In Defense Of MBTI

While it's commonly believed that our genes account for 60% of how we behave and think, I believe the actual number may be closer to 80%.  I'm an identical twin, and let's just say, because of that, I've experienced some weird DNA stuff.  For instance, walking into a store, picking out a shirt, coming home, and finding out my sister picked out the same exact one. Her likes and her dislikes, her traits and her preferences, are almost identical to mine, and that's why they say DNA serves as the blueprint for our lives. It's also a code that is unique, but MBTI tries to determine what a few of these distinctive traits are and see who else might share the same types of characteristics. 

I will begin with my past when my teachers considered me a good student. While some may have thought of me as average, others believed I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. But it wasn't until I took the WISC-V Test (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), similar to an IQ test, that I received an accurate measure of where I stood among my peers. To my surprise, my test score was exceptional, placing me in the top 2%. The school principal even called my mother at home to share the news. As for my IQ - well, I would prefer to say I studied hard to achieve those good scores.

Years later, when I was working at a financial institution, I was asked to take the MBTI test and it showed that I was an INTP personality type. (Once in a blue moon I score as INTJ) One of the bizarre distinctions listed was that INTPs tend to be drawn to science fiction. That and many other qualities really resonated with me. Well, there you have it, ever since childhood, I've been a huge fan of science fiction, including, of course, Star Wars and I was practically obsessed with the original Star Trek series —just to name a few — not to mention I've also published science fiction. So for me, it was like an ah-ha moment -because it pinpointed my likes and dislikes with eerie accuracy. 

But is there any scientific basis for MBTI? Absolutely. (Salter, Evans, & Forney, 1997) and a meta-analysis (Capraro & Capraro, 2002) have found that the MBTI does indeed have strong test-retest reliability. 

Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers, the inventors of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), were mentored by Edward N. Hay in test construction, scoring, validation, and statistics. Extensive research was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, Cal Tech, and other institutions, and when the first MBTI manual was published in 1962, it was supported by the Educational Testing Service and endorsed by Donald MacKinnon, the head of the Institute of Personality and Social Research at UC Berkeley. These factors provide strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the MBTI as a personality assessment tool.

Harold Grant, a professor at Michigan State and Auburn universities, and Mary McCaulley, a professor at the University of Florida, were among the other researchers who supported the study.

It's interesting how MBTI can be predicative with our relationships too. For instance, I have a close friend, who turned out to be an INFJ.  MBTI will tell you that INTP and INFJ - is known as the golden pair. My sister is the INTJ and we could spend
hours discussing and debating just about anything. We always relied on each other to tell the truth, without dancing around the issue. When we are together, we love talking about theories and philosophies. The more mysterious, the better.

It's important to note there is a huge imbalance of personality types In the female population. Approximately 36% of women are xSFJ and all xSFx women are as many as 56%. One must remember that only 2.5% of women are INTx and all xNTx women are just 6%. This means more common females have a much easier time finding each other in social situations. While INTP's, INTJ's INFJ's and ENTJ's will feel like they're surrounded by aliens, Only ENTJ, INTJ, or INFJ  will completely "get an INTP".


Common stereotypes of INTP: 

Unambitious: False
Lazy: False
Not very emotional: False
Fear Of Failure: True - which makes them ambitious.
Awkward Nerds: False
Incapable of Commitment: False
Unstable and Flighty: False


#MBTI #Divergent #INTP #MeyersBriggs #Personality #MBTI Dating







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