Merve Emre on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 

Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is not specifically mentioned in Merve Emre’s book “The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing,” which instead focuses on the development of personality testing and how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) became one of the most well-known personality tests in the world.

Nonetheless, in the opening chapter of the book, Emre posits a connection between Alice’s experiences in Wonderland and the creation of the MBTI. She contends that Alice’s trip may be viewed as a metaphor for the MBTI’s central concepts of self-discovery and the quest for one’s real identity.

Emre’s writing is engaging and informative, and she draws on a wealth of historical and cultural references to contextualize the development of personality testing. She delves into the lives of the women who created the MBTI, Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers, and explores their motivations and influences. Emre also raises important questions about the validity and usefulness of personality testing, and whether it is possible to capture the complexity of human personality in a simple test.

Overall, Emre’s book offers a fascinating look at the history of personality testing and makes a compelling case for the importance of understanding the cultural and historical context in which these tests were developed. While the connection to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland may seem tenuous at first, Emre’s exploration of the themes of identity and self-discovery in both contexts adds depth and meaning to her analysis. Anyone interested in the history of psychology or the cultural impact of personality testing would find this book a worthwhile read.