China News Service, Beijing, April 3 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue) Constellation has always been the most popular topic among young people in social situations.
Today, that position is under threat from the MBTI, although there are many differences between the two.
How hot is it?
The topic reading of MBTI on Weibo has reached 800 million, and many groups named after MBTI personality types, as well as emoticons of various personality types, have emerged on social platforms.
Netizens make emoticons about MBTI
Korean TV stations have also launched reality shows and film and television works based on this theme. Even Gu Ailing revealed in an interview that she had done the MBTI test and the results showed that she is an INTJ.
Video screenshot
These four English letters are not the new "Internet slang", but abbreviations for personality types.
And with its popularity, disputes such as "metaphysics" and "pseudoscience" also follow.
What is MBTI?
The full name of MBTI is "Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" (Myers-Briggs Personality Classification Indicator), which is a self-reported personality assessment tool used to measure and describe people's ability to obtain information, make decisions, and treat life. and other aspects of the law of mental activity and the performance of different personality types.
MBTI was developed by American writer Miles and her mother Briggs, and its theoretical basis is the psychological type theory founded by Swiss psychologist Jung.
Netizens make MBTI emoticons
MBTI divides individual behavior differences into four dimensions, including spiritual energy orientation, information acquisition methods, decision-making methods, and life attitude orientations.
Each dimension includes two directions, representing different preferences, namely Extroversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuition, Feeling-Thinking ), Judging-Perceiving.
The different preference tendencies of the four dimensions are combined to form 16 personality types.
The results of the now popular MBTI Sixteen Personality Test fall into four broad categories, including analyst, diplomat, guardian, and explorer.
Screenshot of MBTI website
Different categories share certain similar character traits, and Gu Ailing, an INTJ, has been described as an "imaginative and strategic thinker."
Why is MBTI popular?
The first MBTI scale was published in 1942, and has been revised and improved continuously since then.
The MBTI only became popular in the 1980s.
Until now, MBTI once again set off a new wave of Internet.
Why is MBTI popular?
It is generally believed that MBTI is easy to operate and easy to spread through the classification method of dichotomy.
At the same time, the MBTI does not use the results of the "questionnaire test" to draw conclusions to individuals, but instead gives the decision-making power to the person receiving the test, so that everyone can find and determine their own personality type through the information given by themselves.
In the MBTI test results, in addition to showing the personality type, it also shows the percentage of each person on each option, as well as the characteristics of the personality.
People can use this as a coordinate to recognize and analyze their own character performance.
Screenshot of MBTI website
Despite the popularity of the MBTI, the test has faced controversy in the academic world.
Some scholars believe that the reliability and validity of the test are not ideal.
Others believe that the test's description is vague and belongs to the "Barnum effect" - because the description is vague and universal, so that it is applicable everywhere.
Today, there are many people who believe that a few dozen questions cannot summarize a person, and that a person's character is not static.
Moreover, the MBTI tends to describe only the strengths of the character, and does not talk about the weaknesses.
Presumably, however, it is the relatively simple, gentle approach of the MBTI that made it popular.
Especially in the age of social media, people often use MBTI for self-expression, sharing and socializing.
Netizens summarize different personality performances
Even if it's not the MBTI, there will be something else to fill that spot, says Milvey Emre, an associate professor of English at Oxford University and a research fellow at Worcester College.
"People are eager to understand the kind of self-knowledge it presents. It presents that awareness in a way that's innocuous and easy to digest. We're in an unbelievable pull...you could even name some ENTJs too. type of celebrity or star. It's a way of creating meaning in a chaotic and complex world."
Is it reliable to use MBTI to recruit employees or objects?
Since the advent of MBTI, it is often used for job recruitment and finding objects.
Emley has explored the story behind the test in Character Agents: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Origins of Character Training.
In the 1940s, Miles and one of the first people management consultants in the U.S. began selling tests to big companies like General Electric, Standard Oil, and New York Life, she said.
These companies use it to conduct CEO self-assessments, interview candidates, and assess whether people with certain personalities should be charged more for life insurance.
Later, many job seekers used the test results as their main character label and used the MBTI's analytical discourse to sell themselves.
Some secret organizations also use the MBTI test when selecting agents.
Screenshot of MBTI website
So, is it reliable for companies to use MBTI to screen employees, and individuals to use MBTI to plan career development and find objects?
Many netizens are cautious about this.
Some people believe that psychometrics only provide reference in a certain section, not diagnostic, not to mention that the understanding of many concepts by non-professionals is extremely biased.
Some people also think that everyone is "picture one happy" on social platforms.
Others said that this is just a way of knowing oneself, for reference only.
Some scholars have pointed out that the results of the MBTI cannot be used as the final personality type to judge, but the results of the questionnaire should be used as a reference to determine the personality type of an individual under the guidance of MBTI-certified professionals.
"MBTI can help to recognize oneself, but it does not deprive cognitive freedom and impose conclusions on others; MBTI can effectively assess personality type, but it cannot infer behavioral attitude, intelligence level, ability strength, job performance, future Fortune and destiny."
As for the moment, some people are using MBTI as a new label, which may make things less interesting.
People are dynamic people, as the saying goes, "Thousands of people have thousands of faces, and hundreds of people have hundreds of natures".
Taking a personality test is easy, but the inward exploration will never end.
What do you think?
References: Introduction to the MBTI Personality Type Scale, Theoretical Research and Practical Application of the MBTI Personality Type Scale, Why is the MBTI Personality Test so Popular?
Does it have a scientific basis?
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