Myers Briggs/ personality testing

Ste · 10th-November-2005, 08:11 PM

Does anyone know about personality testing particularly myers Briggs testing? Does it work?

**Lynn** · 10th-November-2005, 08:15 PM

I have done this twice with people trained and accredited to run the Myers-Briggs test(and also with a DIY test in a book called 'Please understand me' - can't recall the author). I found it useful, though more helpful to use the letters E/I etc, rather than the words as they can be a bit misleading.

Divissima · 10th-November-2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ste

Does anyone know about personality testing particularly myers Briggs testing? Does it work?

Like Lynn, I have done a Myers-Briggs style test with someone accredited to analyse the results. I found it interesting, instructive and helpful as part of a career change exercise. I also found an interesting book on the Myers-Briggs personality types. If you are interested, Steve, I can PM you title and details. Like a lot of these kinds of tools, I think it depends what you expect it can tell you.

**ducasi** · 10th-November-2005, 11:07 PM

There's loads of online Myers-Briggs tests, some "official", others apeing* the format without using the exact same language.

I've done a few at different times and if I remember right, I usually found that I was on the mid-point of most of the "preferences", though almost always more I than E, and more P that J. So depending on my mood on any particular day I could be one of three or four personalities.

Thing is, I think everyone is like this. Our personality changes if we are happy or sad, energised or exhausted, etc...

So, while it is interesting to try out, and might give a "base" personality if you do it at the right time, I don't think you can always make absolute judgements from it.

I think my usual result is "INFP", but as I said, all four preferences are subject to how I'm feeling at the time...

Perhaps what I really need is a proper accredited test, and let someone else figure me out.

Or I think there is another test which gives a greater variety of personality types, which when combined with Myers-Briggs can tell you a lot more. Can't remember what that is... I'm sure wikipedia knows...

Yep... Here's info about the MB test, and indeed it shows how the basic 16 types can be broken down further, presumably using further investigation.

In fact, there's so much more info there, just ignore everything I've written and read that.

* My computer wants me to spell that word "aping" – is that the correct spelling, or just the American spelling?

Rebecca · 10th-November-2005, 11:24 PM

I'm a chartered psychologist and worry sometimes about the horoscope/cosmo-questionnaire-type versions of personality assessments that are on the market.

It depends on your needs but I'd say stick to the Big-5 (NEOFFI) for normal personality functioning. If you're doing team-based stuff look up Belbin.

R x

**Lynn** · 11th-November-2005, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducasi

Perhaps what I really need is a proper accredited test, and let someone else figure me out.

You would probably find its pretty consistent if you did. I have always come out with the same result, and have done it in two different countries with a gap of about 9 years, (3 countries if you count the DIY one in Please Understand Me, which I did in Ghana). From what I recall it takes about 4 hours to get the feedback and use other methods to 'check' the results from the multi-choice question booklet. It shouldn't really change according to what mood you are in, if it does then its maybe not a comprehensive enough set of questions?

I agree about the limitations of personality tests, OPQs etc. And I'm not that keen on them being part of putting people into 'boxes' in the way some companies use them. But if properly conducted, they can be a useful tool for self understanding.

**JonD** · 11th-November-2005, 12:33 AM

We use Myers-Briggs, Belbin (team roles) and Honey & Mumford (learning styles) at work. All the team have done them (there's only 22 of us) and all have agreed that we can share the results so we can communicate better and make our in-house training more effective. We take them with a "pinch of salt" and don't use them for recruitment or selection.

I think everyone finds them interesting and, in many ways, disconcertingly accurate! They are useful tools and help us to understand each others strengths, weaknesses and preferences. (I love brain-storming - it helps me to know that some other people are reflectors who want a couple of days to think something over before I get their opinion), We rejigged induction training for one of the gang after he did his learning styles questionnaire and his evaluation test results improved dramatically.

They're fun, thought provoking and can be helpful but I wouldn't take them in isolation.

**ducasi** · 11th-November-2005, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynn

You would probably find its pretty consistent if you did. I have always come out with the same result, and have done it in two different countries with a gap of about 9 years, (3 countries if you count the DIY one in Please Understand Me, which I did in Ghana). From what I recall it takes about 4 hours to get the feedback and use other methods to 'check' the results from the multi-choice question booklet. It shouldn't really change according to what mood you are in, if it does then its maybe not a comprehensive enough set of questions?

I've done a "proper" MB test online which took ages to go through all the questions, but it didn't take 4 hours to process the results – computers are good at this kind of thing.

In the non-computer tests though, do you have the opportunity to discuss the questions and answers with the examiner, as that would definitely helped me.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that on each of their "preferences", the reality is that there is a sliding scale, and if you just so happen to fall somewhere in the middle you will still end up being put in a black and white category which doesn't really reflect your personality.

Depending on the circumstances I can be torn between a "thinking" and a "feeling" response. Calling me a thinker ignores the times when I do let my feelings take control.

LMC · 11th-November-2005, 08:51 AM

I think the only people who are "100%" anything are probably slightly psycho- or sociopathic! - moderation in everything and all that.

I've done MB twice, and came out with different results each time - but both were quite accurate. As ducasi says, it's a 'sliding scale' - I'm quite definitely 'NT' but veer between E/I and P/J - depending on mental and emotional state.

The whole point of the testing is so that you can "train" out the less positive aspects. In theory, neither of the types that came up in my result are good at attention to detail. But I can be - I used to proofread for a living (and enjoy it) and I can be a bit of a perfectionist. But those are both tiring, I am more "energised" by blue sky/big picture kind of stuff. And I think that's the key thing - whether you find a task 'satisfying' is really neither here nor there, the true question IMO is whether it gives you energy or drains you of it.

**Aleks** · 11th-November-2005, 09:56 AM

The computer testing system that the headhunter/career counsellor I know uses gives a printout which includes a graph of where your answers sit within the sliding scale. Did the one you used do this Ducasi?

TiggsTours · 11th-November-2005, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ste

Does anyone know about personality testing particularly myers Briggs testing? Does it work?

I've done the Myers Briggs tests a few times now, with different jobs, and to be honest, they are quite useful. The only thing is, the outcome will change, along with the way your personal circumstances affect your life, and the way you react to situations. If anything, they are at least good fun.

**ducasi** · 11th-November-2005, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleks

The computer testing system that the headhunter/career counsellor I know uses gives a printout which includes a graph of where your answers sit within the sliding scale. Did the one you used do this Ducasi?

Um... Maybe... Can't remember.

There must have been some sort of indication of where on the scale I was – otherwise I guess I wouldn't have known I was borderline...

But the end result was still one of the 16 personalities, with no account of the shades of gray.

**Gus** · 11th-November-2005, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebecca

It depends on your needs but I'd say stick to the Big-5 (NEOFFI) for normal personality functioning. If you're doing team-based stuff look up Belbin.

R x

Hmmm ... totaly agree with the advice to use Belbin, especially the newer modified and extended model. Re MB ... thought that went out with the ark .... if I remeber correctly (which is rarely) when we covering this field it was 16PF that was being pushed as the replacement approach. Having been on the receiving end and on the using side of these analysis tools I would favour the 16PF. However, these tools should ONLY be used in the context of a wider range of tools (e.g. 360 degree, focused interviews, team builing assessments, SHL etc.).

**Dreadful Scathe** · 11th-November-2005, 11:41 AM

Apparantly Im an INTP personality type, sounds interesting. Anyone want to take the same online test ? then go here

**Aleks** · 11th-November-2005, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe

Apparantly Im an INTP personality type, sounds interesting. Anyone want to take the same online test ? then go here

ENFP for me - as always. Did you notice that there were %ages given for how much this trait was expressed....?

**El Salsero Gringo** · 11th-November-2005, 01:52 PM

........whooosh.......

**Tessalicious** · 11th-November-2005, 02:20 PM

An old friend who happens to be an HR director decided to do Myers-Briggs on me over the summer, and was utterly delighted that I had 'proved' that it works by coming out as an INTJ, among whose ideal jobs is mine, 'research scientist'. This despite the fact that three of the four (I, T and J) were almost borderline, and could easily have been different when I was in a different mood. I suppose these things will always show what you want them to.

For anyone who's interested, he also submitted me, a long time ago, to the McQuaig tests, which IIRC are much more judgmental in their interpretation.

For the self-therapists out there, there is also the colour test which gave me results that I found really interesting, but is a much more personal rather than job-oriented test.

**Feelingpink** · 11th-November-2005, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleks

ENFP for me - as always. Did you notice that there were %ages given for how much this trait was expressed....?

I was one of these too, when given the test about 10 years ago (so I could have changed). In the book "Gifts Differing" which talked about the different personality types, the way I remember this is Every day New Fantastic Possibilities (apparently this tends to be our outlook - found that to be fairly accurate for me).

I think the best part of doing MB was using it as a tool when I worked with others - figuring out what was missing and why we sometimes p****ed off each other.

LMC · 11th-November-2005, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feelingpink

I think the best part of doing MB was using it as a tool when I worked with others - figuring out what was missing and why we sometimes p****ed off each other.

My boss is "strong" INTP and I veer between INTP and ENTJ. The similarities mean we get along very well - but I have to be *really* organised (against my natural inclination) because he is hopeless! - plus we both tend to take on too much

Clive Long · 12th-November-2005, 01:09 AM

Hi

I took Myers Briggs through a certified practitioner . I don't have the results here but I was something like EFTJ. I must look up the details because the certiified practitioner can take it further and make you think about how you react to situations and people with other preferences - and helps one take an extra second rather than thinking the other person is being really difficult.

I went to an exhibition at Birmingham NEC where one seminar was run by a psychologist. It was about "which is the best personality type for a project manager". Of course she indicated there is no "correct" profile - but that mine tended to be the "cluster" most associated with Project Managers. Ho hum - I'm trying to escape that role. There was also loads of entertaining stuff about how different profiles might run projects and how communication and decision making can be affected by preference. The one I remmebr is how do you plan your holiday? Do you?

1. Read all the guide books before going and have 4 highlighter colour code for every tyoe of activity?
2. Turn up, book accomodation as you go and wander down back-alleys that look interesting

I felt ill when she described number 2.

However, both types can benefit from the other.

a type 2 who follows a type 1 lead can see "more" during the holiday.

a type 1 who follows a type 2 "flow" might find that "special" cafe that is in no guide book.

However, the type 1 and type 2 might have fallen out long before they reach such a way of organising their time. Also type 1s together will just fight for who "leads". etc. "Lead" , "Follow". Maybe dance has much to teach us in this area?

All entertaining and amusing stuff.

Now I guess these models can be thought of as too simplistic but MBTI "feels" like it is on the right lines to me (I measure big on "F" )

As an aside I know someone who buys into Emotional Intelligence in a big way for building effective teams.

Clive

10th-November-2005, 08:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ste Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 373 Status: No Status Rep Power: 4 Rep.: 112	Myers Briggs/ personality testing Does anyone know about personality testing particularly myers Briggs testing? Does it work?

10th-November-2005, 08:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Lynn Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Belfast Posts: 7,910 Status: Suddenly very busy! Rep Power: 6 Rep.: 2543	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing I have done this twice with people trained and accredited to run the Myers-Briggs test(and also with a DIY test in a book called 'Please understand me' - can't recall the author). I found it useful, though more helpful to use the letters E/I etc, rather than the words as they can be a bit misleading.

10th-November-2005, 11:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
ducasi Lovely Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 9,640 Status: back down with a thump. Blog Entries: 1 Rep Power: 6 Rep.: 3277	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing There's loads of online Myers-Briggs tests, some "official", others apeing* the format without using the exact same language. I've done a few at different times and if I remember right, I usually found that I was on the mid-point of most of the "preferences", though almost always more I than E, and more P that J. So depending on my mood on any particular day I could be one of three or four personalities. Thing is, I think everyone is like this. Our personality changes if we are happy or sad, energised or exhausted, etc... So, while it is interesting to try out, and might give a "base" personality if you do it at the right time, I don't think you can always make absolute judgements from it. I think my usual result is "INFP", but as I said, all four preferences are subject to how I'm feeling at the time... Perhaps what I really need is a proper accredited test, and let someone else figure me out. Or I think there is another test which gives a greater variety of personality types, which when combined with Myers-Briggs can tell you a lot more. Can't remember what that is... I'm sure wikipedia knows... Yep... Here's info about the MB test, and indeed it shows how the basic 16 types can be broken down further, presumably using further investigation. In fact, there's so much more info there, just ignore everything I've written and read that. * My computer wants me to spell that word "aping" – is that the correct spelling, or just the American spelling? __________________ Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story

10th-November-2005, 11:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
Rebecca Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Nr Leicester Posts: 449 Status: No Status Rep Power: 2 Rep.: 376	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing I'm a chartered psychologist and worry sometimes about the horoscope/cosmo-questionnaire-type versions of personality assessments that are on the market. It depends on your needs but I'd say stick to the Big-5 (NEOFFI) for normal personality functioning. If you're doing team-based stuff look up Belbin. R x

11th-November-2005, 12:33 AM	#7 (permalink)
JonD Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 537 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 688	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing We use Myers-Briggs, Belbin (team roles) and Honey & Mumford (learning styles) at work. All the team have done them (there's only 22 of us) and all have agreed that we can share the results so we can communicate better and make our in-house training more effective. We take them with a "pinch of salt" and don't use them for recruitment or selection. I think everyone finds them interesting and, in many ways, disconcertingly accurate! They are useful tools and help us to understand each others strengths, weaknesses and preferences. (I love brain-storming - it helps me to know that some other people are reflectors who want a couple of days to think something over before I get their opinion), We rejigged induction training for one of the gang after he did his learning styles questionnaire and his evaluation test results improved dramatically. They're fun, thought provoking and can be helpful but I wouldn't take them in isolation.

11th-November-2005, 08:51 AM	#9 (permalink)
LMC Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In the corner Posts: 4,508 Status: No Status Rep Power: 4 Rep.: 2319	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing I think the only people who are "100%" anything are probably slightly psycho- or sociopathic! - moderation in everything and all that. I've done MB twice, and came out with different results each time - but both were quite accurate. As ducasi says, it's a 'sliding scale' - I'm quite definitely 'NT' but veer between E/I and P/J - depending on mental and emotional state. The whole point of the testing is so that you can "train" out the less positive aspects. In theory, neither of the types that came up in my result are good at attention to detail. But I can be - I used to proofread for a living (and enjoy it) and I can be a bit of a perfectionist. But those are both tiring, I am more "energised" by blue sky/big picture kind of stuff. And I think that's the key thing - whether you find a task 'satisfying' is really neither here nor there, the true question IMO is whether it gives you energy or drains you of it.

11th-November-2005, 09:56 AM	#10 (permalink)
Aleks Taxi Dancer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Tarbrax Posts: 2,378 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 880	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing The computer testing system that the headhunter/career counsellor I know uses gives a printout which includes a graph of where your answers sit within the sliding scale. Did the one you used do this Ducasi? __________________ "Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it." Mahatma Gandhi

11th-November-2005, 11:41 AM	#14 (permalink)
Dreadful Scathe Papa Smurf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Planet Scathe Posts: 10,222 Status: hidden from Lou Blog Entries: 4 Rep Power: 7 Rep.: 2394	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing Apparantly Im an INTP personality type, sounds interesting. Anyone want to take the same online test ? then go here __________________ "defiantly a pork soared" -fletch "This is a discussion forum, not some sort of hippy poetry-reading commune" - TAFKADJ

11th-November-2005, 01:52 PM	#16 (permalink)
El Salsero Gringo Ceroc Teacher Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: London Posts: 4,881 Status: No Status Rep Power: 4 Rep.: 2374	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing ........whooosh.......

11th-November-2005, 02:20 PM	#17 (permalink)
Tessalicious Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Kentish Town Posts: 1,606 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 1716	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing An old friend who happens to be an HR director decided to do Myers-Briggs on me over the summer, and was utterly delighted that I had 'proved' that it works by coming out as an INTJ, among whose ideal jobs is mine, 'research scientist'. This despite the fact that three of the four (I, T and J) were almost borderline, and could easily have been different when I was in a different mood. I suppose these things will always show what you want them to. For anyone who's interested, he also submitted me, a long time ago, to the McQuaig tests, which IIRC are much more judgmental in their interpretation. For the self-therapists out there, there is also the colour test which gave me results that I found really interesting, but is a much more personal rather than job-oriented test. __________________ A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water. Eleanor Roosevelt Don't ask, don't tell - follow. Incubus

12th-November-2005, 01:09 AM	#20 (permalink)
Clive Long Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: London-innit Posts: 1,465 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3	Re: Myers Briggs/ personality testing Hi I took Myers Briggs through a certified practitioner . I don't have the results here but I was something like EFTJ. I must look up the details because the certiified practitioner can take it further and make you think about how you react to situations and people with other preferences - and helps one take an extra second rather than thinking the other person is being really difficult. I went to an exhibition at Birmingham NEC where one seminar was run by a psychologist. It was about "which is the best personality type for a project manager". Of course she indicated there is no "correct" profile - but that mine tended to be the "cluster" most associated with Project Managers. Ho hum - I'm trying to escape that role. There was also loads of entertaining stuff about how different profiles might run projects and how communication and decision making can be affected by preference. The one I remmebr is how do you plan your holiday? Do you? 1. Read all the guide books before going and have 4 highlighter colour code for every tyoe of activity? 2. Turn up, book accomodation as you go and wander down back-alleys that look interesting I felt ill when she described number 2. However, both types can benefit from the other. a type 2 who follows a type 1 lead can see "more" during the holiday. a type 1 who follows a type 2 "flow" might find that "special" cafe that is in no guide book. However, the type 1 and type 2 might have fallen out long before they reach such a way of organising their time. Also type 1s together will just fight for who "leads". etc. "Lead" , "Follow". Maybe dance has much to teach us in this area? All entertaining and amusing stuff. Now I guess these models can be thought of as too simplistic but MBTI "feels" like it is on the right lines to me (I measure big on "F" ) As an aside I know someone who buys into Emotional Intelligence in a big way for building effective teams. Clive

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