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JPT Research Digest

SubReddit Community: Life after taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Tool


Ward, T. (2019). Life after taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Tool: A Discourse Analysis of the R/MBTI SubReddit Community.
Laridae V.01, pp. 18-23

Reddit is an online forum with a reputation as a play-space; it is also a carnival, a performance, a platform, and a community. A large MBTI® community has found a home on Reddit in numerous subforums based on common questions or needs, so members can share their enthusiasm with others who know the theory. This study analyzed a grouping of 59 posts from the Reddit group devoted to the MBTI tool called r/mbti. By examining the purpose and type of knowledge each post attracted, the posts were grouped into themes to discover what r/mbti members valued.

Results revealed that the r/mbti community was motivated by themes of Identity, Community, Truth, and Knowledge. Members used language in ways that validated the feelings of others who had joined the community because they felt misunderstood elsewhere. Numerous discussions relating to identity revealed that members longed to fit in and have their daily life practices and feelings recognized as legitimate.

This investigation found Reddit to be more than a site for play. It provides ample evidence that the site fulfilled the needs of many intelligent Redditors to connect with others. The MBTI gave users, who felt unrecognized by society, a vocabulary that they felt accurately described themselves and validated their seemingly contradictory feelings and actions. These discussions were essential to maintaining the community because they allowed members to share their knowledge and experiences with a group of people who would grant them respect.


ARTICLE PERMALINK: https://www.myersbriggs.org/research-and-library/journal-psychological-type/subreddit-community-life-after-taking-the-mbti/

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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, Yvonne Nelson-Reid, 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.

©2020 Center for Applications of Psychological Type, Inc., publisher.

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