2013-03-03, 06:51 AM
The huge limitations in these tests is that they use sterotypes to work out what type you are. Which is why you can appear to be more than one type. I think it is absoutely disgusting that employers use it to decide who to hire (although it is good when it is used for people already hired, to help improve relations between employees). a) it is nowhere near reliable enough, and b) stereotyping to that extent is silly.
The reliability of tests like these is possibly less than 50%, from what I've read. Honesty plays a big part, and the stereotypes themselves are limited. Intuition versus Sensing in particular seems to be a VERY common one the tests get wrong, because people like to try and sound smarter than they are, and the one they aren't always sounds smarter!!! When I lie, it says I am a sensor! When I am honest, it says I am an intuitive. I suspect that sensors often come up as intuitives because they thought those questions sounded smarter! I think that is because we take for granted what we are good at, and assume those who can do what we can't do must be smart! Judging versus perceiving as well, the stereotypes there are extremely limited (and if you know the underlying cognitive function theory you can see why). When I am completely honest, all the tests actually do come up with ENTP for me though (which I'm quite sure is correct, because it is completely consistent with the underlying theory).
Some employers like SJ's because they are the least likely to oppose practices of the company. NT's on the other hand can be real rebels, so they consider them a pain!
If an employer had genuine reason to use these tests to decide who to hire (I can't think of an example, but there probably are a few special cases), they should be getting the tests carried out by a trained professional who also knows the underlying theory and can ensure that the type conclude is correct, and not just from incorrect/ dishonest answers.
A friend of mine worked at a stationary and computers shop. He is an introvert (I think he is an INTJ), and he was one of the best people there at the job!!! Excellent social skills, and extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
I think it is a real shame that this stuff is used for such a stupid purpose. It is such a good tool for people to understand themselves and those they work with in the interest of improving relations and understanding how differently other people think, as that can also explain why a lot of conflicts occur and allows it to be solved more easily as it can be seen why it happened and that both people were actually right in a lot of cases (and like I have said a number of times, the best way is to learn the underlying cognitive function theory and factoring that in when working out peoples types, as that is wayyyyy more accurate. MBTI itself is these tests, that attempted to make the underlying theory more understandable to every day people.). It is just so disgusting that employers are using it to discriminate.
This thread was mostly just for fun and because it is interesting to look at how other people think. Accuracy is questionable at best, although the huge bias towards INTJ is not surprising me one bit; it is one of the geekiest type, along with INTP in particular (stereotyping a bit). And Southperry is a fairly geeky community!!!
The reliability of tests like these is possibly less than 50%, from what I've read. Honesty plays a big part, and the stereotypes themselves are limited. Intuition versus Sensing in particular seems to be a VERY common one the tests get wrong, because people like to try and sound smarter than they are, and the one they aren't always sounds smarter!!! When I lie, it says I am a sensor! When I am honest, it says I am an intuitive. I suspect that sensors often come up as intuitives because they thought those questions sounded smarter! I think that is because we take for granted what we are good at, and assume those who can do what we can't do must be smart! Judging versus perceiving as well, the stereotypes there are extremely limited (and if you know the underlying cognitive function theory you can see why). When I am completely honest, all the tests actually do come up with ENTP for me though (which I'm quite sure is correct, because it is completely consistent with the underlying theory).
Some employers like SJ's because they are the least likely to oppose practices of the company. NT's on the other hand can be real rebels, so they consider them a pain!
If an employer had genuine reason to use these tests to decide who to hire (I can't think of an example, but there probably are a few special cases), they should be getting the tests carried out by a trained professional who also knows the underlying theory and can ensure that the type conclude is correct, and not just from incorrect/ dishonest answers.
A friend of mine worked at a stationary and computers shop. He is an introvert (I think he is an INTJ), and he was one of the best people there at the job!!! Excellent social skills, and extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
I think it is a real shame that this stuff is used for such a stupid purpose. It is such a good tool for people to understand themselves and those they work with in the interest of improving relations and understanding how differently other people think, as that can also explain why a lot of conflicts occur and allows it to be solved more easily as it can be seen why it happened and that both people were actually right in a lot of cases (and like I have said a number of times, the best way is to learn the underlying cognitive function theory and factoring that in when working out peoples types, as that is wayyyyy more accurate. MBTI itself is these tests, that attempted to make the underlying theory more understandable to every day people.). It is just so disgusting that employers are using it to discriminate.
This thread was mostly just for fun and because it is interesting to look at how other people think. Accuracy is questionable at best, although the huge bias towards INTJ is not surprising me one bit; it is one of the geekiest type, along with INTP in particular (stereotyping a bit). And Southperry is a fairly geeky community!!!