Does the MBTI assessment work across cultures?

Posted 27 January 2023 by
Melissa Summer, The Myers-Briggs Company

1 min. read

One of the most common questions that comes up during an MBTI^®Certification Program is if the MBTI assessment and the Myers-Briggs^® framework are effective across different cultures around the world.

The short answer?

Yes!

The MBTI assessment was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs (two American women), based on Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s work on personality, and the MBTI assessment is updated for validity and reliability by The Myers-Briggs Company’s research team every few years.

The MBTI^® Global Step I™ and Step II™ questionnaires represent the latest versions of the instrument. They’re based on a single set of global data from 16,733 participants with a common set of question items (this means that the same questionnaire can be taken all over the world). The MBTI^®Manual Supplements Series provide detailed information about each of the 23 samples included in the global research, including psychometric data and sample descriptions.

Want to learn more about using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment across cultures?

Take a look at the videos below featuring Leanne Harris, Principal Consultant for The Myers-Briggs Company, as she explains more about using the MBTI assessment around the world:

Can the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI^®) assessment be used in different cultures?

Are the frequencies of preferences the same across cultures?

Does the MBTI^® assessment's reliability still hold up in different cultures?

How do cultural differences affect the expression of MBTI^® type?

How might I use the MBTI assessment in different cultures?

What should I consider when training people from a different cultural background?