Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless 

Whoever made this obviously didn’t like their results EDIT: Thank you everyone for all the likes and comments. This is the most likes I’ve gotten on anything ever. Appreciated! Now who wants 1000 dollars?

To say it's "meaningless" sounds arrogant... Maybe not 100% accurate, but it doesn't mean it's completely "bullshit"

MBTI doesn't necessarily say you're this or you're that. It just tells you which actions/attitude that you're more inclined to show or do. And the test also revealed me negative habit/doings that I need to work on.

What's important to remember is that just because your results say that you are, for example, a thinker, that doesn't mean that you can't have sympathy for others; or if they say you are an extravert, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy alone time. I took the test once, became extremely obsessed with it and soon realised that I had greatly exaggerated all of my traits through my actions, and my percentages had gone *way* up. Once I realized this, I stopped leaning into my letters and, I believe, became more myself. I'm still the same type by the way.

I’ve taken the Myers Briggs test 3 times and gotten INFJ every time. The test, plus some additional research have really helped me to understand myself and why I have trouble fitting in. It might not be the most scientific thing, but I think it can really help people understand themselves. Edit: Why am I getting so many responses now lol? It’s honestly getting annoying...

My instructor in college said to think of this test as a house with 16 rooms. At some point in our life we will visit each room, but our favorite room is the one we are in the most as in the "type" we are assigned. I have always been an INFP and that hasn't changed over the years.

Still more accurate than horoscopes

You totally explained Jung’s theory wrong. The Dichotomies were created by Myers and Briggs (NOT JUNG). Jung created the cognitive functions which is were the value of these theories lie. You did not cover/touch his theory at all in this video. This is not how he defined what an introvert or an extrovert is (very far from it). You made a video about concepts you obviously don’t understand and haven’t researched. All of the published critiques about the theory are of the testing tool/instrument not the theory itself (Jung’s concepts). Every time someone publishes a critique its obvious they’ve never studied the theory itself and are complaining about something they were too lazy to attempt to study or understand .

Completely glossed over the fact that Carl Jung’s original theory included dominate, auxiliary, tertiary, and inferior functions.

The comment section is way more insightful than the video..

"The truth is that human personalities are really complicated" YOU DON'T FREAKING SAY

i disagree. if your type starts with an E , it doesn’t mean that you are a 100% extroverted person. it means that your leading cognitive function is directed outwards to the tribe. could be extroverted Feeling (eg caring people) or extroverted Thinking (leading people) or extroverted Sensing (people searching stimulation in the world around them) or extroverted iNtuition (people searching patterns to recognise in the world around them) .... and this is just the tip of the iceberg

The test isn't to claim you are 100% extroverted or 100% introverted, just which of those you have a preference for. Also, the results tells you negative aspects of your personality as well as the positives.

“None of the descriptions say lazy.” Bruh it straight up says ENTPs are lazy.

"You couldn't be a little bit of an extrovert or a little bit of an introvert." That just reveals you know nothing about the test.

As a writer, I find it pretty useful for making character archetypes. If I can generally categorize these four traits in a character, I can get a rough idea of how they might behave in a given scene.

This topic was poorly researched - what a disappointment.

this isnt true.. they give you your result on a scale.. like for instance 80% intoverted 20% extroverted.. I took the test 2 years apart and got the same result with almost identical percentages.. and the discription of my "type" is so specific yet so accurate to me.. maybe its not super scientific but its not comparable to horoscopes lmao

Wow your video was used as an example of a really poor argument against the Myers-Briggs test in my psychology class. RIP

I took the test for free, and it helped me a lot with understanding why i do things they way i do, so for me it was very useful But companies judging employees on their results is indeed wrong

I find that the Myers-Briggs test is great for defining characters I write. It's an easy way to all of the incidentals straight if I'm dealing with a large cast of fictional characters.

*you can't be called Selfish, lazy or mean* INTXs : Hold my beer

If I said "according to vox" it would be pretty weak

I think this test is EXTREMELY useful, just not for its perceived use. It helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses better so I could have a better relationship with my wife, family, friends, and coworkers. It's not TOTALLY meaningless 🙄

Vox: the test won't tell you you're selfish or lazy. INTP: hold my spiral

"You can't take a test that'll tell you you're selfish, lazy or mean." Bruh deadass every test I take calls me arrogant, sit down (INTJ)

MTBI isn’t fixed. It’s been as a spectrum of your preference. It doesn’t measure skill or success just a tool to help you be more self aware in growth

People who get mistyped answer dishonestly and in accomodation with who they wish they were, not who they really are. An online test cannot know you more than you do yourself.

Hey Vox, I love strawberry ice cream. But sometimes I buy chocolate instead. Doesn't mean strawberry ice cream suddenly isn't my favorite anymore.

The Myers-Briggs test gives a general concept. A person is not 100% introverted or 100% extroverted. Neither are they 100% lost in thought or completely focused all the time. The test outlines some typical personality traits for a certain type. That's it. We all know that each person is unique and no person is 100% like the other.

"the test will only tell you positive things, never that you're lazy, arrogant or selfish." laughs in ISTP

Vox: Myers-Brigs Meaningless 16personalities users: _attack!_

The paid test and company are absolute BS, but this video glosses over a TON of the real stuff that that drives the science behind the types. Don't get into MBTI, get into the cognitive functions behind the BS.

*cough* cognitive functions

The fact that vox put INTP as a Manager in the pic is just hilarious.

People aren't math. You can't expect to predict exactly human behaviour. The mbti describes tendencies and patterns, doesn't try to confine you in a box and know your whole future life

“You couldn’t be a little bit of an extrovert or a little bit of an introvert” *Yes you can* 😤

"There are thinkers and feelers" "people who prefer sensing over intuition" "every single person was assigned only one possibility or another" "It really only gives positive results" "the descriptions are vague" ...all of these statements are wrong. This tells me Vox has no idea what MBTI actually is, or how it works. While it's true there's an epidemic of the Forer effect, and some have used Meyers Briggs, distorted it, and created meaningless tests and personality descriptions that play into the Forer effect, it's so far removed from what Meyers Briggs is and teaches, that it's not fair to judge MBTI based on these. Starting from the top.. Everyone has every function. There are not "thinkers vs. feelers," "sensers vs. intuitives," or "introverts vs. extroverts." (a note on this, MBTI does not tell you whether you're an introvert or an extrovert - introversion and extroversion relate to the FUNCTION, not the person). The truth? EVERYONE is a thinker AND a feeler. Everyone uses sensing AND intuition. And everyone has introverted functions and extroverted functions. All MBTI tells you is which ones you prefer and tend to default to. "Every single person was assigned only one possibility or another" - wrong. As previously stated, everyone has every function. So there is not one possibility or one category you fit into. The four-letter types tell you which functions you tend to prefer, but there's no absolute category which defines you - people aren't robots. "It really only gives positive results" - Again, not true. In fact, there's neither positive nor negative implications in anything MBTI gives. It's completely neutral. A lot of the vague, silly descriptions that people have come up with for each type tend to highlight positive traits common to people of different types. But, the reality is, those positive traits apply to everyone, which again is where the Forer effect comes in. This is created by people taking MBTI and authoring type descriptions that are not in harmony with what the functions actually reveal. "The descriptions are vague" - Well, if you're speaking of some of the whimsical type descriptions found in a brief Google search, then sure. But, most of those don't speak for MBTI. A true understanding of MBTI would not give you a personality description. It would only give you a hierarchy of functions. Remember.. you're not your type. You're not your functions. You use functions, we all use functions. MBTI tells you which ones you tend to prefer, which gives insight into how a person observes the world, and makes decisions. Which is all MBTI is supposed to reveal.

This video is totally meaningless...

Bro y'all forgot the cognitive functions out of which the types are made.. They're worth researching

the video creator should really look at the comments

"You can only be one and not the other" Y e a h t h a t s w h y i t s a s p e c t r u m

Vox is interesting to watch, as long as you remember: It's for entertainment.

The fact that at 2:03, ESFJ is assigned to the role of "analyst" just goes to show how little these people actually looked into the cognitive functions and the types themselves.

I do the test every six moths or so, and always end up as INFJ and it fits me to a tee. I can understand how the world can change a person's personality , but we all have set traits

Okay but *ever heard of cognitive functions?* The whole thing with "are you Introverted or Extraverted, Intuitive or a Sensor, etc," is BS. If you look back in history, Jung didn't use letter dichotomy as one would put it, he used cognitive functions.

The way they don’t even mention cognitive functions 😁😁😁

The test isn’t meant to separate us or put us into categories. People have preferred cognitive functions that they feel more comfortable using and that’s what explains their behavior/personality. Our bottom functions show us our weaknesses but it certainly doesn’t mean we can’t use them or develop them. By being able to identify our bottom functions, we can target them and work on them. Thus making us healthier people and also more understanding of other peoples behavior. -ENTJ

Classic misconception here. People tend to think the myers briggs types are like rigid labels that are trying to peg them down into some category. I hear this every time MBTI gets brought up. Thing is though, the 4 preference dichotomies are actually SCALES- which is why when you take the test you get percentages. So yea, you can definitely be a little bit introvert and a little bit extrovert (ambivert). For some people having a personality "type" feels limiting, but really all myers briggs tries to say is "here are some patterns of behavior that you probably sometimes personify," not the other way around where we think it's saying "these patterns of behavior ARE you." With that perspective MBTI doesn't have to feel limiting cause it's more of a starting point- a toolkit for understanding stuff about yourself. Kind of unfair of Vox to try to invalidate the whole entire theory just off of one misconception. I do agree it's not the most robust or nuanced theory out there- why it's mostly been abandoned by the professional psych community as the video pointed out, but for the average person it can still be pretty useful. Has been for me at least.

I have remained the same type since high school, that was 10 years ago.

Any test that causes people to be more self reflective and aware of other possible types and their attributes is totally meaningless. Wait, what?

Mbti changed my life in ways that whoever made this video will never understand

Dear Vox, you should think about hiring some of the commenters I read here. Maybe you will improve the content of your videos.

Please start making videos with topics you actually have a clue about to begin with. I usually like your videos but this is utter bullshit and it's reflective in the misinformation you present. =shakes head in shame=

This video completely missed the idea behind MBTI. Vox is describing the free online tests. The actual test is accurate. It doesn’t limit people to one box but rather describes how they use cognitive functions. As an example of this, I have been described by my mother who has never heard of MBTI as highly intuitive, sensitive, good at reading people, etc. When I took the test I went in blindly and I got INFJ and I started to research a lot about it and it actually is creepily accurate. Since then I’ve been able to type my friends based on how they act and I can usually guess what they are going to pick based on their personality type. It isn’t supposed to limit you but rather help you understand yourself better. Since discover MBTI I’ve learned that I’m not a freak and I’m actually completely normal, just more on the sensitive side.

This video completely ignores the more in-depth typology of Jung’s functions and the whole new dimension that presents. This video should really be called “why *online tests* are completely meaningless”

So you are saying it's like this channel: just for entertainment

Okay but the test does give you percentages like 41% extraverted-59% introverted etc..

If you don't know what "cognitive functions" are, then you have no authority to make a video like this. Nuff said.

“You couldn’t be a little bit of an extrovert or a little bit of an introvert” Then how come I become super outgoing, loud, and even a bit too much with friends in public? How come I become quiet, shy, and reserved when I am alone in public? It's hilarious, when I am around self-procalimed introverts, they all say I am an extrovert. When I with self-proclaimed extroverts, they think I am an introvert.

I dunno as an INFP I've never felt more understood than when I took the test and discovered INFP videos and memes on youtube...I legit cried like 'oh my gosh there is nothing wrong with me!' because I had felt so different and misunderstood. I've taken the test 4 times and got INFP 3/4 times. The other one I got was INFJ during a really confident phase of my life haha, but still not far off. But it really should be used as a guide, after all, people can't be strictly defined but it is clear that we all have different personalities and some people will click better with others...Also even within the letters - at least with the test I took they give you a percentage for example 68% Introvert, so it stills shows that people will always be on a spectrum. Anyways, Imma stop here. It was useful for me and that's all I wanted to say haha.

The most important part of the Myers Briggs test was ignored here: the cognitive functions!

First RU-vid video I have ever seen where the comments are more intelligent and spot on than the actual video.

Perhaps then to a certain extent, mental health and depression are meaningless

Of course it seems pretty meaningless when you did your “research” just by reading the 16Personalities descriptions, a Wikipedia article about the MBTI, and the next 6 results that came underneath them.

1) "You couldn't be a little bit of an extrovert or a little bit of an introvert." That's simply false. Each type is assigned a percentage, it is on a continuum. All classification schemes have to draw lines somewhere. 2) 50% of people got different results. Yes, so what? There is a huge likelihood that if they took the test 100 times they would wind up with one of those two original results upwards of 75% of the time and one of 3 or 4 results 95% of the time. A large fraction of the population will be borderline between two sub-types. Again, classification schemes have to draw lines somewhere. 3) "The test fails to predict success in certain jobs." Now, ask yourself, is this the fault of the test, or is it a problem with the people who use the test? I'd suggest that the people who use the test are being simplistic, and have no idea how an individual with a particular personality type would apply his/her strengths to accomplishing the assigned job. 4) "It really only gives positive results." What would a negative result be? That you don't have a personality? The test does tend to be accepting of various different personalities and doesn't make value judgments? Do the authors of this video believe that certain personality types (well-defined or not) have moral superiority over other types? Gee, let's categorize something as using a pseudo-scientific term like "the Forer Effect" and lump it in with astrology to use the guilt by association fallacy. Here's to pseudoscience! 5) "Human personalities are really complicated." No Duh there! Do the authors of the video believe that there is no difference between an introvert and an extrovert? Or is it just to complicated? Yes, defining personality types along 4 axes is probably an oversimplification; however, that does not mean that it is wrong. We categorize our days into morning, afternoon, evening and night; however, they are not all the same length. one shades into the other and frequently people will have significantly different definitions of what each time period means. However, let's say I tell you "I will contact you tomorrow evening." You don't know precisely what I mean by "evening" and I don't know precisely what you understand "evening" to be, but I'm pretty sure neither of us expect it to mean 7:00 in the morning. 6) Words like "Introvert" and "Extrovert" or "Thinker" and "Feeler" have meanings, even if those meanings can not be mathematically defined the way words like "Mass," "Acceleration" or "Force" can be defined. Meyers-Briggs gives a basis for understanding personalities that differ along a continuum. If it didn't appreciate that there was a continuum there would be 4 questions, not 93. It is easy to reject ANYTHING that is not a hard science on the basis of our not being able to adequately define terms; however, on that basis you may as well reject all of psychology, history, economics, literature, political science or any other "soft" science or humanity.

Clearly you don't understand "cognitive functions".

They claim it is useless, yet there is clear negative feedback, and they didn't even mention the specificity of the cognitive functions. I hate it when people criticize an incredible (but yes, flawed) system and claim that it is pseudoscience when they know almost nothing about the system itself because they did not take the time to learn about it. *face palm*

I think the creator of this video ignored the fact that every personality has all 8 jungian cognitive functions. And our personality can fluctuate according to our state of mind.

I decided to test the authenticity of this test. So I've taken it 4 times over 3 years and always got the same result , INTJ. No, I don't have eidetic memory and had forgotten the questions each time I took the test.

I would say it makes sense.However,Don’t think of it as a text book definition.Your personality isn’t 100% fixed.Dosent means that you are a feeler,dosent means that you couldn’t use logic.

Why is everyone so offended by this video? Myers-Briggs is well regarded as pseudoscience by academics, get over it. Use the Big Five model, far more accurate.

the MB test isn't about categorising. It's about how someone thinks. their thinking process. this video is bull.

Honestly Myers Briggs kinda helped me cause I used to think I was weird but turns out I'm an INFP and people like me exist and I don't have to change myself...

Eh? The test is just a loose categorization of some personality traits. You're given a percentage in each trait so it's where you fit on a the spectrum not a hard line category like you guys are suggesting. This video seems like B.S. What employer uses it exactly? I've never heard of that happening before. What would be meaningless is if someone asked me to summarize my personality I said 'oh you know personality is too hard to define and everyone is unique and special so I can't give you an answer'.

just say u hate ur results

cognitive functions. COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS!

The distilled down explanation of what the MBTI is, is inaccurate and actually not complete in that it's pretty dated. The book "Please Understand Me" by Dr. David Keirsey took the MBTI and expanded on it... fleshed it out... and went in to great detail about its utility. The assertion that you "can only be one or the other" of each of the letters in the test is actually 100% false. There are "mixed" types, and that is also dealt with in the book(s) by Keirsey. The types are never advertised as being absolutes, either. It is well established that these types are GENERAL indicators that apply MUCH of the time (if not most of the time), but aren't ALWAYS going to be true for each individual. The goal is to get down to the most basic TYPE you are... the type of person you would revert to under fear or stress, for example... FYI: ENTJ here. :)

I saw the thumbnail, I click *The thumbs down button*

you didn't even mention cognitive functions, i thought i didn't like vox now its another level

Cognitive functions not mentioned even once. Useless video...

I dont think the Myers-Briggs test is 100% accurate and definitive but me and some friends who actually took the test found that the results are pretty accurat in defining our behaviours and lines of thought. I was surprised when I went to watch some INTP youtubers talk about their behaviours and how they think and how similar they were to me. And most other types did not work for me at all

Cognitive functions not explored at all in this video. SEEMS LEGIT

Saying that it's "totally meaningless" is wrong. Yes, it doesn't have much predictive power, yes, it's not sufficiently reliable, yes, it… but saying that it's "totally meaningless" is simply wrong.

1:36 "you couldn't be a little bit of an extrovert or a little bit of introvert " yeah vox you did your research right

I actually learnt so much about myself from the test. I thought my train of thought was unique to me and i was truly alone in the world. I would often move on from a subject rather than put my complicated concepts, thoughts and theories into simple terms and I found a sense of belonging. I'm an INTP-A 2w3/2w1

hahaha, MBTI = horoscopes? I guess, this guy knows nothing about cognitive function. :)

“you couldn’t be more of an extrovert than an introvert” yes, you can. Research functions.

Vox: Mbti meaningless Me: it helps me understand the way human thinking

the key to VOX narration is to have vocal pauses in all the right places, it allows you to sound smart, condescending and academic

I strongly disagree with this video. It seems like the producers haven't really looked at Myers-Briggs at what it really is. A simplification of Jung's cognitive functions. It just tries to sort the functions into categories. And this doesn't mean that if you are an IXXX that because of the I you are now an introvert and have none of the traits of an extrovert. It just means that you have more introverted traits than extroverted ones. Also you have to consider how you are testing the personality. If you are testing it with a simple test of course it will go wrong. Most of the people don't know themselves good enough or simply lies at themselves in many cases. That's why many people get wrong results. Moreover people tend to take for 100% absolute but they really aren't. Test MBTI for a company is like sorting watermelons on how their shell look like. It won't give any information about the inside unless you are willing to check the internal. And that's why you NEED to look at the cognitive functions. So in the end you can't take a simplification of Jung's Model (which is also a simplification) and expect to be 100% accurate. If you want a little overview take some tests, if you want a better overview learn about the functions and if you want a 100% accurate model than go and study psychology. But this doesn't mean than MBTI is total bullshit. But I have to admit that a lot of people try to make money by making people believe that it is 100% true and offers books and guides for hundreds of dollars which aren't really helpful at all. And they use the forer effect. Not Jung, not MBTI but the sellers of these bullshit products.

While the use of Myers-Briggs in a professional setting is rightly controversial, I don't think it's comparable to astrology. Astrology is PREscriptive and MBTI is DEscriptive. For astrology, you give a fact about yourself and it tells you something completely unrelated. MBTI tells you literally whatever you tell it. If in x number of years, your personality changes, then your type changes.

“the test is not gonna tell you that you’re mean, arrogant or lazy” XNTX: hold my beer I’m an entp 😎

What they're arguing here is that the test is poor, not that the concept is meaningless. Although, I don't think any of these writer probably even took the time to really learn about the concepts. Not to mention they labeled the ESFJ as the Analyst in this video. It goes on to say that "the results are always positive". No they're not. DID YOU GUYS JUST THROW THIS TOGETHER THE NIGHT BEFORE IT WAS DUE?? How can you put out content and influence opinions without doing any research. You're worse than Fox News. Smh...

Wow this video just showing how you really don’t understand about this stuff.

This 'meaningless' test turned my life around and allowed me to realise I'm not just a freak of nature

Ok I understand where this video is coming from, but I have one problem. Vox says that the test only reveals positive traits and this is the reason why it's so popular. How is that the case, as an 'ENTP', I'm told that I get distracted easily, I struggle to be as empathetic as I could be etc etc, where did they get this information from?

"The test is meaningless" INTX: My whole life has been a lie.

Do you even know what MBTI is.... learn cognitive functions

"Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless" Sure, in the assumption that personality can be absolutely quantified, which much like literally ANY OTHER personality tests, it cannot be. It does not take a genius to recognize this fact. Personality tests are not absolutes, they are attempts at quantifying personalities.