"What is your MBTI?”
MBTI is the most popular personality test used as an expert tool developed in 1943 by Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers (1). After completing the questionnaire, respondents are grouped into one of 16 personality types. The MBTI-type result for each respondent consists of four alphabets, which represent personality traits such as Extraversion, Sensing, Judging, and more. The biggest MBTI boom occurred in South Korea a few years ago and to this day, you will frequently hear Koreans asking each other, “What is your MBTI?”
While some claim that people cannot be strictly categorized into one of 16 personality traits considering how diverse and complex human beings are, some view MBTI as entertainment, and a tool for icebreaking in social situations.
Others take the MBTI too seriously, to the point where it seems like they are pursuing a master’s degree in MBTI traits. Moreover, MBTI brought up a heated discussion in Korea as some corporations began referring to the MBTI types of applicants (2). This is highly criticized by many psychologists because MBTI is scientifically invalid and therefore lacks accuracy in predicting job performance (3).
On a personal note, I believe that MBTI can help us understand ourselves, and how different and diverse each of us are in our traits. The diversity in our personality is effective as each trait is useful in different circumstances. Although I adore my own MBTI type (INFP), my goal is to adopt all 16 different personality traits by the time I am gone. Wouldn’t that be kind of cool?
Anyways, what is your MBTI?
