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Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

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Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#131

Post by User23 »

mistrial9 wrote: post #125
themodelplumber wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends. For example I was trained and tested to meet with a person and determine not only their MBTI type, but also their preferred cognitive processes, without ever talking about personality type with them. The testing was extremely difficult. But the skill is extremely valuable in knowing which questions to ask people as they try to navigate career and life change. You might be surprised to find how easy it i…

physical health conditions, context of the meeting, significant recent events and naturally, drug use, can all skew these kinds of interview classification.. not to mention motive on your part.. lots of good reasons to discard this kind of human classification as psuedo-science IMHO

Classifying humans into hire or no-hire is literally the point of every recruiting process. I’ve heard that random selection is as good as various interviewing techniques, but I have to admit I’m skeptical. Though I do agree that doing better than drawing lots should definitely be table stakes for any hiring or promotion process.

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#133

Post by MichaelCollins »

tyingq wrote: post #74
ErikVandeWater wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MBTI isn't scientific, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful. If someone says a particular type fits them well, that helps you understand them quickly. And if they say the type they get doesn't describe them, then you don't need to use that information.

I remain skeptical. One example: "McCarley and Carskadon (1983) replicated these findings and demonstrated that across a 5-week test-retest interval, 50% of the participants received a different classification on one or more of the scales." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232494957_Cautionar...

Each of the few times I've taken a Myers-Briggs test, I've gotten a completely different score each time. I don't think these tests measure any immutable attributes of personality, they measure preferences which can change with time and social circumstance. And getting a new job is obviously a change of social circumstance..

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#134

Post by smegsicle »

snapdaddy wrote: post #129

I feel like I am the odd one out in that I don't hate MBTI. I would not use them as a measurement of performance or individual worth, but I do think they might have some value as a team-building exercise. Imagine everyone on a team does a (free, found online, not 'legitimate') test and then spends an hour or two discussing the results. Everyone learns that the developers are not very agreeable (joking! Lighten up!) a…

a lot of people seem to feel superior by calling them horoscopes- similar to how some people will confidently tell you that the polygraph is completely useless and not a measurement of anything, just because it's not a magically perfect lie-detector device that should be used in courtrooms

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#135

Post by spyckie2 »

biomcgary wrote: post #36

When I was managing, I informally typed people during the interview process, which was very helpful in predicting both how they would interact with other team members and how they would do at particular tasks. However, I learned not to rely on self-reported personality types or tests, which are often answered aspirationally, not realistically. To me, MBTI or Big 5 (not the actual tests, but their framing of aspects o…

> To me, MBTI or Big 5 (not the actual tests, but their framing of aspects of personality) are mental tool kits for trying to make better predictions from limited data (i.e., the interview process). As a manager, I've found them incredibly helpful for avoiding problems (i.e., assigning the wrong task to a person).

I think of MBTI as a framework for categorizing human tendencies. But the real power of MBTI is in cognitive functions as vocabulary to classify how people will react in situations.

Given a person without major forcing functions changing their behavior, what tendencies do they have?

Cognitive functions defines a set of tendencies that you can have a discussion around, assuming you agree on what each cognitive function really means.

For instance, someone with Ti as a primary function subconsciously looks for correctness that can be validated. Whereas someone with Fi as a primary function subconsciously evaluates whether someone is expressing their true self or not. This can be used as a manager tool to do behavioral risk management.

But everyone has forcing functions that change their behavior, and people with enough practice can get good at anything. As an evaluation tool MBTI probably accounts for at most 10-25% of the outcome. And the older you get, the more well rounded your cognitive stack becomes, making it even less of a predictor of your behavior.

Additionally, cognitive functions are abstract enough to not correlate highly to specific tasks, although one can certainly argue a correlation (I've heard arguments where programming suits Ti and Ni the best).

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#137

Post by tyingq »

MichaelCollins wrote: post #133
tyingq wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remain skeptical. One example: "McCarley and Carskadon (1983) replicated these findings and demonstrated that across a 5-week test-retest interval, 50% of the participants received a different classification on one or more of the scales." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232494957_Cautionar...

Each of the few times I've taken a Myers-Briggs test, I've gotten a completely different score each time. I don't think these tests measure any immutable attributes of personality, they measure preferences which can change with time and social circumstance. And getting a new job is obviously a change of social circumstance..

Agree. And people also tend to answer in different ways (how I am, how people think I am, how I want people to perceive me, how I want to be, etc), depending on the circumstances and environment of the test.

I don't think it has much value beyond some sort of throwaway catalyst for conversation.

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#138

Post by ncmncm »

121789 wrote: post #101
ncmncm wrote: post #78

People are always imagining they have "debunked" Myers-Briggs. All they demonstrate is that they didn't understand what it's for. What it's good for is to help you understand how people who think differently than you do are often not wrong. Other people are super great at things you can't hardly do at all, for reasons. Putting people good at X doing Y instead is a formula for dissatisfaction for those putting and tho…

it's a non-predictive meaningless classification that varies in time and has significant error bars. it is a horoscope applied by poorly trained, biased corporate managers. the only people that find it seemingly useful are inexperienced or incompetent managers

In other words, you don't understand it either. That is not surprising: you would need to learn something. That would involve work, so is understandably unpopular.

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#139

Post by quercusa »

swader999 wrote: post #108

Just ask what animal you'd most like to be and why. It's as useful as MB. There, I saved your company thousands. You're welcome.

Had a consultant come in and do the animal bit on what was essentially a non-profit board. It was a complete and total disaster.

Re: Why companies are interested in Myers-Briggs types

#140

Post by analog31 »

themodelplumber wrote: post #2

> And that’s it—there’s simply very little data on how well the Myers-Briggs (and other type-based personality tests) measures personality and even less on how it might predict job performance. I was surprised there wasn't any mention of a very interesting issue here, i.e. MBTI and other typological instruments come with user manuals, training, etc., and those materials specifically say "do not use this for hiring".…

Given that beliefs about personality types are so widespread, it shouldn't be too hard to guess which traits have positive and negative connotations, and learn to project the positive ones. This is not radically different than just making an effort to get along with people.
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