Its little more than pop psychology and modern day astrology. People are not stereotypes, and that's all MBTI tries to label you as. Be you, don't worry about the label.

It's not like astrology, because it actually parrots back what you tell it instead of inventing randomly. You're asked a bunch of questions about your personality, and you get back a vague summary of your personality. You can do the same thing just by someone asking you questions about yourself and summarizing what they've heard at the end.

Of course, in reality there are 7.75 billion personalities instead of 16. That doesn't mean it can't be useful to define 16 types for the purpose of effective communication. Nobody wants to listen to your entire life story unless you're very important to them, so you can use 4 letters as a handy shortcut to convey some of your personality traits. This enables people to behave in certain ways around you that you may prefer, or to see blatant incompatibilities and avoid you quicker. That's how language works: it takes complex realities and gives you vague semi-accurate ways to reference them quickly in a way others can extract some degree of meaning from and take action on.

But if you find all 16 generic summaries far too misleading about you for your comfort, the obvious choice is to stop telling people you are one of them. Perhaps you can make up your own relatively efficient description of yourself, or perhaps you'll just have to make people get to know you.

And if you think there's deep insights about yourself to be learned from a personality summary, then you're doing it wrong.

MBTI is a huge money spinner for CCP, the company which owns it. Research studies have never establish MBTI is anything more than an ice breaking exercise or fun office game. Even CCP is cautious about its efficacy, with its President Jeffery Hayes saying - "It is not, and was never intended to be predictive, and should never be used for hiring, screening or to dictate life decisions.' In other words, fun to do then best off ignored.

Allow me to recommend an alternative.

Personal Construct theory is a meta-theory of personality, in that it classifies people according to the structure and complexity of their understanding of personality. It has never become very popular because it is rather complex mathematically, and doesn't predefine types, but instead explores and analyses the significant dimensionality of folks' ideas about personality.

But it can analyse the MBTI theory itself, and notice that it is rigid, binary, four-dimensional and blinkered. As if one cannot think straight and feel something.

Behavior is not the answer to the psychologist’s question; it is the question. — George Kelly

Its little more than pop psychology and modern day astrology. People are not stereotypes, and that's all MBTI tries to label you as. Be you, don't worry about the label. — Philosophim

people criticize and deny what they are too lazy and ignorant to study

nd you get back a vague summary of your personality. — Paul

thats because MBTI is simply your genetic psyche type. its not summing up the whole person, and therefore dont disregard it because of that. duh

Of course, in reality there are 7.75 billion personalities instead of 16. — Paul

no there is only 16 genetic psyche types, and there is 8 billion different people

Research studies have never establish MBTI is anything more than an ice breaking exercise — Tom Storm

maybe thats because the research is too limited.

and notice that it is rigid, binary, four-dimensional and blinkered. — unenlightened

so is all science and all knowledge itself, including everything you currently believe

thinking function. I could not get over how cold and stingy this function is, and, as strong feeling type — jasonm

T vs F

T's are better with things

F's are better with people

more men are T's compared to women but there is some mix

and for the dummies: just because you are a genetic T or F does not mean you cant adapt to the opposite to a certain extent

this topic is psychology not philosophy

Its little more than pop psychology and modern day astrology. People are not stereotypes, and that's all MBTI tries to label you as. Be you, don't worry about the label.
— Philosophim

people criticize and deny what they are too lazy and ignorant to study — Miller

If you had asked me, you would find I am quite familiar with MBTI. There is irony in the fact that you didn't ask for "details to study", but simply criticized and denied my statement. If you want a discussion, engage those that disagree with you. Otherwise all you'll ever listen to is people who agree with you. What's the point besides ego?

"Genetic psych type" is nonsense. Their quiz questions are about your present personality, not your genes. Personalities change drastically through life, and even more drastically through different childhood upbringings.

ersonalities change drastically through life — Paul

MBTI type is genetic and never changes

you would find I am quite familiar with MBTI. — Philosophim

maybe your familiar with your false understanding of it

I don't think there's such a thing as a personality type and yet I've seen consistency and patterns in preferences (likes & dislikes) and behavior of individuals. I could even, with some leeway given, reduce some folks to an idea/object/animal/etc.. I tried it but, unfortunately/not, I'm bogged down by work and matters personal. I remember meeting people and going she's a radio, he's a lion, and the guy over there is science. It's not easy but some people are more readily categorized in this way than others.