Personality testing in the workplace (the Myers-Briggs Test)
The Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI), although not officially recognized as scientifically valid, is widely used among business and other organizations. Both my parents were subject to the MBTI before being hired for various pharmaceutical companies, and their negativity about the test itself as well as how it was being used really got me thinking.
A little bit of background on the MBTI, it was developed during the WWII by Myers and Briggs. The test itself is influenced by the thinking of Carl Jung, whose theories while influential, are still subject to a fair share of criticism. Both Myers and Briggs were housewives and designed the MBTI hoping that it could be used to help women to enter the workforce and be placed in jobs that suit their personalities.
As I mentioned earlier, this test is widely used in businesses, with great importance being attached to the results of these tests. Often the deciding factor between being hired, promoted or let go of, is the results of this personality test. Can you work with others, or are you too introverted? Are you a ‘thinker’, or do you go through life depending on your feelings?
The problem that I see with this test, beyond the fact that it is methodologically questionable, and not actually recognized by psychologists as being valid, is that businesses and organizations are using this test inappropriately. When the MBTI was created, it was intended to be used to help those with little experience in the workplace, to understand where they might fit in. There was no ‘wrong’ personality type, so to speak. Being an introvert who relies on their feelings to guide them was no worse than being an extrovert who relies on logic and reason to do the same thing.
This is not the case now, in many cases there is clearly a ‘right’ personality type. Broadly speaking, western society general puts a premium on extroversion and sees introversion as a negative quality. More specifically in business, a certain type of individual is being sought out — usually the extroverted, thinking type.
Employees in the workplace know this. Both of my parents are somewhat introverted, and both faked the test, answering in the way in which they thought the company wanted. They were both subsequently hired. This made me ask: how many other people did the same as my parents? How many well qualified potential employees were denied an opportunity merely because they were lumped into an ‘undesirable’ personality category by a test which is not scientifically recognized?
Personality testing has its merits, but also has its place. We should not seek to incorporate personality testing into places it does not belong. We should not over emphasize the use of a test which over simplifies personality, breaking it into 16 categories, and thereby failing to capture the much more nuanced, complex essence of personality. If you asked Myers and Briggs, they would likely say that every type of personality can succeed, given the right social environment. It is imperative that we stop over inflating the importance of the results and using them to dictate decisions with large implications of people’s lives.
Some information taken from: http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/mar/19/myers-briggs-test-unscientific
