Podcast Summary: The Psychology of your 20s

Episode 337: Are Personality Tests Legit?
Host: Gemma Sbeg
Release Date: September 28, 2025
Duration: ~25 minutes

Episode Overview

In this bite-sized bonus episode, host Gemma Sbeg explores the widespread fascination with personality tests—such as Myers-Briggs and the Big Five—and tackles their scientific validity, cultural impact, and psychological appeal. Gemma breaks down why so many twenty-somethings (and beyond) are drawn to defining themselves with personality labels, examines the science and skepticism behind these tests, and offers guidance on how to use them wisely without self-limiting.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Do We Love Personality Tests?

(Timestamp: 03:49 – 07:15)

• Relatable Experiences: Gemma recalls college days “sitting around the dinner table...everyone was doing their 16 Personalities Quiz.”
• Shortcut to Self-Understanding: Tests feel like “someone just handed you the manual for your own brain” and offer immediate clarity.
• Need for Certainty: Describes human craving for labels, “We desire, we crave firm answers and we don’t love the unknown, especially…about ourselves.”
• Social Belonging: Personality labels can be conversation starters and foster identity (“a sense of understanding of ourselves, but also of social identity as well”).

The Drawbacks of Labeling

(Timestamp: 07:15 – 09:40)

• Over-Simplification: Excessive attachment to personality labels can lead to “a one dimensional view of us as people.”
• Ignoring Change: Relying on static categories can make us “ignore the ways that we grow and we change and we develop.”

Core Concepts: Reliability & Validity

(Timestamp: 09:40 – 12:15)

• Reliability: Consistency of a test’s results; likened to a bathroom scale—if it’s inconsistent, it’s unreliable.
• Validity: Accuracy of what the test claims to measure; a test can be reliable (consistent but wrong), but not necessarily valid.
• Key Quote:

  “A test basically can be reliable and not be valid. But for a test to be considered truly valid, it has to firstly be reliable.” – Gemma, (11:59)

Popular Personality Models: What Science Supports

The Big Five (OCEAN)

(Timestamp: 12:15 – 16:40)

• Scientific Foundation: Described as the model with “the most scientific validation,” empirically derived, not theory-led.
• The Five Factors:
  • Openness to Experience
  • Conscientiousness
  • Extraversion
  • Agreeableness
  • Neuroticism
• Spectrum Approach: Traits exist on a continuum (“You can kind of be a little bit more to the left, a little bit more to the right, maybe right in the middle”).
• Predicts Life Outcomes: High conscientiousness associates with success, neuroticism with anxiety, etc.
• Cultural Bias: Notes early research’s Western focus and how cultural expectations can shape personality assessments.
  • Example: Agreeableness “might not be an individual trait in those contexts. It can actually be a cultural expectation.”

Limitations of the Big Five

• Cultural Nuances: Traits like humor or “interpersonal relatedness” found in Chinese research don’t fit cleanly into the model.
• Not the Whole Story: “Big Five does replicate pretty well across certain cultures…It really does miss some of the nuances.”

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): Popular Yet Criticized

(Timestamp: 16:40 – 27:49)

• Origin Story: Developed by Catherine Cook Briggs and daughter Isabel Briggs Myers (not trained psychologists), inspired by Carl Jung, for practical guidance during WWII.
• Dichotomies Used:
  • Extraversion vs. Introversion
  • Sensing vs. Intuition
  • Thinking vs. Feeling
  • Judging vs. Perceiving
• Categorization into 16 Types: Each person gets a four-letter code (e.g., ENFJ). Gemma shares, “I am an ENFJ, the protagonist.”
• Criticisms:
  • Low Reliability: “About 50% of people will get a different result when they retake it within weeks.”
  • Lacks Scientific Rigor: Not based on empirical research, rooted in metaphorical theory.
  • Overly Rigid: “It forces you into one category or another,” whereas reality is much more nuanced.
• Barnum/Forer Effect: The tendency to see vague, positive descriptions as personally accurate.
  • E.g., MBTI descriptions (“your journey of personal growth is fueled by a desire for self improvement...”) apply to almost everyone.
• Quote:

  “It resonates with people, not because it’s scientifically sound, but because it helps people articulate something in themselves that’s not terrible, but it’s just important to see it more as that storytelling tool.” – Gemma, (26:49)

Are Personality Tests Useful?

(Timestamp: 27:49 – 31:50)

• Benefits:
  • Offer language for self-reflection and social connection.
  • Articulate strengths and blind spots.
• Risks:
  • Can become self-fulfilling prophecies or limiting beliefs. “If you believe ‘I’m an introvert, therefore I can’t lead’… you start limiting yourself.”
• Analogy: Personality tests are like maps: helpful for orientation, but “if you have your head down and you’re constantly looking at the map, you are actually not going to really enjoy the scenery.”
• Key Message:

  “Every single person on this earth is more nuanced than four letters. You are a constantly evolving human being. You change depending on your environment, your experiences, your growth.” – Gemma, (31:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why we cling to personality tests:
  “Tests give us the illusion of clarity. They hand us a label and they say, this is who you are now. Act that way.” (06:45)

• On the risks of labels:
  “If we become too attached to the label, we can start to develop this very surface, level, one-dimensional view of us as people and we can start to ignore the ways that we grow and we change and we develop.” (07:40)

• On MBTI’s appeal and limitations:
  “The Myers Briggs type descriptions are written in a similar way [to horoscopes]. They're broad enough to fit almost anyone...That kind of applies to literally everyone.” (26:12)

• Practical use vs. overuse:
  “Take the tests. I think they're super, super fun. Use them to reflect, use them to connect with other people. But don’t let them limit you.” (31:45)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:49 — Why personality tests appeal to us
• 07:40 — Downsides of personality labels
• 09:40 — Importance of reliability and validity
• 12:15 — The Big Five explained
• 16:40 — History and structure of MBTI
• 21:00 — Criticisms and the Barnum Effect
• 27:49 — Personality tests as tools vs. constraints
• 31:32 — Main takeaway: You are more than a label

Conclusion

Gemma encourages listeners to enjoy personality tests for reflection and discussion, but warns against letting them define who we are. Personality is fluid, context-dependent, and shaped by much more than four letters or neat categories. Use tests as a “map,” but remember to explore life beyond their boundaries.

Listener Prompt:
“If you made it this far, drop your Myers Briggs down below. I want to know what everyone is!” (32:46)

Research Acknowledgement:
Special thanks to research assistant Libby Colbert.

Tone:
Warm, conversational, enthusiastic about self-discovery, but critical and balanced regarding scientific legitimacy.