# Is The MBTI Copyrighted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mbti-copyrighted/720727 "2015-05-24T15:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mbti-copyrighted/720727/1 "2015-05-24T15:32:36Z")
I’m thinking of using the Myers-Briggs Personality Type assessment in a public project. Can anyone who is familiar with copyrights, psychology, or intellectual property tell me if the MBTI is copyrighted, and if so, point me towards some documentation on what is allowed and not-allowed usage of it? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mbti-copyrighted/720727/2 "2015-05-24T16:34:53Z")
It is, [by the Myers & Briggs Foundation.](http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1) This website should have all the info you need. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mbti-copyrighted/720727/3 "2015-05-24T20:20:49Z")
You can copyright any one particular implementation of the MBTI, but the Jungian types (virtually the same thing) predate the Myers & Briggs expansion. They’ve been around for a long time and many websites and books have adapted the same system and produced their original interpretations of it. You can copyright specific text, i.e. any one personality test, but not the overall idea that “people who answer certain questions about themselves give certain insights about their behavior”. For example, the [HumanMetrics test](http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp) is MBTI-compatible, though unofficial, and will give you the 4 letters you need to look at the results from ANY MBTI/Jung-compatible description. Once you know you’re a INFP, for example, you can just Google “INFP” and find a billion free descriptions of them and some more in-depth books (I’d recommend “[Please Understand Me](http://www.amazon.com/Please-Understand-Temperament-Character-Intelligence/dp/1885705026/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1432498801&sr=8-6&keywords=MBTI)”, but there are lots out there). In other words, just have your assessees use one of the freely available clones (which are more than good enough) and you don’t have to worry about the “official” MBTI copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mbti-copyrighted/720727/4 "2015-05-24T23:06:03Z")
Not what the OP asked but: There is a certain degree of skepticism in certain quarters over the validity of this test, and in particular, criticism of its rampant use by employers in making employment decisions. It is criticized as being pseudoscientific. [Excerpt from rationalwiki:](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator) > [@](#): > > Many skeptics consider the Myers-Briggs to be pseudoscience, since no scientific proof has been offered for the existence of these categories except for the introversion-extroversion scale,[2] although many find it useful as a wholly subjective frame of reference or categorization. Then again, there are also those who find the categorizations in Transactional Analysis, William Strauss and Neil Howe’s generational types, the left-right political spectrum, dividing popular culture by decade (the “Sixties,” the “Seventies,” etc.) useful methods of systematizing too, despite their lack of scientific nature. As with any subjective construct, your mileage may vary. > > Though the MBTI is popular in schools and businesses, it’s disfavored by many in the psychological community for its low reliability and external validity. See also [Skeptic’s Dictionary](http://skepdic.com/myersb.html) article on it. They aren’t terribly impressed either.