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?