At its core, personality refers to the enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make every person unique. It is the psychological “thumbprint” that influences how we react to the world around us. Personality tests are standardized tools designed by psychologists and researchers to measure these patterns, providing a framework to categorize or quantify the traits that drive our daily lives. That being said, how do we know which test to take? There are two main contenders: MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) or the Big Five (OCEAN) and today, we will look at the benefits of both.
MBTI
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types. It categorizes people into 16 distinct personalities using four binary scales:
Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): Where you get your energy.
Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): How you process information.
Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): How you make decisions.
Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): How you approach the outside world.
Why is it so popular? For three main reasons:
Ease of use: It makes it easy to describe your personality. Saying “I’m an INFJ” feels like being part of a greater whole. It offers a narrative that helps people feel understood and validated.
Team Building: It’s excellent for workshops and icebreakers. It gives teams a common language to discuss communication styles without feeling overly clinical.
Career Inspiration: While not a definitive career counselor, it helps individuals think about the environments where they might thrive (e.g., a “Thinker” might enjoy analytical roles).
The Big Five
If the MBTI is the “fun, relatable” test, the Big Five (also known as OCEAN) is the academic heavyweight. Instead of putting you in a box, the Big Five measures where you fall on a spectrum for five key traits:
Openness: Curiosity and willingness to try new things.
Conscientiousness: Organization, dependability, and discipline.
Extraversion: Sociability and assertiveness.
Agreeableness: Compassion and cooperativeness.
Neuroticism: Emotional stability and sensitivity to stress.
Unlike MBTI, the Big Five is used more in the academic world because research shows that Big Five scores are strong predictors of job performance, academic success, and even longevity. Unlike the MBTI, which forces you to be either a “T” or an “F,” the Big Five gives you scores based on multiple criteria, so you’re not just one thing. This makes it much more reliable for longitudinal psychological research. Another big problem with MBTI is that the chances of getting a different answer each time are much higher. Studies found that up to 50% of people get a different type the second time. The Big Five, on the other hand, tends to remain much more consistent because it measures degrees, and not extremes.
In conclusion, while both tests have their merits, I prefer the Big Five due to the fact that it is more reliable and consistent and it also account for neuroticism which gets overlooked in MBTI.
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At its core, personality refers to the enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make every person unique. It is the psychological “thumbprint” that influences how we react to the world around us. Personality tests are standardized tools designed by psychologists and researchers to measure these patterns, providing a framework to categorize or quantify the traits that drive our daily lives. That being said, how do we know which test to take? There are two main contenders: MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) or the Big Five (OCEAN) and today, we will look at the benefits of both.
MBTI
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types. It categorizes people into 16 distinct personalities using four binary scales:
Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): Where you get your energy.
Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): How you process information.
Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): How you make decisions.
Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): How you approach the outside world.
Why is it so popular? For three main reasons:
Ease of use: It makes it easy to describe your personality. Saying “I’m an INFJ” feels like being part of a greater whole. It offers a narrative that helps people feel understood and validated.
Team Building: It’s excellent for workshops and icebreakers. It gives teams a common language to discuss communication styles without feeling overly clinical.
Career Inspiration: While not a definitive career counselor, it helps individuals think about the environments where they might thrive (e.g., a “Thinker” might enjoy analytical roles).
The Big Five
If the MBTI is the “fun, relatable” test, the Big Five (also known as OCEAN) is the academic heavyweight. Instead of putting you in a box, the Big Five measures where you fall on a spectrum for five key traits:
Openness: Curiosity and willingness to try new things.
Conscientiousness: Organization, dependability, and discipline.
Extraversion: Sociability and assertiveness.
Agreeableness: Compassion and cooperativeness.
Neuroticism: Emotional stability and sensitivity to stress.
Unlike MBTI, the Big Five is used more in the academic world because research shows that Big Five scores are strong predictors of job performance, academic success, and even longevity. Unlike the MBTI, which forces you to be either a “T” or an “F,” the Big Five gives you scores based on multiple criteria, so you’re not just one thing. This makes it much more reliable for longitudinal psychological research. Another big problem with MBTI is that the chances of getting a different answer each time are much higher. Studies found that up to 50% of people get a different type the second time. The Big Five, on the other hand, tends to remain much more consistent because it measures degrees, and not extremes.
In conclusion, while both tests have their merits, I prefer the Big Five due to the fact that it is more reliable and consistent and it also account for neuroticism which gets overlooked in MBTI.