The study of personality has come a long way since then. Modern psychological research shows that human personality cannot be accurately divided into discrete types, and tests that use this model tend to lack both reliability and validity. The MBTI divided certain elements of human personality into binary categories, sorting test takers into one of two categories across four traits. The MBTI, originally developed over 70 years ago, is based on Carl Jung’s typological theory of personality. The Myers-Briggs should NEVER be used as a pre-employment test or to help inform the hiring process. Many organizations continue to use the test for team-building or improving collaboration between employees.Īnd unfortunately, some employers still use it for hiring, which we can say unequivocally is a mistake. These results can be a jumping off point for individuals to think about their communication styles and to explore different ways of viewing the world. The MBTI sorts each test-taker into one of sixteen tidy personality types, each made up of overwhelmingly positive personality traits.

The test’s enduring popularity isn’t surprising. And yet the MBTI continues to be widely used by companies and college career centers across the globe.

This is a classic case of the popular press (belatedly) catching on to something that has been a virtual consensus among academic psychologists for a long time. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), one of the most well-known personality tests in America, has come under fire in the media recently because a significant body of evidence indicates that the test’s results are largely meaningless.

Myers briggs validity and reliability