There is such a thing as too much information in your dating profile. The point of the resume that you post on an online dating site is to attract the attention of the right person. The Guardian writes that one person wondered about putting Myers-Briggs personality inventory results in their profile.

Dating online seems to promise us that it’s possible to extrapolate compatibility from data, that we can reduce ourselves to a few traits, find someone else with complementary traits and book a wedding venue. But, of course, anyone who has had a bad date with someone they met online can confirm that shared characteristics and interests with an individual does not guarantee that you’ll want to have a relationship, or even a second drink, with them.

Does the MBTI have any validity when it comes to better and worse romantic partnerships? Personally, if I see a man has listed his MBTI results on his profile I don’t get in touch, not because I think I could never love an INFJ (or whatever), but because I feel it indicates a certain lack of creativity to rely on a multiple-choice test to describe yourself rather than, you know, just describing yourself.

Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as too much information in your dating profile. Tall, thin, handsome man with an irritating tendency to repeat everything that you say, will probably not get you many dates. Keep your dating profile short and sweet and fill in the details when someone shows a little interest.

What Is Your Goal?

Most people are just looking for a successful first date. Too much information in your dating profile does not help. Rather include the high points in your dating profile. Be honest and to the point. You will have better luck if you tell the truth about your age, interests and what you want out of a date. A hot first date is a great fantasy but to get there you need to get the other person thinking along similar lines. That does not usually happen with too much information in your dating profile, especially the psychological details.

No Relationship Is Perfect

A happy relationship is the eventual goal of most people. But there is give and take in any good relationship and acceptance of imperfections. Communication is the key to working through problems. Here is where a tool such as the Myers-Briggs personality inventory can be helpful. According to the Myers Briggs Foundation:

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.

The Myers Briggs test rates people in these categories.

• Introversion/Extroversion
• Sensing/Intuition in gathering information
• Thinking/Feeling approach to making decisions
• Judging/Perceiving in dealing with the outside world

The composite result puts people in one of 16 categories. To a degree certain types of people get along more intuitively with certain other types. If you are in a relationship with someone and it always seems like the two of you are not on the same page, knowing your Myers-Briggs scores and having someone interpret them for you can be helpful. On the other hand asking someone for their Myers-Briggs score before you meet them is not likely to end up happily.