Social and Personality Psychology Compass · 2019 · 79 citations · 27 references
Social SciencesPsychologySocial PsychologyIndividual DifferencesPersonality PsychologyPsychometricsPersonality TraitsPsychological AssessmentPsychological TestingTrait TheoryContradictionsMyers-briggs Type IndicatorTestabilityTheoretical Definition
The Myers‑Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) remains popular yet exists largely outside mainstream social and personality psychology. The study aims to raise academic awareness of MBTI’s conceptual flaws and provide a teaching reference for its theoretical shortcomings. The authors examine the validity of the Jungian‑based theory underlying MBTI, focusing on its claim of a true type across four dichotomies. The analysis shows that MBTI theory fails rigorous theoretical criteria, lacking agreement with known facts, testability, and containing internal contradictions, and its continued popularity reflects how the public evaluates scientific theories.
Abstract Despite its immense popularity and impressive longevity, the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has existed in a parallel universe to social and personality psychology. Here, we seek to increase academic awareness of this incredibly popular idea and provide a novel teaching reference for its conceptual flaws. We focus on examining the validity of the Jungian‐based theory behind MBTI that specifies that people have a “true type” delineated across four dichotomies. We find that the MBTI theory falters on rigorous theoretical criteria in that it lacks agreement with known facts and data, lacks testability, and possesses internal contradictions. We further discuss what MBTI's continued popularity says about how the general public might evaluate scientific theories.
27
<i>The Logic of Scientific Discovery</i>
Karl R. Popper, George H. Weiss · Physics Today · 1959 · 2.6K citations
Humanities, Biology, Logic +12