What is "i人e人"? Can MBTI really define us?

I don’t know when it started, but MBTI is everywhere. This personality test, which started in 2020, has continued to this day, and not only has there been no sign of withdrawal, but it has become more and more popular. Under any video, music or social hot post, you can see people:

"intj: (silence) « lower your head » (calm down) (escape)."

"INFP: Dare not speak but keep an ear."

For a moment, it seemed as if everyone had four English letters hanging above their heads.

What is MBTI?

The full name of MBTI is “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)”, which is said to be a personality type theory model jointly developed by American writer Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Catherine Cook Briggs.

This indicator is based on psychologist Carl Jung's theory of eight personality types and is divided into four dimensions: attention direction, cognitive style, judgment style, and lifestyle.

In addition, each dimension has two directions: "attention direction" is divided into extraversion (E) and introversion (I), "cognitive style" is divided into sensing (S) and intuition (N), "judgment style" is divided into rationality (T) and sensibility (F), and "lifestyle" is divided into judgment (J) and understanding (P), which derives 16 personality patterns with different tendencies.

The picture comes from the Internet

Simply put, you can think of MBTI as a psychological test.

The first MBTI test was published in 1943 with only 93 questions. After nearly 80 years of development, the MBTI test has developed into a 200-question version with more detailed analysis of each type.

But the now popular MBTI is no longer a simple personality test. After a long period of answering questions, everyone can have a label that seems to match themselves very well. It has become a younger and more fashionable social term.

In life, we often see some young people who call themselves I people or E people. These two letters have now rapidly replaced "social phobia" and "social cow".

The various apps we use every day are also deepening this judgment:

For example, the "ISTJ exclusive playlist" and "ISFP midnight emo exclusive" on music platforms, and the social groups corresponding to different personality types on social networking sites...

Even some companies will ask questions like "What is your MBTI type" during interviews and use it as one of the reference criteria for whether to hire you.

Why do many people believe in MBTI?

The reason why young people are obsessed with "cyber fortune-telling" such as MBTI and even use it as a guide for their behavior is generally due to the "Barnum effect" and the influence of empathy and a sense of belonging.

"Barnum Effect": It means that everyone will easily believe that a general and general personality description is particularly suitable for him.

For example, Virgos love cleanliness and have obsessive compulsive disorder. Many people born in September think that this is about them, but in fact, few people do not like cleanliness. Obsessive compulsive disorder is even broader. Although most of us do not fall into the medical concept of obsessive compulsive disorder, you will want to click off the red dot in the upper right corner of the app when you see it, and you always check the door lock repeatedly when you go out. There will always be one of these things that are related to your daily life.

For example, ENFP is charming, independent, energetic, and compassionate. How many people would think that they are not charming, independent, and unsympathetic? The energetic aspect is easier to understand if it is put into specific events. For example, even if you are always lack of energy at work during the day, you can play games on your phone until midnight. How can it not be considered energetic?

In addition, people are always eager to understand their own hearts and are obsessed with finding people who are similar to themselves and can understand them in the vast sea of ​​people. MBTI just meets this need - while giving each individual uniqueness, it also gives them group identity. In simple terms, people expand their self-awareness and enhance their sense of self-identity through the MBTI test.

I think I’m working hard but I’m also pessimistic. Is that wrong? It doesn’t matter. MBTI tells you that this is what INFJ is like.

Do you always like to argue with others about right and wrong, and get strange looks from some nice guys? It doesn’t matter, MBTI says that ENTJs will do this.

…………

From the answers to the test, I found that I was not the special one, and there were many people in the world just like me. At the same time, I got some "methodologies" for dealing with the strange world - "If this person has a certain personality, how should I deal with it with a personality like me?" "When I fall into anxiety and internal consumption, how can I relieve it?"

The MBTI test provides young people living in an uncertain world and uncertain relationships with some of the few certainties and sense of security . It is not surprising that it is so popular.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Brooke Cagle

Personality tests are fun, but be careful

However, one thing to note is that the scientific nature of MBTI has always been questionable .

After all, personality tests reveal preferences, not what's inside. Regardless of whether the MBTI is backed by rigorous psychological theory, it is ultimately just a psychological test, essentially no different from horoscopes and psychological test games in the corners of magazines.

Some people on the Internet are overly obsessed with MBTI. They regard it as an irrefutable truth and try to use it to guide their lives. This is a bit too much.

In addition, some scientists worry that people will label themselves or others, thereby limiting their social circles and giving up the possibility of changing their personality.

S. Alexander Haslam, a professor of psychology at the University of Queensland, once described the MBTI obsession as follows:

“If you try to unlock the mystery of the self through the MBTI, it’s like trying to understand the Stone Age by watching The Flintstones.”

Since MBTI is a psychological test, it is greatly affected by factors such as emotions, environment, and time. Even Jung, who was famous for the MBTI test, said, "Personality types are not static, but 'rotate' over time."

There is no personality label that can fully cover everyone, or in other words, every individual is unique and identical. Others may have similarities with you, but they may also be completely different, even if you are tested with the same personality type.

Previously, a blogger posted a message saying that people with a certain personality type are terrible, and claimed that he was attacked and refuted by everyone. He may have fallen into the trap of this stereotype.

As for you, over-trusting such tests will lead you to some presuppositions when you act and interact with others. These presuppositions can hardly lead you to a better direction, but are more likely to make you become self-contained. For example, if you think "that INFP is terrible", you may actively stay away from the other party, and then lose some possibilities of developing new relationships.

So, why not just treat MBTI as a joke? Your life still has infinite possibilities.

Planning and production

Author｜likely popular science creator

Review | Tang Yicheng, Deputy Director of Beijing Zhongke Popular Psychological Health Promotion Center

Planning｜Yang Yaping

Editor: Yang Yaping