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Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless
Vox ^ | July 15, 2014 | Joseph Stromberg

Posted on 07/17/2014 8:52:34 AM PDT by EveningStar

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is probably the most widely used personality test in the world.

An estimated 2 million people take it annually, at the behest of corporate HR departments, colleges, and even government agencies. The company that makes and markets the test makes somewhere around $20 million each year.

The only problem? The test is completely meaningless.

(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: myersbriggs; personalitytest; psychology; typeindicator
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To: EveningStar

I remember when my employer had a bunch of us take the test. The results showed the majority to be subservient. In other words, it was a nice gimmick for the employer to use to tell employees they didn’t have the personality to think on their own or challenge their boss.


21 posted on 07/17/2014 9:09:53 AM PDT by aimhigh (1 John 3:23)
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To: Dr. Sivana

I wouldn’t even call Carl Jung “anti-Christian.” He had beliefs which conflicted with Christianity, but he did not blame terrible things on Christianity, or find it on the whole to be more harmful to the human race than any organic substitute would be. In fact, he probably took some of the anti-Christian edges off of Freudian psychology and made much of it useful to Christianity. For instance: Freud blamed Christian “repression” for subconscious motivations; minus that bias, the subconscious can be seen as the mechanism for concupiscence.


22 posted on 07/17/2014 9:10:07 AM PDT by dangus
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To: aimhigh

“Subservient” is NOT one of the Myers-Briggs personality test. If someone is characterizing a Myers-Briggs trait, or some combination of them, as subservient, that is their own invention.


23 posted on 07/17/2014 9:11:43 AM PDT by dangus
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To: EveningStar

I worked at a hi tech company (1990) where the HR VP decided she would slot everyone in a database with their Meyers Briggs type for who knows what use....without permission...I told her ADMIN to get me off that list...and shortly thereafter left....I HATE being TYPED....btw...I THINK I was INTP...on the day I took the test...


24 posted on 07/17/2014 9:14:14 AM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods)
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To: discostu

If someone gets different results, that can only mean they changed their answers. You can’t blame a test which asks about preferences for fickleness; you can only note that such fickleness decreases the accuracy (which is an entirely different measure than validity).


25 posted on 07/17/2014 9:14:34 AM PDT by dangus
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To: dangus

I just skimmed the article, and that appears to be the flaw: Meyer-Briggs (arguably) is a good indicator of one’s personality-type, but anyone using its results to predict future performance is engaging in what Hayek alluded-to when he created the term, “fatal conceit.”


26 posted on 07/17/2014 9:15:00 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: Jeff Chandler

That one tests your horsepower


27 posted on 07/17/2014 9:15:29 AM PDT by Mr. K (Palin/Cruz 2016)
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To: GraceG
Gracie, You has failed your Briggs-Stratton Test!

These lawnmower gizmos are designed NOT to start when operated by people wearing flip-flops. It's an OSHA thing.

I must admit, as far as pedicures go, it looks like, you know, could be really quick?

28 posted on 07/17/2014 9:15:59 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (The GOP is dying. What do we do now?)
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To: goodnesswins
I HATE being TYPED....btw...I THINK I was INTP

INTP's hate being typed, incidentally. :)

29 posted on 07/17/2014 9:16:10 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: discostu
Exactly. The MB has no test-retest reliability and no statistical or construct validity.

People like it because it is simple to "interpret," easy to take, and like horoscopes, has a positive interpretation for every outcome. Important when you have 20 million dollars in earnings at stake.

30 posted on 07/17/2014 9:17:39 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: Kenny Bunk
BTW, HR people are IMNVHO, the scum of the corporate world.

Oh, baby, do you have THAT right! I have never worked for a firm in which the HR people were anything less that stupid, venal, craven and useless for anything except protecting their own phony-baloney jobs.

31 posted on 07/17/2014 9:18:11 AM PDT by Dr. Thorne ("Don't be afraid. Just believe." - Mark 5:36)
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To: Kenny Bunk

[ Gracie, You has failed your Briggs-Stratton Test! ]

Taht’s not a pic of me, I usually wear some actual Boots when I mow the lawn, however I usually end up in that stance when the mower won’t start.... I need a new mower...


32 posted on 07/17/2014 9:19:00 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
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To: dangus

They do change their answers, that’s part of the problem. The questions are vague enough and subject enough to the whims of your mood that your answers won’t stay the same from day to day. And that’s most definitely a problem with the test. A good psych exam a person will answer the questions the same way over and over and over (barring long term changes in personality of course) because the questions are focused on core personality traits that don’t change. Simply how much sleep you have will change your MB results, go take the test now and retake it right before bed time, you will probably have different results. Which makes it very much NOT a personality test.


33 posted on 07/17/2014 9:20:28 AM PDT by discostu (Villains always blink their eyes.)
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To: Dr. Thorne; Kenny Bunk

Could the rise of HR departments can be traced the glut of government regulation of employer/employee interaction? You need an entire department to merely keep track of it all.


34 posted on 07/17/2014 9:21:19 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Dr. Thorne
HR people are IMNVHO, the scum of the corporate world.

Since you agree with me, Doc, why you must be OK! But we mustn't be cruel. HR may serve some purpose, after all. HR is often the place where corporations stash Affirmative Action Ani who could wreak havoc in the financially productive sectors of the operation.

Again, Barack Hussein Obama is the perfect HR candidate. This gay jackass would be hired at any American corporation with an HR Department in a heartbeat. You? I don't know.

35 posted on 07/17/2014 9:24:58 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (The GOP is dying. What do we do now?)
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To: EveningStar
Let me guess. Instead of a ten dollar test employers cagoule be giving their employees a thousand dollar test, right?

I bounce between ISTJ and INTJ depending on the exact wording of the questions.

36 posted on 07/17/2014 9:26:53 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (The IRS: either criminally irresponsible in backup procedures or criminally responsible of coverup.)
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To: GraceG
mower won’t start

Complain to the EPA. Ethanol in our fuel is the death of many a small engine.

37 posted on 07/17/2014 9:27:09 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (The GOP is dying. What do we do now?)
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To: HerrBlucher

FUBAR here.


38 posted on 07/17/2014 9:27:38 AM PDT by DaiHuy (May God save the country, for it is evident the people will not! Millard Fillmore)
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To: Jeff Chandler
Is that anything like the Briggs-Stratton test?

I'm CPSS (Choke Pull Stutter Start) on the Briggs-Stratton test.

39 posted on 07/17/2014 9:28:36 AM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: EveningStar
Story time with WBill....

So, at a former job, a million years ago, I needed to take one of these tests (not a Myers-Briggs, but one like it) for a three-day, off-site work retreat.

I didn't particularly like the job or the people, and I wasn't planning to stick around for very long, so I read over what the test measured. One of the measures was "Dominance", so when I took the test, I made sure that my answers would score high in that category ... figuring that it would give me carte blanche to be a complete a$$ to everyone for three days. :-)

Instead, senior management looked at the results and said "Hmmmm. I see that you score high in "Dominance". How would you like to be a manager? It comes with a nice promotion and this large pile of money." ....So, I said "Allrighty, guess I'm 'dominant'"....and I managed their field team for a couple of years until I moved on to greener pastures.

True story. Also shows the value (or total lack thereof) of tests like this.

40 posted on 07/17/2014 9:29:45 AM PDT by wbill
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