Myers-Briggs Personality Type Test

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spiritualwrrior

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My team at work and I have even asked by our manager to take the Myers-Briggs personality type test. In the past some of my coworkers have taken it for fun but I refused to participate due to my Catholic faith. I did a quick Google search and found this personality test was influenced by Carl Jung, whom I read about in the book “Ransomed from Darkness” by Moira Noonan and who taught New Age ideas.

I’m a believer that my personality is unique and influenced by my actions and decisions, and the way I was raised. Is it OK for a Catholic to take the above personality test, given its influences by Carl Jung?

I personally don’t feel comfortable doing so.
 
Although I’m not Catholic, I would like to say that corporations seem to have a real fondness for personality tests, emotional quotients, and a whole host of self-help seminars that begin to look a lot like a sort of religion. The whole thing makes me uncomfortable as well, and I have declined some of it, particularly when they mix prayers into it (Get Motivated! seminars come to mind).

The best way people can learn to get along with all the “types” out there is to receive Christ regularly in the Word and Sacrament, imho.
 
spiritualwrrior said:
I personally don’t feel comfortable doing so.
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I think this is the biggest reason for you not to do so. That you simply aren’t comfortable with it.

I personally have taken the Myer-Briggs and found it helpful as to give me some insight into myself and how I deal with others and situations. But I was comfortable in taking it.
 
spiritualwrrior said:
My team at work and I have even asked by our manager to take the Myers-Briggs personality type test. In the past some of my coworkers have taken it for fun but I refused to participate due to my Catholic faith. I did a quick Google search and found this personality test was influenced by Carl Jung, whom I read about in the book “Ransomed from Darkness” by Moira Noonan and who taught New Age ideas.

I’m a believer that my personality is unique and influenced by my actions and decisions, and the way I was raised. Is it OK for a Catholic to take the above personality test, given its influences by Carl Jung?

I personally don’t feel comfortable doing so.
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I’m at a catholic seminary and I’ve taken it 3 times since I got here.

Taking that quiz has nothing to do with the Catholic faith. It’s designed so that you learn more about yourself and others so you can work better together.

Taking this test won’t tell you what kind of person you are. In fact, it’s kind of easy to game the quiz and get the results you want.

Take the quiz! It doesn’t matter and no matter way you get, (infj, enfp…) it will show that you are a team player. The quiz is a nonissue and you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable with it.
 
I’m generally not a fan of any of these kinds of tests, but I have found the Myers-Briggs test is actually pretty useful at understanding and appreciating differences between different people and their cognitive and emotional approaches to life.
 
Are you going to stop using Apple products because Steve Jobs was a Buddhist? I don’t think this test has anything to do with one’s faith, or Carl Jung’s. It’s simply a pop-psychology self-awareness tool. Honestly, it’s been a great way for my wife and me to examine our communication tendencies and how best to care for each other.

I still take it periodically, just to see where I am on the various spectrums. Not surprisingly, I don’t change so much as I did when I was younger. Been firmly entrenched an ENTJ for several years now. Read the questions - they ain’t gonna bite you or your faith. I’d say give it a go.

humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
 
I worked for a lady who was also a certifies MB evaluator. I got a lot out of the test and did not find it to be at all New-Agey. I also learned about others and so it has been a big help in my life.

It is not at all like enneagrams or that sort of thing. Those things are like numerology or astrology.

What the MB does is to find out how you think in 4 areas–Do you use up or gain energy when dealing with people? are you more likely to consider possibilities or reality? Are you more likely to consider logic or feelings? Are you decisive or indecisive?

The most important thing I learned was that I am a person who thinks words are extremely important, and that it’s ok that others don’t. I used to argue with people about the words they chose and not the meaning they were trying to convey, but now I am more relaxed about. that.

So I would not be cautious on account of the potential for New Agey-ness, but it may be that you don’t want to do it anyway, or that you don’t want to do it in the context of work. So I would not say take it, but just don’t make a decision based on Jung’s mysticism.
 
spiritualwrrior said:
My team at work and I have even asked by our manager to take the Myers-Briggs personality type test. In the past some of my coworkers have taken it for fun but I refused to participate due to my Catholic faith. I did a quick Google search and found this personality test was influenced by Carl Jung, whom I read about in the book “Ransomed from Darkness” by Moira Noonan and who taught New Age ideas.

I’m a believer that my personality is unique and influenced by my actions and decisions, and the way I was raised. Is it OK for a Catholic to take the above personality test, given its influences by Carl Jung?

I personally don’t feel comfortable doing so.
Click to expand...
I see no problem with taking this test as a Catholic. It does not matter how the test was designed or by whom. I have taken it for my work in the past and found a certain amount of accuracy in it. However, it was by no means 100% accurate.

I would be more concerned about how your company wanted to use the results. In my case it was used as a “staff training tool” so we could better understand how we and our co-workers might work better together. Unfortunately I also had it used as a training device I could use as a supervisor. In other words, based on the results I was supposed to be able to better “evaluate” my subordinates work habits. (RUBISH)

I find that there are way too many ways out there for management and supervisors to find all kinds of manners in which to “hold a thumb over” their staff. Personality testing and IQ testing are both ways that can help them do this. I even question the legality of it,but am not sure there is anything that states it can’t be done.

I even had a VP try some “psycho babble” on me during a conference about an incident at work. I immediately told her not to psycho analyze me because 1. she was not qualified to do so, and 2. she was no da$# good at it. Believe me when I say there is a lot of unsolicited psycho analyzing going on in the job place than anyone would like to think.
So to the point: I doubt there is any sin involved in taking the test, but I don’t agree with companies doing this at all. It seems like unsolicited psychiatric care or evaluation to me. That concerns me more than anything else.
 
kmuestwin said:
I’m at a catholic seminary and I’ve taken it 3 times since I got here.

Taking that quiz has nothing to do with the Catholic faith. It’s designed so that you learn more about yourself and others so you can work better together.

Taking this test won’t tell you what kind of person you are. In fact, it’s kind of easy to game the quiz and get the results you want.

Take the quiz! It doesn’t matter and no matter way you get, (infj, enfp…) it will show that you are a team player. The quiz is a nonissue and you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable with it.
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Indeed! I am most familiar with the Myers-Briggs test from Catholic contexts (although I’m sure it was mentioned in my college psychology courses, too). I know Catholics of all different stripes across the theological spectrum from all manner of official, unofficial, and quasi-official Catholic associations and groups who have used that test and find it useful.

It’s just a personality test. It’s a tool. You use it to give yourself a language by which to articulate certain things about yourself and grow in your understanding of yourself and others around you. I do admit to getting a bit weirded out when people get a little too gung-ho about such tests. But it’s not inimical to the Catholic faith.

As Marie said, though, if you’re not comfortable with it, then don’t take it. But it’s not a threat to the Catholic faith.
 
the mbti has nothing whatsoever to do with astrology, new age or other such irreligious nonsense.

estj represent.
 
Having taken this test several times over the years I would urge you to co-operate. It can be very useful when people of different personality types attempt to come together for a common cause. If you answer it honestly you will find out some things about yourself which already exist, it does not create a new personality. Every single time I have taken it I have the same answer, and when I work in groups with other people who have different answers it helps to understand our differences and get along better.
 
mountee said:
Having taken this test several times over the years I would urge you to co-operate. It can be very useful when people of different personality types attempt to come together for a common cause. If you answer it honestly you will find out some things about yourself which already exist, it does not create a new personality. Every single time I have taken it I have the same answer, and when I work in groups with other people who have different answers it helps to understand our differences and get along better.
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This is how my boss used it, but there are places where they use it to determine too much about people rather than looking at what people actually do. For example, I am an I (introvert), but I work well with customers. An HR person who didn’t know might turn me down to work with customers based on my I rating rather than how I actually function.
 
Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I’ve read all of them and they have been quite helpful and reassuring.

I got a chuckle about the Steve Jobs vs. using Apple products analogy. No, I wouldn’t stop using Apple products whatever his faith may have been.

I was questioning the intent of the test from the perspective of its authors. I have also seen the attitude of my coworkers when they joke about their results. For instance for those that score as “judgmental” I’m afraid it can be used as a way to justify their actions.

Once again, thank you, everyone!
 
And I forgot to add… Yes, I also question the intentions from upper management to entice all of us to take this test.
 
You probably don’t have control over this, but personally, I think something like StrengthsFinder is much more useful in a corporate work environment than Myers-Briggs. But whatever. 😛
 
👍 My wife was a school counselor and is now an outpatient therapist for a private company. I first took this (Meyers-Briggs) test when she was working on her Masters in Counseling and needed a guinea pig. We’ve both found it very helpful in our marriage in understanding both our similarities and our differences. I am an INTJ; she is an ESFP. It isn’t as though we’re conjuring spirits. The M-B test is just another tool in our attempt to understand ourselves and others. 🙂
steido01 said:
Are you going to stop using Apple products because Steve Jobs was a Buddhist? I don’t think this test has anything to do with one’s faith, or Carl Jung’s. It’s simply a pop-psychology self-awareness tool. Honestly, it’s been a great way for my wife and me to examine our communication tendencies and how best to care for each other.

I still take it periodically, just to see where I am on the various spectrums. Not surprisingly, I don’t change so much as I did when I was younger. Been firmly entrenched an ENTJ for several years now. Read the questions - they ain’t gonna bite you or your faith. I’d say give it a go.

humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
Click to expand...
 
I read the questions of the test and agree that they don’t have anything out of the ordinary or New-Agy in appearance. It seems rather interesting but I still don’t quite agree with the test. For example one question was about habits and another about being organized. If I answer negatively it only reflects a side of myself that I personally need to change. It reflects a weakness, a vice, such as sloth or sensuality as a cardinal sin, rather than my personality. In other words, I don’t get the point.

I do agree, however, about introversion vs. extroversion as forming an aspect of a person’s personality. Their vices, such as what I described above or even “judging” as part of a person’s personality, well, er, not so much.
 
spiritualwrrior said:
I read the questions of the test and agree that they don’t have anything out of the ordinary or New-Agy in appearance. It seems rather interesting but I still don’t quite agree with the test. For example one question was about habits and another about being organized. If I answer negatively it only reflects a side of myself that I personally need to change. It reflects a weakness, a vice, such as sloth or sensuality as a cardinal sin, rather than my personality. In other words, I don’t get the point.

I do agree, however, about introversion vs. extroversion as forming an aspect of a person’s personality. Their vices, such as what I described above or even “judging” as part of a person’s personality, well, er, not so much.
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I don’t think organizational acumen is necessarily tied to virtue and vice. I’ve known plenty of fairly holy people who aren’t that very well organized. :o

I also don’t believe the test means “judging” in the strictly negative sense most people think of when they use the word. It’s not the same as calling a person “judgmental”.
 
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