Myers-Briggs trivializes personalities, doesn't predict behavior

Group projects are a pain — between coordinating meeting times and dividing the work, it rarely ends well for me. The only saving grace comes when you get to pick your own group members, because at least you have an idea of what you're getting into. This semester though, I'm in a course that not only has a group project, but I can't pick the group members. Instead, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test is responsible for choosing who I'll be spending my semester project working with, which also likely will affect my final grade.   

I've never been a fan of personality tests. They seem like an unfair assessment of self — you place yourself in these arbitrary categories, creating a false identity of what you should be. While I admit they can be fun, using a personality test to decide important matters like whether to hire or fire a particular employee, whether to date someone or even what group to be placed in, assigns a lot of pressure to a measly set of questions. Yet, 89 of the U.S. Fortune 100 companies use Myers-Briggs tests, according to psychometric-success.com. I just don't get it. 

If you've never taken the Myers-Briggs test, it is composed of about 70 questions, depending on which version you take, and it assigns you a four letter result composed of four bi-polar dimensions — extraversion-introversion (E-I), sensing-intuition (S-N), thinking-feeling (T-F) and judging-perceiving (J-P).  The test also provides you with a list of ideal career options based on your results. 

I've taken this test a handful of times and rarely does it end the same way. In fact, about 75 percent of people are assigned a different type the second time they take the test, according to psychometric-success.com. Most of the time, I'm an INFJ, meaning I like things orderly, understand feelings, am creative and can be secretive. Yet every now and then, my results are completely the opposite because the Myers-Briggs test is great at doing one thing right — reflecting current moods.  

If I'm tired and cranky, of course I'm going to answer no to a question on whether being around people makes me happy. But, when I'm bored and looking for something to do, my answer likely will be yes. Therefore, using Myers-Briggs as a standard to assess a person is unfair, unless you can find some way to make them ignore their current moods. But isn't mood part of what makes up your personality? 

Personalities are always changing — it's what makes us human. No one will react the exact same way for every situation. I'll admit some things are constant — my need to always have things in order transcends from my desk at the Index office with its perfectly filed papers and stacks of post-its, to my dresser at home with its neatly folded and stacked T-shirts in a line. However, I'm not always creative like my type depicts. Some weeks it takes hours to come up with an Index column idea and write it. Other times, inspiration hits me in minutes.  

My other qualm with the Myers-Briggs test is it asks the same question in a few different forms, making me second-guess my original answer, which has to be skewing my results.  For example, one question asks if I like to spend my leisure time socializing and going out to parties, and another question asks if I like to spend my leisure time alone relaxing with family in a tranquil setting. I would say yes to both of these questions, yet they are opposite. Does that make me an odd exception or just a normal human being who likes doing different things at different times? 

Let's get one thing straight — I'm a person, not a machine. Some trivial test will not predict my behaviors. So please, future employers and professors, feel free to judge me all you want for my interviewing skills or paper writing abilities, but leave my Myers-Briggs personality test results out of the picture and actually get to know me before making a decision that could impact my life.