How To Spot An Extrovert

Whilst most people rely on how determining how they speak much, whether they listen well or not, whether they are leaders or followers, whether they’d go to and so on, such methods will lead to inaccuracy when someone does not fit the stereotype.

Here are some tips that will help you spot even the most quiet extrovert:

• The natural equilibrium state of an extrovert will be engaged to the environment or interaction that is happening, as that is where they gain energy from
• In conversation they will typically have a neutral to forward lean (they may lean back to disengage while they draw upon introvert functions (access internally stored information), but they will return to their equilibrium engaged state after
• There will be a lesser comfort level in using introverted functions when disengaging from the conversation and environment

How To Spot An Introvert

Whilst most people rely on how determining whether someone is introverted by how they speak much, whether they listen well or not, whether they are leaders or followers, whether they’d go to parties regularly and so on, such methods will lead to inaccuracy when someone does not fit the mould.

Here are some tips that will help you spot even the most talkative introvert:

• The natural equilibrium state of an introvert will be detached or contained within themselves as that is where they gain energy from
• In conversation they will typically have a neutral to backward lean - they may lean forward while they draw upon extroverted functions, but they will return to their equilibrium contained state after
• There will be a greater comfort level in using introverted functions when disengaging eye contact (up, down, left or right) from the conversation or environment

The Simpsons Characters - Personality Types

The Simpsons is one of the most renowned, longest running and successful animated series in TV history.

The show is the creation of Matt Groening and is centred on the Simpsons family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, and their life in the fictional town of Springfield.

The show provide a parodying a typical American working-class family as well as many aspects of society, culture and people.

Here's my read of the show's main and minor characters:

Main Characters:

Homer Simpson – ESFP

An Extroverted Perceiver that is fun loving, lives in the moment, experiences life through his senses and wears his heart on his sleeve.

Marge Simpson – ISFJ

The concern and attention to detail of Si is the prevalent theme with Marge’s character – she provides a good balance to Homer’s character.

Bart Simpson – ESTP

Also a fun loving, live in the moment, go with the flow type like Homer, but with a much more tactical and persuasive side (Ti/Fe).

Lisa Simpson – INFJ

Straight-A student with strong intellectual interests and geared towards activism – struggles to identify with her family.

Minor Characters:


Many of these are very rough guesses at best...

Grandpa Simpson – ISTJ (senile)
Mona Simpson - INFJ

Mrs Jacqueline Bouvier - ISFJ
Selma Bouvier - ISTJ
Patty Bouvier - ISTJ

Ned Flanders - ENFJ
Maude Flanders - INFP
Rod Flanders and Tod Flanders - ISFJ

Chief Wiggum - ESFP
Ralph Wiggum - INFP

Eddie – ISTJ
Lou - ESTP

Principle Skinner - ISTJ
Agnes Skinner - ESTJ

Edna Krabaple - ESFJ
Groundskeeper Willy - ISTJ
Lunch Lady Doris - ISTJ
Super Intendent Chalmers - ESTJ

Nelson Muntz – ESTJ
Martin - INFJ

Mr Burns – INTJ
Waylon Smithers - ISFJ
Larry Burns - ESFP

Dr Hibbert - ENFP

Dr Nick Riviera - ENTP

Snake - INTJ
Gloria - ISFJ

Moe - ISTJ
Carl Carlson - ESTP
Lenny Leonard - ISTJ
Barney Gumble - ISFP

Luann Van Houten - ISTJ
Kirk Van Houten - ISFP
Milhouse Van Houten - INFP

Professor Frink - INTJ

Kent Brockman - ESTJ

Krusty - ESTP
Sideshow Bob - INFJ
Sideshow Mal - INTJ
Itchy - ISFJ
Scratchy - ENTP
Poochie - ESFP

Rainier Wolfcastle – ENTJ (Arnold Schwarznegger-clone)

Reverend Lovejoy - INTJ
Helen Lovejoy - ISFJ
Jessica Lovejoy - ENTP

Apu - ISFJ
Manjula - ISFJ

Mayor Quimby - ESTP

Fat Tony - INTJ

Cletus - ESTP
Brandine - ESFJ

Kang and Kodos - INTJ

Otto Mann – ISFP
Troy McLure - ENFJ
Cookie Kwan - ENFJ
Marvin Monroe - INFJ
Lionel Hutz - ENFJ
Dredrick Tatum – ISFP (Mike Tyson clone)
Gil Gunderson - ESFP
Disco Stu - ESTP
Duffman - ENFJ
Comic Book Guy - INFJ
Brad Goodman - INFJ
Akira - INTJ
Luigi - ESFJ
Wiseguy - INTJ
Artie Ziff - INTJ
Frank Grimes - INTJ
Hank Scorpio - ENFJ
Bleeding Gums Murphy - INFJ
Blue Haired Lawyer - ISTJ
Rich Texan - ENTJ

ENFP - Common Mistypes

ENFP are another personality type that tends to be mistyped and misread very often too.

Most people think of ENFP's as the cute bubbly, slightly unusual girl or the random, funny, quirky guy, but many do well in a variety of fields such as an acting, music, writing, business, comedian/comedienne, dancing etc.  

Here are some of the common misidentifications:

ENTP

Strong development of tertiary Te and/or less aware auxiliary Fi often yields this mistype for ENFP’s (auxiliary Fi is also a function that's value isn't readily appreciated by society - moreso for males).

ENFP that have strong academic interests and backgrounds will often test as one of these types as they will be very capable at yielding their Te.

INFP / INTP

Ne is quite a cerebral process and can seem more internalised than most other extroverted processes – it also isn’t readily appreciated by society, so if the user hasn’t been nurtured well when using it they might keep their Ne observations to themselves to avoid further discouragement.

ENFJ

The questions for J vs P are often poor determinants of whether you actually are J or P – again whilst ENFP prefer a more free form and adaptive style, there are some that have Si fetishes for details, have been nurtured in a particular way or have roles that require them to be well organised.

ESFP / ISFP

As I alluded to previously, as awesome a function as Ne is, unfortunately the environment and world is not always kind to Ne compared to most other functions, as I mentioned here – as a result this may lead to typing as a sensing type, when really they are just overmodulating and shutting down their dominant Ne quickly and often with their inferior Si.

INFJ - Common Mistypes

I discussed some of the issues with the MBTI test in here and some potential reasons for mistyping.

In the next series of posts, I’m going to go through a number of common mistypes that crop up fairly consistently for the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types.

It is commonly stated that the INFJ is the rarest of all types and whilst this is a possibility, it is not a fact given the reliability of the MBTI test

INFJ are probably the hardest of all types to read – like all personality types one label like “The Protectors” can not fit all of manifestations of a personality type and the different roles that they can take on - INFJ are often pioneers, leaders and revolutionaries (for better or worse) in a variety of fields to social chameleons, skilled charmers, actors/actresses and even dangerous criminal minds.

Here are some of the common mistypes and some potential reasons on why they may occur:

INTP/INTJ

Strong development of tertiary Ti and/or underdeveloped/less aware auxiliary Fe often yields this mistype for INFJ’s – you will often see this mistype in the INFJ that have strong academic orientation or background in their life.

INFP

The questions for J vs P are often poor determinants of whether you actually are J or P – perhaps an INFJ with normal development that isn’t particularly organised, punctual etc. could test as an INFP as the INFJ directive functions aren’t always (rarely?) concerned with organisation of concrete things.

ENFJ

An INFJ with well developed Fe and very good articulation and speaking skills may identify with a number of the extrovert vs introvert questions – this would probably be a common mistype with actors, comedians and skilled orators.

ISTP/ISTJ

Perhaps if they have worked in jobs that required great attention to detail or they have developed in a way (not a good way too) in which their Ni and Fe has got very little validation from their environment, but their Ti and Se has.

INFJ that are very good athletes or have mastered their inferior Se on numerous occassions may mistype this way too...

Frasier Characters - Personality Types

Frasier was a long running TV sitcom that was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub Street Productions) in association with Grammnet (2004) and Paramount Network Television.

The series, based on the life of Dr Frasier Crane, a radio psychiatrist that hosts his own show 'The Dr Frasier Crane Show' on KACL, was a spin-off from the very popular TV series Cheers.

Here's my analysis of the main characters Myers-Briggs types:

Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) – ENFJ

Insightful radio psychiatrist with a strong cultural and intellectual interests – definitely comes across as an intuitive values-orientated directive personality.

Niles Crane – INTJ

Psychiatrist and intellectual snob - much more detached (Ni dominant?) and chilly (Te vs Fe) personality than Fraser.

Martin Crane – ISFJ

Down to earth father who works as a police officer and ‘speaks a different language’ to Frasier and Niles – comes across as an Si dominant.

Daphne Moon – ENFP

Martin’s physical therapist who has a cheery outlook on life and can be a bit off the beaten path at times in her methods and beliefs.

Roz Doyle - ESFJ

Fraser’s assistant who is warm, friendly, down to earth and a serial dater of men who isn’t having much luck finding her 'Mr Right'.

 

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Characters - Personality Types

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is a novel by Ken Kesey that was also adapted into a film directed by Miloš Forman.

The novel was published in 1962 and is rated an all-time classic, as is the film which won 5 Academy Awards in 1975.

The story is about the inhabitants at an Oregon mental asylum which is run by the cold, tyrannical Nurse Ratched and her staff and focuses on the character of R.P McMurphy, a criminal doing time for statutory rape, who faked insanity to serve out the rest of his sentence in a mental institution, who rebels against the system in place.

Here’s my Myers-Briggs analysis of the main characters:

R.P. or Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) – INFJ

A lot of people type him as ESTP which is a common misconception that I discussed in a previous blog post.

McMurphy definitely a directive (J) and with an Ni agenda and Fe persuasion/charm much higher up than tertiary and inferior – I think his Ni agenda is above Fe charm.

Anti-authoritarian’s and rebel’s are more often than not Ni-dom’s as they have an Ni worldview highest in their psyche of how things should be and take action to make that happen with their extroverted directive function in this case Fe.

Nicholson is also an INFJ which is why he plays the role so very well in the movie.

Nurse Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher) – INTJ

A cold, passive-agressive, strict disciplinarian that runs the show her way – comes across as an INTJ moreso than an ISTJ IMO.

Dale Harding (William Redfield) – INTJ

Previously leader amongst the patients- intellectual, highly strung, strongly opinionated and – INTJ seems most likely.

Billie Bibbit (Brad Dourif) – INFP

Comes across as an introverted, adaptive (P) and values orientated (F) – most likely either INFP or ISFP.

Martini (Danny DeVito) - INFP

See Billie (above).

Chief Bromden (Will Sampson) - INFJ

Very much a detached observer of all that is going on around him, which makes me think Ni dom is likely with the focus on collective values (Fe).

ESTP’s ARE NOT REBELS / REVOLUTIONARIES!

This is a very common misconception I've seen amongst a lot of Myers-Briggs typists and shows a lack of understanding of cognitive functions and how their psyche is structured.

The dominant function is a person's source of energy and sense of identity as it is highest ranked in the psyche's hierarchy.

Dominant Se does not make one a genuine rebel, conversely dominant Ni very often does.

Dominant Se and auxiliary Ti results in ESTP enjoying a rich sensory experience of the present in the external world and wanting to calibrate this to their subjective logical perfection.

Having dominant Se means there are literally infinite opportunities to be energised by the outer world, which often results in them being very high energy, alert, magnetic types that have a zest for life.

Rebels/revolutionaries typically do not share those qualities, in fact quite the opposite - they are often deeply dissatisfied/frustrated/angry with the way things currently are (hello dominant Ni which holds a worldview of how things should be and could be better* than they currently are and Te/Fe that wants to implement in externally through either social or systemic dynamics – large majority of rebels and revolutionaries are INFJ and INTJ), which drives them to rebel and instigate change.

ESTP have Ni in a inferior position – so it is their most draining cognitive process to use (highest energy cost) and polar from their dominant Se and sense of identity.

*better is a subjective term i.e. Adolph Hitler's dominant Ni's idea of a better world, is very different to say Tyler Durden's, Gandhi's or Jamie Oliver's etc.

Futurama Characters - Personality Types

Futurama is an animated TV series created by Matt Groening based on the life and adventures of Phillip J. Fry, a 20-something NYC pizza delivery boy from the 20th century who is inadvertently cryogenically frozen and re-woken 1000 years later to an uncrecognisable world, finding employment at Planet Express, a interplanet delivery company.

Phillip J. Fry – ISFP

He doesn’t seem like a particularly strong representation of any personality type to me – I thought ISFP seemed the best fit – he’s definitely an adaptive type.

Turanga Leila – INTJ

She has the whole strong, independent woman that ‘takes no prisoners’ attitude going on – INTJ or INFJ seem to fit best IMO.

Amy Wong – ESFP

Cute, ditzy, rebellious against her parents, lives in the moment and fun loving – definitely comes off as an Extroverted Perceiver – ESFP seems to fit best.

Bender Bending Rodríguez – ESTP

Care-free, spontaneous, attention seeking and highly skilled kleptomaniac, very adaptive/versatile – ESTP is probably the best fit.

Dr. John A. Zoidberg – ISFP

Gut read –apart from seeming adaptive (P) he doesn’t seem to portray a particular personality type strongly enough.

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth – INTJ

Creative, mastermind scientist and inventor that’s very detached from the world (inferior Se) – I don’t get why people type him as ENTP? They are typically very buoyant and enthusiastic people.

Zapp Brannigan – ENFJ

Basically, Futurama’s Captain Kirk, who is also an ENFJ character.

Kif Kroker - INFP

Poignant, timid and shy – Fi-dom seems very likely.

Hermes Conrad - ISTJ

Stereotypical rigid beaurocrat – can he be any other type?

Just Shoot Me Characters – Personality Types

Just Shoot Me is a TV sitcom created by Steven Levitan and centred around the staff that work at the office of a fictional fashion magazine, Blush.

Dennis Finch (David Spade) – INTJ

Goes against the assistant stereotype - very conniving, scheming and intent on getting his way, which suggests Ni dom.

Maya Gallow (Laura San Giacomo) – INFJ

Headstrong, ill tempered neo-feminist writer that wants to change Blush magazine to reflect her views – definitely Ni worldview dominant.

Jack Gallo (George Segal) – INTJ

Stereotypical bigshot INTJ CEO that likes to show off his power/wealth and have trophy wives half his age.

Elliot DiMauro (Enrico Colantoni) – ISFP

Stereotypical fashion photographer - Fi dominant seems most likely from the general vibe of his character.

Nina Van Horne (Wendie Malick) - ESFJ

Stereotypical ex-model past her prime trying to hold onto her past. Very outwardly charming and flirty in a directive manner and which makes me think Fe dom.

Family Guy Characters - Personality Types

Family Guy is one of the most popular animated TV Series of all time. Created by Seth McFarlane it focuses on the life of the dysfunctional Griffin family and the various adventures they get upto.

Here's my analysis of the main characters personality types:

Peter Griffin – ESFP

He lives in the moment, is fun loving, impulsive and goes with his gut when making decisions rather than using logic.

Lois Griffin – ENFJ

She is a caring mother with a cunning Ni edge to her personality.

Stewie Griffin – INTJ

Is obsessed with world domination and killing Lois – that has to be Ni dominance! Possibly INFJ?

Chris Griffin – ISFP

Is sensitive, mild mannered and has a poignant vibe which is characteristic of Fi dominance.

Meg Griffin – ESFJ

Is very concerned with her public image and fitting in at school – although she’s the hardest to get a good read of because her character isn’t all that well developed.

Brian Griffin – INFJ

He comes across as an INFJ with strong Ti – has a pissed off Ni-dom vibe, strong intellectual interests and is a romantic at heart.

Cleveland Brown - ISFJ

Is the most grounded and ordinary out of all the characters.

Glenn Quagmire – ENFJ

He’s all about the Fe charm and persuasion with the Ni cunning edge.

Joe Swanson – ESTJ

Macho, competitive and forceful dominant Te personality that tends to go by the book.

Becker Characters - Personality Types

Becker was a TV sitcom series starring Ted Danson as Dr Becker, a misanthropic doctor that deeps down cares about his patients and friends, who single handedly operates his own practice in the borough of Bronx, New York City and is a regular customer at a local diner. One of my personal favourite sitcoms of all-time - if you haven't caught it yet, make sure you do!

Here's my analysis of the main characters personality types:

Dr John Becker (Ted Danson) - INTJ (don't think they could spell it out any more - definitely Ni/Te - has the common INTJ pissed off with the incompetence of the world theme to his character ala Dr Cox from Scrubs - Ni/Te sees the flaws in logical systems and is often pissed off because of how much better things could be - also annoyed by the Se details of the world i.e flickering street lamps and noisy people - great character)

Margaret Wyborn (Hattie Winston) - ESFJ (Becker's receptionist who is very motherly, tradtionally minded and stubborn - stereotypical ESFJ)

Linda (Shawnee Smith) - ENFP (Becker's other receptionist - in contrast to Margaret she's kooky, optimistic, impulsive, muddle headed  - has to be a Ne-Fi - never takes things literally and has a lot of typical Si vs Ne clashes with Margaret - a very likeable character)

Regina 'Reggie' Kostas (Terry Farrell) - ISFP (not really sure what type she is, but this is my gut read of her character)

Jake Malinak (Alex Désert) - ENTP (Not that sure of his type either - I'll go with ENTP because he is best friends with Becker - INTJ/ENTP pairs are commonly found together as they are an 'inspirational match' - he also has very quick wit and is very aware of what's going on despite being blind probably from Ne interfacing with patterns of what's happening at present)
 
Bob (Saverio Guerra) - ESTP (I'm going to go with Se dom, given how he clashes with Becker a lot. Definitely comes off more as the sharky tertiary Fe than auxiliary Fi)

Chris Connor (Nancy Travis) - ESFJ (Can't remember her character well enough, but from what I do ESFJ seems most likely - outgoing, nice, polite and ordinary)

Hector Lopez (Jorge Garcia) - ENTP (stereotypical ENTP schemer)

Myers-Briggs Test Mistypes

Whilst Myers-Briggs and Jungian cognitive functions test are presented as the best way of determining your type, the truth is they are not always accurate. In fact I believe the test only to be about 60% accurate (these are not official statistics as there is no objective way of determining someone's personality type) at best and quite possibly less. It is impossible to measure a person’s psyche 100% accurately from a written test. Here are some of the possible reasons why you might get a mistyping from the MBTI test...

...you don’t know yourself and your inner motivations well enough

...you have a well developed personality, have worked hard on your weaknesses and are comfortable making decisions with logic or feelings, being adaptive or directive when required etc. (you will still have a natural preference though)

...you may be a reserved extrovert or an articulate introvert

...you dislike certain aspects of yourself and want to dissociate yourself from these

...you are projecting qualities you wish you had, but don’t

...your development pattern might be abnormal for your type (i.e. your tertiary cognitive function being developed at a higher level than your secondary cognitive function)

...some of the questions were ambiguous and could be the result of a number of different cognitive functions at work

So even if the official test says you or someone else is XXXX type, don't take it as gospel. Consider the possibility and investigate further.

The Extrovert Myth

Another common myth is that all extroverts are social butterflies, high energy, talk a lot etc. again this is not always true. Being extroverted means that your lead and most stimulating way of functioning is to be engaged with the external world – depending on your dominant function, this may be a preference towards engaging directly (ExxJ) with social dynamics (Fe) or structural dynamics (Te) or taking in information (ExxP) via patterns and impressions (Ne) or literal details (Se).

So, ExxP’s are most likely to be mistyped as introverts as their lead way of functioning is taking in external information and their interaction function with the outside world (Fe or Te) is third in their hierarchy. In particular, Ne dominants (ENFP and ENTP) tend to be the most reserved of extroverts and some Ne dominants may be mistyped or misconceived as introverts. This is because we live in a Si dominant society (majority of the population are SJ’s), and as Si and Ne have an antagonistic/repressive relationship. So, Ne dominants may be frequently invalidated by Si dominant or auxiliary users who are directive and prefer to plant down what’s known as fact rather than exploring different patterns and possibilities of the external world (as that is draining for top 2 Si users to do), so the result is that Ne dominants start using more of their inferior Si to repress their Ne so they can deal more effectively with most people and as a result they may find most social interaction to be very draining.

The Introvert Myth

Common belief is that introverts are most drained by being around people and social interaction, however this is not the case with all introverts. In fact many introverts will not find interacting with other people that draining and be highly articulate, well skilled in conversation and public speaking (particularly IxxJ's as they have their external interaction function, Fe or Te, placed second on their functional hierarchy), which can result in them being misconceived or mistyped as extroverts, when they are actually drawing their energy from inside as introverts do.

The truth is that introverts are drained by different aspects of the external world depending on what their dominant (which is what we are most stimulated by) and hence inferior cogntive function (which is what we are most drained by) is:

Si dominants (ISTJ and ISFJ) are most drained by Ne i.e. the different patterns and possibilities of the external world

Ni dominants (INTJ and INFJ) are most drained by Se i.e. the literal physical details of the external world

Fi dominants (ISFP and INFP) are most drained by Te  i.e. the structural dynamics and protocols of the external world

Ti dominants (ISTP and INTP) are most drained by Fe i.e the social dynamics of the external world

ESFP Profile

Dominant Cognitive Function: Extroverted Sensing (Se)
Auxiliary Cognitive Function: Introverted Feeling (Fi)
Tertiary Cognitive Function: Extroverted Thinking (Te)
Inferior Cognitive Function: Introverted Intuition (Ni)

ESFP Celebrities

ESTP Profile

Dominant Cognitive Function: Extroverted Sensing (Se)
Auxiliary Cognitive Function: Introverted Thinking (Ti)
Tertiary Cognitive Function: Extroverted Feeling (Fe)
Inferior Cognitive Function: Introverted Intuition (Ni)

ESTP Celebrities

ENTP Profile

Dominant Cognitive Function: Extroverted Intuition (Ne)
Auxiliary Cognitive Function: Introverted Thinking (Ti)
Tertiary Cognitive Function: Extroverted Feeling (Fe) 
Inferior Cognitive Function: Introverted Sensing (Si)

ENTP Celebrities

ENFP Profile

Dominant Cognitive Function: Extroverted Intuition (Ne)
Auxiliary Cognitive Function: Introverted Feeling (Fi)
Tertiary Cognitive Function: Extroverted Thinking (Te)
Inferior Cognitive Function: Introverted Sensing (Si)

ENFP Celebrities

Famous INTP

Male

Tom Baker
Jimmy Carr
McCauley Culkin
Richard Dawkins
Jeff Golbum
Alfred Hitchcock
Colin Mochrie
Jim Parsons
Ryan Stiles

Female

Kari Byron
Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen