APTi Ethical Standards: Additional Guidelines for Type Practitioners

17. Model ethical use of psychological type.

Whenever you are using psychological type in a professional capacity, you will be seen as a representative of the type community at large. Anything that you tolerate in the way of mistaken assumptions, misleading or incorrect language, stereotyping, etc. can be taken as accurate or permissible unless you correct it.

This doesn’t mean that you have to consider yourself “the type police.” As stated in Standard #7, it is helpful to assume that the other person’s misuse is inadvertent. You can frame your response as a “Remember that…” statement, or say something like, “It’s my understanding that…” When you correct factual errors, it is helpful to cite sources for your information, such as the manuals for assessments, tools or methods, or other reputable references. If the person insists on their point of view, you can agree to disagree – for example, “You seem very sure about this, so perhaps I’m mistaken. I will check into it and find out what’s really the case.” When you state an intention to seek out the facts of the matter in the interest of accurate understanding, you model that for others. (And don’t forget to follow through – you may in fact be mistaken.)

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