Extroverted, intuition, feeling and perceiving.
That is my result for the Meyers–Briggs personality test that analyzes answers and correlates them to facts about the person who is taking the test. Personality tests such as the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, and the Strong interest inventory, are hugely popular among colleges and businesses these days. Many businesses use them to increase productivity and improve internal relations at work by creating a heightened awareness of the types of people that are working at any given business.
On college campuses, including Biola, these tests are being used by career counselors in order to help push students to be more aware of what type of jobs and careers they not only would like most, but also be most effective and happy in doing.
But how do students feel about these tests? Are these simple little tests really as helpful and necessary as they seem, or are they merely a popular tool kept around through habituation?
After asking many students on campus, it was surprising to learn that most students actually feel like these tests place people in a “box” and force them to feel like they should act and live a certain way. Students seem to generally think that personality is not something that can be gauged by various questions and scenarios but is more independent and constantly changing. Part of this seems to come from a lack of personal awareness on people’s parts. If one is not truly aware of who they are as a person, the reasons behind the choices they make, the friends they choose, and the activities they pursue, can they actually be expected to honestly answer the questions in these tests? Granted, these tests have no wrong or right answer, but it seems highly possible that the tests will have a wrong or right result.
So then, who should take these tests, and why should they take them? It seems that the best candidates for these tests are people who are confident in the person they are and the person they want to be. For me, the Meyers-Briggs test affirms things I already assumed about myself and makes it easier to function naturally because I know that my choices and actions stem from a natural inclination that works best for me.
The reason I first took the Meyers-Briggs test was due to my involvement as a staff member at a Christian summer family camp called Campus By the Sea. Those of us working with the children of the families took the test and shared our results with the group for the purpose of learning how to interact with each other and love each other best for the summer we would be living together. I truly believe that that was the most effective use of personality tests that can be implemented. Our staff took the tests for the purpose of learning how to better serve each other and the campers who would be filtering in and out of our camp each week.
What it comes down to is that it is highly possible that personality tests are merely a way for people to learn about themselves, and might truly be a way for others to understand people and how to serve and love them for who they are and what they need.
