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Exposing Psychology, Exalting Christ |
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| Are the MBTI® and other personality tests helpful to the Christian?The MBTI®*, or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®*, is a personality type classification test used by millions to help them with job placement and performance, personal relationships, self-analysis and even spirituality. The American church uses the MBTI extensively, including seminaries, churches and missionary organizations. Results of the test classify you as a combination of four traits: Extravert (E) or Introvert (I), Sensate (S) or Intuitive (N), Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), and Judging (J) or Perceiving (P). Should we use the MBTI and other personality tests to better understand self, relationships, and spirituality? Let’s consider each of them in turn. As God’s timing would have it, I (Ryan) was recently required to take the MBTI personality test as part of a managerial leadership class. I was humored to find that out of the 16 possible combinations of personality types described, eight out of the 12 types could accurately describe me. The general and vague descriptions could apply to anyone, and make that person believe the test is accurate and trustworthy. This phenomenon is known as the P.T. Barnum effect, or Forer effect: you can give the same vague, general personality profile to a group of people and a large majority of them will say it uniquely applies to them. B. R. Forer, a psychologist, "gave a personality test to his students, ignored their answers, and gave each student the same exact personality evaluation. He asked them to evaluate the evaluation from 0 to 5, with "5" meaning the recipient felt the evaluation was an "excellent" assessment and "4" meaning the assessment was "good." The class average evaluation was 4.26. That was in 1948. The test has been repeated hundreds of times with psychology students and the average is still around 4.2." (Carroll, Robert Todd, The Skeptic’s Dictionary, 2002, http://skepdic.com/forer.html.) Not only are the MBTI test results general and vague, but the test questions themselves are so broad that the answer in my mind to almost every question in the test was, "Both," or "It depends on the situation or stage in my life." My answers changed based on the situation I was considering: old job, current job, work with the boss, work with a good team, work with a difficult team, home/family life, friendships, church relationships, school relationships, etc. But I could not answer in this way. Instead, for each question I had to choose from two vague answers that pigeonholed me into a predetermined classification for all situations and life stages. Most importantly, the MBTI assumes you can accurately judge yourself in the first place. Have you ever noticed how we can evaluate others much more harshly than we evaluate ourselves? Leadership studies have shown that people consistently overrate themselves compared to how others rate them in the same categories. This phenomenon stems from our sinful nature and the deceitfulness of our own hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?" His rhetorical question tells us that no one—not even us—can know the true nature of our hearts. Taking a personality test like the MBTI to better understand our selves is futile because no one can really know the true state of one’s heart. It not only deceives us and tells us we’re better than we really are, but it is capable of truly wicked things. When faced with certain circumstances and under certain conditions, we would be surprised at what would come out of us in word and deed. Some have better skills of repression and self-control than others, but all of us are capable of the worst atrocities. Thank God for the presence of Jesus Christ in our hearts, who is continually cleansing us from those thoughts, words and behaviors that originate from our sinful hearts (Luke 6:45). God answers Jeremiah’s rhetorical question of "Who can know it?" with "I the LORD search the heart." (Jeremiah 17:10) To know self better, we must know God better. The closer we get to God, the more clearly we see and know ourselves. That is why the apostle Paul was an arrogant and boastful man before meeting Christ ("concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" – Phil. 3:6), and a humble and reverent man afterwards ("Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." - 1 Tim. 1:15). He saw his true condition—the way God saw him—only after his meeting Christ. Using the MBTI and other personality tests for relationships also falls short when compared to the Bible. Some dating agencies—even "Christian" ones—use personality tests to help match singles. But why would a Christian led by the Holy Spirit want to use a man-made personality test to help them find their mate for life? God knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows who would be the best mate for us. He has someone picked out just for us, and it’s our responsibility to seek the Lord for who that person is. If we look to a dead, man-made test, we will surely miss God’s best for us. The Bible provides ample wisdom on relationships with girlfriends/boyfriends (Prov. 31, 1 Cor. 6:18-20, etc.), family (Ephesians 5:21 – 6:4, Colossians 3:18-21, etc.), friends (many verses in the Proverbs), co-workers (Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:22 – 4:1, etc.) and of course those in the church (most of Paul’s epistles). God is the expert on relationships, because He thought of the whole idea in the first place when he created mankind to have fellowship with Him in the garden. Lastly, some use the MBTI and other personality tests for spirituality, including understanding how to best serve God in a church, seminary, ministry or missionary organization. As we’ve already discussed, the MBTI’s generality and broadness will not give you an accurate picture of yourself or your skills, and does not help in career planning and job placement (see http://www.psychologydebunked.com/email0407_MBTI.htm). But more importantly, why would we want to use a man-made tool inspired by demons (see http://www.psychologydebunked.com/email0407_Jung.htm) to help us know how to best serve God? Shouldn’t we ask God Himself how we can best serve Him? After all, it is God who gives us the desires to serve in a certain capacity, and it is also God who equips us with the ability to do what He has called us to do. When using a personality test, one ends up looking to the ways and methods of man to direct one's life, instead of looking to God and following the leading of the Holy Spirit. They amount to trusting in a false idol that competes with the true and living God. Using a personality test does not help us know ourselves better; does not help us have better relationships with others; and does not help us know how to best serve God. The saints for the past 2,000 years lived the Christian life just fine without a personality test. They did quite well with the Bible, the Holy Spirit and one another. God made every person unique, and He has a special plan and purpose for each person He has created. Although we use human experts in many areas, God is the expert in matters related to the spirit, soul, will and emotions. We must trust in God and not man in these areas. Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD… Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. (Jeremiah 17:5, 7)
* The Myers-Briggs Type lndicator and MBTI are registered trademarks of Consulting Psychologists Press.
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