Re: CHAT: Myers-Briggs Types and stuff.

Just for the record, I just came out as INTJ, but the S/N score was
evenly split down the middle.

Tom Wier wrote:
>
> The problem is all in how you go about making the test. If the test
> is well designed, it should come to some close approximation of what
> you act like.  But that's not all:  the person taking the test, whether
> IQ, EQ (which are available on the internet, for anyone interested),
> or Myers-Briggs, must approach the test with an open and honest
> mind, and consciously evaluate him or herself.  If not, it will probably
> lead to some error, but I would think that if the test is done well enough,
> it might be able to fool those who would like to say what they want
> to be rather than what they are.  (those who get X's on the MB tests
> are probably (a) people who don't know themselves or (b) people
> who want to cheat the test, so to speak.)
>
I think you may be stating this a little strongly. A couple of years
ago, on my prior work project, we all took a morning and did one of the
web-provided Kiersey sorters. One fellow came out smack in the middle on
two (or maybe three, I can're member) scales. Was he being dishonest, or
non-self-aware? I don't think so, given my observations of him. I think
we need to remember that the Myers-Briggs theory represents a
four-dimensional personality space which is not discrete. Each dimension
is a spectrum, and there is absolutely nothing to stop any given
individual from "landing" at the center of any of those spectrums.
Although I will admit, as Sylvia pointed out, that being in the middle
on the I/E scale seems more unlikely. Still, I can think of at least one
person of my acquaintance who I'd guess might be in the middle of I/E.

Then there is the matter of the design of the test itself. You're
correct, Tom, that ideally it should be possible for the test taker to
mark answers which reflect their actual behavior. I think I'm a fairly
introspective kind of person, and there were still half the questions
whre I couldn't truly state how I *actually* behave. At best, I was able
to characterize behaviors which I value. But whether I actually follow
those routes, especially in stress situations, even I can't tell.

Laurie
---
Laurie Gerholz
milo@winternet.com
http://www.winternet.com/~milo