他她話題:性格測試真的可靠嗎?

Personality assessments are popular. If you are applying for a job, you might need to take a test. Many employers believe the tests can help them avoid picking the wrong people.

性格測試很流行。如果你申請一份工作，你就可能要接受這樣的測試。許多僱主相信測試能避免選錯員工。

Companies also want to make sure their employees can cope with stress. Disagreements can be costly and inefficient.

同時企業也希望確保員工能夠應對壓力。工作分歧會導致高成本和低效率。

According to the BBC, in the US alone, there are about 2,500 personality tests on the market.

根據BBC的報道，僅在美國，市場上就有將近2500種性格測試。

One of the most popular is called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI. Used by 89 of the Fortune 100 companies, it has been translated into 24 languages and has been adopted by governments and military agencies around the world.

其中最流行的一種叫做邁爾斯•布里格斯類型指標，即MBTI測試。《財富》雜誌100強企業裏有89家採用這個測試，此測試被翻譯成24種語言，被全世界各地的政府和軍事機構廣爲採用。

Perhaps its attraction lies in its simplicity – according to the MBTI, we all conform to one of 16 character types.

也許這種測試的吸引力在於它的簡單——根據MBTI測試，我們每人都符合16種性格的其中一種。

But that simplicity is precisely what makes some people skeptical.

但是這種簡單也的確讓一些人持懷疑態度。

"There is something about the wish to put everything in neat little boxes so that we can manipulate them and make them serve our purposes," says American author Annie Murphy Paul.

"這就好比把所有的東西都塞進整齊劃一的小盒子裏，便於我們使用，適應我們的需求。"美國作家安妮•墨菲•保羅如是說。

Her book, The Cult of Personality Testing, claims such tests are leading people to miseducate their children, mismanage their companies and misunderstand themselves.

她的著作，《性格測試的狂熱》，認爲這樣的測試會導致人們誤導自己的孩子，或是對公司管理不善，還會誤解自己的性格。

To someone unfamiliar with it, MBTI may look like random combinations of letters, but the first category is relatively straightforward – are you E or I? Extrovert or Introvert?

對於不瞭解MBTI測試的人來說，它可能看起來就是字母的隨機組合，但是第一個類別相對直接——你是E還是I？即：外向還是內向？

The second is a choice between S or N – Sensing or Intuitive – which means some people interpret the world by collecting data through their senses, others reply on their gut feelings.

第二個是S或N的選擇——即理性還是感性——這是指有些人靠理性蒐集數據來認識世界，而有人則依靠本能的直覺認識世界。

Are you a T or an F? A Thinker or somebody more governed by their Feelings? And, finally, are you J or P? Judging types prefer to regulate and manage their lives whereas Perceivers favor spontaneity.

你是T還是F？即：理智思考的人還是感情衝動的人？還有，你是J還是P？即：判斷型的人傾向於有條不紊地規劃和管理自己的生活，而憑感覺走的人更喜歡隨性自在。

The BBC reported that the overwhelming majority of the 2.5 million Americans who take the MBTI assessment each year feel their results do fit their personalities.

據BBC報道，每年參加MBTI測試的250萬美國人裏，絕大多數人覺得測試結果符合自己的性格。

But according to Paul, as many as three-quarters of test takers achieve a different personality type when tested for a second time.

根據作家保羅的觀點，有四分之三的受測試者接受第二次測試後得到不同的結果。

She argues that the 16 distinctive types described by the Myers-Briggs have no scientific basis whatsoever.

她認爲，邁爾斯•布里格斯描述的16種不同性格沒有任何科學依據。

Employees often sense that management is looking for a particular type for a specific post. This assumption may lead to test-takers cheating on the test.

僱員往往覺得管理者測試員工性格是爲了給特定崗位尋找特定性格的人。這樣的臆測可能導致受測試者作假。

The investigative writer Barbara Ehrenreich, who has been a strong critic of personality testing for years, thinks employers have a greater tendency to worry about whether a candidate is introvert or extrovert.

調查作家芭芭拉•埃倫裏希，多年來一直嚴厲批判性格測試，她認爲僱主非常傾向於擔心求職者是內向還是外向。

These days more employees are expected to work in teams. Sometimes, they are even expected to communicate effectively with people on the other side of the world whom they have never met.

現在，更多的僱員被要求進行團隊協作。有時候，他們甚至需要與地球另一邊素未謀面的人進行有效溝通。

There is a perception that extroverts are better at this.

有一種觀點認爲，性格外向的人更能勝任此類工作。

"You will be told that no one type is better than another and you should be spontaneous in answering the questions," she told the BBC.

"他們會告訴你，並非哪一種性格優於別的性格，你應該發自內心地回答這些問題。"她接受BBC採訪時說。

"But, in reality, they are not looking for introverts. Even if what you are doing is looking at figures all day. They want everyone in the environment to be perky and positive and upbeat at all times."

"但是，事實上，他們不喜歡性格內向的人。即使你要做的工作是整天看圖表，他們也希望工作環境裏的每個人整天都是活潑、積極、樂觀的。"