
As a non-Korean, I am puzzled by Koreans’ fascination with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator psychological types. I noticed that not only do K-pop idols and other Korean celebrities talk about it, but it can even arise in other situations.
Some use it to determine the compatibility of a potential romantic partner. Others may use it in job interviews or determining task assignments at work. In the US, many people are aware of Myers-Briggs, but I’ve never heard of someone choosing a partner based on their MBTI. I don’t think American celebrities discuss their MBTI. So, why has it captured the attention of Koreans?
In the MBTI world, all personalities can be measured with 2 dichotomous measures on four vectors, providing a total of 16 personality types. In preparation for this column, I took an online test and determined that my MBTI is ENTJ.
Specifically, being an ENTJ means that my personality is Extraversion (E rather than I for Introversion), Intuitive (N rather than S for Sensing), Thinking (T rather than F for Feeling) and Judging (J rather than P for Perceiving). According to the Myers-Briggs website, ENTJs are: “Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in presenting their ideas.”
Honestly, this does sound like me -- but it’s based on a bunch of questions I just answered, so why wouldn’t it match my self-perception? Also, it tells me I’m a logical leader -- that also sounds quite positive. If this matches my self-perceived personality, the MBTI inventory must be legitimate, right? The answer is that it’s doubtful, but more on that later.
When I’ve asked my Korean friends about MBTI, the first thing I realized is that few know the origin of MBTI. Some seem to think that it is based on scientific research. Its origin story is interesting.
Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Cook Briggs developed the test based on Carl Jung’s book on psychological types. His typology was influenced by the four elements in cosmology (earth, water, air and fire), sometimes with a fifth element. Versions emphasizing the four elements span ancient Greece to India, Angola to East Asia. I guess four is a handy number.
Briggs Myers was homeschooled by her mother and obtained a BA in political science from Swarthmore College. Cook Briggs obtained a BA in agriculture from Michigan Agricultural College, which is now Michigan State University. Neither had any training in psychology or psychometric testing. Cook Briggs first wrote about a “personality paintbox” in 1926, which was published in the magazine The New Republic. The mother-daughter pair became very interested in thinking about personality types, and the first test was developed to help sort women into jobs during World War II.
The early MBTI tests were later championed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS, home to many official exams such as the SAT, GRE and LSAT). Later, other schools and businesses adopted it.
According to the New York Times, the mother-daughter pair were brilliant not for their science, but for their marketing skills. Their test was superior in that there were no negative answers. Each of the 16 personality traits was described positively. Moreover, it was allowed a more intuitive interpretation than many of the other personality tests that were in vogue in the 1950s and 1960s.
Researchers in psychology have tested its measures and generally find it problematic.
Its findings are not easily replicable. I could take this test now and then again in six months and be issued a different result.
It’s not clear if the measures correlate with any actual personality traits, and there seems to be no studies that find it is able to predict measurable outcomes.
Psychologist Robert Hogan argues that most psychologists “regard the MBTI as little more than an elaborate Chinese fortune cookie.” Others have compared it to astrology.
So, why do Koreans find this test so appealing?
I think there is a real affinity to tests in Korea. There are not only college entrance tests, but tests for all types of licensing and jobs. Second, classifying people is an efficient way to sort people. A 2022 CNN article argues that young adults in Korea find dating bothersome, so shortening the list of potential partners by their MBTI makes sense. In an older generation, people might have used blood types, astrology (either East Asian animals or Western zodiac signs), fortunetellers or shamans to guide their decision-making.
However, MBTI is based on one’s responses to a long list of questions, so perhaps that makes it even more appealing. It seems to be a fun test, but I think there is no reason to treat it any more seriously than deciding whether you should date a Rooster or a Pig, a Virgo or a Sagittarius.
Grace Kao
Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.