Colour Me Myers-Briggs.
In my relatively short time as an adult, I found myself questioning what it is I really wanted to study. Like most people my age, I was lost; I wondered if I even knew what I wanted. Now, you can imagine that after 22 years of deliberation, simply hearing the words “What do you want to be when you grow up?” became a trigger for anxiety. But to even answer that question, I had to ask myself something way more basic: What kind of person am I?
McGill offers the famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. At the time I wasn’t studying psychology and had never heard of this MBTI instrument. The terms “extroversion” or “introversion” didn’t ring a bell, and I didn’t know whether I was “thought-oriented” or “feel-oriented”. If we’re being completely honest, I had very little faith in this test’s accuracy. But I decided to put my doubt aside for once and find out what 4 letters would ideally describe me. For the purposes of full disclosure, my type-code is ESFJ.
Here’s where my skepticism about this test came in: How can any one test even attempt to quantify on paper something as enormously unstable as personality? Our persona fluctuates from situation to situation, given our current circumstances and whom we interact with at that present moment. Given that, it would be hard to find any test that would effectively produce the same results twice in a row.
But the MBTI considers oscillation when giving your report because it places you on 4 spectrums, rather than categorizing you completely.
“There is no such thing as a pure extrovert or a pure introvert. Such a man would be in the lunatic asylum.” — Carl Jung
Based on Jung’s work, this test takes into account that people will be up-and-down in their personalities, and all it attempts to do is give you a very general idea of your place on the spectrum. For instance, I tend to be more extroverted though I barely budge from the centre of the E-I spectrum (so I’m probably an ambivert). Understanding this and seeing my results (which I felt reflected me) made my skepticism disappear.
Keep in mind that the report even acknowledges that “the human personality is too complex to be fully accounted for by a set of questions, no matter how good those questions might be”. Should you find yourself not fitting in with your reported type, suggestions are included in your assessment.
In terms of a career path, you can think of the MBTI as a very basic guide. All it can do is describe the environments where you’re most comfortable and what kind of scenarios you generally thrive in. It won’t tell you what job is perfect for you, but it can offer categories of job descriptions that might cater to your needs, all while providing for society. And if you happen to be ESFJ like me, you’ll be glad to know that a career in psychology might be one of the better options for you.
Student ID 260572748
References:
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Thinking — Susan Cain
MBTI-Briggs Type Indicator; ESFJ Interpretive Report — McGill University
Understanding Who You Are with The MBTI — McGill University
Image from http://chiccalifornia.com/2014/08/25/tour-through-blogland/
