[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-293033-105":3,"doc-detail-293033-en":81,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":98},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","media-puzzle-responding-to-claims-about-the-mbti-and-psychological-type","Media Puzzle - Responding to Claims about the MBTI and Psychological Type","","Media Puzzle addresses recurring criticism of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the broader idea of psychological “types.” The response evaluates claims presented by Jennifer V. Fayard in Psychology Today and argues that popular online “knockoffs” and type tables frequently misapply the four-letter type codes. It also distinguishes MBTI from related frameworks, highlights research gaps in unsupported assertions (such as date/city matching by type), and emphasizes that types should not be treated as rigid stereotypes.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/media-puzzle-responding-to-claims-about-the-mbti-and-psychological-type/293033/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/media-puzzle-responding-to-claims-about-the-mbti-and-psychological-type/293033.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Bulrr","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-17",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the article argue about criticism of the MBTI?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues that sustained criticism targets both the MBTI questionnaire and the ideas attached to “types,” and that clearer explanations are needed rather than defenses alone.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why does the article claim many online “type knockoffs” are unreliable?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It states that internet and social media sites are not the MBTI itself, and that the main connection is often only the four-letter type code, leading to widely uninformed labeling.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the article distinguish Jung’s “Psychological Types” from the modern idea of personality typing?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It says Jung’s theory concerns types of consciousness rather than a general theory of personality, and that not everyone becomes a “personality” in Jung’s terms.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},293033,1789658869,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",{"doc_id":79,"user_id":84,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":85,"doc_module":4,"category_id":86,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":87,"file_id":88,"file_url":89,"file_type":90,"file_size":91,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":92,"language":93,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":94,"faqs":95,"seo_title":96,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":97,"preview_page_count":4},5909892115043,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8",8,"AusAPT Type Research and Practice Collection Occasional Papers (\\#1 – February 2020)  \nMedia Puzzle:  \nResponding to Claims about the MBTI® and Psychological Type  \nA response to False Portraits by Jennifer V. Fayard Psychology Today January 2020  \nPeter Geyer  \n[peter@petergeyer.com.au](peter@petergeyer.com.au)  \nWerribee, Australia  \nTo see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle  \nGeorge Orwell  \n[Campbell 2011 p187]  \nThere’s something about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) and the notion of types of people that provokes a consistent stream of criticism, whether it be about the questionnaire itself, or the ideas attached to it. Sometimes this prompts defences from various interested parties, when an explanation might be more relevant.  \nJennifer Fayard is the latest contributor to this enterprise with a piece that is more personal experience than investigation. In some ways it’s a conversion narrative that starts with the MBTI, stops off briefly at the Enneagram, and finally arrives at the Five-Factor Model, where the world can be set to rights.  \nShe begins with an undergraduate experience of being introduced to the MBTI in class via a“testing company representative” engaged by a professor. I think this person was more likely a certified MBTI practitioner, unattached to the publisher, but I wasn’t there, so could be wrong. At any rate, she finds out she prefers INTJ (nothing is said about a feedback and validation process) and heads to her computer to find out more.  \nThis step, although ostensibly logical for these times, is deeply problematic. Internet and social media sites are not the MBTI, but more likely related to what she calls “knockoffs”where the only connection can be the four-letter type code invented by Isabel Briggs Myers. Many of these are very popular, but can be wildly uninformed.  \nMy limited experience in this area includes a site where its owners claim that Jung’s feeling function has nothing to do with values, and others where type labels are indiscriminately laid on various figures. C.G. Jung can be labelled INFJ, Bob Dylan INFP and Barack Obama an extravert, indicating these assessments have been made without much investigation at all into these people, including their writings and what they have said.  \nThere are other things, too. Fayard mentions the search for “the ideal date or most fitting city”according to type, but this has nothing to do with the MBTI and the information is demonstrably false and not supported by research.  \nMany years ago, I was doing some type work with a credit union and a group of young women came up and asked for relationship information i.e. what type to look for. They were very disappointed when I informed them that there were other factors, and one mused aloud about going “back to astrology.”  \nFor myself, I wondered why they didn’t try to find out more about the people they became interested in. Type may be relevant as a context, but it’s how the type is expressed, development and areas of interest. Life partners can be an opposite type, a similar type, or any type with a shared interest. Personality may not even be relevant because there are other considerations.  \nTypes are also not stereotypes, which may be news to Fayard, as she refers to a Harry Potter Type Table, where the distinctly unpleasant Draco Malfoy is identified as an INTJ, and this troubles her. These type tables (and there are many) can have their amusements but they are about the  \nappropriation of labels to a particular stereotypical behaviour. I find most of the ones I’ve seen tobe implausible, to say the least, but have also got responses that suggest that’s what my type would say anyway, indicating that a stereotype has some purchase, and that evaluation and discussion are all too often absent. Jung (1921/1923) suggested this was a form of negative thinking. A few laughs can be had from type humour, as with anything about whatever personality is considered to be. Charts a","cbCaicN9SXlud3KB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicN9SXlud3KB","pdf",175701,6,"English","# Responding to claims about the MBTI and psychological type\n## Criticism of the MBTI and why explanations matter\n## Online knockoffs and misinformation\n## Misapplied type labels and stereotype concerns\n## Relationship to the Enneagram and Five-Factor Model\n## Limits of psychologists’ support and MBTI schools\n## Clarifying Jung’s Psychological Types and its scope\n## Misunderstanding of questionnaire origins and research approach","[{\"question\":\"What does the article argue about criticism of the MBTI?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that sustained criticism targets both the MBTI questionnaire and the ideas attached to “types,” and that clearer explanations are needed rather than defenses alone.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article claim many online “type knockoffs” are unreliable?\",\"answer\":\"It states that internet and social media sites are not the MBTI itself, and that the main connection is often only the four-letter type code, leading to widely uninformed labeling.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article distinguish Jung’s “Psychological Types” from the modern idea of personality typing?\",\"answer\":\"It says Jung’s theory concerns types of consciousness rather than a general theory of personality, and that not everyone becomes a “personality” in Jung’s terms.\"}]","Media Puzzle - Responding to Claims about the MBTI and Psychological Type | PDF",15,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":99},[100,104,108,112,117,121,126,129,134,137,141],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":92,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":125},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":86,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},30,"research-report",{"id":130,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":131,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":133},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":135,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":136},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":138,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":139,"show_sort_weight":138,"slug":140},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":142,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":143,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":144},19,"General","general"]