Should Millennials and Gen Z Take the Myer-Briggs Test?

Published on December 26, 2019

Most people encounter the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator (MBTI) in a freshman college class or in the workforce. A free version can be taken online in 10 minutes at 16Personalities.com.

The MBTI test results provide a personality profile covering Strengths and Weaknesses, Romantic Relationships, Friendships, Parenthood, Career Paths, and Workplace Habits.

The theory behind the MBTI was developed originally by Carl Jung. The widely used test was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers in the 1960s.

The test sorts personalities into four different psychological types based on how they test in the type options. The options include extraversion and introversion, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, and judging and perceiving.

Organizations and employers often administer the MBTI and similar personality tests to both potential job candidates and current employees. The results can be used in a variety of ways to influence certain aspects of success in the workplace.

Additionally, the test can also be helpful for individual personal development. Here are five ways the MBTI impacts Millenials and Gen Z.

1. Maturity

The MBTI helps people mature because it gives an objective way to look at oneself and others.

The ability to help an audience mature in the self-development industry is relevant now more than ever. A younger crowd is currently flocking to the concept of self-development. I personally stumbled upon the MBTI when I was 16 and it helped me understand myself and others tremendously.

Adolescence and young adulthood are notoriously emotional, messy, and confusing. A little objectivity never hurts during the growing up process.

Common sense social-emotional skills have to be learned at some point in life because they are vital to success. The MBTI helps people mature by giving them the tools to better understand themselves and other’s perceptions and reactions to the world based on personality.

Therefore, the MBTI helps people mature because it gives an objective way to look at oneself and others.

2. Self-Acceptance

The MBTI encourages self-acceptance because every personality is valued. Every person has great strengths and the test reveals that reality. But, young people tend to be hard on themselves.

Many people, especially type A perfectionists, are too hard on themselves. They spend so much time working for tomorrow and obsessing over mistakes they forget how unique and great they are individually.

The MBTI can give people pride in what their strengths are and give them career path ideas that play to those strengths.

It is hard to accept what you are unaware of in yourself. But, the MBTI provides a strength and weaknesses list that gives test-takers a way to accept themselves.

Therefore, the MBTI encourages self-acceptance because every personality is valued.

3. Acceptance For Others

Acceptance for others is fostered by the MBTI because other people are annoying – and that’s okay. We all can bring to mind certain types of people who are just the worst.

Carl Jung, original theorizer of the test stated, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Learning how we relate to the world can help us understand that other people just operate differently. And there is nothing wrong with that.

This realization won’t make other people suddenly less irritating. But, it will help to depersonalize the fact that there is diversity in life and in personalities.

The Rationals/Analysts category of the test is a prime example of people who need this understanding.

These are the stereotypically intellectual group and they have a tendency to be arrogant and have low social-emotional intelligence.

When I first took the test, I was 16 and tested in the rationals category. The test helped me understand other people a lot and to realize being an introverted nerd was my personality preference, not the superior way to behave.

A lot of people believe their way of life is the best and people who live differently are wrong. But, the earlier this attitude is abandoned for a more mature accepting one the better.

Therefore, acceptance for others is fostered by the MBTI because other people are annoying – and that’s okay.

4. Understanding Personality Conflicts

The MBTI helps people understand personality conflicts because using the test can show how two people differ.

Comparing two personalities side by side can show there is conflict because the types are either very different or very similar. Objectively considering why there is conflict can help to solve it without the relationship damage of fighting to be right.

Basically it encourages the live-and-let-live attitude. This attitude is important because you can’t please everyone and it’s foolish to try.

Further, if a living or working situation just does not work due to a personality conflict it will help you objectify why the situation does not work. Then you can decide to make a different and better choice next time.

You learn what you can live with and when you are willing and unwilling to compromise.

Life is largely about riding the waves of change and personality conflicts are a huge catalyst for personal growth and change.

Therefore, the MBTI helps people understand personality conflicts because using the test can show how two people differ.

5. Ideas For Personal Growth

The MBTI Strengths and Weaknesses section of the test results give people ideas for their personalized areas for growth. This is useful because self-image is often the most biased.

My test result said the Achilles heel of my personality was emotional intelligence.

That feedback started a 9-year research project on emotional intelligence that continues to this day. I was always willing to do work on myself, even at age 16, but I didn’t know where to begin.

My test results helped me get ideas for personal growth because it told me where my weaknesses were and that I would be a more well-rounded person if I got out of my comfort zone.

Everyone has self-improvement work to do and the work is never finished.

But, to do personal growth work, we need an accurate picture of not only our strengths but also our weaknesses. Armed with this information, Millenials and Gen Z’s can gain ahead start in life.

Therefore, the MBTI Strengths and Weaknesses section of the test results give people ideas for their personalized areas for growth.

Have You Taken the MBTI Recently?

The MBTI can be a powerful tool for personal growth and development, especially for very young people because common sense social-emotional skills may not yet be so common.

Nova Levante is a Legal News Columnist at Grit Daily. Nova is a licensed and practicing attorney focusing on debt negotiation, the Fair Debt Collection Defense, expungement, and bankruptcy. Nova attended Rutgers University, where Nova concentrated in global cyber-security law and policy. As a computer programmer and lawyer, Nova provides a unique perspective on technology law.

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