MBTI and Action Strategies: Why Does the Popularity of MBTI Persist?

Abstract

In recent years, the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has remained highly popular among young people and has become an important cultural symbol for social interaction and self-expression. Drawing on the concept of reflexive monitoring in Giddens's structuration theory, this article develops an analytical framework to examine why the popularity of MBTI persists despite widespread skepticism about its scientific validity. The findings show that MBTI users generally adopt a cautious and reflexive stance toward the instrument. Rather than being mutually exclusive, skepticism and use are integrated into the same logic of practice through distinct action strategies in response to skepticism arising at three different levels: monitoring of self-practice, monitoring of interactional norms, and monitoring of epistemic rules. The article further identifies three mechanisms through which these action strategies are sustained—instrumentalization, reconfiguration, and routinization. The article argues that the continued popularity of MBTI does not stem from young people's widespread belief in its scientific validity. Instead, it reflects a characteristic mode of engaging with cultural tools under reflexive modernity: individuals revise their practices through reflexivity, continue to use the tool through ongoing adjustment, and ultimately transform its use into routine social practice.