Talking about what I don't know about (MBTI)

[davewitley]

Joanne, twelfth of that ilk, wrote about Myers-Briggs:

> Most of the "real" test questions are in 
> terms of what do you prefer, or what do you usually do, whereas the 
fake questions often ask the respondents to draw conclusions or 
inferences about their characteristics.

One problem I have with psychometric tests is that their compilers 
don't seem to be aware of the distinction between what you prefer and 
what you do, thus statements of the type:

'I usually make decisions on the spur of the moment';

'I prefer to consider all options carefully before deciding'

are often posed as if they are opposites, when quite easily both 
could be true, as in 'I prefer to consider all options carefully 
before deciding, because bitter experience has shown that my habit of 
making decisions on the spur of the moment leads to trouble'.

It gets even worse when self-image considerations intrude:

'I like to think of myself as a calm, reasonable person'

is different from

'I maintain a calm, reasonable manner in all situations'

as well as

'I think it is important to maintain a calm, reasonable manner in all 
situations'

IMO, the possibility of self-deceit by the respondent is ignored.

Since I have never done MBTI - and require convincing about the $5 - 
does the team think that it copes well with issues of this sort?

David

'Not knowing what you are talking about is the essence of a logical 
argument' - a colleague of mine, years ago