Self-Monitoring and Social Desirability as Factors Associated with Discrepancy Between Indicated Type and True Type on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Barton, Michelle

Keywords

Personality Type, MBTI, Social Desirability, Self-Monitoring, Self-Presentation

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) consistently indicates the type preferences of the majority of people, but many feel that their "indicated type" (the type preferences as identified by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator) does not reflect their true type preferences. This study examined type discrepancy (the amount of difference between indicated and true type) in relation to social desirability and self-monitoring to determine whether these two forms of self-presentation would predict levels of type discrepancy. College students (N=187) at a small liberal arts college indicated their type preferences using the MBTI and then the Best-Fit Questionnaire (a written measure in which respondents read descriptions of each of the four dimensions of the MBTI and then select the type which they feel is the "best fit" for themselves, or closest to their "true type"). They then took the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the 18-item Self- Monitoring Scale. A majority of the sample (N=123) had discrepancies between their indicated and best-fit type. However, social desirability and self-monitoring were not found to predict type discrepancy in the sample. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

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