

Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless - verganileonardo
http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless

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pc2g4d
I don't think the test is meaningless---it just doesn't mean what many people
claim it means. It is one way of mapping people onto a 16-part space which,
for half of people who take it, remains consistent across sittings of the
test. At a minimum it means that, for any two people with the same type
indicator, they answer Myers-Briggs questions in similar ways.

It's the implications of that re: job/relationship/life performance that have
been oversold.

Of course, the same benefits could be gained by classifying people according
to almost any set of questions. The MBTI exam isn't really worth _money_.

The binary nature of the questions hardly seems like a problem in that
aggregating many binary questions together can yield a scale with many more
gradations.

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justintocci
yeah, I agree with most of the article but she's missing an important use for
it. Taking tests like this and learning the vocabulary helps people talk about
soft stuff in adult language. you don't get this language in school and it can
be very useful for getting along with others. i always explain the concept
that some people have natural flexibility as well (they can opperate in more
than one mode). this goes against what most people teach but i find it very
useful.

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Nadya
Two words: Forer effect

