MBTI

[Esther Yoder Strahan]

I have to pull on this thread. I too have been quite skeptical about the MBTI and the uses to which it is put, and have seldom used it clinically (but then, I haven't done much couples therapy). Nevertheless, there are clinical tools that may not have adequate validity for making predictions about performance but that may work very well in providing a client with a useful framework for understanding a situation.

For example, I have a couple of metaphors/allegories/illustrative tales that I occasionally use in therapy sessions. One could argue that I should not use those because their psychometric properties are completely unknown, and that I should just stick to my usual mostly-CBT repertoire. BUT often clients tell me how useful those stories were, how they helped them reframe a situation, etc.. [Yes, I understand the nature of this anecdotal evidence, so back off and let me complete my thought!  >:)  ]

Still, my basic point is that something (e.g. use of illustrative stories, MBTI, etc.) can have clinical utility as a framework for clients attempting to understanding individual differences.

The question then becomes whether clients' comfort/understanding of such matters (as measured by self-report, I suppose, for starters) is greater after a MBTI educational session than after the sort of thing Annette described, which would be a discussion of individual differences presented in some alternative fashion...

 Just my ramblings as I attempt to avoid grading.

Esther



At 12:00 AM 12/11/02 -0400, Teaching in the Psychological Sciences digest wrote:

Subject: Re: MBTI - Mental Measurements Yearbook Reviews...
From: "Bill Scott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 17:41:37 -0500
X-Message-Number: 35

In an apparent pejorative, Stephen Black says:

> Of course, they still use the Rorschach, don't they?

I'm not sure who you mean by "they".  People unlike us? I don't use the
Rorschach but I respect its power when "they" use it properly. The reason I
don't use it is that it is too cumbersome when used properly and there are
more efficient ways to get similar information.

I don't like taking the role of "defender of the bad tests", but the tools
themselves are not the problem. Any test, no matter how carefully designed,
can be misused. The Rorshach, when scored properly with, for example the
Exner system, can be as reliable and valid (and useful) as any other
personality test, such as the MMPI-2.

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