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The MBTI as a Cultural Meme, Its Diffusion on Chinese Social Media, and Its Significance for Millennials' and Gen‐Zs' Selves and Identities

J. Patrick Williams & Si Wu

Symbolic Interaction2025https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.70012article
AJG 2
Weight
0.37

What the paper says

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, has recently gained popularity among Chinese millennials and Gen Zs. Framing the MBTI as a cultural item or meme, this article explores its emerging significance on Chinese social media. We combine Gary Fine's conception of cultural items' diffusion with the concept of cultural memes to show how the MBTI is Known, Usable, Functional, Appropriate, and Triggered (KUFAT) among young Chinese on social media platforms. Our analysis highlights the memetic spread of the MBTI among Chinese millennials and Gen Zs and demonstrates how they use the MBTI to express self‐understandings and social identities that supplement those in traditional Chinese culture. The study offers new empirical insights into the cultural and social‐psychological dimensions of the MBTI among Chinese youth. In addition, it offers new conceptual insights regarding the use of the KUFAT model for research on social media networks, thus generalizing its relevance beyond small groups and their idiocultural contexts.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.70012

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@article{j.2025,
  title        = {{The MBTI as a Cultural Meme, Its Diffusion on Chinese Social Media, and Its Significance for Millennials' and Gen‐Zs' Selves and Identities}},
  author       = {J. Patrick Williams & Si Wu},
  journal      = {Symbolic Interaction},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.70012},
}

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The MBTI as a Cultural Meme, Its Diffusion on Chinese Social Media, and Its Significance for Millennials' and Gen‐Zs' Selves and Identities

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.