精读丨你是 i 人还是 e 人？我们该如何看待 MBTI 性格测试？

▸MBTI 的发明者竟然是一对自学成才的母女？

▸她们为什么要开发这项测试？ta 的研制经历了怎样一个漫长的过程？

▸为什么 MBTI 在性格测试中这么有名？

▸MBTI 够科学吗？ta 的理论基础是什么？

▸如何理解 MBTI 风靡全球的关键因素？

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who think there are two kinds of people in the world and people who don't. Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers were the first kind, and the test they invented based on that belief, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is the most popular personality test in the world. More than two million people take it every year. It is used in twenty-six countries to assess employees, students, soldiers, and potential marriage partners. It is used by Fortune 500 companies and universities, in self-improvement seminars and wellness retreats. There are more than two thousand personality tests on the market, many of them blatant knockoffs of the MBTI, but Myers-Briggs is No. 1. Merve Emre's "The Personality Brokers" (Doubleday) is the story of how the MBTI fell to earth.

It was a long descent. Briggs and Myers were a mother-and-daughter team. To call them "mildly eccentric" would be indulging in a gender stereotype, but it seems fair to say that they were a little O.C.D. They devoted their lives to their system, and they kept the faith for a very long time. If they had not, there would be no MBTI today.

世界上有两种人：一种是认为世界上有两种人的人，另一种是不认为如此的人。凯瑟琳·布里格斯和伊莎贝尔·迈尔斯是第一种。她们基于这种信念发明的测试——迈尔斯-布里格斯性格分类法，或 MBTI——是世界上最流行的人格测试。每年有两百多万人参与这项测试。它在 26 个国家被用来评估雇员、学生、士兵和潜在的婚姻伴侣。它还被《财富》世界 500 强公司、大学、自我提高研讨会和健康静修所使用。市场上有超过 2000 种性格测试，其中许多都是明目张胆地模仿 MBTI，但 MBTI 永远排名第一。梅尔夫·埃姆雷的《性格经纪人》（双日出版社）讲述了 MBTI 测试如何诞生的故事。

这个测试的诞生经历了漫长的过程。布里格斯和迈尔斯是一对母女组合。称她们“略微古怪”是对性别刻板印象的纵容，但公平地说，她们的确有点强迫症。她们一生都致力于性格测试系统的研发，而且在相当长的一段时间里都对此保有信仰。如果她们没有这样做，如今就不会有 MBTI。

明尼苏达州多相人格量表（Minnesota Multiphasic Per-sonality Inventory，简称 MMPI）是一种评估人格特质和精神病理学的心理测试。它主要用于测试怀疑有心理健康或其他临床问题的人。除临床诊断外，MMPI 还可以初步评估被测者的心理健康状况，它被认为是识别精神健康障碍（如抑郁症、焦虑症或精神分裂症）的重要工具，作为制定治疗计划的第一步。

在心理健康诊疗之外，MMPI 有时用于药物滥用检测、儿童监护权纠纷或教育目的。

MMPI 也被作为职业筛选的常用工具，譬如民航招飞、新员工聘用、管理人员选拔。

甚至，MMPI 也常用在婚姻、恋爱等亲密关系的心理状况、人格特征。