Using Myers Briggs and IQ scores in your dating profile.

Using Myers Briggs and IQ scores in your profile.

Different online dating sites and apps have quite diverse features. I was amused to see that Tinder once created an option to describe what kind of relationship you are looking for and two of the options were: long term but short term OK, and short term but long term OK.

I can honestly say I have never sat down and thought, yes, I’d like a long term relationship but short term would be OK, or vice versa, but I am just giving this as an example of the variety of options presented to us when we are trying to find the Rightswiper who is waiting for us.

Today I am going to deal with the pros and cons of two aspects of dating profiles I see quite regularly, Myers Briggs classifications and IQ.  OK, there are only cons.

First, let’s deal with Myers Briggs. What is it?

Well, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a popular psychological tool designed to assess and categorize individuals based on their personality preferences. It was developed by two women and it will come as no great surprise that their surnames were Myers and Briggs.

It classifies people into 16 personality types, each representing a combination of four opposites: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. The assessment aims to provide insights into how individuals perceive the world, make decisions, and interact with others.

The categories are self reported, which means the subjects come up with the descriptions themselves.

It is used in various settings and situations, often to categorize someone’s capability of doing a particular job and is commonly used as a tool for personal and professional development.

However, it has also been criticised for its limited capabilities and simplicity.

For example, I have often seen people stating that their Myers Briggs profile is: INFP.

What does this mean?

It means: Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

However, the problem with this is that you are being given a tick sheet to describe your personality. It is narrowing your options much like saying that you are looking for a ‘long term relationship but short term is OK’!

Very often, people love to label themselves, it gives them a sense of identity, sometimes of worth. But psychology and science are poor bedfellows. It is easy draw a square and then predict that all four sides are right angles. It is not easy to observe human behaviour and draw absolute conclusions every single time.

Of course, certain inferences can be drawn from the actions of humans, but it is not an exact science and this is especially true for romantic compatibility.

If we could all fill in the Myers Briggs test and find our exact compatible match, we wouldn’t need dating sites in the first place.

What would be the best match for someone who is INFP? (Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving). Perhaps, someone else who is INFP? I doubt it; imagine two introverts trying to have a coffee with someone they’ve never met before!

Perhaps someone who is extraverted?

No – that would scare the introvert to death! And bore the extravert to death!

So, what then?

I would strongly recommend that you ditch the Myers Briggs stuff when it comes to finding a partner. There are so many variables when identifying your Rightswiper and if you follow us on Youtube, or, better still, sign up to the VIP area at rightswiper.com you will find oodles of tips and information on how to do this.

One final point; not everyone knows what Myers Briggs even is, so you could end up looking like a bit of an elitist by even mentioning it, and not in a good way.

Your profile has to be clear, concise and conversational. Make it so.

Now, let’s deal with IQ scores.

I’ve never actually seen a dating site or app which gives you an option to put in your IQ (how would most people even know?) but on occasions I have seen both men and women put their so called IQ on their profile and then even demand that their Rightswiper should have an IQ which is at least equal.

An example of this was a man (yes I look at male profiles for this job!) who stated that his IQ was 140 and that he was looking for a woman who had an IQ of at least 140.

When I was a kid, my dad was obsessed with IQ scores and made all of us kids take tests which then gave us a number which was supposed to measure intelligence. The average of everybody in the world was supposed to be 100. ‘Genius’ level was perceived as being 160.

To me, this is complete nonsense. You simply cannot quantify intelligence based on a few questions. I thought it was nonsense then and I still think that. Intelligence comes in many forms and I always remember that part of Dale Carnegie’s book, ‘How to win friends and influence people’ which observed that every single person you meet in your life will be superior to you in at least one way.

Never a truer word was spoken and I have come to understand that people show intelligence in many different ways and it is impossible to quantify because we cannot really define a goal of intelligence. Is high intelligence helpful to gain a high score on a math test, or to survive in the wild? Can learning geometry help you raise a happy child? Is spatial awareness useful to comfort a grieving friend?

My advice is to keep your IQ out of it. It is not useful and all it is likely to do is alienate the Rightswipers who find the approach to be somewhat arrogant and elitist.

For plenty more tips and advice you can subscribe to the free Youtube channel or sign up to the very reasonably priced VIP area at Rightswipers.com

Good luck in your search.