In this Science Vs episode, host Wendy Zukerman tackles the quest to define our personalities through tests, starting with the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Investigating the MBTI's effectiveness, Wendy points out the inconsistencies in the test's outcomes and the lack of scientific support for its use in life-altering decisions. The episode brings to light the test's broad descriptions that allow for flexible interpretations, highlighting the issue of reliability when people exhibit diverse traits across different contexts.
Delving deeper, the podcast also evaluates alternatives like Socionics and the Enneagram, noting they share similar categorization pitfalls. However, Wendy introduces listeners to the more scientifically backed Big Five model, which looks at personality traits on a wider spectrum. Guests Michelle Dang and others discuss the Big Five's predictive ability regarding life outcomes, and examine the fluid nature of personality, providing evidence that traits like introversion and extroversion can evolve with effort and over time, challenging the notion of a fixed personality.
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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a widely used personality assessment tool, but its efficacy is under scrutiny. Wendy Zukerman reveals that about half of the individuals get a different result upon retaking the MBTI, challenging its reliability. The test's personality descriptions are so broad that people can relate to multiple types, casting doubt on its validity. Moreover, while some like Gaby feel the MBTI has helped them understand relationships, there is no scientific evidence to link MBTI types to compatibility in romantic relationships or to predict job performance. The test creators themselves advise against its use in important life decisions such as career choice and employee selection.
Alternatives to the MBTI, such as Socionics and Enneagram, suffer from similar issues of categorization. They too fail to offer accurate representations of personality. Like the MBTI, these tests assign people to categories that might not hold true or useful in real-world contexts.
The Big Five model offers a scientifically supported approach to understanding personality, focusing on five central traits—neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. Unlike other tests, the Big Five gauges these traits on a spectrum and avoids pigeonholing people into types or suggesting specific compatibility. Michelle Dang underscores the Big Five's predictive power for significant life outcomes, such as mortality, relationship stability, and job changes. A large study of 170,000 individuals confirmed the model's ability to predict life changes including marriage and moving in with a partner.
Personalities are not static; they undergo changes with age and life experiences. Studies show increases in traits such as conscientiousness and emotional stability from one's 20s to 50s. Although traits like introversion or extroversion are observable early in life, they are not immutable. Major life events and trauma also shape personality over time. Furthermore, participants in a Swiss study who used a coaching app to become more extroverted succeeded in making noticeable and lasting changes to their introversion or extroversion, demonstrating the potential for personality modification through active effort.
1-Page Summary
Wendy Zukerman explores the ubiquitous Myers-Briggs personality test, questioning its reliability and validity, and the implications of using MBTI in important areas of life such as career and relationships.
Zukerman points out that although the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is very popular, used by Fortune 500 companies and on dating apps, there are significant concerns about its consistency and specificity.
Despite many people like Gaby, a guest on the show, feeling that the descriptions fit them well, studies have shown that about half of the individuals who retake the MBTI weeks or months later are assigned a different personality type. This raises questions about the test's reliability.
The MBTI's descriptions are often criticized for being too vague and general. Examples such as ENTJ and INFP descriptors could seem accurate for individuals, even if they supposedly belong to a different Myers-Briggs type. The show discusses how flipping from one type to another can still result in an accurate-seeming description, likening it to switching from "business shoe" to "goth shoes," with the descriptions being broad enough to remain relatable.
Researchers have found that people can also identify with false feedback on their personalities, suggesting that descriptions could be interchangeable and thus question the specificity of the MBTI.
Despite Gaby's personal testimony of how discovering her Myers-Briggs personality type was transformative for her understanding of relationships with her parents and friend Michelle, scientists urge caution.
Zukerman discusses that there is no scientific evidence to support a connection between MBTI types and compatibility in relationships ...
Assessing the Myers-Briggs Personality Test
Recent findings indicate that popular personality tests such as Enneagram and Socionics share common issues with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. These issues include categorizing people in ways that are not ...
Exploring Alternatives like Socionics and Enneagram
The "Big Five" model presents a robust framework for personality assessment, focusing on five core traits without oversimplifying human behavior into categories or grids of compatibility.
Michelle Dang brings forth the model's scientific backing, indicating its efficacy in predicting significant life outcomes such as mortality rates, relationship stability like chances of divorce, and cognitive health risks, including dementia. This underscores the model's preference to measure key personality traits on a spectrum rather than categorizing individuals.
Unlike many pop-psychology personality tests, the Big Five does not pigeonhole individuals into fixed types. Instead, it allows for a nuanced understanding of personalities by identifying various degrees of expressions in neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness.
A vast study involving around 170,000 participants utilized the Big Five to predict life outcomes, which E ...
The Scientifically Valid "Big Five" Model
The potential for personality change over time is a complex subject that involves various factors, from innate traits to the influence of life experiences.
Studies show that there are notable changes in personality traits as individuals age. For instance, there are increases in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability that begin in a person’s 20s and extend into their later adulthood. While characteristics such as introversion or extroversion can manifest early—as Michelle Dang mentions by observing traits in babies—there is evidence to suggest that these traits are not fully fixed and can evolve over time.
However, these upward trends are not indefinite. Once individuals move past their 50s, there is a tendency for certain traits, like extroversion, openness to new experiences, and conscientiousness, to decline.
Personality is also influenced by life events, with trauma and significant experiences contributing to how a person's characteristics may continue to develop or change. Although the specific discussion regarding the impact of trauma on personality change is not found in the transcript provided, it is generally understood that major life events can alter personality.
Given the right conditions, people can take active steps to modify aspects of their personality, such as levels of introversion or extroversion. For exam ...
Whether Personality Can Change Over Time
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