Most credible source for MBTI percentages

[Moiety]

Is there any credible study pertaining to how much of the world's population is a certain type? The most common and less common type? That kind of thing.

 

[Jack Flak]

MBTI's don't fit in the least (in my view, of course). I believe people so often test as xSTJ under the Official MBTI because they want to come off a certain way.

I more trust statistics that list ESFP as the most common, and INxP as among the rarest.

 

[Moiety]

MBTI's don't fit in the least (in my view, of course). I believe people so often test as xSTJ under the Official MBTI because they want to come off a certain way.

I more trust statistics that list ESFP as the most common, and INxP as among the rarest.

I couldn't possibly expect you guys to answer me "how many people are a certain type?". I just want to know how many people test as ENFP or INTP... etc

 

[Jack Flak]

I couldn't possibly expect you guys to answer me "how many people are a certain type?". I just want to know how many people test as ENFP or INTP... etc

The "likely most accurate" resource I can think of would be Keirsey's website. The only distribution statistics I know for sure are present are the percentages listed in each type description.

 

[entropie]

the best I know is here, but this would need you to accept the MBTIc as "your world"

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/mbti-enneagram-other-personality-matrices/8542-mbtic-statistics.html

 

[Jack Flak]

entropie: Master of Qualifiers.

 

[edcoaching]

The only group that's tried to get a representative sample that I know of (not relying on who takes their instruments) is the actual publisher of the MBTI, CPP, Inc. - Leaders in Workforce Development but they don't have the chart on their site. I posted it to Haight not long ago in a thread re: the only other two countries where the same work has been done.

They actually tried to get reps representative of age/gender/education/ethnic background to base their "National Representative Sample" and while you can argue with the validity of the instrument I just haven't heard of anyone else going after a sample this way...

 

[ptgatsby]

Capt would be - you can also order more data if you want, they have a publication that breaks down type by employment/area/etc.

Estimated Frequencies of Types - CAPT.org

 

[Jack Flak]

Yeah, the CAPT stats fail in the same way MBTI stats do, if they're even separate.

 

[ptgatsby]

Yeah, the CAPT stats fail in the same way MBTI stats do, if they're even separate.

They are mbti stats. Why would they fail, exactly?

 

[Jack Flak]

I've posted it elsewhere on the board. In short, because people who take the Official MBTI are more likely to be taking the test for someone else than themselves. Such as an employer. When I B.S. my way through an interview, it's generally through my acting SJ.

 

[ptgatsby]

I've posted it elsewhere on the board. In short, because people who take the Official MBTI are more likely to be taking the test for someone else than themselves. Such as an employer. When I B.S. my way through an interview, it's generally through my acting SJ.

That's possibly true, although they have hundreds of thousands of records from other places, along with the records of their validation tests.

 

[Jack Flak]

100,000 B.S. records makes not one worth a F***.

 

[ptgatsby]

100,000 B.S. records makes not one worth a F***.

The point being that they have multiple sets, and random sets from their instrument validation.

 

[Jack Flak]

And they're therefore accurate? U CN DO BETR, methinks.

 

[edcoaching]

I've posted it elsewhere on the board. In short, because people who take the Official MBTI are more likely to be taking the test for someone else than themselves. Such as an employer. When I B.S. my way through an interview, it's generally through my acting SJ.

When they did the national representative sample, CPP solicited people specifically for that purpose--the were taking it independent of workplace.

CPP's the publisher of the MBTI. CAPT is a nonprofit that does training, publishes resources, and houses the Isabel Myers Memorial Library, the bibliography of which is online.

 

[Jack Flak]

I still refuse to believe actual type distribution leads to higher xSTJ than ESFP. People can be horrible test-takers.

 

[ptgatsby]

And they're therefore accurate? U CN DO BETR, methinks.

*sigh*

You complain about systemic bias in their collection system. I tell you that they have academic sets, as well as random sets used during their validation. I figured you could translate this to having various baselines to measure skew.

K, thx, bye.

 

[Mondo]

Where all of these ESFP's?
I see SJ's everywhere I go!!!

I don't know if you are in college or not but a lot of the people who try to act all "SP-ish" are simply SJs trying to fit in.

For instance.. last year, I had a roommate who is very outgoing and enjoys the partying scene.
From a superficial perspective, he may seem like an ESTP.
However, he is very organized, structured, and hardworking on the weekdays- he hates messes and often was annoyed at me for not cleaning my side of the room. Everything else says that he is actually an ESTJ, not an ESTP. If Rationals and/or Idealists were running things, you would see a lot of Guardians trying to act like them too... The college partying scene demands Se- living for the moment.


On a side note, I thought Ne would work just as well for the scene- it doesn't.

 

[Jack Flak]

There are more ESFPs than ISTJs, at least. It's the whole test bias thing.