Opinion: Myers-Brigg`s Test (MBTI)

(The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator is a self-report inventory designed to identify a person's personality type, strengths, and preferences. Based on the answers to the questions on the inventory, people are identified as having one of 16 personality types - verywellmind.com)

I have one interesting opinion that I'd like to share. Most of you might have a conflicting take on this, and you are welcome to drop your perspectives. I`ll be sharing my thoughts on why the MBTI system of classifying personalities is largely unreliable or ambiguous for the most part.

Have a look at the picture above. On the left, you have a rough sketch, on the right, you have the actual picture. I've referred to google images, obviously. I believe that your MBTI too is just a rough sketch of your true personality. By no means is it perfectly accurate. The test just sums up your answers and links them to the closest personality type that they reassemble. Your personality type imposes no common restrictions or boundaries with respect to the various traits you possess, be it your emotional vulnerabilities, your dedication to your goals, or your moral principles. Yes, your personality type might suggest that you aren't vulnerable emotionally and that is accurate considering it's based on the answers that you have provided. But it doesn't determine to what extent it is applicable, you can be an ENTJ who has strong control over his emotions in comparison to an INFJ, yet it might fall weaker in comparison to another ENTJ.

And this applies to various other fields, including your career. At the most, 3% of the world's population is believed to comprise of ENTJ's. That number is roughly equal to 228,450,000. That's huge! And yet, out of these huge numbers very few have managed to achieve in their life what successful ENTJ's have. There's only one Bill Gates, only one Jim Carrey, only one Richard Nixon. What is success, after all? It's neither popularity nor money. It's chasing your goals, not giving up, and battling all the challenges thrown at you by life. As ENTJ's, we have been gifted with certain beautiful qualities that very few possess as well as certain imperfections which are difficult to escape. But those who make proper use of the talents that they're blessed with, are those who are able to turn their dreams into a reality and eventually go down in textbooks as a successful ENTJ, a successful INTP, a successful ESTP, etc.

Your MBTI is just a rough estimation of your true self. Pay attention to this picture, now. It's just like you draw an outline before you can fill in the intricate details that make an action figure or a sketch. What you choose to fill in, is up to you. Allowing your MBTI to define yourself and letting it impose restrictions on you or letting it limit your capabilities, is misusing this interesting feature. That's not what the personality test was meant for, it was just meant to give people an idea about a specific person's personality. A sketch. And this my friends, is also why I ask you to not generalize an entire personality type based on your experience with a few people. They aren't the representatives or flag bearers of an entire community of millions. The terms 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' have been derived to express the same. Let's make an attempt to look through each other's imperfections for once. And before we can judge a healthy ENTJ or a healthy ESTJ, let's ensure that we're making healthy use of MBTI's in our approach towards other people`s as well as our own lives.

Another reason why I feel that the personality test isn't reliable at all and can easily lead to misinformation.

Around 1.5 years ago, I gave the personality test. I was a part of a healthy work environment (educational Institute, actually). The result was ENTJ. And I thoroughly read the description, almost all of which matched with my personality. One thing to be noted, I was raised in a toxic controlled environment and wasn't permitted to step foot in any other place except my institution. Therefore, the environment in my classroom and premises of college defined my interaction with people.

Fast forward 1.5 years later. The institution changed, so did the people. At present, the environment I'm a part of isn't all that healthy. There are silly people in abundance and the lack of intellectuals impacted my interaction with people in general. Most of them were noisy, cringe, mannerless, and incapable of a conversation. Besides, due to certain personal reasons, my academic performance declined and that invited unwanted depression in my life. Therefore, I kept to myself and instead relied on establishing communication with like-minded people over the web.

I decided to take the personality test again, out of curiosity. And to my astonishment, this time it was INTJ. And the margin of difference, you ask? 49% extroverted and 51% introverted. I had a huge question mark on my place. Because I've been told before in this very group, that one's MBTI can never change. Yes, the way you deal with a particular situation can. But here, it was the total opposite. And mind you, everyone knows that a single 'I' and 'E' can make a tremendous amount of difference. It was that 1% that flipped things over.

There's one important thing to be addressed. Your environment decides your answers, especially those which are based on interaction. For example, there was one question that asked if I was an active participant in a party or if I stood far away. It entirely depends on the kind of people involved. If they were those with whom I could blend in easily, like my mates from 2 years ago, then I'd obviously be an active participant in their conversations. However if it was the present crowd that I'm surrounded by, I'd definitely be far out of their sight. Most of these questions aren't clear, to begin with, and I'd obviously answer with respect to the real-life crowd that I'm acquainted with as opposed to the virtual one.

My friend also took the test a couple of days ago, the result was INFP and he wasn't quite happy about his personality type. When he told me that he wanted to change it, I laughed it off and told him that he couldn't. He said "I believe I can, I've noticed people turn into introverts due to circumstances" and I stopped right there for a second. There was so much truth to his statement. And that led me to take the test again, further leaving me speechless.

I went on a page that specifically classified the differences between an ENTJ and INTJ, and I discovered that there were traits from both sides that I strongly associated myself with. For example, the website claimed that an INTJ would think before he said so as to avoid regrets and that's something that I do. But it also stated that an ENTJ would let his words motivate the audience instead of his actions, which is again true about me. And I just happened to be stuck, between this 1% that created the difference.

This just further supports what I've always been trying to say, please don't let this MBTI system define you or anyone else. It's inaccurate and unreliable. People are using MBTI as the primary tool to define their interaction or compatibility with someone. One negative experience with a specific type leaves them with a sour taste and therefore they generalize a population of millions. Don't. A person's MBTI won't help you understand them as much as proper communication can. Sure, it can succeed in getting an outline idea of your much deeper personality, but that`s where it draws the line.