Can your Myers-Briggs (MBTI) type change? Dr. Rachel Cubas-Wilkinson explains
One of the most common questions surrounding MBTI personality type is whether it changes over time. While the short answer is ‘no’, there’s a bit of nuance to it. In a recent video psychologist Dr. Rachel Cubas-Wilkinson provided a bit more detail on this topic. Here are the highlights of the discussion.
Measuring core type vs. simple behavioral cues
When it comes to understanding what exactly the MBTI assessment is measuring, some confusion arises. Dr. Cubas-Wilkinson explains:
“I think we hear that question so often in terms of ‘does type change’, but I think you have to first address it in terms of, ‘is the MBTI a behavioral analysis tool or is it a type and core personality tool?’ And the answer is, it’s about your core type, your personality. So you shouldn’t be taking the MBTI, let’s say, five times in a year and getting five different results.”
Cubas-Wilkinson then explained how external factors can influence the answers we give.
“If you’re getting inconsistent results, you’re probably answering the questions situationally. You’re probably thinking about a certain situation or maybe you’re wearing the hat of a boss, or you’re wearing the hat of a colleague , or maybe you’re stressed out. You might want to actually work with a certified MBTI practitioner in those instances.”
“But I think generally, regarding the question of whether your type changes, what we find is it actually doesn’t change. And I think that rings true in my life. But I will say this with the caveat that you have to be able to connect with who you really are.”
Editor’s Note: The Myers-Briggs Form M Manual Supplement reports test-retest correlations within 3 weeks for the most recent version of the Myers-Briggs instrument averaging .75 for the four scales and .72 for 4 weeks to 6 months, indicating good reliability for each preference over long periods of time. In other words, people generally get the same results when they take the MBTI multiple times. It is also worth noting that often the reason people report getting conflicting results is that they are actually taking a non-validated copycat assessment, and not the real MBTI assessment.
The role of culture and environment in expression of personality type
A certified practitioner, for example, may be able to help you understand how your upbringing may be influencing your behavior in a direction that runs counter to your core personality type.
“So for example when I started taking the MBTI I was about sixteen years old, and I kept coming out with preferences for Extraversion,” she continues. “Now that I’ve come into myself and I’ve had more time in my career, and more time to develop and to understand the theory, I now realize that I have a preference for Introversion.”
“But if I go back, I find that it’s because I had environmental pressures from my family to be more of what looks to be this Extraverted child. I came from a Latin American family where it was very important for you to be highly social. You had to be constantly ‘on’. You had to be constantly talking to people. If people were coming over, I had to be very gracious — a really good host — even though what I wanted to do was run and try to have some more private contemplative time.”
“So that actually showed me how type doesn’t really change, it’s just that we have to do a little bit of digging sometimes to get to the core of who we are.”
Type as a starting point, not as a limit
Cubas-Wilkinson concluded the interview by explaining that, just as our past behavior may have been shaped by external forces which sometimes go against our core type, we have the power to shape our future behavior as well, often stretching beyond the comfort zone of our core personality type to explore new parts of ourselves.
“There is some research that I think is interesting — that even is work that Carl Jung began — around the idea that when you enter midlife and later, you actually begin to, I like to say, ‘balance yourself out’. So you’ve been leading with your strong muscle (or your preferred part of your personality) the whole time in your 20s and 30s, and then you start to say there may be some truth to the other side — the way that other personality types do it.”
“And so you begin to actually develop parts of you that you really haven’t been working on for the first few decades of your life. You begin to develop behaviors indicative or similar to other types, but your true type just doesn’t really change.”
About the Author
Dr. Rachel Cubas-Wilkinson has more than 15 years’ experience in consulting, leading teams, and teaching in virtual and face-to-face contexts. She has also served as a university lecturer and faculty member, designing fully online courses and degree programs.
Dr. Cubas-Wilkinson holds a Doctorate degree in Transformative Leadership and Change from the University of New England, a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and received the Catherine T. MacArthur School of Leadership Praxis Award for Exemplary practice in Leadership. She’s also a founding board member of the Peter Drucker Global Leadership Society, South Florida Chapter.
She’s also the co-author of the Inclusive Leadership: Harnessing Diversity of Thought workshop.
