Personality Quiz or Job Barrier? Japan’s Use of MBTI in Recruitment Raises Questions

The online MBTI test, which sorts personalities into 16 distinct types, has become a hit in Japan and now influences hiring decisions. According to Asahi, Toyama Prefecture recently rolled out a free personality test known as 16Personalities during an online seminar in June. The seminar targeted working adults who are considering a career switch.

This test categorizes personalities into 16 types after users answer multiple-choice questions for about 10 minutes.

Reports suggest that a job-matching website has emerged in Japan, specifically providing job seekers’ MBTI information to present fitness between employers and employees. Social media posts regarding favorable personality types in the workplace became viral.

Asahi noted, “Such ‘discrimination’ was also evident in past personality assessments based on blood types. Since the 1990s, individuals with blood types B and AB have been less liked than the other blood types due to stereotypes.”

The MBTI is a personality assessment tool named after its creators, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, abbreviated as MBTI. It was developed in the United States in the 1960s based on Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung’s theories.

The Japan MBTI Association claims that this service lacks reliability, stating, “It mimics the MBTI but is ‘completely different.'”

A social psychologist at Osaka University, Asako Miura, noted, “Like the blood type personality traits that were popular in the past, the MBTI is used to ‘deliberately view others in a vague light. If it’s just for fun, that’s fine, but shouldn’t we increase clarity during critical moments of our futures, such as employment.”