For anyone who has enjoyed studying personality or taking the variety of tests available, have you ever wondered if personality and political affiliation are related? Well, there is a certain amount of correlational data to support this idea.
Hmmmm… I wasn’t surprised that my wife’s personality type skewed to the right. She is an INTJ …and 43% of all INTJ’s report themselves as either ‘Republican or Conservative’ …. this is the 2nd highest percentage on the right of all 17 personality categories (only 14% of the INTJ’s said they were ‘not political’)
From these same researchers, allow me share some of the highlights of what they had to say about INTJ’s:
“…When under a great deal of stress, the INTJ may become obsessed with mindless repetitive, Sensate activities, such as over-drinking…. Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ…. They may see them as aloof and reserved… INTJs tend to blame misunderstandings on the limitations of the other party, rather than on their own difficulty in expressing themselves…”
Poor, poor INTJ’s… by contrast… ENTJ’s are quite different:
“As an ENTJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things rationally and logically…. ENTJs are natural born leaders…. which is well-served by their quickness to grasp complexities, their ability to absorb a large amount of impersonal information, and their quick and decisive judgments. They are “take charge” people….The ENTJ has a tremendous amount of personal power and presence which will work for them as a force towards achieving their goals….They’re likely to place much emphasis on their children being well-educated and structured, to desire a congenial and devoted relationship with their spouse.”
Okay…Okay, I pulled a ‘Dan Rather’, I picked out what I wanted to say about both personality types for selfish reasons… believe me, INTJ’s are really quite interesting people. The hard truth is that for every individual — regardless of personality type — there exists specific challenges that must be met in order to be happy in life….. they just may be different types of challenges. ENTJ’s (Me), for example, must refrain from being overly absorbed in their career… or life and love passes them by.
By the way, I am an ENTJ, and we — as a group — tend to be a little less politically active than the norm with 25% of us saying we are ‘not political.’ However, the largest segment of ENTJ’s describe themselves as either Democrat or liberal (45%).
After this ‘revelation’, Laura now looks at me with a ‘cautious eye.’ However, from what I can tell… when ENTJ’s (me) and INTJ’s get together… ENTJ’s (me) think they are in charge… but INTJ’s eventually get their way.
Roger Freberg
