I hope to cover the reasons why the MBTI instrument is not a test in a future post. In this one I will point out three clues that the assessment you are thinking of taking may not be genuine and why taking it may not be a good idea.
People familiar with the MBTI assessment refer to imitation MBTI assessments as knockoffs. My dictionary, the 2000 edition of Random House Webster's College Dictionary, defines a knockoff as an unauthorized, cheap copy of something. I think that's a very good description of the many knockoffs of the MBTI tool which are out there.
By knockoff I am not referring to an assessment that is too different from the MBTI tool to cause confusion, written by someone who makes it clear that the assessment is his own. For example, many years ago I took a couple of assessments which compared my personality to an animal or Bible character. These can be fun and help us gain insight, though in my opinion they are not a substitute for the life - changing insights to be gained from the MBTI tool. On the contrary, I am referring to any assessment which yields the same or similar four - letter type codes as the MBTI tool and could be mistaken for it, even if the author includes a disclaimer that his assessment is not the MBTI tool published by CPP. Such disclaimers are likely to be in small print at the bottom of a page, where they will not be seen by those seeking a free version of the MBTI "test".
No doubt some people who develop these assessments have good intentions of trying to help others understand themselves and others better for free or at a low cost. But in reality they are causing harm, because they rob clients of the opportunity to verify the accuracy of their results through feedback sessions with certified practitioners. Knockoffs also rob certified practitioners of the opportunity to get paid for following their passion for interpreting results to and following up with clients.
That brings us to the first clue that an MBTI - like assessment is really a knockoff.
1. It's free! The genuine MBTI assessment will never be free, unless you somehow find a practitioner who chooses not to charge you. I did some practice sessions for free when I first became certified in 1998. It's also possible for students and perhaps alumni to take it for free through their high school or college counseling offices. But if you are reading an ad online, in a newspaper or magazine, or on a bulletin board for a free personality profile or "test" that claims to be modeled after the MBTI tool, it's a knockoff. PERIOD!
2. It's online! I joined LinkedIn in 2008 and eventually joined several of its MBTI groups. One of the first discussions I participated in was about the uproar over a version of the MBTI tool which had appeared on Facebook. I took this knockoff and was horrified! It indeed gave me the same type code that the genuine one does, but it was unethical because it gave no instructions about the relaxed mindset needed to achieve accurate results, nor did it provide a feedback session with a practitioner.
If I understood correctly, the complaints generated by this knockoff resulted in its removal from Facebook. However, one has only to Google "personality assessments" to see that there are still a great many sites offering unauthorized versions of the MBTI tool. Only one online version, the MBTI(R) Complete, is approved by CPP, the publisher of the MBTI tool. Unlike the knockoffs it does include a feedback session and is not free.
3. It's not published by CPP!
So although an assessment may look an awful lot like the genuine MBTI tool, if it's free (except as the result of a personal contact with a practitioner such as a school counselor), online (with the exception of the MBTI(R) Complete), and/or not published by CPP, it's a knockoff. There may be other clues, but these three provide a good start to spotting a knockoff of the MBTI tool.
When wondering whether something is a knockoff or the real thing, there's also an old saying worth remembering. It's always good to remember that sometimes we get what we pay for!