An increasing number of British companies are using personality tests to hire staff. Two of the more popular personality tests are the Big Five and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). There’s just one problem and it’s a rather big one: both of these tests are utterly scientifically useless. And Brits are being hired (or not hired) based on the results of these dubious tests.
Personality tests are a type of zombie falsehood. Despite their lack of scientific validity and numerous papers displaying their many failings, they just won’t die
Of the two, the MBTI appears to be more popular. The assessment comprises 93 forced-choice questions. It evaluates four distinct dichotomies: extraversion versus introversion; sensing versus intuition; thinking versus feeling; and judging versus perceiving. Each dichotomy leads to one of two preferences, and the combination of these preferences determines one of 16 personality types. Each personality type is represented by a unique combination of four letters, such as ISFJ (introverted, sensing, feeling and judging) or ENTP (extroverted, intuitive, thinking, and perceiving).
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