MBTI question phrasing affects result?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Ok, so i joined this forum believing firmly that I was an INTP. Over the past few days, I've been taking a number of MBTI tests available for free on the internet. Disclaimer up front: I'm well aware that online tests (especially free ones) don't necessarily mean very much. But nonetheless, it's been disconcerting to see tests sorting me into different types. Some tests put me in INTJ, and mypersonality.info consistently classifies me as ISTJ. When I read written descriptions of the types, I definitely see a little ISTJ in me, especially the way I behave at work. But then, other aspects of ISTJ are violently opposed to the way I see myself.

One test does consistently score me as INTP, and I think I know why it might be. I'm hoping that someone here with a much broader understanding of MBTI can help me out. You can find the test here. I find this test much easier to answer than the mypersonality.info test, mostly because it is phrased as "yes or no" questions. The mypersonality.info test sometimes forces me into difficult choices, whereas the yes-or-no format allows me to disagree with a proposition without affirming a particular alternative.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Do you find that a test's approach to asking questions affects your results in a meaningful way? Might my objections to the false dichotomies I perceive in some tests say more about me than the results of the test?

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Do you find that a test's approach to asking questions affects your results in a meaningful way? Might my objections to the false dichotomies I perceive in some tests say more about me than the results of the test?

Yes it definitely affects your results.

• Inaccurate interpretations by the test taker
  The test writer thinks one thing, and you believe it to mean another. This is pretty much unavoidable, but it is worsened by impersonal online tests. With another person, in real time, guiding you through the test, you are able to attain clarity, at least more so than online.
  
• Ambiguous context
  Also unavoidable, but sometimes not accounted for. The more theoretical, interpretive or abstract the subject, the more likely you will be paralyzed by an ambiguous context. MBTI is not really that concrete and is very susceptible to a wide range of interpretations.
  
• Situational measurements
  The most critical issue of MBTI in my opinion. MBTI has deviated from Jung in being psychologically-oriented and leans more toward pop-psychology and behaviorism. MBTI tests will have certain questions that guage your situational Self, such as your mood, temperament, emotional state, and social position. While we do need objective and observable properties to measure for typology, these only further the problem of MBTI preserving irrelevant stereotypes and loosing all sense of psychological substance.

 

[Dapper Dan]

This is exactly the reason that I stopped doing the tests. My favorites are the subjective questions phrased along the lines of: "It's better to be this way than that way." Or the ones that ask if you like being unorganized or something. Maybe I'm unorganized and I hate that about myself. Or maybe my SJ parents beat it into me that organization is better than unorganization, and so I hold that belief despite my own preferences.

At the end of the day, it's a lot easier and more accurate to just compare yourself to the profiles and see what fits.

 

[NinjaSurfer]

Ok, so i joined this forum believing firmly that I was an INTP. Over the past few days, I've been taking a number of MBTI tests available for free on the internet. Disclaimer up front: I'm well aware that online tests (especially free ones) don't necessarily mean very much. But nonetheless, it's been disconcerting to see tests sorting me into different types. Some tests put me in INTJ, and mypersonality.info consistently classifies me as ISTJ. When I read written descriptions of the types, I definitely see a little ISTJ in me, especially the way I behave at work. But then, other aspects of ISTJ are violently opposed to the way I see myself.

One test does consistently score me as INTP, and I think I know why it might be. I'm hoping that someone here with a much broader understanding of MBTI can help me out. You can find the test here. I find this test much easier to answer than the mypersonality.info test, mostly because it is phrased as "yes or no" questions. The mypersonality.info test sometimes forces me into difficult choices, whereas the yes-or-no format allows me to disagree with a proposition without affirming a particular alternative.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Do you find that a test's approach to asking questions affects your results in a meaningful way? Might my objections to the false dichotomies I perceive in some tests say more about me than the results of the test?

you are absolutely a "P" type; J's would be more decisive and not as prone to a questioning of their type; the way you process this problem suggests a more intuitive nature-- and you tackle it in a logical way, by taking and retaking tests from other sites; I don't sense much emotion or feeling in the way you deal with the problem so I'd have to peg you as a thinking type.

Thus-- from your behavior so far, if you're being honest, I'd roll the dice on xNTP.

Depending on how you gain/dispel energy, you can figure out if you're an introvert/extravert. Sometimes you can tell by determining how you listen to music; introverts will listen to music that resonates with their mood; extraverts can be influenced by music;

 

[crippli]

What I find most confusing is that most questions are based on relativity. Take this;

Your desk, workbench etc. is usually neat and orderly

On it self the question is meaningless. So the only way for this to have meaning is in relation to other workbenches. Then there is usually, is that when you don't sit on the workbench? Neat and orderly? Now, this is a huge discussion. And we should first start with the definitions.

There is no yes and no answer to this question. So when not the right answer is included in the options, how much chance does then the test have of getting this accurate?

Here is another question;

You are consistent in your habits

Will consistent about being inconsistent count as yes?

It is pop question psychology, and shouldn't be expected to answer more then it does. However, the ideas behind are interesting imo. If one could find more informative questions to ask, preferably questions that can stand on their own and not be as dependant on the social variable and the everlasting thorn relativity, it could improve accuracy.

 

[pjoa09]

One more. Judgement. Are you more comfortable after or before a decision?

Well if I am choosing between death by hanging or death by being dragged I think I'd be very big Pness.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Thanks for all the comments.

@Dapper Dan: I've started to wonder if law school hasn't brought out a little more SJ in me, since it forces me to examine only the facts in evidence and make a decision as to how to proceed in a given case. For example, over the summer I interned in a criminal defense practice, and there were many times when I had to make arguments I didn't believe were correct or supportable by the facts, but which I was ethically obligated to advance. A high need for competence (an INTP trait, as I understand) also drives me to act a little like an ISTJ in the sense that I work hard to be dependable, meet deadlines, and be valuable to my employer.

@NinjaSurfer: That made me smile. But even if my beliefs were shaken slightly, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I am an introvert.

@crippli: There is no test which is not susceptible to linguistic over-analysis. But I still find it easier to answer "yes or no" questions, since it's much clearer in my mind what the question is really asking about. Language is just so subjective in general. My INTJ fiancee teaches English as a second language, and I'm often drafted into helping explain things to her students. I have gained a whole new appreciation for the difficulty of the language.

@pjoa09: That is a very difficult question to answer, since my comfort with a decision varies so widely depending on the situation. But I'd take death by hanging over being dragged any day. At least there's a chance of breaking one's neck instead of strangling to death. Wow, that got morbid fast.