around people who you aren't super close to)
• A lot of the results may seem super specific and personal when it's actually really vague and applied to many people. A lot of the characteristics are super flexible to many types
• There is a class bias especially when jobs are considered (taking a job because you have to vs taking a job that "fits" you or not having the choice to be spontaneous because you life style and class requires you to be super planned out) 
• Narrowing yourself from jobs and dating can be needlessly exclusionary and can stunt your growth/ self awareness (i.e. I could never do xyz because I'm an INTP) 
• Specifically when it comes to determining a culture fit for a company, personality tests like the MBTI can be easily gamed. 

She also does the test on camera while talking through the questions on how they can lack nuance. 

Also, my thing is that I know plenty of people who are all INTJs and INFJs and NONE of have similar personalities imo. A lot of personality tests and the MBTI specifically I feel measure such a small negligible part of a person's personality in a very specific circumstance. 

[vizual]

It's because the originator of the Cognitive functions, Carl Jung, never intended his theories to be used for pop psychology typing. And he also always emphasized that cognitive functions is just one aspect which makes up the totality personality of a person's psychological expression and makeup. The cognitive function model he proposed are more a natural cognitive fixation or proclivity through which a person tends navigate his or her environment. It's also not an exact science, again, he also did not intended it to be so. His work is heavily metaphysical and deals with psychological archetypes. Carl Jung was just as much an artist as a scientist.

Myers and Briggs took these abstract theories of Jung and created a commercial pop product out of it, which has become a multi million dollar business.

[hyruga]

4 hours ago, soos_mite_ah said:

Sorry, I haven't been on here all that much and I forgot I made this thread

Basically these are the main points: 

• Personality can change depending on situational circumstance, period of life, mood etc. It isn't a static type
• A lot of the questions are phrased in a black and white, either or, kind of way which doesn't leave much room for nuance 
• Putting people in boxes and categories are usually not the best for selecting jobs and partners. 
• Self bias is a huge problem especially when self interest is involved when trying to get a job. 
• The model wasn't even made by trained psychologists or formal training so there wasn't an adequate sample size or way to test these theories (this specifically pertains to the Myers Brigg)
• Personality can change the way that it expresses itself depending on context (i.e. being more extroverted around people you feel comfortable with or being more introverted around people who you aren't super close to)
• A lot of the results may seem super specific and personal when it's actually really vague and applied to many people. A lot of the characteristics are super flexible to many types
• There is a class bias especially when jobs are considered (taking a job because you have to vs taking a job that "fits" you or not having the choice to be spontaneous because you life style and class requires you to be super planned out) 
• Narrowing yourself from jobs and dating can be needlessly exclusionary and can stunt your growth/ self awareness (i.e. I could never do xyz because I'm an INTP) 
• Specifically when it comes to determining a culture fit for a company, personality tests like the MBTI can be easily gamed. 

She also does the test on camera while talking through the questions on how they can lack nuance. 

Also, my thing is that I know plenty of people who are all INTJs and INFJs and NONE of have similar personalities imo. A lot of personality tests and the MBTI specifically I feel measure such a small negligible part of a person's personality in a very specific circumstance. 

Nice Summary.

Yeah people trap themselves into a certain categories when they only choose certain traits and personality for themselves. The thing is personality is fluid and it can change.

A lot of people got into their own ego's trap Eg I am an introvert so I can never socialize with a lot of people in parties. Eg I am a thinker so I should not feel so much. Eg I am a feeler so I cannot be a data analyst! The thing is you can be strong at both feeling and thinking. Break yourself out of the old paradigm and move to a new paradigm before you die within the next 150 years.

[Carl-Richard]

10 hours ago, soos_mite_ah said:

Sorry, I haven't been on here all that much and I forgot I made this thread

Basically these are the main points: 

• Personality can change depending on situational circumstance, period of life, mood etc. It isn't a static type
• A lot of the questions are phrased in a black and white, either or, kind of way which doesn't leave much room for nuance 
• Putting people in boxes and categories are usually not the best for selecting jobs and partners. 
• Self bias is a huge problem especially when self interest is involved when trying to get a job. 
• The model wasn't even made by trained psychologists or formal training so there wasn't an adequate sample size or way to test these theories (this specifically pertains to the Myers Brigg)
• Personality can change the way that it expresses itself depending on context (i.e. being more extroverted around people you feel comfortable with or being more introverted around people who you aren't super close to)
• A lot of the results may seem super specific and personal when it's actually really vague and applied to many people. A lot of the characteristics are super flexible to many types
• There is a class bias especially when jobs are considered (taking a job because you have to vs taking a job that "fits" you or not having the choice to be spontaneous because you life style and class requires you to be super planned out) 
• Narrowing yourself from jobs and dating can be needlessly exclusionary and can stunt your growth/ self awareness (i.e. I could never do xyz because I'm an INTP) 
• Specifically when it comes to determining a culture fit for a company, personality tests like the MBTI can be easily gamed. 

The points I've highlighted is more about misunderstanding personality as a concept and the faulty conclusions you can draw from that (about jobs etc.) rather than the potential flaws with personality tests in general. All psychologists know that personality is only a general pattern of qualities that persists over different situations and times. That is not to say this video isn't important, but I was expecting it to be more about the tests themselves (and maybe a comparison between different testing protocols or the specific tests for MBTI vs. Big 5).