Cult of Personality Profiles

This was not the first time most of us had taken the MBTI. We had a general idea of what it was looking for, and we had every chance to front and get whichever letters we wanted out of it. What the woman who came to talk to us about the test would have said, had she had longer to speak, is that your real MBTI letters are not the ones that came out of the test, but the ones that you wrote down in what you thought you were.

No one can tell you who you are. It was a Greek ideal, a Renaissance ideal, and individualism has bloomed into one of the defining characteristics of an American-style democracy. Those who may or may not hate us for our freedom, often really do dislike our rugged individualism. This self-made idea allows the MBTI to give you information on how you act in certain situations but, as she said, you can change you personality, act often outside of your profile, so nothing too definitive comes from these letters.

Aside from helping people who have not done a lot of intraspection figure out why they are not getting along, I find the potential to help for the MBTI to be limited. Our visitor told us that she and her husband, who both know a significant amount about the test, argue over whether he is unfairly pegged with his letters and whether he has changed recently. She herself said that she can no longer take it honestly because she knows the consequences of each of the questions towards her letters.

As I come down, I find that the MBTI is a useful tool for understanding yourself and maybe even how you relate to others, but it must be taken with a grain of salt, for you can define yourself to an extent that no test can match or measure.