weaknesses

the rankings of these traits change with time:

"Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Openness generally decrease as a person ages"

gender and birth-order have been found to be correlated with these traits (i.e. first-borns
are generally less agreeable)

The five factors are not independent variables

rely on self-report methods - inherent self-bias

Therefore, factors like current health, or mood, can change a person's responses.
However, Hirsh & Peterson (2008) have formulated a set of questions that seems immune
to self-enhancement - see psych-it link below.

other

Geert Hofstede's cultural factors seem to be correlated with the Big Five traits within
particular countries.

Some criticisms of the MBTI

Unscientific basis to the theory
Jung's theory of psychological type was not based on empirical, scientific studies but emanated
from his observations and reflections.
This does not mean that they are inaccurate, simply unproven.
Misuse of Jung's ideas
Isabel Briggs Myers explains in Gifts Differing how she built on Jung's theories. However, some
argue that there is a huge difference between Jung's ideas on type and preference and Myers'. If
you are interested, a good summary of what this means is outlined in Dr Anna Maria Garden's
paper: 'Unresolved Issues with The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator'. One issue is whether Jung
thought everyone could be classed as an introvert or an extravert, for example, or whether he
thought that many people had no distinct preference.
Forer effects

Some critics say that tests and profiles such as the MBTI are particularly susceptible to the 'Forer
effect' whereby an individual accepts feedback on his/her personality when it fact it has no
specific relevance to the individual.
Most explanations of the Forer effect suggest human gullibility and the desire to accept
statements about the self particularly if they are positive and show us in a good light.
Forer's original research used information plucked from the astrology column in a newspaper. It
was incredibly general and could easily apply to anyone.
The research on the Forer effect has mainly been conducted on psychology students. This means
they are a group of mainly young people who believe in psychological instruments.
Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that they are likely to accept the results of a psychological
test particularly if the result has been prepared for them specially by their tutor. This is not real
life.
Psychological instruments are their stock in trade and this is why so many of them are likely to
accept results unquestioningly.
Reliability
This refers to how consistent a test is in its ability to measure what it claims to measure.
Even those who dispute the concept of type (more of this below) argue that it is measuring
something significant. For example, McCrae and Costa show that all four of the MBTI scales
(e-I, s-n, t-f, j-p) correlate with four of the big five personality traits.
However, the MBTI claims to measure something more than personality traits.
Some researchers argue that this may be due to the limitations of the indicator rather than the
theory.
Falsifiability
The MBTI's accuracy is dependent on a person's honest reporting. Some personality measures
attempt to deal with exaggerated or socially desirable responses.
Others are constructed in such a way that it is difficult to fake a result. But the MBTI is a very
transparent instrument for many of the questions if is farily obvious what the questions are
designed to assess.

This is one of the reasons why the MBTI should never be used for job selection. It is also why
the nature of the experience in completing the MBTI and receiving feedback is of critical
importance.
Lack of peer review
Over the years a great deal of research has been carried out on type differences but most of this
has been published by journals aimed at the type community. Few articles have been written for
journals which use peer review - the academic gold standard. This has weakened the type
community's ability to claim that there is good research behind the instrument.
Recommendation
However, we think that some of the MBTI's limitations can be minimised by the following good
use of the instrument:

Not treating MBTI scores as 'gospel' merely a starting point for discussion and part of the process
to see if any of the type profiles are a reasonable fit for that person.

Continually stating that the MBTI does not predict skills. Rather it only suggests potential
strengths and weaknesses. MBTI results should not be used to make decisions to hire or promote
people or to discourage them from following any path of study or career.

Encouraging people to continually bear in mind that the primary purpose of the MBTI is to help
people understand that we are all different. The MBTI is a useful starting point for understanding
some of this difference. Without some description and explanation of rudimentary differences
between people it is very common for individuals to think that everyone should be like them. This
then can lead to conflict, criticism and lack of respect in relationships.

Critiques of the Rational Model

Critics of rational choice theoryor the rational model of decision-makingclaim that this
model makes unrealistic and over-simplified assumptions. Their objections to the rational model
include:

People rarely have full (or perfect) information. For example, the information
might not be available, the person might not be able to access it, or it might
take too much time or too many resources to acquire. More complex models

rely on probability in order to describe outcomes rather than the assumption

that a person will always know all outcomes.

Individual rationality is limited by their ability to conduct analysis and think

through competing alternatives. The more complex a decision, the greater
the limits are to making completely rational choices.

Rather than always seeking to optimize benefits while minimizing costs,

people are often willing to choose an acceptable option rather than the
optimal one. This is especially true when it is difficult to precisely measure
and assess factors among the selection criteria.