Yes, the Enneagram is much more accurate and much more profound than the MBTI.
The MBTI is really a confused mess. It purports to be based on Jung's type system. However, a close reading of the relevant section of Jung's <i>Psychological Types</i> reveals the following. Jung identified eight types. The descriptions in his book correspond quite closely, in fact, with eight of the Enneagram types. (The omitted one is the Three.) Myers and Briggs then took the dimensions Jung had identified and multiplied them out to get 16 types which now correspond more poorly to the Enneagram types.
If you don't know about the Enneagram, you might say, "okay, so what? so they don't correspond well -- that doesn't prove the MBTI is wrong." But if you will study the Enneagram you will see there is much more to it. For instance, the connections between one's type and how one related to one's parents; the spectrum of expressions of each type, from unhealthy to healthy; and the concepts of integration and disintegration, which connect the nine types in a clear, fixed, and quite beautiful structure. If you prefer not to hear the mystical overtones in that structure, that's certainly your choice, but they're there.
The Enneagram is a profound tool for self-understanding and self-improvement. The MBTI can be a useful place to start for people who are new to self-exploration, but it won't take you nearly as far.
The MBTI is really a confused mess. It purports to be based on Jung's type system. However, a close reading of the relevant section of Jung's <i>Psychological Types</i> reveals the following. Jung identified eight types. The descriptions in his book correspond quite closely, in fact, with eight of the Enneagram types. (The omitted one is the Three.) Myers and Briggs then took the dimensions Jung had identified and multiplied them out to get 16 types which now correspond more poorly to the Enneagram types.
If you don't know about the Enneagram, you might say, "okay, so what? so they don't correspond well -- that doesn't prove the MBTI is wrong." But if you will study the Enneagram you will see there is much more to it. For instance, the connections between one's type and how one related to one's parents; the spectrum of expressions of each type, from unhealthy to healthy; and the concepts of integration and disintegration, which connect the nine types in a clear, fixed, and quite beautiful structure. If you prefer not to hear the mystical overtones in that structure, that's certainly your choice, but they're there.
The Enneagram is a profound tool for self-understanding and self-improvement. The MBTI can be a useful place to start for people who are new to self-exploration, but it won't take you nearly as far.