MEPX
Chapter 3 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What personality means
  2. 2The five factor model
  3. 3Type tests
  4. 4Stability and change
  5. 5Where it goes wrong
  6. 6Introversion and extraversion
  7. 7The darker traits
  8. 8Measuring personality
  9. 9Culture and context
  10. 10Using it sensibly

Chapter 3 of 10

Type tests

Popular and poorly supported.

The problems

Myers-Briggs forces continuous traits into either-or categories, splits people at the middle of a distribution, and gives many respondents a different type on retest.

  • Enneagram and colour-based systems share the same weaknesses.
  • Popularity in workplaces reflects marketing rather than evidence.

Why they feel accurate

Descriptions are written broadly enough to fit almost anyone, and we notice the hits. That is the Barnum effect, and it is why horoscopes work too.