MBTI and the Big Five: two different ways of describing personality
CareOps editorial team · · 6 min read
General information and service guidance published by CareOps. This is not an individual diagnosis or treatment plan.
Translated from our Korean guide. Korean public services, insurance, and helpline numbers refer to South Korea. For urgent help elsewhere, contact local emergency services or a crisis line in your country.
It's been a long time since it was customary to ask someone's MBTI when they met for the first time. But hasn’t there been a time when the results have changed every time you take a test? Let’s take a closer look at whether MBTI can be trusted and what psychologists use to measure personality.
At a glance
- MBTI divides people into 16 types, and the Big 5 measures how high each is in each of the five characteristics. The standard for personality research is the Big Five.
- There are three main limitations of MBTI. The middle score is the highest, but it is divided into two. If you do it again, the type is likely to change. It does not measure emotional sensitivity.
- The four indicators of MBTI overlap significantly with the four factors of the Big Five. Rather than saying that MBTI is all wrong, it is closer to less precise guidance.
Does MBTI have scientific basis?
MBTI divides a person's preferences into four pairs (E-I, S-N, T-F, J-P) and shows 16 types. It has the great advantage of being easy to understand and easy to communicate with. However, there are three limitations that researchers have consistently pointed out.
1. Most people fall near the middle, yet results split them in two
If extroverts and introverts are really two types of people, there should be two peaks in the score distribution. In reality, most people are clustered in the middle (McCrae & Costa, 1989). People with 49 points and 51 points are almost the same person, but MBTI calls them different types, I and E.
2. Retesting can change the reported type
Since there are many people near the border, the letters change depending on the mood or situation of the day. In one study cited in a review of MBTI research (Pittenger, 2005), when retested five weeks later, about half had at least one of the four letters changed.
3. There is a missing dimension
Neuroticism (emotional sensitivity) describes how strongly you respond to stress and how often you experience worry or anxiety. It is associated with many life outcomes, but MBTI has no corresponding dimension.
That doesn't mean MBTI is useless. It's good enough as a starting point for lightly discussing differences. However, guidance is not enough to entrust important decisions such as career path, employment, and relationships to four letters.
What is the Big 5 Personality Test: Five Factors
The Big Five (Five Personality Factors) are five major characteristics that appear repeatedly when words describing people in various languages are statistically grouped. Unlike MBTI, which started from theory, it started from data.
| Trait | Higher scores | Lower scores |
|---|---|---|
| Extraversion | More energized by social activity | More reserved and replenished by time alone |
| Agreeableness | More cooperative and attentive to others' feelings | More direct and firm in expressing a position |
| Conscientiousness | More planned and consistent in follow-through | More flexible and spontaneous |
| Neuroticism: emotional sensitivity | More sensitive to stress and worry | Calmer and less easily unsettled |
| Openness | More drawn to new ideas and experiences | More drawn to familiar and practical things |
Neither is good or bad. High neuroticism is the sensitivity to recognize danger first, and low agreeableness is the ability to say what is needed. The Big 5 are not types, but five scales, so even the same ‘extrovert’ varies in how much they are.
Comparison of MBTI and Big 5
| MBTI | Big Five | |
|---|---|---|
| Results | One of 16 four-letter types | Scores on five traits |
| Measurement | Either/or categories | Degrees on continuous scales |
| Origins | Jung's theory of psychological types | Statistical analysis of personality words |
| Research use | Limited | A standard in personality research |
| Links to life outcomes | Limited evidence | Repeated associations with work, health, and relationships |
| Strengths | Accessible for conversation | More detailed and able to track change |
Where do the four letters of MBTI fit into the Big 5?
| MBTI dimension | Related Big Five trait |
|---|---|
| E–I: extraversion–introversion | Extraversion |
| S–N: sensing–intuition | Openness |
| T–F: thinking–feeling | Agreeableness |
| J–P: judging–perceiving | Conscientiousness |
| No corresponding dimension | Neuroticism |
In a study (McCrae & Costa, 1989) in which both tests were administered to the same people, the four indicators of the MBTI were clearly related to the four factors of the Big Five. This means that what MBTI measures is not an illusion. However, I folded the scale in two and left out the fifth factor.
Does your personality change?
It changes. A meta-analysis of 92 longitudinal studies (Roberts et al., 2006) found that people's conscientiousness and emotional stability increased on average as they got older, especially between their 20s and 40s. Personality moves slowly as roles and experiences accumulate on top of innate temperament.
And personality really affects life. The Big Five traits predicted longevity, divorce, and occupational achievement as much as socioeconomic status and intelligence (Roberts et al., 2007). This is why it is useful to know exactly your personality.
Take the free Big 5 Personality Test
Among the Big 5 questions, there is a set of questions (IPIP) that is open to the public so that anyone can use them freely. Among them, you can try the short version (Mini-IPIP), which measures five factors with 20 questions, without logging in. The results show the level of each of the five factors.
Try a self-assessment without signing inBrief Big Five · CareOps adaptationExplore the broad patterns of your personalityStart the check →If you are curious about your relationship status other than your personality, read Attachment Type Article, and if you are curious about your daily rhythm, read Morning/Evening Type Article.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do the MBTI test results change every time I do it?
- Most people are near the middle on each indicator. Since MBTI is divided into two based on the middle, the letters change even if you answer slightly differently. It's not that I've changed, it's that the borderline has become closer.
- Where can I take the Big 5 Personality Test for free?
- Tests that use publicly available questions (IPIP) are often provided free of charge. You can also try the 20-question short version in CareOps without logging in.
- How much can you trust the results of a personality test?
- The test you answer yourself shows how you see yourself now. Although the reliability of the scale used in research has been confirmed, it is better to use a single result as a clue to understanding yourself rather than accepting it as a judgment.
- What should I look for between MBTI and the Big 5?
- MBTI is sufficient for casual conversations to get to know each other. If you want to understand yourself more accurately or see changes over time, the Big 5 will tell you more.
Sources
- McCrae & Costa (1989), Reinterpreting the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator From the Perspective of the Five-Factor Model of Personality, Journal of Personality
- Pittenger (2005), Cautionary comments regarding the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
- Donnellan et al. (2006), The Mini-IPIP Scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five Factors of Personality, Psychological Assessment
- Roberts, Walton & Viechtbauer (2006), Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course, Psychological Bulletin
- Roberts et al. (2007), The Power of Personality, Perspectives on Psychological Science
- International Personality Item Pool (IPIP)
This article provides general information, not diagnosis or treatment. For urgent help, contact local emergency services or a crisis line in your country. In South Korea, the suicide prevention helpline is 109 (24 hours), and the mental health crisis line is 1577-0199.