A prevalent issue about MBTI In K-pop

I originally posted this thought in the random thoughts thread, but after chatting more about it with YouChanDoThis I decided to create an individual thread about it since it is rather important information that probably should be shared. Not many people know about MBTI well and have false conceptions about it, especially in K-pop.

Something critical to note is that MBTI is technically not a personality test, it is something that categorises your cognitive functions (the way you think) and it is not supposed to be the result of preferences and habits, leaving less room for bias. Think about the concepts of introvert and extrovert—it’s not what forms your personality, it simply categorises what recharges your batteries (alone time or social time).

I’m posting most of the conversation we had in the random thoughts thread here, so the rest of this will be formed in quotes.

Quote from bluetree

On the topic of MBTI, as somebody who’s poked into the typology community, I’d like to spread the word that 16 Personalities is not a very accurate site and it types off preferences and habits rather than actual cognitive functions like MBTI is supposed to be.

If you’ve ever wondered why the people who are into typology and K-pop at the same time almost never agree with the official results of an idol’s MBTI test, it’s probably because when people type the idol properly it turns out way different than what 16P says.

Most idols DO use 16 personalities to take their test.

I also report this from personal experience. It tried to give my results as ESTP, ESTJ, ENFP, and ENTJ, when I’m actually (most definitely) ENTP.

Hope that this is an informative post to everyone who views it and that it spreads some amount of awareness!

Quote from horizonshard

Another issue is that there isn't any way to make the test unbiased.

The very fact that someone is taking a test, will change the way they answer the questions. Even if they're trying to be as honest as possible, people lie to themselves all the time.

So the results will always be skewed.

So a better way to look at it would be that the results are what a person thinks they want to be, instead of what their personality actually is.

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Thanks for your insight, what you said is a very important point.

That’s part of why MBTI tests that go off habits/preferences are inaccurate and present skewed results. Proper MBTI tests are supposed to type you off the way you think, not what your personality, and the questions are structured to pinpoint that, so it takes out some room for bias. In fact, MBTI isn’t really about personality, instead it’s cognitive functions (again, the way a person thinks).

And, taking a test isn’t the only way to find out an MBTI, people can type you based on how your thinking appears instead of you doing it yourself.

Quote from ISaidISaid

Ohhh what’s an accurate way to get MBTI online? Do you have any resource rec?

If you mean an accurate site to take the test, I’ve seen a lot of people in the typology community recommend John’s test and keys2cognition.

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This is one of the explanations why it is recommended.

You might want to ask YouChanDoThis for better information since she studies this more than me.

I never thought I’d be recommending mbti stuff on a K-pop forum, but, here I am.

Quote from Moonlight94

I mean these tests run off of a computer function which has a set number of pathways built into it so will never give accurate results anyway.

Think of it as similar to those "Who is your kpop boyfriend" quizzes on buzzfeed or whatever, each answer has a set pathway it can go to through the computer, so it just follows that pathway regardless.

Actually I believe that the accurate tests are supposed to be this way: each question is categorised, and depending on how you answer that certain question you get a higher or lower percentage score on the letter category that question fits into. In the end it shows the percentages of each letter. Then it arranges your function stack based on what is the highest percentage of each section. it lists your likelihoods for every type, which is the strongest and which is the weakest. It essentially narrows down through the the types based on your answers, not a set pathway. On those proper tests, it’s possible for everybody to get a different answer.

Quote from kazuyakamenashi

It's because mbti happens to scratch that itch in our folklore and culture around the hearts of people and their personalities. There's a reason soo many folks from regular life all the way up to the president. Visit shaman's fortune tellers religious leaders. Have these superstitious blood type personality bullshit among other things 🤡🤣 . This is Korea get used to our weirdness. Some of us know all that stuff is bs Just like horoscopes all bullshit. But a good amount of people still believe in it and to them mbti is part of it which is why they include it in kpop.

Well, technically mbti is originally based off a scientific study, it’s just that people have taken it to a really superstitious level and created all these boxes around it.