Does MBTI measure your personality or your own perception of your personality?? | INFJ Forum

Does MBTI measure your personality or your own perception of your personality??

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Apr 11, 2010
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Should the "MBTI personality test" change its name to "MBTI self-perception test"? How much would a skewed perception of ones self change the results of the test? Does anyone get what i'm saying??
 
yeah maybe, a person with a low self esteem for eg. would probably underrate their extroversion. i think it can be inaccurate if you don't see yourself clearly. but then again, who would know you better than yourself?
 
There are also the (*)general descriptions of types, and the (**)comparing with the behavior of other people from your group.

To me, MBTI, for now, is mostly this test (although I've checked all others too): http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp , and the groups are formed by how people answer those questions (for the first time!! when they still have no idea what MBTI is). Usually the results are somewhat consistent to form groups of similar behavior. Moreover, people registered on the following dating site from the same type have similar facial/body patterns:
http://www.typetango.com/
(to me that still doesn't red alert the gene alarm, because facial and body patterns could be very strongly manipulated by how we behave; as proof, there are known many cases of identical twins with very very different MBTI, which also affects their looks, and causes the expected type characteristic differences, even though they are genetically equivalent)

But we are pretty much still reaching in the darkness. MBTI will eventually be explained as part of more clear scientifically based physiological/behavioral definitions (certainly with much more nuance and subtlety). It's only like a heuristic in this direction, for now. Tells us what to look for, and how to look for it.

In short: Yes, it measures self-perception.
 
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Of course MBTI measures self-perception. Afterall you are answering questions for who you THINK you are. There really is no way to use MBTI to test someone without using self perception. As a good portion of the tests asks questions that are internally based, another person will not give a full picture for who you are.

There is a huge scale on just how well someone is at self perception. Some people are rather good, some people are simply terrible. As an example I have a friend who as tested as ENFP, ISTP, ESFP, ESTP and INFP all within a two or three month period. Reason? He has some of the worst self perception skills I have ever seen.
 
There is an MBTI test on facebook that isn't especially well designed in my opinion, but it's not terrible. It seems to mistype about as frequently as the standard MBTI.

http://apps.facebook.com/my-type/

However, it has an interesting companion function that allows people to take a test to type their friends. Obviously, self opinion and the opinion of others is likely to vary, but I find the possibility of others taking a quiz to show their opinion of you interesting, especially for those who have ambiguous self opinions.

So far, most of my friends' results type me as ENFJ, with a few typing me as INFJ. Not unsurprisingly, my external perception is more extroverted than my internal perception.

This approach could become an interesting tool if designed properly.
 
MBTI: most comfortable way to interact with the world <<< seems most accurate to me.
 
Maybe it would just be more accurate if you took it, then got others to take it for you and got the middle result? Then you get a more rounded picture.
 
MBTI isn't a test it's an indicator, the result may or may not reflect your true type it just gives you a suggestion that might help point you in the right direction.

Most people with a bit of reflection can accurately figure out what preferences feel most natural.
 
There is an MBTI test on facebook that isn't especially well designed in my opinion, but it's not terrible. It seems to mistype about as frequently as the standard MBTI.

http://apps.facebook.com/my-type/

However, it has an interesting companion function that allows people to take a test to type their friends. Obviously, self opinion and the opinion of others is likely to vary, but I find the possibility of others taking a quiz to show their opinion of you interesting, especially for those who have ambiguous self opinions.

So far, most of my friends' results type me as ENFJ, with a few typing me as INFJ. Not unsurprisingly, my external perception is more extroverted than my internal perception.

This approach could become an interesting tool if designed properly.

My external perception to most people would likely be that of an ISTJ (wrong, but I assume that is what they would see), so I doubt it would work very well for everyone.
 
My external perception to most people would likely be that of an ISTJ (wrong, but I assume that is what they would see), so I doubt it would work very well for everyone.


This..most people would immediately type me as T type.
 
This..most people would immediately type me as T type.

Actually, now that I think about it, depending on the person I will appear as nearly any J type. More so with IJ's.

People who are Ni dominant, or secondary will likely say I am also an N. Ne and the S's likely not. It more has to do with recognizing the feel and apperance of Ni, which I know I have. People I speak to will say I am an F because I tend to be warm once I know them. People will say I am an E when I am in group meetings, games, ect. (parties wont cause this though, I am usually much more I in parties).

Here an order of what I think people would most often guess me as, if I include every factor I can think of, and then say how prevelent that factor comes into play:

ISTJ > ISFJ > INTJ > ENFJ > INFJ > ENTJ > ESFJ > ESTJ

I don't think anyone would ever in a million years guess me to be a P type, if they do they don't know me at all.
 
Actually, now that I think about it, depending on the person I will appear as nearly any J type. More so with IJ's.

People who are Ni dominant, or secondary will likely say I am also an N. Ne and the S's likely not. It more has to do with recognizing the feel and apperance of Ni, which I know I have. People I speak to will say I am an F because I tend to be warm once I know them. People will say I am an E when I am in group meetings, games, ect. (parties wont cause this though, I am usually much more I in parties).

Here an order of what I think people would most often guess me as, if I include every factor I can think of, and then say how prevelent that factor comes into play:

ISTJ > ISFJ > INTJ > ENFJ > INFJ > ENTJ > ESFJ > ESTJ

I don't think anyone would ever in a million years guess me to be a P type, if they do they don't know me at all.

I see.

I am extremely difficult to type..I been called a variety of things such as very warm and heartless on the same day. Some say I am way to over emotional, some say I appear to be a robot. The reason I am guessing most might think I am a T type is due to the fact that a lot tend to notice my stress mode. I can become hypercritical and blunt. Lately I have been going out of my way to appear more extroverted though which might change others perceptions of me. Most say I am way to anxious, too much of a workaholic, and responsible while at the same time saying that I am way to messy and that I cannot keep anything in order. In the end the only clear preference I give off to many is that I am an N type.

I am guessing most people would guess this:

INTJ>ENTJ>INTP>INFJ>ENFJ>INFP>ENFP

With no real particular preference now that I think about it, I can easily be mistaken for this types.
 
My external perception to most people would likely be that of an ISTJ (wrong, but I assume that is what they would see), so I doubt it would work very well for everyone.

heh, and i would see to be an INTP to people, i think...interesting really. the perception of self vs the perception of oneself by others is an issue i've been contemplating as of late
 
It seems like we often associate our most comfortable functions with our most developed functions. I wonder if there are exceptions to this rule.
 
See I'm most comfortable with Fi but I don't know if I'm "good" or developed in it in any sort of useful sense.