▲Recently, several internet psychological tests have become popular. These psychological tests made headlines for being able to know personalities, including individual strengths and weaknesses. However, we criticized the question of the reliability and validity of these test methods, and if this is over-interpreted, it could lead to stereotypes and discrimination.
Awareness of psychological tests in Korea
Currently, the perception of MBTI in Korea is positive. According to data released by Korea Research on January 5, 2022, 36% of respondents said they trust the MBTI test. Also, according to the data released by Trend Monitor, "Does doing MBTI test have any advantages to look back on me?" There were 78% of people who thought that it had advantages.
The people who conduct these tests accept and trust these results. But psychologists are questioning the MBTI test for several reasons.
The first reason is consistency and exaggerated positive characteristics. The MBTI test is inconsistent because even if the same person repeats the same test, different results can be obtained. In addition, the MBTI test mainly focuses on positive characteristics. This allows many people to want positive explanations of their behaviors, or to manipulate the results to fit the image they want. This may not reflect the actual personality traits.
The second is that the theoretical foundation is very weak. The MBTI is based on the typology of the famous psychologist Carl Jung, but this theory is not supported by empirical evidence. Jung formed his theory through personal observation and philosophical consideration but did not go through a verification process based on scientific experiments and research.
The third is the dichotomous classification. MBTI tends to be a dichotomous classification for each characteristic. For example, you want to classify people as either completely extroverted or fully introverted. However, people's personalities vary slightly in reality, like continuous spectrum. Thus, a dichotomous approach can simplify people's diversity and lead to excessive generalization.
The problems of these psychological tests are also revealed in our daily lives. According to a news article in the Chosun Daily News, there are companies that are using MBTI in the recruitment process. This psychological test has many effects on our lives, but there is no real evidence to support the claim that we can predict clear results.
Although MBTI is helpful in that it can make light predictions about an individual's personality and characteristics, it is not reasonable to use it as a tool to predict significant job performance or another outcome as this problem intensifies. Because of these problems, we will not accept the results of MBTI as an absolute truth and will need the power to adjust in an appropriate way so as not to be too lenient.
Shin Seohyun (1-3)¹ | Staff Reporter
1) se0hyun5687@gmail.com
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