You know you’ve done it, or at least thought about it. You’re up late, can’t sleep, so what do you do? You read, you watch Netflix or take silly personality tests online to try and figure out more about yourself (or see how accurate said test is or not). No? Just me?
Well, personality typing has become popular over the years especially now with easy access to test taking online. Without a doubt, one of the most popular systems belongs to the MBTI, better known as the Myers-Briggs personality test. Not only is it used for personal reasons, but many professional companies use it as well. The assessment is based on the research and ideas of Carl Jung, Katherine Briggs, and Isabel Myers so it’s not without merit (though of course, its validity will always be in question).
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So what then is the test all about? The theory argues that each individual has a preference for Extraverted or Introverted, Sensing or Intuitive, Thinking or Feeling and Judging or Perceiving. You also show a preference for cognitive functions (IE: Introverted Sensing).
When you break it all down, that creates a possibility of 16 different Personality Types. There are various tests you can take (professional is always best) to try and figure out your type. A good place to begin is with the Myers-Briggs/Jung Typology Test from humanetrics.com. That said, this will probably only work as a narrowing tool because it’s harder to figure out true type without the help of a professional.
For the official professional test, go to www.mbtionline.com.
After you take the test you’ll be told which personality type you “might” be. The sixteen types are as follows, with descriptions as described by personalitypage.com. You can read more detailed descriptions on their site.
ISTJ – The Duty Fulfiller
Serious and quiet, interested in security and peaceful living. Extremely thorough, responsible, and dependable. Well-developed powers of concentration. Usually interested in supporting and promoting traditions and establishments. Well-organized and hard working, they work steadily towards identified goals. They can usually accomplish any task once they have set their mind to it.
ISTP – The Mechanic
Quiet and reserved, interested in how and why things work. Excellent skills with mechanical things. Risk-takers who they live for the moment. Usually interested in and talented at extreme sports. Uncomplicated in their desires. Loyal to their peers and to their internal value systems, but not overly concerned with respecting laws and rules if they get in the way of getting something done. Detached and analytical, they excel at finding solutions to practical problems.
ISFJ – The Nurturer
Quiet, kind, and conscientious. Can be depended on to follow through. Usually puts the needs of others above their own needs. Stable and practical, they value security and traditions. Well-developed sense of space and function. Rich inner world of observations about people. Extremely perceptive of other’s feelings. Interested in serving others.
ISFP – The Artist
Quiet, serious, sensitive and kind. Do not like conflict, and not likely to do things which may generate conflict. Loyal and faithful. Extremely well-developed senses, and aesthetic appreciation for beauty. Not interested in leading or controlling others. Flexible and open-minded. Likely to be original and creative. Enjoy the present moment.
INFJ – The Protector
Quietly forceful, original, and sensitive. Tend to stick to things until they are done. Extremely intuitive about people, and concerned for their feelings. Well-developed value systems which they strictly adhere to. Well-respected for their [perseverance] in doing the right thing. Likely to be individualistic, rather than leading or following.
INFP – The Idealist
Quiet, reflective, and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick, and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people.
INTJ – The Scientist
Independent, original, analytical, and determined. Have an exceptional ability to turn theories into solid plans of action. Highly value knowledge, competence, and structure. Driven to derive meaning from their visions. Long-range thinkers. Have very high standards for their performance, and the performance of others. Natural leaders, but will follow if they trust existing leaders.
INTP – The Thinker
Logical, original, creative thinkers. Can become very excited about theories and ideas. Exceptionally capable and driven to turn theories into clear understandings. Highly value knowledge, competence and logic. Quiet and reserved, hard to get to know well. Individualistic, having no interest in leading or following others.
ESTP – The Doer
Friendly, adaptable, action-oriented. “Doers” who are focused on immediate results. Living in the here-and-now, they’re risk-takers who live fast-paced lifestyles. Impatient with long explanations. Extremely loyal to their peers, but not usually respectful of laws and rules if they get in the way of getting things done. Great people skills.
ESTJ – The Guardian
Practical, traditional, and organized. Likely to be athletic. Not interested in theory or abstraction unless they see the practical application. Have clear visions of the way things should be. Loyal and hard-working. Like to be in charge. Exceptionally capable in organizing and running activities. “Good citizens” who value security and peaceful living.
ESFP – The Performer
People-oriented and fun-loving, they make things more fun for others by their enjoyment. Living for the moment, they love new experiences. They dislike theory and impersonal analysis. Interested in serving others. Likely to be the center of attention in social situations. Well-developed common sense and practical ability.
ESFJ – The Caregiver
Warm-hearted, popular, and conscientious. Tend to put the needs of others over their own needs. Feel strong sense of responsibility and duty. Value traditions and security. Interested in serving others. Need positive reinforcement to feel good about themselves. Well-developed sense of space and function.
ENFP – The Inspirer
Enthusiastic, idealistic, and creative. Able to do almost anything that interests them. Great people skills. Need to live life in accordance with their inner values. Excited by new ideas, but bored with details. Open-minded and flexible, with a broad range of interests and abilities.
ENFJ – The Giver
Popular and sensitive, with outstanding people skills. Externally focused, with real concern for how others think and feel. Usually dislike being alone. They see everything from the human angle, and dislike impersonal analysis. Very effective at managing people issues, and leading group discussions. Interested in serving others, and probably place the needs of others over their own needs.
ENTP – The Visionary
Creative, resourceful, and intellectually quick. Good at a broad range of things. Enjoy debating issues, and may be into “one-up-manship”. They get very excited about new ideas and projects, but may neglect the more routine aspects of life. Generally outspoken and assertive. They enjoy people and are stimulating company. Excellent ability to understand concepts and apply logic to find solutions.
ENTJ – The Executive
Assertive and outspoken – they are driven to lead. Excellent ability to understand difficult organizational problems and create solid solutions. Intelligent and well-informed, they usually excel at public speaking. They value knowledge and competence, and usually have little patience with inefficiency or disorganization.
After a lot of research and test taking I was able to (“I think”) figure out my type. Mostly I was stuck somewhere between an INFP and an INFJ, but eventually, I leaned more toward INFP. Autumn, also a writer and a moderator of this site, is an INFJ. So identical twins: one of us an INFP and the other an INFJ. A little bit like Jane Eyre (INFP) and Helen Burns (INFJ) as children.
Watching the 1983 adaptation of Jane Eyre, Helen and Jane were like exaggerated versions of us. Rebecca, the other writer and moderator on this site is also an INFJ in many ways quite a bit like Rory Gilmore (no surprise the three of us came together to make this site).
Which brings me to the point of this whole blog post! After much research over the years, and having attempted to type everyone in my immediate family, I decided to now take it one step further in trying to type fictional characters. Why do you ask? Because it’s fun! Not only that, it gives you good insight into characterization.
Of course, typing fictional characters isn’t an exact science. Personally, I think there are many characters that are frequently mistyped. You’ll notice on my photo slider featured below that I type Hermione Granger of Harry Potter as an INFJ. Most people will type her as an INTP or an INTJ. So why then do I disagree?
Well for one, just because someone is an intelligent thinker doesn’t mean they are a “T.” INFJ’s are the rarest of the types (it’s pointed out how singular Hermione is). Not only that, J.K. Rowling claims Hermione is a lot like herself (and Rowling is usually typed as an INFP or an INFJ).
This quote comes directly from J.K. Rowling about Hermione:
“I have often said that Hermione is a bit like me when I was younger. I think I was seen by other people as a right little know-it-all, but I hope that it is clear that underneath Hermione’s swottiness there is a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure (as shown by her Boggart in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’).”
It’s Hermione’s over the top, even illogical attempt to save House Elves that make me think she’s more of an F. S.P.E.W. has INFP or INFJ written all over it. Hermione chooses this oftentimes ridiculed crusade because it’s right not because it’s logical. Typically a “T” person might see her crusade as pointless because it won’t actually go anywhere.
At the end of the day, Hermione is all about her ideals. Though I think she’s difficult to type because she’s somewhere between logic and feeling. Sometimes she even points out how she has a bad feeling about something. Personally, I see her as a character that uses Introverted Intuition (Ni) before she uses her logic (and she does) which happens to be the dominant function of an INFJ. Just because some INFJ’s are stereotyped to be mystical or psychic doesn’t actually mean they all are. What most of them are, however, are the “champions of the oppressed and downtrodden.”
There is actually a lot of misunderstanding out there about “how” to type. Real typing comes down to cognitive functions rather than Extroverted vs Introverted or Feelings vs. Thinking and so on and so forth. How to tell a true personality is to look at the functions.
The functions are as follows:
Extraverted Sensing (Se)
Introverted Sensing (Si)
Extraverted Intuiting (Ne)
Introverted Intuiting (Ni)
Extraverted Thinking (Te)
Introverted Thinking (Ti)
Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
Introverted Feeling (Fi)
Everybody has a dominant function, an inferior function, etc…and that is how you truly figure out your personality type. Besides the link for the test above, this cognitive functions test is also a good narrowing tool.
That said, it’s one thing to figure out your own type, it’s quite another to figure out a fictional character’s. You might have one interpretation, and then someone else will completely disagree with the said assessment. It’s all theory and interpretation.
Another character I believe to be mistyped frequently is Rose Tyler of Doctor Who. There’s a lot of argument for her being ESFP which I just don’t see at all. She’s much more INFP. She’s an idealist, clever and extremely empathetic but she can also be very selfish because she goes so much inside her own head.
She appears to be extroverted when she’s with the Doctor because she is at ease with him. At the party in episode two for instance when she’s still uncomfortable she leaves the party to sit in a room alone. She needs her time to get away and think.
Also, she’s the Belle of Doctor Who who sees the beauty in the “beast.” No doubt Belle is the ultimate and most obvious INFP out there if you will. Take a look at the episode, “Dalek” for instance. Not to mention Rose’s narrative is driven mostly by her introverted feeling which is the dominant function of an INFP. INFPs can be witty and talkative and can love talking to people. This love of talk comes from empathy rather than being a social butterfly. Describing an INFP from 16personalities.com, they say:
“In INFP eyes, even the most revolting person will have something worthy of respect or, at the very least, sympathy.”
Some of the types were harder for me to find, while others were easier to fill. So I’m sure I’ll be adding to these lists in the future. I did attempt to type the majority of the main characters of Doctor Who, so you should see most of the bigger characters included. On top of that, I typed many different characters from TV, film, and literature. Anyway, based on research as well as my own theoretical interpretations these are how I type the characters (feel free to disagree!).
TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE TO SEE THE PERSONALITY TYPES OF MANY FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!
I stumbled across a Harry Potter MBTI chart the other day (http://imgur.com/iRCaD4u ) that had Hermione as an INTP, which made perfect sense to me (as someone who almost invariably tests out as INTP). But you’re right, I can also see her as an INFP. Anyway, INTPs are the ones most skeptical of personality typing, thinking of it all as more of a parlor trick. It can give a writer useful shorthand for developing characters, though.
Thanks for your thoughts! Yeah I agree with some of that typing. It is always open to interpretation. With characters, if they’re not directly in the center of a preference and they’re more on the edge it makes them harder to type! Hermione is without a doubt an INxx. Personally I’ve always seen Hermione as having much more of a J preference than a P though. And she’s right on the line on the F vs the T. Which is when it really comes down to turning to the dominant function. SPEW was my deciding factor when making a guess with her! That all said, I think most people are skeptical of personality typing, myself included. My issue is that I don’t necessarily like to be boxed into anything. But somehow I still find it to be great fun! Go figure. How I enjoy any story is through the characters so I suppose really trying to dig into their psyche intrigues me. And since reading and seeing through the eyes of the characters is so personal we will each view the characters differently!
I totally agree with the possibility of Hermione being INFJ. I am this type and I’m like the most classical version of it, really, every single word describes what I am and how I live. I also have a close friend who is a very true INTJ and though we seem to be similar, we are two other worlds. In some ways we think the same way and then we completly don’t. He would never, ever even thought about SPEW, but I’d actually wear that badge easily. Also my mum is INFP and she’s a total Anne of Green Gables but she doesn’t think like me or Hermione at all. INFPs are just naturally good and kinda naive but also smart and stubborn – more Luna Lovegood. My way of thinking is much different from other people’s so it’s clear to me I’ve never met another INFJ in my life. However from what I’ve studied Daenerys Targaryen, Remus Lupin and Mia from Princess Diaries and I have a lot in common and they’re likely INTJs. Especially Remus – seems reserved but when with friends he acts like an extrovert. I’ve always thought Hermione and Remus are quite alike and now I think it might be because they’re the same personality type(we know Hermione from her friends’ point of view so she acts differently). True or not, when I was a child I was absolutely Hermione, anybody could say that… For other characters – Aragorn might be an INTJ,too.
I’m from Poland and from all the people in the world, fictional or real, I’ve ‘met’ a true soulmate that is absolutely my type and easily could just be me. It’s a xixth century poet, Adam Mickiewicz. All the INTJs out there, you might want to check this guy out.
Great article btw, I enjoyed reading it so much 🙂
I actually bounce between INTP and INFP, but the Ni is really the strongest part of my typing. I agree with Michael, these types are very wishy-washy, and I usually just use them to help me understand characters in my writing and reading world (That the ‘T’ in me speaking). However, I will say that I did a project where I typed all of my close family and friends, and the people I thought were most influential tended to share similar type elements with me! For instance, my grandmother that I’m closest to is ENTP; however, my father is INFJ (There were a lot of other factors that were at play here as well, but it was interesting getting to see how the people that I looked up to as mentors, or peers, had scores that were harmonious with mine. Very interesting stuff! My advice to anyone who gets into this is to make sure they understand that these scores fall on a spectrum, and nothing is set in stone.
I totally agree about Rose Tyler! I’m an INFP with several close ESFP friends, and I found her more relatable than they did. When in one of the first couple episodes she wants to try to save the life of the “last human”—that seems extremely INFP-like. As for her feeling at ease with the doctor, I can become at ease with a single person quickly, especially if we’re sharing an unusual experience. It just takes longer to feel at ease in a big group.
Yeah, Rose isn’t much like the ESFP people I know either! And being an INFP myself, I agree. I can appear to be very outgoing when I’m at ease with someone, especially if we share an experience together. Big groups are harder…
Yeah, it is a good point to make. While I find personality typing to be fun, it is important to note that nothing is set in stone. And no one can really fit nicely into a box.
I’m an INFP. I’ve often identified with Hermione, but I don’t think I’m the exact same type as her because we’re also different. She’s more matter-of-fact than I am, for example, and I’d say I’m a bit more relaxed. I’m also often compared to Luna but I’ve never really identified with her other than that I think it’s important to be yourself even if that means being different. And it’s hard to sort me into personality types because I’m very contradictive and complex, which makes me more or less identify with all sorts of characters (everything from fun-loving, optimistic extroverts, pessimists and perfectionists to individualistic oddballs) … I can’t determine which one of the four temperaments I am at all.
Always thought Rose was FAR more INFP than anything else, so glad I’m not alone. Yes we’re naturally quiet, but we can totally turn on the fun-loving, chatty, explorer side when we’re comfortable with someone, especially someone who encourages that in us, which the doctor did with her. But Rose constantly stopping the doctor from killing creatures instead of giving them a chance to change, or caring so much about the Dalek dying that she touched it, or going to pieces after the doctor left her and went away, and her knowing he needed her so badly that she couldn’t stand it? Totally, totally INFP. We see beauty in the worst of beasts, and we will give the last of everything we are for who we love. So yeah. I totally vote well-developed INFP. I just see that so much in her.
Yes, exactly! The other types just don’t really suit her. I think people imagine that INFP’s are mute, but that is hardly true! INFP’s come to life when they feel comfortable with someone and when they see a value they believe in deeply being threatened. That said, there are some INFP’s who can chatter the whole live long day. Look at Anne Shirley. It all just depends…
Anne Shirley is an awesome example. She’s not at all overly quiet and reserved. She does need her alone time, but she’s totally able to engage people and be outgoing when needed (shoot I’m a total INFP and I’m more able to engage strangers than some extroverts I know) And Gilbert, an ENTP just like The Doctor is often typed as, brings out that fire and playfulness simultaneously in her. So yeah, you put us with someone who just knows the right buttons, oh yes we can come to life, haha. And leave the poor person wondering how in the world to switch it off *chuckles*
Yes, exactly! 🙂
Hi my question is this Has anyone seen BBC Americas “Jekyll” Im interested in hearing opinions about what personality types people in that mini series are
I am very interested in watching that show! Maybe in the future we could cover that show for fun. 🙂 For now though I would have no idea!