TL;DR
- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is a self-report questionnaire that sorts people into 16 personality types, using four pairs of preferences. It was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers from Carl Jung's ideas.
- Its publisher describes it as a tool for development, and says plainly that it is not intended for selecting job candidates or for assigning people to teams or roles.
- Critics question how well it measures personality. Used voluntarily, as a way to start a conversation about how people like to work, it can help. Used to make decisions about people, it does harm.
“I'm an INTJ, so I don't do small talk.” If you have worked in an office, you have probably heard a sentence like it. Four letters, offered as an explanation of a whole person. They come from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, one of the best-known personality questionnaires in the world, and one of the most argued about.
This article explains what the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is, what the letters mean, what its publisher claims for it, what critics say, and how to use it at work without misusing it.
A questionnaire can start a conversation about how people like to work. Only regular, specific feedback keeps it going. See how New Dynamics continuous feedback supports that.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and MBTI are trademarks of their owner. New Dynamics is not affiliated with the publisher, and this article is an independent explanation.
What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, usually shortened to MBTI, is a self-report questionnaire. It asks about your preferences and sorts your answers into one of 16 personality types, each written as four letters, such as ISTJ or ENFP.
The publisher's MBTI Facts page says that the assessment “was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers”, who “spent years studying Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung's theory of psychological types”. It adds that neither was a psychologist, and that the Educational Testing Service helped to develop the assessment and to publish it in 1962.
The Myers & Briggs Foundation states the aim in its overview of the framework. The assessment “is designed to help people identify and gain some understanding around how they take in information and make decisions”.
People often call it the Myers-Briggs test. The Foundation describes it as “an assessment, instrument, tool, or inventory, but not a test”, and stresses that all types are valuable.
What the four letters mean
The Foundation explains that the framework “consists of eight preferences organized into four pairs of opposites”. You get one letter from each pair.
| Pair | The Foundation's description | Its question |
|---|---|---|
| Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I) | Opposite ways to direct and receive energy | Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or your own inner world? |
| Sensing (S) or Intuition (N) | Opposite ways to take in information | Do you prefer to focus on the facts or the big picture? |
| Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) | Opposite ways to decide and come to conclusions | Do you prefer to take an objective or an empathetic approach for deciding? |
| Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) | Opposite ways to approach the outside world | Do you prefer to seek closure or stay open to new information? |
Four pairs give 16 combinations, which is where the 16 types come from. The Foundation stresses that we “use all the preferences, but most people prefer one side of a preference pair more than the other”. A preference is like being right-handed. You can still use your left hand.
Two of the labels mislead people. “Judging” does not mean judgemental, and “feeling” does not mean emotional. They describe how someone likes to organise their life and to make decisions.
What its publisher says it is for, and not for
The publisher presents the MBTI as a tool for development: self-awareness, communication, teamwork, handling stress and thinking about careers.
It is equally clear about what the tool is not for. The MBTI Facts page asks, “Can the MBTI assessment be used for selection or hiring?” and answers: “No.” It continues: the assessment “is not intended for use in selection of job candidates, nor for making internal decisions regarding job placement, selection for teams or task forces, or other similar activities”.
The page gives reasons.
- The questions are “clear-purpose”, so a candidate who has done some reading “could easily fake their responses” to produce the profile they think the employer wants.
- The assessment looks at preferences, “rather than a person's skill or competence”.
- In the publisher's words, it “is not intended to predict job performance and should not be used in selection”.
It also reports the Foundation's position: “It is unethical to require job applicants to take the assessment if the results will be used to screen out applicants.”
That is about as clear as a publisher can be. If anyone in your organisation proposes to use MBTI types to hire, promote or build a project team, the people who sell the tool say not to.
What critics say
The MBTI has been criticised by psychologists for decades. The main objections are these.
- Types versus traits. Most personality researchers describe people along continuous scales. The MBTI sorts each person into one side of a pair, so two people with nearly identical answers can land in different types.
- Consistency on retest. The publisher says that the four scales are reliable, with test-retest correlations “over .80 for periods up to 15 weeks”. It also acknowledges that all four letters have to match for the type to be the same, and says: “About 50 percent of people get the same four-letter or whole type on retest.”
- Independence of the evidence. Wikipedia's article on the MBTI summarises critics who say that the instrument shows “poor validity” and “poor reliability”, and that much of the supporting research has been published by bodies connected with it.
- Flattering descriptions. Type descriptions are positive and general, so most people recognise themselves in them. That feels like accuracy, and it may not be.
The publisher disputes much of this, and says that the assessment has “considerable evidence for its reliability and validity”. We are not psychometricians, and we do not try to settle the argument here. For a manager the practical conclusion is the same on either view: the MBTI was never built to support decisions about people's jobs.
Six steps for using it well in a team
If your organisation already uses the MBTI, or a team asks to try it, these six steps keep it useful and harmless.
- Decide the purpose. “To talk about how we each like to work” is a good purpose. “To find out who should lead” is not.
- Make it voluntary. Nobody should have to take a personality questionnaire, or to share the result.
- Use a qualified facilitator. The publisher stresses the value of competent feedback when people receive their results.
- Let each person choose their best-fit type. The Foundation describes a process in which the person verifies the type that fits them. The questionnaire's result is a suggestion.
- Turn insight into agreements. “Some of us need time to think before a meeting” becomes “agendas go out two days ahead”.
- Keep results out of HR decisions. Do not record types in personnel files, and never refer to them in hiring, promotion, pay or performance reviews.
Misuses to avoid
- Hiring by type. “We need an extravert for sales” screens out capable people on the basis of a questionnaire that its publisher says is not for selection.
- Type as an excuse. “I'm a P, so I miss deadlines” is not a development plan.
- Type as a label. People are more than four letters, and they behave differently in different situations.
- Type as a team formula. There is no ideal mix of letters. The publisher says the tool is not for assigning people to teams.
- Free online versions treated as the real thing. The publisher notes that free questionnaires based on the same theory “typically lack evidence showing they are reliable and valid measures”.
Stereotyping by type has much in common with stereotyping by generation, which we discuss in our guide to Generation Y.
What to use for decisions about people
For hiring, promotion and performance, use evidence about the work itself. Five sources are better than any personality type.
- Work samples. Ask candidates to do a small, realistic piece of the job.
- Structured interviews. Ask every candidate the same job-related questions, and score the answers against criteria set in advance. Our manager interview questions show the format.
- Goals and results. Judge people on what they agreed to achieve, and what they achieved.
- Feedback from several people. One manager's impression is a narrow view. See our guide to emotional intelligence in the workplace for the behaviours worth asking about.
- Fair reviews. Bring the evidence together in a review, and check ratings across managers for consistency.
For self-awareness, a conversation about strengths and weaknesses with a manager who knows your work will usually tell you more than a type code.
Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is a self-report questionnaire that sorts people into one of 16 personality types. Each type is a four-letter code built from four pairs of preferences. It was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers from Carl Jung's theory of psychological types.
What do the four MBTI letters mean?
The letters show your preference in four pairs: extraversion (E) or introversion (I), sensing (S) or intuition (N), thinking (T) or feeling (F), and judging (J) or perceiving (P). They describe how you prefer to direct energy, take in information, make decisions and approach the outside world.
Is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator a test?
Not according to the Myers & Briggs Foundation, which describes it as an assessment, instrument, tool or inventory, and says that all types are valuable. Many people still call it the Myers-Briggs test in everyday speech.
Can employers use the MBTI for hiring?
They should not. The publisher says that the MBTI is not intended for selecting job candidates, or for decisions about job placement or team selection. It reports the Foundation's view that requiring applicants to take it in order to screen them out is unethical.
Is the MBTI scientifically valid?
Opinions differ. The publisher reports strong reliability for the four scales. Critics argue that sorting people into types loses information, that many people get a different four-letter type on retest, and that much of the supporting research is not independent.
How should a team use the MBTI?
Use it voluntarily, with a qualified facilitator, as a way to talk about how people prefer to work. Let each person decide which type fits them best, turn what you learn into practical agreements and keep the results out of all HR decisions.
Your next step: check how type is being used
- Ask whether any personality questionnaire is used in your hiring or promotion process. If the MBTI is, stop.
- If teams use it for development, check that it is voluntary and that results are not stored on HR records.
- Pick one agreement your team could make from what you already know about how people like to work.
- Review your selection process against the five sources of evidence above.
For a fair, evidence-based hiring process, read and download our recruitment and selection guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.
Want feedback, goals and reviews that rest on evidence about the work? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current review form. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.
