Quote:
Originally Posted by mippus
As far as I know, in the academic world MBTI is not taken seriously.
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This I have noticed too, and I was surpised. I recently asked a psychologist who was a friend fo former coworker with my wife about it, and he had never even heard of MBTI or modern temperament theory! He vaguely remembered about the ancient temperaments. It's also not covered in APA manuals like the DSM. (Though that's more specifically about disorders).
I remembered reading how years ago, it had sort of become like almost a pop-culture fad, with everyone having stickers or placards of their four letter type on their desk or door. It probably took a hit in credibility right there. Now, you have all these copycat tests online, as well, and you can take 16 of them, and come out each of the 16 types, practically.
It seems other tests, such as TJTA have more respect in the psychological community. That test doesn't name "temperaments" as such, but focuses more on the behavioral factors. I think even Type A theory is more respected as well. Others have expanded it into yet another several-"type" system, but originally, it was just seemed to be a general distinguishing of the A type.
I have found the concept of temperaments and types to be a great guideline for understanding people, so it's a shame that they're dismissed by the higher "scientific" community. It seems like it's just too familiar to and too toyed with by the "commoners" to be seen as scientific.