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MBTI Step II Facets: Critical–Accepting

Be prepared for some push-back from clients who report Thinking in-preference Critical on the MBTI^® Step II™ assessment. The bullet-point descriptors on the MBTI^® Step II™ Interpretive Report can be more direct (some say harsh) for this result than for any other. I’ve had a client get a bit argumentative about the descriptor “are argumentative.” And a participant in an MBTI^® Certification Program this week sprinted across the room to the Accepting side after reading the Critical descriptors!

While I make it clear to clients that they are the final decision maker on their MBTI results, I also encourage them to challenge their conclusion by asking people who know them well whether or not these results and the descriptors seem to fit them. For that reason, I ask clients to never cross out any of the report comments. Instead, I have them highlight in yellow any descriptors with which they agree and in pink any with which they disagree. That way, they get to own what they choose while still keeping what they disagree with visible.

If you do team-building work that includes this facet, don’t be surprised to find lots of participants reporting Accepting, regardless of whether they report a preference for Thinking or Feeling. Societal influence plays a part here, in that we are a society that encourages accepting over critical behavior. Critical behavior can get an unfair bad rap. While it can come across as overly negative, the purpose of critical behavior is simply to correct what is wrong.

By the way, if you haven't seen the updated version of the MBTI Step II Interpretive Report, you can find the sample report here.