Personality assessments are popular. If you are applying for a job, you might need to take a test. Many employers believe the tests can help them avoid picking the wrong people.
性格测试很流行。如果你申请一份工作，你就可能要接受这样的测试。许多雇主相信测试能避免选错员工。
Companies also want to make sure their employees can cope with stress. Disagreements can be costly and inefficient.
同时企业也希望确保员工能够应对压力。工作分歧会导致高成本和低效率。
According to the BBC, in the US alone, there are about 2,500 personality tests on the market.
根据BBC的报道，仅在美国，市场上就有将近2500种性格测试。
One of the most popular is called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI. Used by 89 of the Fortune 100 companies, it has been translated into 24 languages and has been adopted by governments and military agencies around the world.
其中最流行的一种叫做迈尔斯•布里格斯类型指标，即MBTI测试。《财富》杂志100强企业里有89家采用这个测试，此测试被翻译成24种语言，被全世界各地的政府和军事机构广为采用。
Perhaps its attraction lies in its simplicity – according to the MBTI, we all conform to one of 16 character types.
也许这种测试的吸引力在于它的简单——根据MBTI测试，我们每人都符合16种性格的其中一种。
But that simplicity is precisely what makes some people skeptical.
但是这种简单也的确让一些人持怀疑态度。
"There is something about the wish to put everything in neat little boxes so that we can manipulate them and make them serve our purposes," says American author Annie Murphy Paul.
"这就好比把所有的东西都塞进整齐划一的小盒子里，便于我们使用，适应我们的需求。"美国作家安妮•墨菲•保罗如是说。
Her book, The Cult of Personality Testing, claims such tests are leading people to miseducate their children, mismanage their companies and misunderstand themselves.
她的著作，《性格测试的狂热》，认为这样的测试会导致人们误导自己的孩子，或是对公司管理不善，还会误解自己的性格。
To someone unfamiliar with it, MBTI may look like random combinations of letters, but the first category is relatively straightforward – are you E or I? Extrovert or Introvert?
对于不了解MBTI测试的人来说，它可能看起来就是字母的随机组合，但是第一个类别相对直接——你是E还是I？即：外向还是内向？
The second is a choice between S or N – Sensing or Intuitive – which means some people interpret the world by collecting data through their senses, others reply on their gut feelings.
第二个是S或N的选择——即理性还是感性——这是指有些人靠理性搜集数据来认识世界，而有人则依靠本能的直觉认识世界。
Are you a T or an F? A Thinker or somebody more governed by their Feelings? And, finally, are you J or P? Judging types prefer to regulate and manage their lives whereas Perceivers favor spontaneity.
你是T还是F？即：理智思考的人还是感情冲动的人？还有，你是J还是P？即：判断型的人倾向于有条不紊地规划和管理自己的生活，而凭感觉走的人更喜欢随性自在。
The BBC reported that the overwhelming majority of the 2.5 million Americans who take the MBTI assessment each year feel their results do fit their personalities.
据BBC报道，每年参加MBTI测试的250万美国人里，绝大多数人觉得测试结果符合自己的性格。
But according to Paul, as many as three-quarters of test takers achieve a different personality type when tested for a second time.
根据作家保罗的观点，有四分之三的受测试者接受第二次测试后得到不同的结果。
She argues that the 16 distinctive types described by the Myers-Briggs have no scientific basis whatsoever.
她认为，迈尔斯•布里格斯描述的16种不同性格没有任何科学依据。
Employees often sense that management is looking for a particular type for a specific post. This assumption may lead to test-takers cheating on the test.
雇员往往觉得管理者测试员工性格是为了给特定岗位寻找特定性格的人。这样的臆测可能导致受测试者作假。
The investigative writer Barbara Ehrenreich, who has been a strong critic of personality testing for years, thinks employers have a greater tendency to worry about whether a candidate is introvert or extrovert.
调查作家芭芭拉•埃伦里希，多年来一直严厉批判性格测试，她认为雇主非常倾向于担心求职者是内向还是外向。
These days more employees are expected to work in teams. Sometimes, they are even expected to communicate effectively with people on the other side of the world whom they have never met.
现在，更多的雇员被要求进行团队协作。有时候，他们甚至需要与地球另一边素未谋面的人进行有效沟通。
There is a perception that extroverts are better at this.
有一种观点认为，性格外向的人更能胜任此类工作。
"You will be told that no one type is better than another and you should be spontaneous in answering the questions," she told the BBC.
"他们会告诉你，并非哪一种性格优于别的性格，你应该发自内心地回答这些问题。"她接受BBC采访时说。
"But, in reality, they are not looking for introverts. Even if what you are doing is looking at figures all day. They want everyone in the environment to be perky and positive and upbeat at all times."
"但是，事实上，他们不喜欢性格内向的人。即使你要做的工作是整天看图表，他们也希望工作环境里的每个人整天都是活泼、积极、乐观的。"