Published on 12, July, 2020
Handi-andis raised this on another thread and I thought it might be interesting to see if we all have radically different personality types, or very similar ones. You can take the test at 16personalities.com, it's a free online test and will tell you at the end what your personality type is, and give you some descriptions of how people similar to you think and behave. You don't have to pay for the Premium version. I did the test before I discovered I had autism, and when I did some training on autism discovered that my personality type and the description of how autism affects people to be very similar. My wife also found it really useful (for herself and for me). I find my personality type is very descriptive of me.
As well as finding out what you're good at, you find out what types of thing you struggle with, so that you can understand yourself better. It helped me see what my brain was good at processing, and what my brain isn't good at processing, so I can make sure I excel with my strengths and then get other people to do the things I struggle with
Post your type here if you'd like to take part.
I got INTJ - The Architect. I'd be interested in finding out yours!
As this Thread pops up again, I thought I might have a go...
I got this:
ADVOCATE PERSONALITY (INFJ, -A/-T)
...I was <> 50/50 at everything, but about 70% introverted.
If only employers ran tests like this... (and realised that ND means less likely to LIE, too...) ...Oh well.
Disambiguating Cynosure said:If only employers ran tests like this
Uh, I think you'll find that many do...?
I have heard they do a lot of pychometirc tests. Where I am, graphology has been popular too. The Japanese place a lot of store by your blood type. One Austrian company goes by astrological sign. There is a lot of it about.
I'm aware of many criticisms, although I think some are unfair and a reaction to its corporate use in the US. Initially I saw it as no more scientific than signs of the zodiac, with people reading what they wanted to into their type. However, it was statistically-significant studies of association with particular occupations (from the MBTI manuals) that convinced me it was measuring something reliable. It has some aspects I don't accept, including binary or bimodal distinctions and 'functional analysis', but the sentiment behind its understanding of diversity and the handy 4-letter types makes it much better language for conversing with other personality junkies than the numerical subscales of the 'Big 5'. I haven't looked in detail into claims of poor test-retest reliability, but am sceptical from my own experience.
Having read around it a bit more, I find it easier to apply David Keirsey's understanding of temperament to people I know and meet (there are friends I think of as 'artisan' or 'idealist'). Keirsey did come from the ranks of conventional psychology, but as I understand it, drew on MBTI, and you will see it informs Anna Moss's 'Oddly Developed Types'. In any case, whatever the origins, the division into 16 is accessible and has been the much subject of subsequent research. The Wikipedia pages remind me that the I, N, T and P preferences have been associated with 'personality disorders', so that raises the question of whether those disorders are in fact misdiagnosed autism or potentially healthy traits in conflict with a society that is dominated by social ES types.
As for creating a poll, why not? I've seen some results from other autistic discussion forums, but would be interesting to compare. Anyone can add a poll using the 'Insert' menu with the 16 types. I suppose it should be in a new thread so more people see it. Maybe could decide which online version(s) of the test to suggest... there was a version on the BBC site... ah, here it is, though hard to read!
Cassandro said:MBTI has more evidence behind it than
... and yet there are a lot of criticisms of MBTI, since the people who came up with it weren't formally trained experts (as much as that counts for anything).
MBTI is meant for understanding people's different strengths. It can be used in workplaces, but shouldn't be used to allocate jobs to people - it's just that certain jobs statistically are associated with particular types. MBTI has more evidence behind it than graphology or enneagrams, but is still seen as inferior to the 'Big 5' personality test by random people I mention it too - and yet, the two are basically equivalent, it's just MBTI is handy and simpler.