Common Misconceptions

On the type lists that I frequent, there is often a lot of buzz about the MBTI "test." As a type professional, I would like to clarify a few common misconceptions.

The MBTI "test" is not a "classification system" -- it's an "indicator" that points to one's preferred cognitive processes as defined by Carl Jung's theory of psychological types. It is an admittedly flawed tool, in that the official MBTI is accurate at best 75% of the time, based on psychometric testing and according to its
own manual.

The MBTI does not tell us "who we are" -- it suggests what we are good at. Ergo, all INFJs are naturally good at introverted iNtuiting, extraverted Feeling, introverted Thinking, extraverted Sensing (in descending order, so to speak). (And by definition,
INFJs are NOT so good at extraverted iNtuiting, introverted Feeling, extraverted Thinking, introverted Sensing.) This algorithm holds true across all the type patterns, and that's the framework at the heart of the model, and naturally it is in our own best interest to learn more about what these processes are.

As for the question,"what shapes us," Jung postulated that our type pattern is innate, and is genetically inherited, like eye color and handedness. (There's a great deal of scientific research to support this hypothesis...)

However, it is certainly true that environment and upbringing also play a part. In addition to your "core" self -- the one that holds your innate type preference, there are additional layers, consisting of the "adapted" self -- that part of you that learns to behave in certain ways based on continued environmental reinforcement, such as family and societal norms, peer pressure, etc. For example, you were not born knowing how to tie shoelaces, but I imagine it's something you can do nowadays without thinking about it.

Additionally, there are shifting environmental needs that require different behaviors depending on the context, leading to a concept known as the "contextual" self. For example, your behavior is probably different when you are at a party from when you're at work, and when you're cleaning your room, and when you're talking to your best friend on the phone... In each of these examples, you are still the same person, and your core personality type is still the same, but you are drawing upon different cognitive processes to suit the situation.

One aspect of the type model that is often overlooked is that it is at its heart a developmental model. None of us have personalities that are "stagnant" -- we are all of us developing, growing, changing. And we are all of us on our own unique path of actualizing our type and exercising our preferences.