The 16 Personality Types
Your four letters, shown as the sliders they really are
The four-letter type is the most popular idea in personality, and the way it is normally presented hides the single most useful fact about it: the four axes are sliders, not switches. Most people sit near the middle of at least one of them, which is exactly why so many people get a different type when they take these tests again. This version gives you the letters and shows you how firmly you actually hold each one.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Answer about your natural preference, not about what your job has trained you to do. If a statement feels true half the time, the middle option is the honest answer and not a cop-out.
What it measures
The four classic axes: where you draw your energy from, whether you attend to the concrete or the possible, whether you decide by logic or by people, and whether you prefer things settled or open. Each one is scored as a continuum from zero to a hundred instead of being collapsed into a letter, so you can see which of your letters are solid and which are a coin toss.
Based on: The four type axes popularised by Jungian type theory, scored as continuous scales
Possible results
I → E Inward or outward
Where your attention and energy naturally go.
S → N Concrete or abstract
Whether you attend to what is there or to what it could mean.
T → F Logic or people
What you weigh most heavily when you decide.
J → P Settled or open
Whether you want things decided or want to keep options alive.
Common questions
Why did I get a different type from last time?
Because at least one of your bars is near the middle, and a letter drawn from a bar near the middle is close to a coin toss. This is not a flaw in how you answered - it is the known behaviour of the system, and it is why we show you the bars. Look at which of your four sits closest to 50: that is the letter that moved.
If it is unreliable, why does it describe me so well?
Partly because two of the four axes really do track well-evidenced traits - the first one is extraversion and the fourth overlaps heavily with conscientiousness, and both of those are real. And partly because type descriptions are written to be flattering and broadly applicable, which is an effect strong enough to have its own name. We have an article on it if you want to test yourself against it.
What should I use instead?
The Big Five, if you want the version with the evidence behind it. It measures five traits as continuous scales rather than forcing types, it is stable over time, and it is what personality researchers actually use. It is less fun to talk about at a party, which is most of why it lost.
Sources
- Pittenger, D. J. (1993). Measuring the MBTI and coming up short. Journal of Career Planning and Employment.
- Pittenger, D. J. (2005). Cautionary comments regarding the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research.
- Druckman, D., & Bjork, R. A. (eds.), National Research Council (1991). In the Mind's Eye: Enhancing Human Performance (chapter reviewing the evidence for personality type measures). National Academy Press.
- DeYoung, C. G., Quilty, L. C., & Peterson, J. B. (2007). Between facets and domains: 10 aspects of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
An honest note This test is in our Fun section on purpose, and it is worth explaining why. The four-letter type system is not supported by mainstream personality research on three counts. First, reliability: studies find that only about half of people get the same four letters when they retake a type questionnaire within five weeks. Second, the types themselves: type theory assumes each axis is split into two groups, but when you measure these traits in a large population the scores form a single normal curve with most people bunched in the middle, so the cut between letters is drawn through the thickest part of the crowd. Third, prediction: a 1991 review by the US National Research Council found insufficient evidence to justify using type for career guidance, and later reviews have not changed that. This is also not the commercial Myers-Briggs instrument, which is a trademarked product we have no connection to - it is an independent questionnaire built on the same four public-domain ideas, and deliberately scored as continuous scales so you can see the problem for yourself.
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