Why Aren’t Personality Tests Accurate?

Personality tests are known for their inaccuracy. After all, the first response you get from people when proclaiming your personality test results is a warning to that affect. But, why exactly are personality tests so inaccurate? If you’ve been following Practical Typing for some time, you might remember that I’ve written an article on this subject in the past. However, after creating our own personality test, my perspective has updated, so I’d like to share everything I’ve learned.

The Reasons Personality Tests Aren’t Accurate

When it comes to personality tests, there are two main sources of potential problems: the test-taker and the test itself. I’m going to list off the problems that can occur on both ends of this equation. Of course, my points will specifically be about Jung-based personality tests, such as Myers-Briggs and other 16 personality type variants. However, much of the information could apply to other types of personality tests, such as Enneagram.

1. Some tests don’t prioritize the cognitive functions

Of course, I have to mention 16p here, because it is well-known for not even being based on the Myers-Briggs theory. Rather, it’s a Big 5 test that’s cleverly disguised as a 16 personalities test. But, moving beyond 16p, some tests over-emphasize dichotomy preferences, rather than focusing on the cognitive functions. The most obvious flaw in emphasizing dichotomies often surfaces in the Judging vs. Perceiving dichotomy, or J/P.

The J/P dichotomy is the most unreliable dichotomy in the Myers-Briggs theory because it doesn’t tie directly to any specific set of cognitive functions. In fact, when Carl Jung describes extraverts, he uses descriptors that we typically associate with perceivers. Inversely, he describes introverts using descriptors that we associated with judgers. In addition, many J traits correspond specifically to Te, while some are just learned through basic maturity and responsibility. I could go on and on. The bottom line is that if the J/P dichotomy gets too much weight in a test, you’ll see INFPs constantly typing as INFJs, ENTJs typing as ENTPs, etc.

Related Article: Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): What’s the Difference?

2. The questions on the test are not written well

It’s easy to take an objective knowledge of personality theory, and write up a bunch of questions, expecting people to answer in accordance with their personality type. However, you find out really fast (or at least, we did) that people don’t always view themselves the way that their personality type is described. A good personality test has to take into account people’s subjective perspectives, and use vernacular that’ll prompt people to answer correctly, assuming they’re being honest with themselves, of course. Writing good questions can actually be very challenging.

3. The questions on the test are based on stereotypes

Certain personality types are only really known for their stereotypes, and that can get reflected in the tests. For instance, are you athletic? SP confirmed. How about creative? Definitely an intuitive. Lazy? Perceiver. Impractical? Intuitive. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that one’s personality type does not determine specific skills, nor does it predict how successful someone will be in life. Rather, one’s personality type is based on the cognitive functions which define thought processes, or mentalities.

4. Tests struggle to account for atypical manifestations or edge cases

Personality types can manifest differently due to a variety of factors, such as autism, depression, or trauma. (For instance, an extravert that is depressed will often answer questions more like an introvert, or someone with autism might score unusually high in Si.) When this happens, an otherwise accurate test may suddenly be giving out false results. This is something that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to account for 100% of the time.

5. Personality theory biases test-takers

The most honest test taker is the one who knows absolutely nothing about personality theory, for two reasons. (1) No specific result seems more desirable than the rest because they haven’t learned to be biased, and (2) personality theory hasn’t programmed them to frame themselves in a specific way. I’m not necessarily trying to demonize personality theory, but it can cause people to lose objectivity. For anyone immersed in the theory, it doesn’t take long to figure out what each question indicates. Some people, once they reach that understanding, will bias their answers to force a specific result. Of course, this isn’t always done on purpose. As I mentioned, typology teaches people how to reframe themselves. Similarly, someone who takes a test already knowing their personality type might subconsciously bias their answers toward the type that they know they are. (Essentially, because they know what the “right” answers are, and they’ve learned to see themselves only in that light.) Perhaps this seems odd, but it happens. However, every single person is not a living, carbon copy of the same, generic personality type description. People have their own unique deviations. Objective answers will reflect that.

6. Some test-takers struggle to see the big picture

I’m not talking about intuition here. I’m talking about the larger patterns in their own behavior. We all do a little bit of everything. A common complaint (about test questions) is “Well, it depends on the context! I do both.” But questions need to force answers out of people to get a result. All neutral answers give the test nothing to use for calculations. The right answer, the one that’ll produce an accurate result (assuming an accurate test), is the answer that the test-taker relates to the most. The thing they do most of the time, or more often than not. The big picture of that person. We all have mood fluctuations, and things in our lives that make us deviate from our standard, default behavior. (Sometimes these deviations are good, for the record. It’s good to break the mold from time to time. We don’t need to be stereotypes.) However, our personality type is determined by our default behavior or thought processes.

7. Some test-takers struggle to see themselves independently

Included in the struggle to see oneself objectively is the struggle to recognize who you are outside of the context of others. For instance, a household of perceivers might have that one perceiver that is slightly more structured than the rest of them. The one that prefers a bit more advance notice, or doesn’t like doing everything completely at the last minute. That perciever might feel like a judger, because they’ve spent their whole life surrounded by pure and utter chaos. However, that same perceiver may one day find themselves around some hard core judgers, where they are, in fact, defined as the chaos of the group. In this example, how the perceiver viewed themselves would have shifted radically based on the change in context. That’s why context like this can be tricky. People only know what they’ve experienced. To really understand the way they are, some people need to see or experience themselves in a variety of contexts.

So, Is There Any Point To Taking Personality Tests?

Yes, there is. Although, for the record, taking them over and over again is a waste of time. However, initially, taking a personality test can give someone an indication of what personality types to start looking into. An initial direction can be helpful, but it’s important to remember that it is only a starting point. A personality test should not get the final say in your personality type, because of all the potential factors that can cause inaccuracies in tests. Ultimately, everyone needs to look into the individual personality types themselves, learn about the core determinants, like the cognitive functions, and see what they align with the most.

In Conclusion…

Of course, not all tests are as inaccurate as some people might say. Naturally, people will rant and rave about how inaccurate a test is if they’re given an unexpected or undesirable result. But it’s best not to look at these things so black-and-white. Personality tests generate suggestions, and nothing more. Check out the suggestion, internalize what you learn, and then move on.