Validity and Reliability of the Myers Briggs Test Term Paper

Validity and Reliability of the Myers Briggs Test - Term Paper ExampleThe history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator holds accountable Carl Jung and his genius theory as the primary basis and the chief influence of Katharine C. Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers in the development of the MBTI, a project that lasted for two decades and a half (Bayne, 1997 Morgan & Morgan, 2007 Quenk, 2009). Jung published his restrain Psychological Types in the early 1920s which was later on translated in English and published in America. Briggs at that time was also developing her hold theory of personality types which she later on abandoned upon discovery of Jungs theory which resembled her ideas but had better structure and form. It then started the long journey of Briggs and Myers that reason with the creation of the MBTI. Guided by Jungs theory, their observations of individuals led them to the conclusion that typology could provide a useful way of describing healthy personality diff erences and importantly, that such assessment could be put to practical use in peoples lives (Morgan & Morgan, 2007, p. 336). Such non-judgmental and realistic underpinnings of the instrument are perhaps the reasons for its massive influence and application. It is interesting to keep that none of them have studied and trained under Jungian psychoanalysis yet they accepted his ideas and studied it enthusiastically for 25 years. To begin with, both were not psychologists and do not have a strong foundation in statistics. In the 1940s, psychological testing was a very young field and inventory type questionnaires were not popular. While psychology often measures characteristic, Myers and Briggs were more drawn towards preferences which identify the dominant functions of individuals. At that time, they did not have the convenience of computers making concomitant analysis, so they relied heavily on friends who they classified as thinking and feeling individuals.