5.3

Reliability and Validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument

Editor’s Note: The MBTI Phenomenon in East Asia


There are two worlds of the MBTI® model and system: professional application with individuals, and online social identity and entertainment. At Myers & Briggs Foundation, we work in the former world with certified practitioners and researchers using the official MBTI assessments. While our efforts are in professional applications, the cultural and online phenomenon of the MBTI model does not escape us; it can be frustrating in its shallowness and inaccuracies about the assessment, yet it is also fascinating and entertaining.

Our selection criteria for the Journal of Psychological Type Research Digest are publication in a peer-reviewed journal or venue with a selective editing process and the use of the official MBTI assessment or analyses of the MBTI/Jungian theory and model. Each year, our team vets and selects articles and studies from publications around the world; as you can imagine, there are many candidates. Some years our selection process is harder than others, but each year, we see trends in research topics.

This year, the world of the online cultural phenomenon of MBTI personality type appeared on our radar of vetted articles in five articles. These publications did not use the MBTI assessment and did not make it into the Research Digest, but they are focused on an important emerging trend and concern with younger people in Chinese and South Korean culture, where the cultural phenomenon of MBTI personality type is exploding and creating a virtual world of its own with significant impact on young people.

The authors describe this trend as people becoming “virtual subjects” in virtual communities, where the MBTI model is moving from a personality assessment used in professional development to a social identity and cultural phenomenon.

While we do not work in this world of the MBTI personality type as an online social identity or entertainment, we are highlighting these articles because they discuss important topics for all of us: the uncertainty that existing in an online world and within virtual communities fosters, particularly the uncertainty of identity and the need for social identity and belonging. The authors analyze how to sustain virtual communities that work and discuss the threat of social labels, stigmatizing, and stereotyping. We think these are relevant concerns for everyone, but especially for the younger generations.

There are five pieces—four from China and one from South Korea. I encourage you to access and read them. Through the explosion of MBTI personality type in their cultures, the authors discuss the global reality of social media and living more and more virtually online, how this transforms personal identity into social identity, and how it impacts traditionally collective cultures to move towards individualism.

Reach out to our librarian, Logan, at library@myersbriggs.org, if you are interested in reading any of the articles discussed and cited below.


Kesstan Blandin, Ph.D.
Vice President, Research & Development
Editor, Journal of Psychological Type® Research Digest


Lee, H., & Shin, Y. (2024). A study on MBTI perceptions in South Korea: Big data analysis from the perspective of applying MBTI to contribute to the sustainable growth of communities. Sustainability, 16(10), 4152.

Wang, C., Gao, Y., & Xie, Y. (2024). Analyzing the dissemination of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in China: A case study of Weibo and Xiaohongshu Texts. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Public Management and Intelligent Society.

Wang, M. (2024). Fluid modernity and virtual communities: An analysis of the popularity of MBTI on social media. Communications in Humanities Research, 46(1), 167–173.

Wu, W., Hao, W., Zeng, G., & Du, W. (2024). From personality types to social labels: the impact of using MBTI on social anxiety among Chinese youth. Frontiers in Psychology, 15.

Yueying, Y. Z. Z. (2024, July 16). Focus on the phenomenon of “MBTI fever” among young people and beware of the dangers of excessive addiction. China Psychology Network.


ARTICLE PERMALINK: https://www.myersbriggs.org/research-and-library/journal-psychological-type/editor-note-vol85/

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Journal of Psychological Type® Research Digest (JPT-RD) is made available through Myers & Briggs Foundation, worldwide publisher. The editorial team includes Kesstan Blandin, PhD, Logan Abbitt, MLIS, and Purnima Sims.

For inquiries about accessing original articles, contact library@myersbriggs.org.

Myers & Briggs Foundation carries the legacy of Isabel Briggs Myers and the MBTI® instrument through our mission to educate the public about psychological type—including its ethical, meaningful, and practical applications—and to conduct research on psychological type and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) instrument. The JPT-RD, published annually, is a publication that highlights research and ideas in the field of psychological type, the MBTI Instrument, and Jungian thought.

©2025 Myers & Briggs Foundation, Inc., publisher.

Contact the JPT-RD Editorial Team at research@myersbriggs.org.