Myers–Briggs Type Indicator
Overview
The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. These preferences were extrapolated from the typological theories proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, and first published in his 1921 book "Psychological Types" (Jung, 1971). The MBTI was constructed for normal populations and emphasizes the value of naturally occurring differences.
History
The original developers of the personality inventory were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. They began creating the indicator during World War II, believing that understanding individual differences and strengths would help women who were entering the industrial workforce for the first time to identify the sort of war-time jobs where they would be "most comfortable and effective". The initial questionnaire grew into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which was first published in 1962.
Theoretical basis
The MBTI is based on the conceptual theory proposed by Carl Jung, who had speculated that humans experience the world using four principal psychological functions – sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking – and that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of the time. The four categories are Introversion/Extraversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perception. Each person is said to have one preferred quality from each category, producing 16 unique types.
Format and administration
The MBTI is a multiple-choice questionnaire. The indicator is not a test as there are no right or wrong answers. The purpose of the indicator is to identify personal preferences and the different ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgement. The MBTI consists of between 93 and 222 forced-choice questions, depending on the version. For each question, the respondent must decide which of two possible responses best describes his or her view.
Reliability and validity
The reliability of the MBTI has been examined in thousands of studies. Reliability refers to the consistency of the results in the test. The MBTI has been found to have good test-retest reliability and good inter-rater reliability. Validity of the MBTI has been established in terms of face validity, content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity.
Criticism and controversy
Despite its popularity, the MBTI has been the subject of sustained criticism by professional psychologists for over three decades. One problem cited is that it displays poor test-retest reliability. Another problem is that several studies have shown that up to 50% of those tested fall into different types when tested at intervals. The statistical validity of the MBTI as a psychometric instrument has been the subject of criticism.