The Myers-Briggs personality test is totally meaningless

mama2one said:

how would anyone box themselves in by discovering who they are?

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The Myer's Briggs Books etc. deal with this sort of thing.


1) Just because people have a "type" doesn't mean that it matches. A) Some people have a slight preference that is really negligible where they are actually a composite of two types, or maybe only relate to the basic personality grouping of NT, SJ etc. I actually had a friend that was almost middle on all 4 scores where the test was next to useless on him even though yeah when push comes to shove he was a little more of an INTP than he was the other options.

B) Besides this there are the various mechanical issues of the test etc.


2) The official book by the original creator actually talks about the "Pygmalion Project" where people tend to want to mold other people into their desired personality type which is often their own one, or maybe towards traits valued in the particular society. This kind of thing should be familiar with Introverted people, where we tend to be stigmatized as "being shy", "loners" etc. by our more extroverted counterparts. As an intuitive this sort of thing can also fit growing up when dealing with sensing people who tend to see us as "dreamers" etc.


3) Reification (the tendency to treat abstract concepts like literal physical things). It is also clear if you read the books etc. this is simply talking about tendencies, general life styles etc. People do not fit type categories like INTJ in the same way an species of animal fits a scientific classification category.

It was funny decades ago, my extroverted best friend asked how he could "increase his introversion". At which point I had to explain reification. "This is just an abstract tendency it is not a literal thing. Reification is when you treat an abstract concept like a person has an IQ of 100 and you act like they literally have a 100 IQ point gum balls in their head. Introversion is not like increasing strength by lifting weights etc. It just a matter if you are more prone to spend time alone vs. being with people."

Pavel Mosko said:

It was funny decades ago, my extroverted best friend asked how he could "increase his introversion". It just a matter if you are more prone to spend time alone vs. being with people."

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after becoming a parent, thought I was turning into an extrovert ...I was talking with more people, parents, teachers, principals, other kids, etc

took the test again & it showed an even higher level of introversion than before!
maybe, I was more honest on test or know myself better


due to virus, I'm at home 99% of time so not talking with others besides husband & child
I don't miss HAVING to talk with people....at all, lol

definitely still an introvert

mama2one said:

after becoming a parent, thought I was becoming an extrovert
suddenly, I was talking to parents, teachers, other kids, more people in general since our child is active & a social butterfly

took the test again & it showed an even higher level of introversion than before!

it confused me since I was talking to more people

now due to virus, I'm at home & not talking with others besides husband & child
I don't miss other people....at all
I don't miss HAVING to talk with people....at all, lol

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Well in fairness the category is more what would you do if there was no demand in any direction. The fact that you had family and other obligations doesn't really count. And actually the real definition of the stat is not technically the actual behavior but what affect does it have on you? Do you get tired out by it? Or does it make you feel energized? So extraverts tend to recharge their batteries so to speak by being around people, while introverts need some alone time after being around people for an extended amount of time.

I don't what its going on with the whole find your 'identity' thing, there is somethng i don't understand? someone help me understand...
My 'identity' is that i need to live everyday, having some stuff to survive, and be happy, also i believe in God so thats important.

What is this all 'finding identity'?

I mean finding out i was not just a weird person, but that i had autism helped me, gave me some relief that there were other people with the same issues.
I don't know if this classifies as finding identity though.

Pavel Mosko said:

Do you get tired out by it? Or does it make you feel energized? So extraverts tend to recharge their batteries so to speak by being around people, while introverts need some alone time after being around people for an extended amount of time.

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that's the thing....after managing to interact with a teacher or other parent, felt like I was on a little high & was excited

what it was is that I was happy to have managed interaction & got through it for most part

truly thought I was turning into an extrovert
in truth, people do wear me out