I recently read an article that really resonated with me.
In his piece for Fast Company, Art Markman, PhD, professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin, argues that it’s time to stop relying on personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI.
Why? Because it’s likely to be misleading. Whereas, when tested, the Big Five personality characteristics (extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) are very stable across one’s lifespan, the Myers-Briggs can have pretty low test-retest reliability.
Furthermore, the Big Five has a well-behaved distribution, meaning most people’s scores are centered around the middle of the scale. The Myers-Briggs, on the other hand, creates a forced classification of people, “Which is why people can give a four-letter personality type for themselves.”
In addition to these lack-of-scientific-rigor reasons why such personality tests can’t be fully trusted, I started thinking about a few other reasons why they’re so inaccurate.
1. They don’t account for situational anomalies.
We all react differently in different contexts. If you’re a total extrovert, you’ll still sit quietly and listen when you attend a performance or when someone is giving an important speech. Even if you’re not the most open to trying new things, you’ll probably go for it if you’re traveling to a new place and/or on vacation with friends.
2. They’re self-assessed.
Seeing as these types of tests are self-assessed, they rarely capture an unfiltered view of ourselves. Just think about it: How often do we lie to ourselves? Exactly. We may think we’re one way, but if we surveyed the closest five people to us, we may get a completely different answer. Basically, such tests can serve to reinforce things we’ve swallowed about ourselves long ago that may no longer paint an accurate picture, which brings us to the next reason…
3. They only look at who you’ve been.
Personality tests only look at who you’ve been and don’t give you any information about who you can become. This means you can get stuck thinking who you have always been is who you will always be. And as you’ve probably seen—with your friends, family, or public figures—this doesn’t have to be true. You hold the reins when it comes to changing the direction of your life and how you move through it.
As Markman notes, “even the best measurements of personality characteristics predict only about 20% to 30% of the difference in behaviors among people.” So whenever you take a personality test in the future, remember that it’s just one data point to consider.
Curious about other data points to help you understand more about yourself? Go ask three people whose opinion you value what they think your superpowers are. You might just learn something that a quiz can’t tell you.