Many people know of or identify with zodiac signs or MBTI personalities, but most people say they aren’t accurate or have no practical uses, but is this really the case?
The MBTI personality quiz is a test first created by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. But the idea of a psychological quiz meant to put your personality in a category was not started with them, their work was inspired by Carl G Jung in his 1921 book “Psychological Types”. The mother, daughter duo published the first MBTI instrument in the year 1962
Zodiac signs have been around for a lot longer than the MBTI personalities, being supposedly made around 600 BCE and continuing to survive in terms of relevance for the past two and half millenniums, with about 29% of Americans believing in Zodiac signs.
However, it seems with both of these we’ve been told they are unscientific or stupid. In spite of that, there are actually a few other uses of the two beyond self discovery.
According to Jeneveve Winchell-Buren, a Dog Teams and AVID teacher, some schools used to use MBTI personality for determining strengths and weaknesses.
“Schools in the past also used MBTI So I have been familiar with Myers Briggs since I was in high school” WInchell-Buren said. “I first learned about it in a leadership, extracurricular activity I was doing at the time. It was taught to me as a scientific method for determining individual personalities and what strengths and weaknesses they might have.”
When asked about the idea of companies using MBTI personalities to hire workers Winchell says “I would imagine that companies might still use Myers Briggs in some of that, developing and determining skills and strengths, but I certainly hope they’re not using it for hiring or placement”
So, they do have some proper uses in the real world when it comes to leadership or team building. but what’s the appeal of MBTI personalities and Zodiacs as they have only a little amount of evidence proving that they’re actually accurate. So, why do people like them so much?
The short answer is: people want to belong. According to Occupational Health & Safety (OHS), less than half of all Americans feel left out, and when people feel left out they try and find a place to belong.
Dr. Amelia Franck Meyer, founder and CEO of the non profit organization for child welfare Alia, has a great quote to sum up this section of the story and end off this article
“Human beings were made to connect with other humans. It is essential– not only to our thriving—but to our very surviving.”
