History of Personality Assessments
Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Jung were three major influences on the development of personality assessments. Freud published the book The Interpretation of Dreams in 1900, and Jung devised one of the earliest personality instruments: the automated word association test (which influenced the development of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator). These early personality assessments were less empirical and modern assessments emerged around World War I when Robert Woodworth was commissioned by the US Army to develop an instrument to assess army recruits' emotional stability. The Personal Data Sheet, created in 1919, consisted of 116 yes or no questions. There was the issue of credibility because recruits could easily lie in their answers, thus Louis Leon Thurstone developed the Thurstone Personality Schedule in 1930 to assess neurotic symptoms in civilian and military populations.
One of the most common personality assessments is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), as mentioned earlier. It was first published in 1943 by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. Briggs was inspired to research personality type theory when she first met her daughter's future husband because of how differently he saw the world in compared to her and her family. After Jung's publication of Psychological Types, Briggs saw the similarities between her theory and Jung's, which influenced her to create the MBTI questionnaire.
Common Personality Assessments
- Five Factor Model of Personality (FFM)
- Neo Personality Inventory, Revised (NEO PI-R)
- Sixteen Personality Factor (16 PF)
- Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
- Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
- Rorschach Inkblot Test
- PA Preference Inventory (PAPI)
- RIASEC Holland Codes (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional)
- DISC Assessment (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance)
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Reliability and Validity Factors
There are a lot of contradicting literature on the reliability of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Some online articles say that it is as reliable as any other personality test and the test-retest reliability shows that people usually get the same or close to the same type 75%-90% of the time. on the other hand, there are articles that state that as many as 50% of the people who take this test the second time will be classified into a different type than the first time. The MBTI has been revised numerous time, and Form Q, published in 2001, has the median internal consistency of .77, according to a nationally representative sample of 1,378 people.
There seems to be little support for the validity of the MBTI, as one article states that "the MBTI does not conform to many of the basic standards expected of psychological tests" (Pittenger, 1993, pg. 6). Despite this fact, the MBTI has been translated into 21 different languages and is used by people all around the world for various personal and interpersonal reasons.
Where to Obtain and Cost
The MBTI can be taken in several ways, and all the information is available at this website: <http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/take-the-mbti-instrument/>. People interested in taking this assessment can have it administered to them by a professional either online or with paper and pencil. The cost will vary according to the professional. To take it in the comfort of one's home, the test is available online where a certified professional interprets the results and follows up the test with an hour-long phone consultation. This option costs $150 in the US and Canada, and $175 for all other countries. There are other reports available for a small fee, including the MBTI Career Report ($15) and the KGI Team and Leadership Assessment ($25 per team member, minimum of three; or $30 for individuals). Finally, there is the MBTI Complete which involves taking the MBTI assessment online, learning about your type, and receiving a comprehensive description of your type. This opportunity costs $49.95 without the one-on-one interpretation session.
Administration and Interpretation
As mentioned above, the assessment can be taken either online or with paper and pencil. Either way, this multiple choice questionnaire is administered by a certified professional. The results are given either in person or by phone, although with the MBTI Complete, the self-guided feedback system is designed to verify the accuracy of your results and provides information on your type. Scored results come in the form of an MBTI Profile Report either delivered through the web or in printed form. Everything is completely confidential. A qualified MBTI professional is needed to interpret the results of the assessment.
Article
MacLellan, C. R. (2011). Differences in Myers-Briggs Personality Types among high school band, orchestra, and choir members. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(1), 85-101.
Image
MBTI Indicator Chart
References
CPP. (2009). History, reliability, and validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument. Retrieved from https://www.cpp.com/Products/mbti/mbti_info.aspx
OPP. (2014). The history of the MBTI assessment. Retrieved from http://www.opp.com/en/tools/MBTI/Myers-Briggs-history#
The Myers & Briggs Foundation. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.myersbriggs.org/
Personality test free. (2014). Personality tests: The main personality tests. Retrieved from http://www.personalitytestfree.net/personality-tests.php
Pittenger, D. J. (1993). Measuring the MBTI... and coming up short. Journal of Career Planning & Placement. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~jobtalk/Articles/develop/mbti.pdf
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