What is the ruling on personality types, related tests, believing in them, and propagating them?

Definitions of personality vary, including Carl Jung's, who believed that individuals are born with innate predispositions that influence their behavior, and that environment and heredity affect the formation of personality types.

According to Jung, personality type is formed by preferences in two main directions: 1. Direction of Attention and Psychic Energy: Either extraversion, drawing energy from external sources, or introversion, drawing energy from internal sources. 2. The Four Psychic Functions: Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling.

These preferences interact to form different personality types (16 types).

Based on Jung's model, Briggs and Myers developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which has been widely used in the business management sector.

Comparison of Scientific Models: There are other schools of personality types, some less accurate (like the Enneagram), and some potentially more accurate (like the Big Five model). The description "scientific" here is relative; these models use psychological measurement tools based on standardized, controlled questions, and are not scientific in the sense of empirical precision. Identifying personality type with these tests is not 100% accurate, and they may describe a person with characteristics they do not possess, but they succeed in identifying general traits and dispositions.

Nature of These Models: They belong to the realm of psychological and behavioral measurement tools, and not to the realm of the unseen or divination. They are closer to the science of physiognomy, which relies on inferring the inner from the outer. These models differ from physiognomy in that their measurement tools are clearer, whereas faith-based physiognomy is distinguished by the factor of divine inspiration.

Controls for Using These Models: 1. Awareness of Their Conjectural Nature: Their results are conjectural and do not rise to the level of strong probability, especially when understanding others. 2. Avoid Over-Judgment: Do not use them to judge others except for a legitimate need, such as for work or marriage, while being aware of their conjectural nature. 3. Avoid Backbiting and Slander: Do not use them as a tool to disparage others or mention them in ways they dislike.

Obsession with These Models: This is a negative phenomenon stemming from the desire to control variables and manage the world. It leads to categorizing people with mistaken certainty, and can even reach the level of calumny and backbiting. Limited use of these models, as needed, and with awareness of their extreme conjectural nature, is permissible. However, excessive use and obsession with them can lead to dire consequences.