If You Must Know, Your Personality Type is "Big Jerk"

I've been reading some interesting commentary on the history of psychological testing and the large numbers of personality tests that have come in and out of fashion over the years. I admit that I think personality quizzes, like the ones I've linked on previous blogs, are entertaining to a certain degree, but I always assumed their accuracy was somewhat akin to horoscopes. I've read certain descriptions of my personality based solely on my date of birth that seem a bit true, but I've also read ones so far off the mark that they make me laugh. This variety of accuracy (stemming, no doubt, from the idea that the more descriptors someone writes, the more likely at least one will fit the person reading) seems to be the same for these personality tests, so I was surprised to learn that many companies and doctors place a good deal of trust in some of these results. Some of these tests are even used in court, affecting important life decisions.

When I worked for the government, part of my training was to take the Myers-Briggs Personality Test with other new hires. The proctors were careful to call it a team-building exercise and an ice-breaker, but I figured that they really wanted to add a label to our personnel files. For a few hours, twenty or so people answered question after question on social and recreational preferences and feelings towards specific situations. Periodically throughout the test, I couldn't help thinking, "I can't believe I'm getting paid for this!" I was paid well, too--your tax dollars at work. In the end, I was presented with a very elaborate printout of my personality type (one of 16 possibilities), and what strengths and weaknesses that entailed. I was perplexed and a little amused, and that was the end of it, as far as I knew.

Since then, I've heard and read many things about that specific test, particularly that a large percentage of people score a different personality type when they retake the test. This change could be due to being in a different mood while answering the questions or understanding the wording of some questions differently the second time. I would be happy to take the test again to see if my type (which, according to the test developers, is supposed to be immutable from birth) is different, but only if some company wants to pay me for my time. While they're at it, they can also tell me which of my humors are out of whack (I feel my bile rising) and whether the natural variations of my skull make me predisposed to liking chocolate.

I highly doubt that the government would waste so much time on administering the personality test to simply build teamwork among people who would soon be working in different branches and locations, so they must have placed some emphasis on the results. Interestingly, my placement into the niche INTJ by the proctors at the U.S. government did not seem to warn them that I would quickly become immensely dissatisfied with employment there and quit to run 3000 miles away. That should be proof enough of the limits of such testing. I've already blogged about my dislike of labels, and in that I agree with Carl Jung: "Every individual is an exception to the rule. To stick labels on people at first sight is nothing but a childish parlor game." It can be a scary prospect if those in positions of power put too much emphasis on these sort of group types; besides being rigid and inflexible, it leads closely to the type of thinking that certain races, sexes, etc, can be similarly judged and labeled.