Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Seinfeld Characters Personality Types

Seinfeld is an iconic TV sitcom and widely considered one of the greatest TV series of all time. Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and described as "the show about nothing", it stars the latter as the main character (playing himself, Jerry) as well as his three friends, George, Kramer and Elaine.

Here is my personality type analysis of the main and secondary characters.



Main Characters

Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) – INTJ

Extremely perceptive, penetrative and insightful with his dominant Ni worldview about everything that goes on around him and expresses these insights with logical expression through Te.

Has inferior Se evident in his fetish relationship with external details i.e. germophobe and neat freak tendencies as well as his reasons for break ups.

George Costanza (Jason Alexander) – ENTP

Originator of new ideas and possibilities, great improviser, quick to identify new trends and pursues a number of different ‘get rich quick’ business ideas throughout the series – lives very much in the moment exploring new possibilities and ideas as they arise like an Ne dominant. Alternates readily between the detached logical analysis of auxiliary Ti with the charisma and charm of Fe.


Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) – ENTP

See George's description. Seems more Fe charismatic than Fi poignant - but not completely sold. Inferior Si shown by his great difficulty with abiding by rules and law.

Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) - ENFJ

Probably the hardest to identify out of the four - she seems a lead feeler with her emotion tending to be directed outward and assertively e.g. her quick temper and overtly flirtatious demeanour, possibly indicating dominant Fe user. Her supporting process seems to be be Ni rather than Si. I don't see her as a particularly strong example of this or any other type.

Interested to hear other people's suggestions on her...


Secondary Characters

Newman (Wayne Knight) - INFJ
Morty Seinfeld (Phil Bruns) - ISTJ
Helen Seinfeld (Liz Sheridan) - ESFJ
Frank Costanza (John Randolph) - INTJ
Estelle Costanza (Estelle Harris) - ESFJ
Susan Ross (Heidi Swedberg) - ISFJ
George Steinberner (Lee Bear with Larry David’s voice) - INTJ
Jacopo Peterman (John O’Hurley) - INTJ
David Puddy (Patrick Warburton) - ISTP
Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris) - INTJ

8 comments:

  1. I didn't look through the secondary characters, but I think you only got 2 (possibly 1) of the main 4 right. Kramer is definitely an ENTP and in fact fits the classic profile. He is constantly coming up with new ideas, none of which he ever really follows through on for very long. Jerry I had pegged as an ENTJ, since I think his Fi is inferior (and just as responsible as the Se you note for his finnicky behavior). However, you can certainly make a case for N being his dominant function, so I could see him as an INTJ.

    George is a clear ESFP in my opinion. His auxiliary Fi, which he uses to make most of his decisions, frequently engages in impractical and self-destructive behavior just to prove a point - faking an arm injury to fool Lloyd Braun, flying across the country to get back at a guy for making fun of his eating shrimp, trying to give his boss a mickey for revenge, the list goes on. His dominant Se causes him to make impulsive decisions (getting engaged) and if you pay close attention, you'll realize none of his schemes are really ever original (he usually gets the idea from someone else). He is clearly insecure and manipulative, too - the signature ESFP profile.

    Elaine is a tricky one, but I'm pretty sure she's an ESTP. Her relationship pattern resembles what a typical ESTP's might look like - jumps into a lot of relationships impulsively, falls head over heels, then quickly gets bored and exits ungracefully. I'm not 100% sure she isn't an ESFP, but she just seems too rational and isn't half the drama queen George is, so ESTP makes sense. The S I am pretty certain about (when did she ever come up with an original idea? when does she ever seem concerned about the future?). She is also definitely not a J - assertive, yes (as an ESTP would certainly be), but not at all an organizer or scheduler. She seems very go with the flow - in and out of relationships, enjoys casual drop by visits to Jerry or trips to the coffee shop, etc.

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  2. Are you completely clueless about the system? I'm sorry, I usually like a more insightful response, but this is all completely wrong.

    Jerry Seinfeld - ENFP (His intuition is clearly extraverted)
    Elaine Bennis - ESFJ (Textbook Fe user with Si, not Ni)
    Cosmo Kramer - ESTP (Se in the moment with Ti schemes)
    George Castanza - ISTJ (Textbook ISJ male with awkward Fi)
    Newman - ISTP (Internal, mechanical with devious Fe inferior)
    Frank Costanza - ESTJ (Te dom, shares no functions with wife)
    Estelle Costanza - ESTP (Very Se, image oriented, showy, etc)
    Morty Seinfeld - ISTJ (Reminds me of my ISTJ grandfather! Lol)
    Helen Seinfeld - ESFJ (Very Fe dominant with SJ temperament)
    J. Peterman - ENTJ (Classic pompous Te dom, almost chauvinistic)

    Hope that helps clear things up!
    Newman as INFJ... give me a break.

    Brian

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  3. actually Jerry Seinfeld has openly identified as an infj, intj was close but as an infj myself I know that the t and j are very spectrum based and I have lots in common with ntj types. He loves superman and tries saving peoples feelings when possible. I think enfj is right for Elaine because my mother is an enfj and she reminds me a lot of her...she is somewhat manipulative but also charismatic. Newman is most likely intj because he is portrayed as the evil mastermind type. Kramer does seem entp but he is probably bordering on enfp because he has a very people pleasing side to him. George could be either entj or estp, he is definitely t and most likely n because of there odd conversations, the p or j is the hardest for him but I think j just because he doesn't seem layed back in a p sort of way.

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  4. Myself I am INTP with 41% T. But I always identify myself as half Kramer and half Costanza (without the need for revenge)

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    2. Someone please how I could strongly relate to Kramer and Costanza but they different.

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    3. Sorry, trouble working this site. Someone please explain how I am INTP but strongly relate to Kramer and Costanza.

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    4. Sorry, trouble working this site. Someone please explain how I am INTP but strongly relate to Kramer and Costanza.

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