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What personality types does popular culture encourage most?

FinalFrontier89

New member
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
18
MBTI Type
ENFP
Generally, I've found that popular culture in North American society encourages people to emulate certain personality types more, and emulates the "virtues" of certain types applied to certain demographics.

I've found that it encourages the following for these groups-

younger males-ESTP
older males-ESTJ
younger females-ESFP
older females-ESFJ

Would you agree with this? If not, what personality type attributes do you think popular culture (including general social norms as well as the media) encourages?
 

Jeremy

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Joined
Dec 24, 2008
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426
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
9w1
I would say that the personality types that get the most airtime are..

Women: Any Extraverted feeling type, except possibly INFJ. ESFJ, ISFJ, and ENFJ are all pretty common stereotyped types for women, and often considered the "norm".

Men: Depends. The quiet, hardworking type: ISTJ. The party type: ESTP. The hardworking boss: ESTJ or ENTJ. It's all about the T for men though; the others aren't nearly as important as the T.
 

FinalFrontier89

New member
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
18
MBTI Type
ENFP
I would say that the personality types that get the most airtime are..

Women: Any Extraverted feeling type, except possibly INFJ. ESFJ, ISFJ, and ENFJ are all pretty common stereotyped types for women, and often considered the "norm".

Men: Depends. The quiet, hardworking type: ISTJ. The party type: ESTP. The hardworking boss: ESTJ or ENTJ. It's all about the T for men though; the others aren't nearly as important as the T.

Hmm, yeah, the F and the T division by gender in terms of expected norms are pretty obvious.

I'd argue that since they compromise the majority, "S" type dispositions are generally more emulated by pop culture and society in general. Especially in teenage/youth culture, an "N" disposition really seems to be frowned upon, unfortunately.
 

OrangeAppled

Sugar Hiccup
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
7,626
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I would agree with that, for American culture anyway.

I think it's valued in this order:
1. extroverted
2. sensor
3. feeling for women & thinking for men
4. the spontaneous P for the young & the structured J for the mature

The closer to that, the more "normal' you seem. This means INXXs are the weirdos, which may be why we congregate & hide out on the internet :D
 

FinalFrontier89

New member
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
18
MBTI Type
ENFP
I would agree with that, for American culture anyway.

I think it's valued in this order:
1. extroverted
2. sensor
3. feeling for women & thinking for men
4. the spontaneous P for the young & the structured J for the mature

The closer to that, the more "normal' you seem. This means INXXs are the weirdos, which may be why we congregate & hide out on the internet :D

Yeah, I'd actually argue S is valued the most, but it's a pretty accurate analysis you have there. As an ENFP I think I've got the "weirdo" stigma my whole life, and though it bugged me when I was younger and I still consider it somewhat of an injustice, I would rather be "weird" than normal any day. I'm pretty close to being INFP though, to be fair. It's just that I can be REALLY outgoing at times, and I do have a need for a good deal of social interaction, so I guess that pushes me just over the line.
 

NewEra

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Dec 21, 2008
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3,104
MBTI Type
I
For men, it seems that pop culture promotes ESTP. And for women, ESFP.

However, in the professional world, society promotes the following:
Men: ESTJ
Women: ESFJ

The F/T divide with women/men is most obvious.
 
G

garbage

Guest
younger males-ESTP
older males-ESTJ
younger females-ESFP
older females-ESFJ

Definitely. I'd never thought about the J/P switch for older/younger people, but it makes sense. The "all-American" young man is heavy into sports, while young women seek fashion. Older men are conditioned to work hard out of a sense of purpose and duty, while older women take care of social arrangements and the like.

Yeah, I'd actually argue S is valued the most, but it's a pretty accurate analysis you have there. As an ENFP I think I've got the "weirdo" stigma my whole life, and though it bugged me when I was younger and I still consider it somewhat of an injustice, I would rather be "weird" than normal any day. I'm pretty close to being INFP though, to be fair. It's just that I can be REALLY outgoing at times, and I do have a need for a good deal of social interaction, so I guess that pushes me just over the line.

oh and this
 

Splittet

Wannabe genius
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
632
MBTI Type
INTJ
Just look at which type has most children for each gender, that is the type culture encourage most for each gender.
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
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Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
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4w5
Definitely. I'd never thought about the J/P switch for older/younger people, but it makes sense. The "all-American" young man is heavy into sports, while young women seek fashion. Older men are conditioned to work hard out of a sense of purpose and duty, while older women take care of social arrangements and the like.

Actually... it's not quite that simple. There are other things like politics, volunteering to run a school progrm, etc. There are definitely niches for young ESTJs to be fairly popular without going ESTP.

Conversely, there's also a popular brand of "rebel" adult that never settles down and just flies by the seat of their pants, having a good time, etc.

There's a lot less pressure on J/P specifically, I think. EST and ESF, yeah, but they'll let either a J or P though happily.
 

527468

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Well if you look at values, no person is going to go against their own. So the logical thing to expect is for the most popular MBTI type to be the most encouraged. I also think it's less of a dichotomy procedure and more functional.

If ESTJ is the most popular type, then I also think Te and Si types are the most encouraged. However, if ESFJ is a close second (in tandem I have no idea) then Te and Fe primary types are the most encouraged. See how that works?

I think if intuition is subdued upon one's main approach to temperament, like of the ENTJ and ENFJ types, then they're typically more accepted.
 
G

garbage

Guest
Well if you look at values, no person is going to go against their own. So the logical thing to expect is for the most popular MBTI type to be the most encouraged. I also think it's less of a dichotomy procedure and more functional.

If ESTJ is the most popular type, then I also think Te and Si types are the most encouraged. However, if ESFJ is a close second (in tandem I have no idea) then Te and Fe primary types are the most encouraged. See how that works?

I think if intuition is subdued upon one's main approach to temperament, like of the ENTJ and ENFJ types, then they're typically more accepted.

Yes, this exactly. It's all about the functions that tend to bring about what is valued. It seems to be Te in males and Fe in females, supplemented with Si, with gender roles intact.
 

Twixt

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Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
91
MBTI Type
ISTP
Young males:
E_TP
Older males:
E_TJ

Females
young and crazy - E_FP
'good' girls - __FJ (the more popular ones being Es)


majority of the people in the world are Es, i think.
in a work setting, people are generally expected to be Js. (at least, this is my impression)
 

Quinlan

Intriguing....
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Apr 6, 2008
Messages
3,004
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
9w1
In New Zealand:

For men ESTJ at work, ESTP socially
For women ESFJ at work, ESFP socially

ISTP (or even some weird mix with ENTP) is kind of a celebrated cultural archetype.
 

heart

heart on fire
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May 19, 2007
Messages
8,456
It's funny that this thread is titled popular culture but then talks more about business culture. Nocap is right, pop culture worships the ISTP but companies want to hire ESTJ.
 

Scott N Denver

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Apr 25, 2009
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INFP
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4w5
I've read in various MBTI books and elsewhere that the traditional american male is ESTJ. and the traditional american female is ESFJ. I further agree, that this is true for adults, but for younger people J is replaced with P.
 

Thessaly

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Jun 5, 2009
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xNFP
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3w4
Can someone post some examples to support their claims?
 

entropie

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In germany it are those who learn hard, work hard and never ask questions, as in: ENTJ's or not ? I dont know :D
 
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